I paddled over to the kayak club this morning to paddle with birthday girl Izzy Combe, David Brown and Jason Gardner who was back for the weekend from Kalgoorlie and a pelican a few metres away had a hook in it's mouth and 5 metres of line trailing behind. There was no way we were able to help it but the Western Australian Seabird Rescue volunteers were soon out there looking for it.

The last time I saw a similar situation a rescuer (Halina) used some fish to attract it close so she was able to grab it and it worked well. I was most impressed.
So she and others were out there again today. I know after talking to her the pelican had been sighted but I'm not sure if they were able to catch it.

Fishermen do need educating. Apparently they think that hooks will dissolve within hours, so they just cut the line.
  

If you see a bird in difficulty ring 6102 8464.
info@wasr.org.au
Their website is: www.wasr.org.au
Donations welcome.

For after hours and all other wildlife emergencies, please contact the Wildcare Helpline on (08) 9474 9055. Or call Wildlife Rescue Australia on 1300 596 457.

 

Halina rescuing a pelican in distress.

It's an exciting and busy time of the year for the Downwind paddlers with several races taking part this week. With good wind it's making these races even better. With no interstate or international paddlers though it is certainly a different week from last years Downwind festival.

I spend a lot of time on the river so I come across many paddlers. Some paddle alone or with a friend and others are in big groups. You never know what is going to happen out on the water so it is a very sensible to have some insurance cover. If you belong to a Paddle WA Club then you are covered but if you don't you are on your own.

But don't stress Paddle WA offer Direct Membership which means you don't have to join a PWA Club if you don't want to, you can join directly to Paddle WA and get the insurance cover and other benefits for a pretty cheap price.

Are you or your group insured? If not think seriously about this offer. You never know what is going to happen on the water.

Do you paddle with a group or paddle alone 
and you don't have insurance cover?
If you don't, it would be sensible to check out the

Paddle WA

 Direct Membership

If you are not insured - Think About It!

This is a race in which you race as a pair and it is important if you want a great race you need to pair up with someone who is equal in speed to you. If you are not equal it can be an easy race for one and a very hard race for the other.
There were 66 paddlers, 29 teams of 2 and 2 double teams with 4 in the team. The slowest teams were sent off first at minute intervals which meant that the top teams didn’t reach the finish first, but it did mean most paddlers came in within 15 minutes of each other.

I was teamed up with Paul McLaren which turned out being the perfect team. I had been training with Paul on a Thursday night and over the last few weeks he has been getting quicker so he was now certainly my equal, if not better.

It didn’t matter who we beat, but we had to beat Jayden and Sharon who were starting 1 minute behind us. They were both from our Progressive Racing Group and they have both beaten me a time or two which will increase the fitter they become and the older I get.

Winners - Will Lee & Andrew Mowlem.

Photo Photo Selena Lloyd
 

Joshua Richards & Matthew Jones passing Grant Pepper & Vlad Vanek

Photo Selena Lloyd

For once we had the tide with us and the wind was in the right direction most of the way. When it was our turn to leave Paul took the lead keeping a good pace of over 12 km/h for a while. (Our pace was in the 11s most of the way.) Within a couple of kilometres we could see we were catching Lawrence and Alan who took off two minutes ahead of us. I did a few leads but Paul said he was happy to do most of the leading.

We started to catch up with a few slower teams at the 4-5km mark and at the 6km mark I decided it was time I worked harder and seeing Lawrence and Alan I went for it and we passed them quite comfortably. After I had a revved up the pace for a while Paul took over. I would get my breath back and seeing other paddlers ahead I would take the lead again to pass them.

It was pleasing that Jayden and Sharon hadn’t caught up and it wasn’t until Sandy Beach, 11.4km into the race that we noticed Christopher and Harry were about to pass.

I took the lead again and to my surprise we were going as fast as they were which was about 12.4km/h plus. I was pretty pleased I was able to keep up with them for a kilometre, then we hit the shallows around Ron Courtney Island and they went ahead.
We carried a good pace until the turn post opposite the boat ramp at Claughton Reserve which was about the 13.4km mark, but then we were suddenly paddling against the wind and the tide and we were hardly making 10km/h. That didn’t matter so much though because we could see at the turn that Jayden and Sharon were more than a minute behind us. At the finish we rejoiced as I watched my watch tick over to prove we had beaten them which ended up being 50 seconds. What great joy.

Paul pulled more than his weight, so I couldn’t have picked a better partner.

Thanks to the organisers, volunteers and the food makers.
 

Terry Bolland & Paul McLaren

Photo Selena Lloyd
 

The Guppies

Photo Selena Lloyd
 

Julie McDonald & Ray E Smith
Photo Selena Lloyd
 

70 years between the youngest paddler - Beau Jacob 10 years and Ray Smith 80 years.
 

17 Paddlers from the AKC Progressive Racing Group took part.

If you can paddle and look after yourself, are a social paddler or a fitness fanatic and want to get into a bit of fun racing why not join our group.

2020 FENN West Coast Downwinder - woohoo - it was great conditions. Shame our fellow international and interstate paddling friends couldn’t be here to enjoy it with us. Thanks to FENN and OceanPaddler for race sponsorship and to our series sponsors Kate and Brad Hardingham - from IOP facebook.

