The Whale - Release dates: Sept 9 (Seattle) Sept 23 (NYC) Oct 28 (Vancouver, BC)
As a paddler I feel incredibly close to our watery environments and the marine life that inhabit them, and a particular fondness for our Cetacean cousins. So I was quite excited to hear about a new movie coming out from Canada which details the true story of an orphaned orca that breaks all the rules by trying to socialise with people. Ric O’Barry, of “The Cove” fame, has given his stamp of approval on the movie, which confirms for me that it’s not just another exploitation for entertainments sake type whale movie.
The lonely orca named Luna - orphan, friend, or victim?
Here’s some official blurb: “THE WHALE is the true story of a young killer whale, an orca nicknamed Luna, who makes friends with people after he gets separated from his family on the rugged west coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia. As rambunctious and surprising as a visitor from another planet, Luna endears himself to humans with his determination to make contact, which leads to laughter, conflict and unexpected consequences”.
There’s plenty more information on the The Whale official website, and for updates on the availability of the movie itself, join The Whale Movie on Facebook . I have no idea when it’ll make it to Australia but I’ll definitely be keeping an eye out for it. Cheers – FP
Tags: orca, The Whale, The Whale Movie
Liquidlogic Remix XP10 ready for action
Team Fat Paddler met early at The Spit for a paddle and a sticky at my new whitewater boat, the Liquidlogic Remix FP10. Cmdr Grumm and Lt Nat were keen for some distance training upstream, whilst Lt Burnsie and I were keen for some rougher water, so we split the team in two and went our separate ways.
The conditions were relatively calm as we arrived at Grotto Point and I put the little boat through some rocks in the small swell. The boat is ridiculously easy to turn and I was having a ball as I pushed the boat around and over the rocks, scratching up the boat’s pristine bottom in the process! We then took off for the Grotto Reserve cliffs, playing in the small whitewater as I slowly got a feel for my boat.
Bouncing around in some rebound and wash
As we neared Dobroyd Point I decided to run my usual gauntlet a few times, but then had a new idea – what if I paddled over it instead? The gauntlet is made of a large angled rock with a steep drop on one side only a metre out from the cliff’s rock ledge, so it was going to be an interesting test. I took off on a surge and, scraping the boat’s bum across the rock, dropped down the ledge on the back edge and submarined the boat on the other side.
Riding the washover, a little more bumpy than expected and almost lost my paddle!
Dive! Dive! Dive! Off the ledge and under water
I struggled to recover as another wave rolled in and the boat seemed to be sinking below me, which wasn’t far off the truth since I’d left the rear hatch unlocked earlier and it had popped off, with the back filling with water! I managed to just maintain control enough to get out of the wash and over to Lt Burnsie, who pulled out the pump and drained the back hatch before securing it properly.
As we finished up, we witnessed one of those amazing events that make paddling so wonderful when we were joined by a pod of dolphins, frolicking around our kayaks and slowly cruising about us. I watched in awe as they surrounded Lt Burnsie and slowly rolled on the surface, and amongst the blowing spray I could just make out a baby dolphin amongst them. They stayed for half an hour, playing around us as we bobbed around, feeling incredibly lucky that they had let us witness their playtime.
Lt Burnsie watching the dolphins nearby
Hello Mr Dolphin. Thanks for playing with us!
Frolicking in the early morning sunshine
When the dolphins finally departed, we decided to track over to North Head and paddle the length of her impressive southern cliffs. Lt Burnsie was having a ball in the lumps and the cliff line looked stunning as we cruised past. Then finally we passed her south eastern corner and paddled a little ways out to sea.
Lt Burnsie outside the North Head cliffs, with Manly off in the distance somewhere
Once out there, Burnsie celebrated as only he can – he pulled out a cigarette for a quick smoke. The ridiculousness of it made it even funnier as he bobbed about enjoying his smoko break, to the muffled laughter coming from me!
Lt. Burnsie celebrating being at sea his way! Took him back to his navy days apparently
Time was running out by this stage so we begrudgingly turned for the return journey home. I was still astounded at how well my Remix handled lumps and feeling even more in love with the little boat as I tagged along behind the somewhat faster Burnsie. I’d had her in some lumps, some swell, a little surf, ferry chop and rebound and she handled all really well – provided her back hatch was secured – haha!
Loving my Liquidlogic Remix XP10 - why did I wait so long to try a whitewater boat?
Running through some more rocks
The Remix just loves the frothy stuff
Did I mention how much I love this boat??
When we finally returned to the Spit (and to Gumm and Nat) we had our usual egg & bacon roll breakfast whilst we swapped stories of the morning’s paddle. Somehow, between the dolphins and the visit to North Head, I think ours was probably better – ha! Needless to say, can’t wait to get the Remix out again today – cheers, FP.
Back on the beach - the Remix stands out against all the the long thin sea kayaks - a bit like me!
By the way, I bought my Remix from the good folks at Capacity Sports in Melbourne, who also stock H2O Crystal-X paddles. Go and check them out and tell them Fat Paddler says hi.
