Whale

A young humpback shows off to TJ near North Head

Hawkesbury Classic 2009

If you've ever wondered why anyone would want to paddle 111 km from late afternoon through till morning battling an incoming tide for what can seem like an eternity, struggling to keep your eyes open, strainng to see where your going all the while paddling hard to get it over with here's the reason:

The Finish is so damn good!

Well done to Dee and all the other paddlers who did The 2009 Hawkesbury Classic

I had a good night and finished in 12:53 with my Mirage 530. I didn't stop, didn't take any drugs and finished in good shape so although I took 31 minutes longer than I did last time I'm satisfied none the less. See the results of this years Hawkesbury Canoe Classic. See old HCC post for more pics.

Turbulent Tuesday

Jervis Bay

Four of us headed down to Jervis Bay for a midweek paddle. We had great winter weather with enough bounce to keep things interesting but not too rough that we couldn't get close to the spectacular Beecroft Peninsular cliffline with all its caves, slots and bays.

Chris Walker - Epic 18

me & my Mirage 530

Chris James - Valley Aquanaut

Rob Mercer - Rockpool GT

Rob looked to be really enjoying his new Rockpool GT It goes fast, can carry a big load and is highly manoeuvrable (in Robs hands at least).

Seals on "The Drum"

tents under trees make for a much drier night

room with a view

Thursday Morning

Photos by Matt Bezzina & Rob Mercer

Mirage Modifications

Here are a few things I have done to my Mirage 530 that have proved to be helpful. One of the good things about The Mirage is the rail for the foot brace. Unlike most kayaks that simply have screws through the sides of the boat The Mirage rails are glassed in, are very strong and have lots of holes and slots to secure other things to. Its easy to run a bit of webbing from the deck fitting screws to the railing to hold bottles or containers where they can be easily accessed from the seat.

Clockwise: Sponge, food, tow rope, piss bottle

You can see from the pic that the whole rudder assembly/footbrace has been raised. This was done because whilst driving with my feet the point of contact was right accross my arches - the weakest part of the foot. With it raised its the balls of the feet that I can push off.

More recently I added a bit of chopping board to create a full foot plate. Although you can't tell from the pic the black part is angled so together with the original fitting it makes for a strong and comfortable platform which is used to really engage the legs and drive that all important forward stroke. The plastic chopping board is screwed to the back of the existing assembly as well as secured to the railing with webbing and screws.

Raising the footbrace will improve your speed and endurance

This modification has resulted in a significant improvement to the speed and distance I can travel. I got the idea from looking at racing skis and the way they are paddled.

You can still shove stuff into the space behind the footbrace by forcing the rudder pedals back.

Rear Hatch Modification

The rear hatch cover is a bit of a weak point with The Mirage but its very easy to fix. The bungee has been reconfigured to cross the ends of the hatch cover as well as going accross it (only works on 530's). The fastex buckle makes it all sit flatter than the standard hook and the canvas eyelette holders help as well. The rear hatch cover has never budged (even when serioulsy trashed) and the entire compartment is always dry.


This is a standard Mirage seat that has been encapsulated in a thick yoga matt. You can fit 8 litres of water down the sides and behind the seat. The long 2 litre Platypus bottles fit perfectly down each side and you can fit 2 behind the seat.

Foam covered fibreglass seat - best of both worlds

One of the bottles can have a tube attached if its really rough or I'm doing a race. I can simply pull the tube up and clip it to my PFD for hands free hydration.


This is a Scotty attachment that can take many different fishing rod holders and other fittings. The one here is my default fitting (fender holder) that is useful for clipping things to and for locking the boat onto the roof racks. There is als a light post available for this fitting.

LED light inside compass

This is one of my favourites - an LED has been drilled into the compass and is powered from my main pump battery. This is very helpful for night time paddling if you have your barings written down and taped to your deck or skirt. See more DETAILED POST.

Another significant improvement is to cross the rudder cables over. To do this cut the cables near the rudder and pull them out through the cockpit. Pull the tubing out first through the day hatch and then into the rear hatch. Cross them over and push them back through. Now thread the cables back in and re sage. The point where the cables cross are behind the hatch so you won't even notice. This will really help with edging and surfing and if you ever have to paddle a rudderless boat or your own rudder breaks then you will be better skilled to handle it.

Meat & Potatoes

From this . . . .

