Emerging daylight on Pittwater

The weekend had been exciting for Grumm. He had permission from the Minister for War & Finance to buy a kayak, and with the Sydney Harbour Kayaks ex-rental sale on, was keen to get into a nice composite Boréal Design Narwhal. However, with his son’s first football game on, I’d offered to go as his proxy, and returned with a completely different boat for him. Instead of a nice cruisy stable ruddered boat, I had bought him a kayak that was 10cm narrower, 30cm longer, with hard chines and a skeg. I’d got him an immaculate Boréal Design Labrador, knowing that once he was used to it he’d thank me for the more technical boat. And in the meantime, I’d get to laugh at him regularly falling out of it!

To my great annoyance however, on the test run he hadn’t fallen out even once. And as it turned out, the boat is an absolutely flying machine that I couldn’t remotely keep up with. Unless he had to turn of course, which he simply couldn’t do, since I hadn’t shown him how to edge and the boats complete lack of rocker meant it tracked as straight as an arrow!

The next day, since he’d proven he could actually stay upright in the boat, we left home at 5am for Pittwater, a 10km stretch of water leading to the mouth of the Hawkesbury River.  Grumm wanted to see his first kayak-borne sunrise, so I figured this was as good a place as any to do so. I’d also invited Timbo along for the journey, and with darkness slowly draining away we pushed off into the inky waters of Pittwater.

Every cloud has a silver lining. Or golden even!

Immediately Grumm set a cracking pace in his ridiculously fast boat. I was determined to tip him out though, so time and again I’d race up his slip stream, edge the nose of my Aquanaut alongside his stern, and then smash a hard turn to port against the back of his boat. This would immediately spin him around sideways, although I just couldn’t seem to get him to fall out. Of course once sideways it would take him 5 mins and about a 400 metre turning circle to get his boat facing the right way again, which gave me ample time to get some distance on him before he would inevitably catch-up. Then I’d do it all again – haha!

After a few kilometres of these games, we passed by Scotland Island and paused as the sun finally poked up over the horizon, bathing us all in golden light. Grumm raced ahead for the prime position to finally get his paddling sunrise.

The FP view of the sunrise. Beautiful.

Grumm gets pole position for his first sunrise.

Grumm bathed in dawn's first light.

Once we had that out the way we recommenced our northwards paddle up Pittwater, pausing occasionally to enjoy the national park wilderness on its western shores. For me, this meant a little rock-gardening whilst Timbo and Grumm took a wide-berth in their composite boats (yay for my plastic Aquanaut!). Eventually Tim got annoyed with missing out on all the fun, so pulled out his goggles and started to practice some rolls.

Timbo being a clown as usual. Nice rolls though!

By this stage we’d come about 6-7 km, with Timbo and I catching the odd boat-wake for a little sloppy surfing. But Grumm’s boat started to slow down, and we realised all the paddling over the past two days was wearing him out.  So we decided to pull into Mackerel Beach, a quaint little holiday village accessible only by boat.

Time to relax at Mackerel Beach

Now relaxing on the beach, we were joined by a lovely lady who had ridden her bike down to the water’s edge. Our chat inevitably turned to coffee and we asked if she knew of somewhere to get one. She responded that she was actually off to get a few cups of Sydney’s best coffee – at a café on the otherside of Pittwater! And at that, she pulled out an old ski and paddle and set off for the 2km paddle across the water.

Coffee... over there somewhere apparently.

Looking at Grumm however it was clear we wouldn’t be making the extra trip for Sydney’s best coffee. In his whiniest Brit accent, he complained about his sore shoulders and Timbo and I could see we’d have to get him back the last 7 kms via the most direct route possible.  Even though his whinging was a little tiresome, his slow pace allowed us to take in the fog that was rolling into Pittwater, a magnificent sight as it crept into the watery basin.

Fog rolling in from the Tasman Sea across the Hawkesbury River mouth

Timbo watching the fog rolling in through the valleys

Still in a playful mood, I was taking the long route back by playing in all the rock-gardens along the water’s edge. Dodging amongst the rocks, I was giving my Adanac Paddle a good workout as I zoomed through little gauntlets,  with water sliding in and out of the rocky formations.  Then, much to Timbo’s amusement, whilst a good 15 metres into a particularly shallow rock garden, I got stuck. Not a little stuck,  but quite seriously stuck, so to the sounds of Tim’s laughter I slowly pushed off the rocks and carefully reversed out, trying not to think of the new scratches I’d most likely added to my hull. On a bright note, at least I hadn’t broken my Greenland paddle!

Grumm slowly paddling back, safely far away from any shallow rock-gardens

As Grumm’s whining got worse, Timbo took over distraction duties and coached Grumm on paddle technique and edging. It didn’t shut him up for long, but at least it gave him the chance to pick up a few skills! Then finally, we pulled into McCarrs Creek, our put-in point and the end of Grumm’s journey. I was disappointed still that he hadn’t fallen out, but with a few oyster beds to watch our for at the landing point, I thought my best chance was about to come. And wouldn’t you know it, Grumm had already flipped over on exit and taken a bath before I could get the camera primed for the shot!

Grumm trying to disguise the fact he's just fallen in and is now dripping wet!

The final verdict on the morning was that Grumm’s boat is a rocket, sunrises are great, and poms whinge a lot. Oh, and watch out for the depth of rock-gardens!! Cheers – FP

Tags: Boréal Design, Boreal Design Labrador, grummett, Pittwater, Timbo

Boréal Design Paddles - Orca | Archipel | Aloonaq

During my preparation for the Hawkesbury Classic I’ve been experimenting with different paddles to try to find one I like. Thanks to Sydney Harbour Kayaks I’ve been able to try a few different types, and here I’ll review each one.

