FP leading the crew away from The Spit at the start of the social paddle

Having done a fair bit of solo paddling over the past few weeks, I thought it might be time to organise an open social paddle. I put the word out looking for first-timers or friends, with a plan to meet at The Spit before a leisurely paddle up Middle Harbour.

The social set making their way under The Spit Bridge

Grumm turned up with Gavin, a mate of his from the old country.  A colleague from my work, Gelo, turned up. A reader of the site who I hadn’t met before (Mark) arrived on his Vespa. And Blast Paddlers personality Dez Blanchfield turned up with his carbon fibre racing ski. Finally, a bloke we met on the beach, Ian (who had hired an OZFlyte ski for a test paddle), took up an impromptu invite  to join us as well. The seven of us then lined up our respective kayaks and skis on the beach, and paddled north into Middle Harbour.

The FP Paddle Gang... that's how we roll, baby!

Watching Dezzy cruising on his 6.5 metre Think Uno racing ski, I thought about how he might go with a Greenland paddle.  So I convinced him to swap paddles for a bit, me fumbling with his carbon wing paddle, and him trying to get a handle on my traditional hand-carved wooden Adanac Paddle. It was an incredible sight, the mix of cutting edge carbon ski with a traditional Inuit paddle!

Carbon fibre and Timber - New School and Old!!

We eventually returned each others paddles and continued with the group up to Sugar Loaf Bay, where we anticipated meeting Garry in his coffee boat. Unfortunately he didn’t turn up, so after waiting a little while we made the decision to head into Scotts Creek and try to find Garry later.

Mark traded in his usual Sit On Top for a sea kayak. Not sure about the lime visor though??

For those of us in kayaks, the narrow confines of Scotts Creek are usually pretty easy to negotiate. You’d expect the boys in long skis to have problems, but not the kayakers. Except for Gelo of course, who someone managed to wedge his boat into a tree.

Gelo, smiling to hide the fact he's firmly wedged in place!

As the creek narrowed at the half way mark, Dez decided he couldn’t really take his ski much further and chose to turn around. Watching a 6.5m ski trying to turn in a creek about 6.3m wide is pretty damn funny, and for a few moments it looked like Dez was going to wobble enough to end up swimming. But after a perfectly executed 120-point turn, he eventually got his ski around and waving goodbye, head off back to the The Spit.

Seeya Dez, get that bloody huge ski out of this creek!

The rest of us continued up the creek until it bottomed out, so we each turned our kayaks around to head back out. Except Gelo of course, who again managed to get wedged sideways across the creek! Grumm and I had to use both our kayaks to push and pull him around until eventually he was facing the right way.

Oh Gelo.... did you get stuck AGAIN??

The paddle back out was uneventful and as we returned to Sugar Loaf Bay we caught up with Garry for the long-awaited coffees. Rafting up, we all had a chat and enjoyed the beautiful Sydney morning as we sipped our coffee, before splitting up again for the final paddle back to The Spit.

A triumphant Mark at the end of the paddle. Still not sure about that visor!!

Gavin and Ian rolling in to The Spit

Ian... got to see a bit more of the Harbour than a just your average paddle!

With a few new friends made, we all grabbed a final coffee and enjoyed the sun and the beach out the front of Sydney Harbour Kayaks. All up a lovely little tour of Middle Harbour, and a few new lads with the paddling bug.  Cheers – FP

P.s. Thanks to Shannon from Sydney Harbour Kayaks for some of the photos!

Little early morning breakers at Middle Head

It was one of those days where the weather reports totally confused me as to the likely conditions.  As I monitored the various forecast websites, I received a mix of reports ranging from “Seas under 1 metre, wind 15-20 knts” to “Seas up to 3 metres, winds 25-30knts, gusts 40% higher”. At one end of the spectrum, a pretty flat calm day. At the other, a nasty messy windy storm front.