Peter, Dee, Harry, Ed & Andre prepare for launch

Our usual Saturday Morning Paddle is a good opportunity to knock out those K's in varying conditions.

to this

Dee

Andre

Winter Solstice Paddle

This is how Harry Havu described one of the highlights of The NSWSKC trips calendar:

Winter Solstice Paddle

A paddle to explore the darkness of the longest night. The brave souls who choose to join this pod launch from Gunnamatta Bay and head out to the darkening sea as the sun sets. Rounding the black, forbidding cliffs of Kurnell, where swell pounds the unyielding rock with unforgiving anger, our fragile craft shall steer a heading toward Bear Island. Some say the island is haunted - don't go there at night! — we shall see, let's round the island. After 30 gruelling kilometres, the paddlers will return late at night, and no doubt, quietly remark amongst each other on the depth of darkness of the longest night.

Conditions were on the rough side with a white capping sea of about 1.5 metres on top of a 2 to 3 metre swell. The wind was around 12 to 16 knots from the North East. Heavy cloud and a few showers were also features of this moonless night.

There were five starters and as we headed out from Port Hacking my anxiety eased as I found the conditions to be quite manageable. The distant urban lights reflected off the clouds so it was not as dark as I had anticipated and there was enough visibility to see the approaching waves which enabled me to paddle the same as I would in daylight. The 15 KM trip into Botany Bay was only interrupted by a cargo ship exiting the bay. We waited for it and then, with all lights blazing crossed the shipping channel just as the accompanying pilot boat shot back in front of us, probably shaking their heads at the sight of kayakers out at sea on a rough and rainy winter’s night.

On rounding Bear Island two paddlers made the call that, due to nausea and tiredness, they had had enough and didn’t want to make the return journey. We all paddled across to Kurnell where we left them to catch a taxi back to their cars and then the three of us turned around and gunned it. I was pretty much in top gear from that moment on – partly to keep up with club heavy weights Harry Havu & Keith Oakford and partly because the trip back had me outside my comfort zone and my preeminent thought was getting back into Port Hacking.

Heading back we had the wind and sea behind us which made for some hellish rides but it took me quite a while to relax as unlike the trip out we were looking away from the city so it was now much darker.

Like so many situations in Sea kayaking, how you cope is a mind game above all else. Because I’d had a couple of breakers hit me unexpectedly and took off a few times on waves I didn’t see coming I was a bit anxious. I told myself to just chill, stop thinking the worse and paddle the sea like I normally would. It helped that Harry sometimes zoomed past yahooing as he rode the steeper sets, a ghostly figure often appearing ever so briefly before disappearing in front of a cresting wave. Once I changed mind sets I too started to paddle hard for the rides rather than going into cautious mode every time I felt the stern get picked up. It wasn’t long before we left the rougher cliff section and began our crossing of Bate Bay where many a midnight ride was had. We encountered some noisy penguins and paddled into a few gannets which were almost invisible as they took off around us. Another hour and a half and we were back in Port Hacking and soon after were in dry clothes and heading home.

The thought that I take with me from this paddle is that we don’t paddle this boat or that – we paddle the ocean and the conditions and circumstances we find ourselves in when we're out there.

Whatever boat allows you to push your boundaries and paddle beyond your comfort zone, the boat that can get you through when your right on the edge, the one that gets you home no matter what. Thats the right boat.

Broughton Island

Broughton Island - 24 & 25th of May.

Whilst inside a gauntlet a wave came through. There was only one thing to do - paddle like hell! Lucky for me I got up just enough speed to get through.

Rough conditions going out through Port Stephens

James Johnson

steep waves, almost standing

rounding the north east point of Broughton Is.

Esmeralda Cove

Ian Vaile
Mark Schroeder takes on the slot. Moments after he goes through it turns to froth but luckily he makes it unscathed.

We turn towards home to witness a humpback do a full breach right in front of us. A whale then goes in close to Cons Cleft.

We paddle back to Port Stephens at a fast pace - and finish off a fantastic two days. Photos by Matt, Ian & Mark.

Sydney Coast Line

As autum sets in the coast gets more desserted. Even the VHF is quiet. Perfect!

and our local Sydney waters from a different perpspective: Looking South from Dover Heights at an often paddled route from Sydney Heads to Bondi Beach (8 KM)
And North to the entrance to Sydney Harbour - The HeadsDiamond Bay

We Sydneysiders are fortunate to have wilderness on water right at our doorstep. The only thing missing is more SEA kayakers!

Kayak Storage

I met a bloke who told me he'd like to get into kayaking but doesn't have enough storage space.

Thats no excuse!