Adventourist Frieddie gets his first taste of sunrise paddling

A work colleague of mine is taking on a fun and challenging adventure later this year when he and a couple of mates take on the Mongol Rally (a 14,000 km car rally from London to Mongolia) to raise money for Redkite, a charity that supports children with cancer. Dubbed The Adventourists, they will somehow have to squeeze three big blokes into a tiny car for the entire trip.

Now Freddie and I share a few common traits. Freddie (or Frederic to his Gaulish family) hails from Lyon, the gastronomic centre of France, where the consumption of exquisite food is practically religion. He’s also an ex-rugby player. And he’s, well, BIG. So in order to make the journey somewhat more comfortable, he’s embarked on a program to get fit and shed a few unnecessary kilos.

Freddie’s first foray into a rock garden went well in the calm conditions

Now we’ve paddled together on work paddling days and the concept of rock gardening has always appealed to his mad Gaulic nature.  In his youth he’d done a bit of white water paddling in the mountains of his home country, so he was keen to try out the different dynamics of surf over rocks. I asked him if he’d like to come and try a few different things on the water which he readily agreed to, so meeting at the ungodly hour of 5.20am we prepared for a morning of boat fun.

The Riddler prepares to give Freddy a shove down the boat ramp. Hold on Freddie!

I’d brought my Stellar SR surf ski for me, and the Liquidlogic Remix XP10 for Fred, making us ridiculously mismatched. But then over the course of the next four hours Freddie got to do & see the following:

• Paddle out to Middle Head to watch the sun come up over the Tasman Sea
• Paddle by Gelo Cliffs and surf through the Grotto rock gardens
• Do seal slides off the boat ramp at Riddle’s house
• Liaise with the coffee boat and enjoy a hot coffee on the water
• Explore the mangroves of Scotts Creek at high tide
• Surf boat wake along the Seaview water-front
• Try surf ski paddling for the very first time

Freddie and FP raft up for a self-portrait just after sunrise

None of the activities proved too difficult for Freddie, especially in the security of my most stable boat, the Liquidlogic Remix XP10. Except the last one of course, where he went from fat white water boat to skinny surf ski, with the expected result!

All in all a cracking day on the water for us both. If you’re interested in hearing more on what the Adventourists are up to later this year, go and check out their site and see what else the crazy fellas are doing to prepare. Cheers, FP

FP watched the sunrise from his Stellar SR surf ski. Magnificent!