Anne Marie in front of big-boys' toys at The Spit
A visiting work colleague from our Chicago office, Anne Marie has been a fan of FatPaddler.com for quite some time. It only made sense then that I should take her out to see Sydney Harbour from a kayak, even though she’d never been kayaking before.
We kitted her up with a BD Epsilon P100 from Sydney Harbour Kayaks and set off up into Middle Harbour, stopping occassionally to discuss paddle technique and how to make her go a little faster and more efficiently. After a short while however she was up to speed and motoring along quite nicely.
Anne Marie powering along up Middle Harbour
Oi!! Watch where you're going!
Once underway I had to make a quick decision on where to go, but that decision was made easier as the “World-Famous” coffee boat appeared on the horizon and chugged its way into Sugar Loaf Bay. Now I’d already determined Anne Marie was a coffee lover, and knowing just how crap American-made coffee is I knew we’d have to chase Garry the coffee-man down for a relaxing cuppa on the Harbour.
Garry passing a cup of black-gold to Anne Marie
It doesn't get much better than this!
After enjoying a few minutes of post-coffee bliss I realised our time was almost up and it was time to get Anne Marie back to The Spit, so we commenced the return leg home through the building boat-traffic.
Look at that catch! Paddling style got much better as the morning progressed.
For visitors to Sydney, it can be all to easy to stick to the standard sights, so it was good to get Anne Marie out on the water to experience the real Sydney as we paddlers know it. When she returns to the cold snows of Chicago next week, she’ll remember this cracking morning on our beautiful Harbour much more than her quick look at the Harbour Bridge.
Hope you enjoyed yourself Anne Marie, perhaps we’ll show you another part of the Harbour next time to make it to Sydney. Cheers – FP
Get out on the water people, life's too short to miss out!
I wish I could get coffee delivered out on the water…
Ragn
Hey Sean,
Good on ya for bringing out a yank! She looks like a sweet one! That boat looks HUGE with her in it!
And yah, nice to finally see a pic of that coffee boat!!
Stew
*chuckle* Its the smallest of the Epsilon range too! Anne Marie is fairly little 🙂
Hey Sean,
Love the photos……..too bad you didn’t tell me Anne Marie was going over to visit you….could have sent the paddle with her…….L0L
You two look like you had a great paddle….nice calm water…and coffee to boot!
Jill
Well Jill, she’ll most likely come back again! 😉
Hi Anne Marie……
It’s good to see you actually having some fun on your trips to Sydney. enjoy it while you can. ? Now are you going swimming with the sharks ?
LOL… Dad
Aha! Anne Marie, these pix give me an idea for something else we can do the next time you and Joe visit us on the Ole Miss. We have a kayak too!
Fantastic to see you out on the water!
I’m impressed with you, Anne Marie! I have always been a little frightened of kayaks for some reason – maybe it’s from seeing professional kayakers doing that scary “roll” where they go underwater and back – the fear of only rolling half-way! You made it look easy, and the area there was beautiful!! Hope to get together with you and Joe soon!!!
Outstanding! Look at that smile! You look like a kid out there having a splash! 🙂
FP, You’ll have to visit Chicago sometime and maybe get a return of the favor. Lake Michigan is great kayaking water, at least in July and August!
Gday Chuck! Funnily enough i was in Chicago in August! Didn’t get to paddle the lake, but I did get to paddle the Chicago River at night instead!
http://fatpaddler.com/2009/08/kayaking-chicago-river-at-night/
FP: Thanks! Just looked at your Chicago River piece and enjoyed it thoroughly. One of these fine days I’ll have to get to all your blog entries.
Haha, wait until you find the Alaska sections! 🙂