Famour Sydney landmarks... and turbulent waters

Over the past few weeks I’d been lamenting the fact that I wasn’t getting the same sense of adventure out of my paddling. Whilst initially I couldn’t quite put my finger on it, I realised that it was because I rarely went paddling alone anymore. The price of popularity it would seem – haha!

So on a hot and hazy Sydney Spring day, I put the boat in at Greenwich, a few kms west of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Immediately I noticed that the water was being cut to pieces by big boat-chop, with large bow-wakes criss-crossing the Harbour from every direction. I could tell straight away that this was going to tough, as my new boat twitched madly in the battering waves.

First rest stop - Navy yards - HMAS Waterhen

My first “rest stop” was to have a look at the navy boats in Wollstonecraft Bay. Admittedly I felt a little nervous snapping off a few pictures in case the Navy Divers popped out of the water around me and dragged me off to a military prison for espionage. Ok, a little dramatic perhaps, but regardless I didn’t want to hang around with a camera in hand, so I plunged back into the main part of the Harbour and the constant fight against the multi-directional waves.

My next “rest stop” was by a wreck off Blues Point, which was copping a hammering from the waves. For some reason I thought it would be great to get close for a few pictures of the incoming surges, and whilst the pictures weren’t bad, the battering the kayak copped against the wreck was less than ideal!

Waves come in....

...and bounce back out.

Heading off again I rounded Blues Point into full view of the city and her Harbour Bridge. I may have even enjoyed the view had the wave-action not stepped up a notch from the increased ferry activity, which was now smashing my kayak from every direction and making it increasingly hard to stay upright.

Damn chop - this was a "lull" between the bigger waves

I was starting to get a bit nervous at the incredbily rough water and decided to head back to Greenwich. Paddling back around Blues Point and on past Balls Head everything seem to be going fine. However, from behind me and about 30 yards to port, one of the bigger JetCat ferries came flying past, throwing up sets of 5 foot breaking walls of water, which with a slight turn into them I just managed to kayak over. However, a large pleasure cruiser was also trailing the ferry at an angle and its equally big wake hit me cleanly on the broadside. Then I had the torturous few seconds of teetering on edge, slapping the paddle down hoping to brace myself but knowing it’s all too late and I’m about to go over. So over I went.

Being upside down in a kayak can make any paddler a bit anxious. I would say I was a bit more than that as I scrabbled at the loop on my skirt before managing a non-too-graceful wet exit. And then there I was, floating on the Harbour on the edge of the major shipping lane with an upside-down kayak and beautiful Greenland Paddle floating away somewhere.

I have to say I’m glad I’ve done some rescue training, because it does make you remember to do a few things. Firstly, don’t let go of your boat. Secondly, get your bloody paddle before it floats away. And then thirdly, think about your rescue option. My first thought was to swim to shore (about 30 metres away, and a rocky ledge). A few minutes of swimming with the kayak full of water and I was sure that this was no longer an option.

Next I thought I’d try a paddle-float self-recue, a manouver I’ve seen demonstrated but have never attempted. Especially with a Greenland Paddle! But calmly I slipped the float over my paddle, inflated it and slid it under the bow-line and elastics behind the cockpit. And then amazingly, I performed a perfect re-entry using the paddle-float in the middle of the choppy waves of the shipping lane – brilliant!  However, there was a slight problem – the back rest was now tangled beneath me and I couldn’t get properly into the cockpit.

At this stage two young fellas and a lady-friend drove over in a small fishing tinnie and asked if I needed some help. Why not! So I tried to climb into the fishing boat but found I was too tangled in the cockpit. After some discussion, we parted ways so I could roll back under, perform another wet exit, and then do an assisted rescue to get back into the kayak. Except again, I was tangled in the seat!

So a third time I rolled over in the kayak, slid out, and then one of the fellas in the boat undid the back-rest so I could get in properly after another assisted re-entry. But instead of driving off, my rescuers offered to tow me back to my launch point, which I pointed out to them. Except when I got there, I discovered that in my confused state I’d given them the wrong directions and they’d driven me across to the wrong side of the Harbour!

We then pulled up to a private pontoon, and using a bit of ingenuity, plus a little raw strength, I managed to drag myself up over the barnacles and oysters and onto the potoon. From there I managed to empty out the water in the kayak, get back in and get settled, and wave the fishermen goodbye. Then it was off across the shipping lane again, whilst the setting sun cast a luminous glow over the water.

Heading back to my launch point as the sun sets. Note how wet the kayak is!

Once I finally arrived at the Greenwich boat ramp, I was able to take a little breather and take stock of what had happened. The boat had a few minor scratches from our bingle with the wreck earlier, but worse off was my leg, by now streaming blood from barnacle & oyster cuts sustained earlier.

Only a flesh wound....

Now a little blood has never stopped me before so I quickly tied off the boat on the car before taking a final few photos of the setting sun, which through the dusty haze looked incredibly like a nuclear explosion on the horizon!

Sunset over Sydney Harbour..... or the start of nuclear war??

Of course after such an exhilarating afternoon, I’d worked up a pretty decent thirst, and stopped off at a bottle-shop to get my wife and I some wine. And that’s where I found this aptly named beer to top off my adventures for the day. Cheers! – FP

Hmmm, beer.....