So I took off to The Spit and decided I’d make a decision once there – if calm, I’d head out towards Sydney’s Heads. If not, I’d take the scenic route up Middle Harbour. When I arrived, the water was like glass and the wind barely noticeable, so I took off in the direction of Middle Head to have a better look.

Froth and bubbles along the Middle Head cliffs

When I arrived at Middle Head the sight was beautiful. The cliffs were awash with early morning amber light, with calm seas but a nice little 1.5 metre swell rolling in forming little sucky breakers on the rocks. The conditions were magnificent, so I paddled up to within about 5 metres of the cliff and sat in the break zone, enjoying the start to the day.

Then I took off, hugging the shoreline back into Sydney Harbour and round to Bradleys Head, enjoying the magnificent coast of Sydney Harbour. But as I continued, the sky started to cloud over, and a decidedly strong wind started to pick up behind me, so I decided to turn back into it and start the return journey.

Uh-oh, storm front moving in....

The dark grey moving clouds over North Head told of the incoming front, as if the rapidly rising headwinds weren’t giving it away. I like paddling into the wind though, and managed to match it with some ski paddlers briefly as I powered through the building chop and into the spray. When I finally returned to Middle Head, the conditions had dramatically changed from the calm conditions a few hours earlier.  Now 2-2.5 metre swell was rolling in through the heads and pounding the cliff-face, erupting in huge plumes of spray before rebounding back out. The rebound and incoming swell mixed together made for some sensational  lumps, and the churned up waters looked a brilliant aquamarine blue.

Wanting to record the crazy waters, I pulled out the camera and recorded a good minute of the action before paddling off to calmer waters. Then as I moved further along the head, I pulled the camera back out for another shot and realised the video was actually running. Turns out I’d not recorded any of the cliff action, but had instead recorded a couple of minutes of the darkness inside my PFD pocket!

The waters getting choppier along Middle Head

With the wind still building, I decided against going back to re-record the footage, so instead rode the swell into Middle Harbour and most of the way back to The Spit where I indulged in a hot coffee from SHK. Another lovely paddle under the belt! Cheers – FP

Lumpy good times on Sydney Harbour

Grotto Point bubbles and froth

As Sydney-siders flocked to the eastern suburbs for the annual City to Surf running event, I decided to slip down to the water for a quiet solo paddle to Manly. The seas were fairly calm with a 1-2 metre southerly swell curling in through the Heads to pummel the rocks and cliffs from Grotto Point to Dobroyd Head. After the fun of my recent paddle at Umina, I thought it might be nice to get in amongst the moving water again so I paddled alongside the cliff-face, rising and falling with the swell and enjoying the spray and the bouncy ride. Heading off alongside Grotto Point I paddled in the swell around the bommy at Dobroyd Head (which was working hard with the southern swell) up to Manly before turning around and paddling back. Once back at Grotto Point I slid close to the rocks and just sat there, bobbing about in the wash and waves, before setting off back to the Spit for a coffee at Sydney Harbour Kayaks. A short but exciting paddle to finish up my holidays! Cheers – FP

Water rushing back across the rock edges

Scarlett Woman at the end of the paddle, glistening and happy

The calm waters of Ettalong Beach. Perfect for kayak launching.

Towards the end of the family holiday I’d taken off from Avoca looking for a decent paddle. Driving around the Brisbane Water looking for somewhere interesting to paddle, I somehow ended up at Umina Beach, which was being pounded by some decent sized surf rolling in on the southern swell. I couldn’t see anywhere to safely to launch under the conditions, so I continued to drive around the point and into Ettalong Beach, a picturesque spot tucked away out of the surf zone. I quickly unloaded the boat and within a few minutes, head off across the channel to the inside coastline of Box Head in Bouddi National Park.

All set for some fun. A couple of Greenland paddles and some safety kit.

The inside coastline of Box Head is a beautiful spot to paddle, with plenty of  rocks to paddle amongst and the safety of a deep water channel keeping the surf at bay. As I pottered about amongst the rocks, the occassional swell would roll in washing through the small gauntlets, creating some fun moving water for me to explore.  On one occassion, the surge lifted me up and deposited me on a lone rockie outcrop, where I teetered uncontrollably until the next surge lifted me away.

