Submerged logs - enemies to kayaks and motorboats alike

Paddling in pre-dawn darkness, the last thing you want to come across at full speed is a submerged log.  For a motorboat, such a thing can be catastrophic. So when I saw this bad boy in the middle of Sydney Harbour I couldn’t in all good conscience leave it there, like a submerged mine in a busy shipping lane.

Unfortunately however a kayak is not really designed for lifting enormously heavy objects. Nor is it really equipped with handy towing gear. So all I could do was hold it with one hand and paddle with the other, in an interesting cross-handed alternative paddle style (ie I looked like an uncoordinated fool).

Needless to say it took me 30 mins to paddle about 200m to shore where I could finally prop the log up out of the water, to the cheers of passing motorboats who quickly worked out what I was doing. The things you do for the greater good!  🙂