The first paddle (and the one I bought with my BD Nanook) is a fibreglass BD Orca. This beast has a big blade and pushes a serious amount of water, making it an absolute powerhouse in the right hands. Not one for small people, as it puts a pretty serious strain on the shoulders, and to be honest not really right for long distances. But as a strength training aid it is magnificent. On a recent paddle with a friend he told me I was taking long, slow, powerful strokes without much thought and was absolutely flying. Great for a big man like myself… as long as I don’t have to paddle too far.

The second paddle, and the one I’ve been training with the last few weeks, is a carbon-fibre BD Archipel. Now first of all these carbon-fibre paddles are just brilliant. It is incredibly light to use and I can see why the best paddles are all made of this material. The shape of the Archipel blade is more inline with most Euro-blades and offers a good turn of power with far less resistance than the Orca. And with its gold writing on black carbon-fibre looks, it just looks damn sexy!

The third paddle, the BD Aloonaq, is inspired by traditional Greenland paddles and has a long flat and very narrow blade. The great thing about this paddle is that it pushes far less water and therefore puts a lot less strain on the shoulders. This would be ideal for people with any joint complaints.

For my test paddle today I had three different feelings using this paddle. For the first third of the paddle I was frankly disappointed with the lack of power (compared to the previous two paddles) and the fair bit of flutter. This of course suggests a problem with the engine rather than the blade! Anyway, for the second third of the paddle, once I had formed the right rhythm and technique, I started to really enjoy its ease of use during my kayak on the Harbour. I was starting to catch a fair bit of water with the blade and could feel like I was getting alot of efficiency from it. By the third third of the paddle I was starting to get tired from the days paddling and started to REALLY appreciate how easy it is to use!

In conclusion, I liked them all for different reasons. For short paddles the BD Orca is great – a powerful brute that loves to gather speed. For general paddling the carbon-fibre BD Archipel is hard to go past. Light, powerful, and a pleasure to use. Plus you look good – haha! The BD Aloonaq would make a great spare paddle, as its narrow profile makes it easy to store on-deck and it is great to have when you are getting tired.  And ideally, I’d like them all in carbon-fibre thanks! Happy paddles people – FP

A Boréal Design sculpture! Nanook, Orca, Archipel, Aloonaq

Tags: Boréal Design

Boréal Design Nanook fibreglass kayak

After the difficulties faced using my current kayak with ocean swell conditions, with a need for a long-distance kayak for the Hawkesbury Classic in October, and after an insightful chat with the crew at Sydney Harbour Kayaks, I booked a paddle on one their fibreglass kayaks, a Boreal Nanook. Now the Nanook (apparently Inuit for “Polar Bear”, quite fitting considering my nickname!) is pitched in as a performance kayak for, err, large people. In fact their marketing spiel is quite polite on the matter:

The Nanook is designed for individuals weighing 90 kg (200 lb) or more. This kayak has a deeper profile, offering ample room for the legs, thighs and feet. For added comfort and freedom of movement, the cockpit and seat are larger than those of other composite models.

Perfect for the Fat Paddler! Now keep in mind this paddler has thus far only paddled sit-on-tops, so this was always going to be an experience. Without a doubt the Nanook feels more cramped around the thighs and feet than my Cobra Expedition, but then a sit-on-top has the benefit of complete leg freedom. After a minute in the Nanook however I’d forgotten to feel cramped and actually started to enjoy the enhanced control you get when wedged into a kayak properly!

A pre-storm rainbow over Sydney

One of the things I wanted to test of course was the stability.  And compared to my Cobra the Nanook was so stable I was frankly shocked. In comparison my Cobra is 1cm narrower across the beam and about 8cm longer, and frankly pretty tippy.  It has a very low profile, making it excellent in high winds, but also susceptible to water washing in over the sides when choppy or during largish swell. The Nanook on the other hand was dry, warm, and happy to bob around in the water without any concern about entering water.

Paddling into the upcoming storm on Sydney Harbour

But the only real way to test the Nanook was to head out into ocean swell to see if it was more stable than my Cobra had been the day before. To add to the test a nice big rain storm was blowing into Sydney and by the time I passed Balmoral and into the path of the swell coming off the Pacific Ocean, wind/rain/chop added to the equation.

Riding up over ocean swell towards the Heads & the Pacific Ocean

I have to say I was even more impressed with the Nanook’s stability. With the big swell and sideways chop the kayak simply bobbed about happily without any water washing into the kayak at all. This is one hell of a steady & stable kayak!

Then I had a slight mishap. A running repair done just prior to my test came loose, resulting in the left rudder cable coming loose. With onboard repairs looking impossible, I used the cable system to pull the rudder out of the water and back up onto the stern, and started paddling with the swell back into the harbour.

Now tracking on the Nanook is no-where near as clean and straight as the Cobra (which is shaped with an inbuilt skeg system). Without the rudder, it was virtually impossible to keep the boat in a straight line with swell running from behind, and I spent quite some time pinwheeling perpendicular to the oncoming waves as a result. However, once I got out of the swell and back onto flat water, the forward momentum was far easier to control with smart paddling and the kayak ran effortlessly up into Middle Harbour.

In general, I really love this boat. It is big enough to handle both my weight and long leg length. It is sleek enough to develop good running speed, particularly on flat water. It is stable enough to handle nasty swell and chop. And the quality of Boréal Design kayaks is really second to none.  Me likey likey! 

NOTE: Sydney Harbour Kayaks are the official distributors for Boréal Design kayaks in Australia and New Zealand. They are friendly and helpful and offer “paddle before you buy” sessions at the Spit for you to test their Boréal range of kayaks. It’s well worth it.

Despite wind & driving rain, a very happy reviewer!

Tags: Boréal Design, Boreal Nanook, Kayak Review, Nanook