Kids in a canoe in the Great Outdoors - how could they not have fun?
My two daughters, aged 3 and 4, are already digital natives. They can use my iPhone with ease, program the cable TV and work the DVD player. I don’t even think this is a bad thing, because they need to be equiped for the rapid technological changes that are occuring around us. I do however want to make sure they balance this digital prowess with a love, respect and understanding of the natural world around us. With this in mind, I took the opportunity to take them on their first camping trip to the Lane Cove National Park, complete with the family canoe to explore the beautiful Lane Cove River.
A first.. sleeping outdoors in a tent. So much fun!!
What followed was a fun night with friends, hours spent rolling around giggling in the dirt, dashes into the tent when it rained, torch games at night, and then an incredible morning canoeing the Lane Cove River with its teeming population of Water Dragons. All in all the girls had a brilliant weekend and have been demanding to know when we’re going again. Mission accomplished! Cheers – FP
Let's go Daddy let's go let's go let's go let's go let's go!!
Daddy! Look, on the branch! It's a lizard, a great big lizard!
Ooooh, its a Water Dragon! Look how big it is Daddy!
Wow Daddy, the river is so pretty. Will we find anymore dragons? Will we?
DADDY!!!!!!!!! Over there, look! Look! Another dragon!!
Over here Daddy! Look, that dragon is hiding in the water!
There Daddy, there he is. He must be hot, that's why he's having a little swim.
Lastly, a little paddling lesson for Miss4. With her Badger Paddle in hand, she quickly learnt how to paddle the canoe forward down the river. Well done sweety, Daddy is proud of you!
Tags: camping, Canoeing, kids, Water Dragons
Sunrise from the sea..... could there be anything more magical?
You just never know when an adventure might befall you, but one thing for sure is that you have to put yourself out there in case it does. On this particular morning Grumm, Nat and I arrived at The Spit at 5am, with the temperature having already climbed to 30C degrees. We set up in the dark, with me getting a chance to try out my new Kayalite lighting system, before pushing off headed for South Head.
South Head in the distance - as seen from Nat's ski
The run out to the Heads was pretty uneventful, other than being ridiculously hot. I’d decided to paddle topless, with only my PFD for cover, but I was soon shining with a layer of perspiration as we paddled against the tide towards the ocean. The other lads were feeling it too and whined a little about the heat. Then out of nowhere, Nat screamed like a little girl and his ski seemed to almost tip over before righting itself again. It seemed a tiny little fish had jumped into his boat, scaring the pants off him until if freed itself by plopping back overboard. With a good laugh, we all continued on our way.
The marine forecast had the sea state dropping from a 2-3m swell down to less than half a metre, but it seemed we’d hit the water before this was due to happen, because as we paddled past South Head a series of two and three metre waves came through, throwing us around a bit before smashing against the sea-side of the Head. Then as I was looking behind me at the waves crashing, Nat suddenly called out “SHARK” and started pointing to a spot ten metres in front of our boats.
I peered through the early morning light at where he was pointing. Then sure enough, a dorsal fin rose up through a wave, trailing a tail fin behind it, and slowly cruised past us all, missing Grumm by just a few metres. The dark-tipped fin was about 4 feet in front of the tail, so at my guess she was about 6 feet long, and most likely a Bull Shark. As we watched it cruise on into the Harbour, we were both ecstatic and edgy about the experience. One thing for sure, none of us felt like falling in now, and we paid a little more attention to bracing though the incoming waves.
FP coasting in a small lull between the bigger swell, minutes after the shark sighting
Grumm hung on for dear life as his tippy boat made life in the waves hard
Nat walking on water.... ok, you just can't see his boat
The sky was now starting to burn. As the sunrise grew closer, the horizon turned a firey red, painting the cliffs of Sydney and three paddlers a brilliant reddish orange. I sat staring breathlessly at the horizon, humbled by the incredible experience we were having out on the bumpy water.
Oh yeah, this is why we come out at sunrise!
By now some bigger boats were making their way out of Harbour heading for deeper waters, and the mixture of swell and criss-crossing boat wake started to make our time a little more difficult. Grumm had been struggling in his narrow boat, a little nervous after seeing the noah cruising past earlier, and the added lumpiness was making him more and more nervous on this, his first time out of the Heads. Eventually he decided he’d had enough and turned to ride the swell back into the Harbour. Nat hung around for a while but decided to follow him, leaving me on my own out at sea. Looking back at the horizon however, I was almost glad that they’d left me here to enjoy the incredible view of the breaking day. It was just me, the waves and the sharks. Beautiful.
What a magnificent world we live in. You just need to get outdoors to experience her!
Once the sun was up I turned and tried to find the other boys. They were a good way into the Harbour now, about 1.5-2 kms away, so I started riding the swell runners, bracing and giggling to make sure I stayed out of the sharky waters. After 15 minutes of sprinting down waves, I finally caught them up half a km from the Grotto Point Reserve. It was still early, before 7am, so we turned and head into a little beach in Manly to stretch our legs, have a swim, and tell tall tales about the now “massive” shark we’d seen!