Fun little surges amongst the rocks.

In general the deep channel protected the shoreline from anything too adventurous and apart from the odd big surge, I was left to explore in relatively calm waters, with just the local wildlife to keep me company and the feel of the warm sun on my face.

Gentle paddles amongst the rocks.

The locals were enjoying the mid-winter sunshine too.

Then a funny thing happened. As I got to the western point, the waters started to change as the swell hammered against the southern facing shoreline. The water I was paddling started to churn and bubble as swell and breakers started to roll in. My serene paddle started to get exciting, as I moved in closer to the breakers and big lumps of the southern swell.

Breakers starting to create a LOT more fun!

I could feel my grin growing as I bobbed about in the shifting waters, and before I long my gaze started to shift to the surf rolling into Umina beach. I was about a kilometre and a half out from the beach watching the surf roll in from the side, with big swell curling over and breaking over a kilometre out from the beach.  I could see all sorts of interesting turbulence, and before long I paddled across the channel  for a closer look at the churning maelstrom caused by a receding tide hitting incoming swell and all above a nice shallow sandbar!

The lumps were starting to getting a bit bumpy and as I hadn’t mounted my camera on the kayak, I was having to whip it out during calmer moments for a pic. The turbulance was mesmerising me though and I wanted to get close to bump around in it, so after taking a final shot, I put the camera away and paddled into the mess.

Final shot before paddling into the mess.

And then I was away, bouncing around as waves and outgoing tide surges met in a frothy mess out on the sandbar. Heading in for Ettalong, I paddled amongst the mess, catching the odd run on bigger swell, whilst bracing constantly as the criss-crossing lumps hit from different angles. By now I was yelling and laughing at the incredible fun this had become, barely in control with my kayak being tossed about under the warm winter sunshine.

With all that moving water the ride in was over much quicker than I had anticipated. As I reached the entrance to Ettalong the waters calmed again and I rode a couple of smaller surges back into the beach, still with a smile from ear to ear at the incredible fun I’d just had.

And with that my paddle, and my holiday up the coast, came to an end. I packed up the boat, had a last look at the coastline, and then drove off smiling and content. Cheers – FP

The Fatmobile packed and ready to go. Bye Ettalong!

Mrs FP captures FP's kayak during a dawn raid

My wife Bec used to paddle in Sydney quite often until a paddling friend told her that Middle Harbour, her usual paddle spot, is a Bull Shark breeding ground. Since then, she has refused to get behind the paddle, with a fairly healthy fear of the ocean critters that inhabit Australia’s waters.

One morning during our family holiday in Avoca, Bec surprised me by asking to take my kayak out for a paddle. I honestly thought she was trying to be funny, before I realised she was serious. So with that, I rushed the family down to Avoca Lake, launched the boat, gave Bec some last minute tips, and pushed her out into the Lake.

Bec in the kayak with a Greenland paddle in hand

I admittedly was a little worried. My boat is designed for big heavy loads, and she is but a little bitty thing. It is also has a moderate V hull which can be tippy for some. And with the unconventional paddle to top it off, I was expecting her to take a little swim. But instead, with rock-steady balance, she paddled out into the lake and easily steered the boat around without so much as an awkward lean.

Once she’d had enough, she then handed the boat to me for a quick burn around the lake. This is an old favourite paddle spot for me, and the place where I did my initial training when I first started paddling, so it is always nice to cruise amongst its trees and birdlife.

The serenity of Lake Avoca... rudely interrupted by a fat bloke in a boat!

Such a lovely part of the world

When I finally got back to the shore, by wife had just returned from the butcher with a couple of steaks and a few sausages for dinner. I mean, seriously, what an awsome woman?? I’m such a lucky man! Cheers – FP

Mrs FP - like a sparrow on the deck of an aircraft carrier!