Fat Paddler in Greenland. That's right, GREENLAND! (Image Credit: Chris Paton)

With 2009 drawing to a close I thought it time to run one last competition. The last competition is – “Where’s the Fat Paddler?“.  To enter, follow the following steps:

1. Get hold of a Fat Paddler logo. I can be a tshirt, a sticker, a beer cooler, something from Fat Paddler’s Zazzle Store, or simply print and cut out the logo I’ve prepared for you HERE.

2. Take a photo of the Fat Paddler logo – be it in an exotic location, creatively placed somewhere it shouldn’t, or anything that you think looks good.

3. Upload your picture to the Fan Photos section of the Fat Paddler Facebook Page.

4. Write a brief description with the photo of where or what the photo is. That’s it!

Entries close on Sunday 20 December (where-ever you are!) to give me time to collate and judge the two best photos to put up on FatPaddler.com.

Now for the important bit – the Prize Pack!  For this competition there will be two prize packs for the two best photos. Each prize pack will consist of:

1. A copy of the book “Crossing the Ditch” personally signed by its author James Castrission and his paddling partner Justin Jones. This book is about the first ever crossing of the Tasman Sea (between Australia and New Zealand) by kayak, and if you like how the Fat Paddler writes, then you will love this incredible story.

2. 2x Vinyl Fat Paddler stickers (1x white, 1x black)

3. An exclusive Fat Paddler beer cooler.

So there it is, can’t wait to see what you come up with! And just to give you a taste of the book “Crossing the Ditch”, enjoy the preview to the documentary they made whilst on their incredible paddle. Cheers – FP

Anne Marie in front of big-boys' toys at The Spit

A visiting work colleague from our Chicago office, Anne Marie has been a fan of FatPaddler.com for quite some time. It only made sense then that I should take her out to see Sydney Harbour from a kayak, even though she’d never been kayaking before.

We kitted her up with a BD Epsilon P100 from Sydney Harbour Kayaks and set off up into Middle Harbour, stopping occassionally to discuss paddle technique and how to make her go a little faster and more efficiently.  After a short while however she was up to speed and motoring along quite nicely.

Anne Marie powering along up Middle Harbour

Oi!! Watch where you're going!

Once underway I had to make a quick decision on where to go, but that decision was made easier as the “World-Famous” coffee boat appeared on the horizon and chugged its way into Sugar Loaf Bay. Now I’d already determined Anne Marie was a coffee lover, and knowing just how crap American-made coffee is I knew we’d have to chase Garry the coffee-man down for a relaxing cuppa on the Harbour.

Garry passing a cup of black-gold to Anne Marie

It doesn't get much better than this!

After enjoying a few minutes of post-coffee bliss I realised our time was almost up and it was time to get Anne Marie back to The Spit, so we commenced the return leg home through the building boat-traffic.

Look at that catch! Paddling style got much better as the morning progressed.

For visitors to Sydney, it can be all to easy to stick to the standard sights, so it was good to get Anne Marie out on the water to experience the real Sydney as we paddlers know it. When she returns to the cold snows of Chicago next week, she’ll remember this cracking morning on our beautiful Harbour much more than her quick look at the Harbour Bridge.

Hope you enjoyed yourself Anne Marie, perhaps we’ll show you another part of the Harbour next time to make it to Sydney.  Cheers – FP

Get out on the water people, life's too short to miss out!

Balmoral Blast's main man Dez running the show

I took my new kayak out for it’s maiden voyage on Saturday down at the Spit at the same time as the Balmoral Blast combined with Sydney Harbour Kayaks to run the first Blast time trial from the Spit to Bantry Bay.  As usual I bobbed about in the water camera in hand as very fit and fast ski paddlers zoomed past me on their time trial, but did manage to fire off a few shots of some the paddlers. Then about 40 minutes later the returning paddlers were treated to a bbq breakfast courtesy of Sydney Harbour Kayaks, and thankfully left a hungry Fat paddler a cheeky sausage sandwich as a reward for my efforts. Great stuff Shannon and Dez! Cheers – FP

Shannon from SHK on the rescue boat

Synchronised reach! Nice!

Bow-wave riding....

The introverted paddlers wear red (not!)

Paddle parallel to the hull post-exit - nice

Double the power in a VERY long ski!

The stealthy ski - it's like Knight Rider on the water!

Dez publishing times & results to the web in real time - awesome!

2/3s of Team Fat Paddler with the Teabag Trophy

Last night the Hawkesbury Canoe Classic held their 2009 Presentation Dinner, which Team Fat Paddler and their poor suffering wives attended in the hope of winning something (we certainly weren’t in the running for a “Best Time” award, that’s for sure!).  And indeed it wasn’t long until the organisers were reading a long speach regarding nominations for the Landcrew Award and I started to realise by omission that either my Nomination for them had not been received, or they were actually in with a chance to take it out. And sure enough, there were awarded the 2009 Landcrew Award (the perpetual Teabag Trophy) to a standing ovation at the ceremony.

Teabag Trophy and Certificate for Darry (sic), in absentia for the ceremony

The HCC is a massive and gruelling event that would not be at all possible without the sterling efforts of those on the ground in support. To Burnsie, Grummett and Darryl – a huge thanks from me for your awesome efforts to keep me going down that dark, cold river. Cheers – FP