After a relaxing 30 minutes swimming, we climbed back into our boats and followed the cliff line back to The Spit, in the now very gentle waters which had calmed down considerably since we were outside the Heads. We cruised right up against the cliff face, enjoying the movement of gentle waves rolling in, before finishing the final few kms back to where we’d started.
A very relaxing paddle past Grotto Point Reserve
We arrived back at the put in at 9am, our paddling done for the day. After packing the boats up, there was really only one thing left to do, and that was to wander down to the Middle Harbour Yacht Club for egg/bacon or egg/sausage rolls for breakfast! A great way to wrap up an awesome paddle. Cheers – FP
Breakfast for three please. Woohoo!
Thunder Bay, Canada. A little colder than this Aussie is used to!
After my whirlwind tour of Toronto the next stop on my Canadian adventure was the northern Ontario town of Thunder Bay. If I’d felt the cold in Toronto, I was really going to feel it here, with the pilot announcing “a bitterly cold -20C” on arrival.
When I touched down I was met by two paddling legends; Thunder Bay local Joe O’Blenis, who recently set another World Record for paddling quickly around Vancouver Island (his second!), and Helen Wilson, Greenland rolling expert, instructor and medalist from two Greenland National Kayaking Competitions. It was hard not to feel like a bit of a pretender amongst these two accomplished paddlers, but regardless they both greeted me warmly before proceeding to tell just how bad it was going to be when I stepped out into the cold.
Helen Wilson, FP and Joe O'Blenis. Guess which one can't roll properly??
They weren’t lying. The air was so cold it felt like I was having an asthma attack, with my lungs coughing and spluttering at the incredibly cold air. Thankfully we were all whisked away in a car with Joe’s mate Chris before heading out for a quick tour of Thunder Bay and the shores of the World’s biggest lake, Lake Superior.
Hey look, it's Bambi!! Hello sweety!
Helen does a head-stand on the frozen surface of Lake Superior
Then it was back to Joe’s house to catch up with local paddlers and for a Canadian feed of Pierogi, deer and Persians. The food was rich and tasty but clearly Canada had thumbed its nose at the humble vegetable. I quickly filled up on the local delights before preparing for the nights activity – Snow Shoeing with the Superior Kayak and Canoe Club.
Pierogi - like re-fried cheesy ravioli. Surprisingly delicious!
Seth eating a Persian deer burger. One of the grossest things I've ever seen!
Clearly I’m an Aussie and not exactly experienced in such things. I wasn’t even quite sure what the POINT was, since it made much more sense to stay in the nice warm house than to trek through the snow at night in sub-freezing temperatures. But after putting on almost every piece of clothing I had, boardies included, I grabbed a final beer and head out the door into the cold.
I think I might JUST have enough clothes on.....
The location for our night cross country session was a small creek not far from Joe’s house. It was frozen over (mostly), covered with a decent layer of snow, and would take us a few miles along its path. Of course I had to get into it first, after putting on what to me looked like two short water-skis, climbing the snowy embankment, and making my way gingerly down the creek proper. My graceful moves instead were to trip over the embankment, collapse on my arse into the snow with a tangle of snow-shoes and then moan at the fact several handfuls of snow had made their way down my bum cleavage and into my pants. Somehow I managed to get up after a brief ten minutes or so, gingerly slid down the embankment on my butt before landing with a PLONK into the creek below.
A Fat Aussie Tourist, a Smurf Commando, and Steve the local.
Once there it was fun… in a freezing cold kind of way. Helen, dressed in a blue full face-balaclava looked like a cross between a smurf and a commando. My array of clothes made me look like a mis-dressed fat Aussie tourist (hmm, exactly what I was!). The Canadians all got by in shorts in tshirts…. well, ok, maybe not, but they all seemed pretty much at home in the icy conditions.
I learned a lot on that snow-shoe session. Like how to get a beer can stuck to your tongue. Or how not to stick a pole into your snow-shoe whilst walking. Or how it feels to freeze to death on a mountainside. In fact by the time we turned around to head back I had truly learned just how harsh the cold can be, as my eye-lashes grew icicles and then promptly froze together.
My face! I can't feel my face!! Arrrrrgh!
The next morning I got to experience Thunder Bay food icon The Hoito and a little bit of shopping before heading home for a little birthday dinner surprise for local Chris Johnston, one of the sweetest ladies you’d ever be lucky enough to meet.
Clockwise from FP - Diane, Chris, Steve, Joe and Helen. And of course, Darby the dog!
We all shared a little cake before heading off our own ways to prepare for the real reason I’d come up – Rolling classes in the pool with Helen Wilson, Joe and the Superior Kayak & Canoe gang! (coming soon). Cheers – FP
Coming Soon! Rolling classes with Helen Wilson....
Tags: Canada, Helen Wilson, Joe O'Blenis, Superior Kayak Canoe Club, Thunder Bay