Results here-

 https://www.webscorer.com/race?raceid=228164

Competitors are excited about the wind conditions.

Getting ready for the big one.

Photo John O'Sullivan

 

On the water.

Photo John O'Sullivan
 

Darryl Khng having a wild ride.

Photo Darryl
 

Winner Brendan Rice over 2 minutes ahead.

Photo Ian Kinnimonth

Kimberley Kayaking 1982

part 19
 100 Days Solo

Leaving Prince Regent River.

Meeting a tidal bore.

Up on the cliff I felt safe from all the dangers and my hammock was strung above the cliff edge between 2 trees overlooking the magical Prince Regent Reserve. I relaxed and watched rock wallabies bound off into the night and viewed a spectacular electrical storm in the southern skies. Oh, what a place to be! Lovely one day, perfect the next! Once more, I realised why I was here putting myself in danger.

I struggled down the cliff with my gear in the early morning and found myself knee deep in mud and water as I packed. As I moved with the swift outgoing current I tried to steal as many kilometres as I could before the tide turned. I soon left the main Prince Regent River and entered St George Basin and headed for a beach I had noticed on Marigui Promontory on the way up. As I approached St Patrick Island, I noticed a shimmering wave heading towards me. As I was still being assisted by the outgoing current, the mystery deepened as the wave closed in. It was a tidal bore without doubt, so I paddled at full speed and met the 2 – 3 foot high wave head on. With all my might, I tried hard to penetrate through the wave and avoid a free ride back to the Prince Regent River.

Mangroves along the river.

My mind and body became alive and alert as I jumped the wave and fought the opposing current towards the island’s extended reef 300 metres away. Suddenly the current had turned into a fast flowing river and a rapid had formed at the corner of the reef not far ahead. I tried to paddle against the current but it was too strong, and the standing waves that had been created were getting bigger with every minute that passed. With only 3 kilometres to go to reach the beach I fought like fury, but eventually my body gave up, I simply couldn’t paddle against it.

Exhausted, I retreated gracefully and headed towards the island’s reef. Unless I wanted to spend 6 hours on the reef I had only one other chance to get to my beach, and that was to pull the kayak up the rapid by walking along the reef. I didn’t hesitate, I attached a rope to the bow and I started pulling the kayak, but it didn’t work very well, the kayak kept crashing into the jagged edges of the reef. I tied on a longer rope and by using my paddle to keep the kayak away from the reef I was able to make slightly better progress.

It was all going well for a few minutes then suddenly the reef gave way, I lost my balance and ended up sitting on the reef. With a slack rope the fast current whipped away the bow of the kayak and it started floating down stream. Luckily I had kept a firm grip on the long rope, avoiding what could have been a most embarrassing situation – my kayak floating away with all my gear in it and me, on an island in the middle of nowhere!

Picking myself up, I desperately hauled the kayak around, pulling it hard and smashing it on the razor sharp reef. I had built it strong so there was no damage. For several minutes everything seemed to be going wrong as I was struggling to keep my feet on the fragile reef. Eventually my co-ordination and system of working started to flow and I was back in control again.

At the apex of the rapid, a small surf pounded the reef and violently pushed the kayak against the coral but once over the crux and into slightly calmer waters it allowed me to jump back into the cockpit and paddle away before being washed back down the rapid by the swift current.

I was relieved to be back on the water but for the next 15 minutes my success seemed doomed, as the current had an endless supply of energy, but after pulling out all stops I slowly crept towards the beach, taking 1.5 hours to paddle the 3 kilometres.

With 3 hours to spare before riding the outgoing tide back to Cape Wellington, I decided to walk up to the distant ridge to see the magnificent view of Mt Trafalgar, Mt Waterloo and the whole St George Basin. Not only was the view magnificent, the thought of myself being the first person to climb that ridge and being totally alone in this unique wilderness was very special.

From the Prince Regent River back into the St George Basin.
 

Watch these videos. You will be impressed

https://www.theinertia.com/surf/video-of-this-tidal-bore-in-western.

https://youtu.be/5PjCQtN1CSI

https://youtu.be/mJ9kdhVJT0U

A view over St George Basin with Mt Trafalga and Mt Waterloo in the background.
 

A view over St George Basin.
 

A view over St George Basin with Mt Trafalga and Mt Waterloo in the background.
 

Looking south to where I will be paddling to get back to the open ocean.

When the tide was right, I had 2.5 hours to paddle 26 kilometres to Cape Wellington, which I knew was touch and go. With no time to spare, I faced the turbulences again through the narrows and the islands near Uwins Island. I was fighting hard to get to shore before dark and with 5 kilometres to go, I was rammed by something very big on my rear left side. I didn’t see it, but I suspected that it was most probably a shark. The fright encouraged me to paddle with a higher arm action to prevent my hands skimming the water, but in reality that wasn’t going to help, if the shark was serious nothing would stop it attacking.

After passing through a section of standing waves created by the tide and opposing wind and still with 2 kilometres to go, the sun completely vanished and I found myself paddling in the dark. It wasn’t a good idea to be paddling in the dark in this region, but I could do nothing to get me to shore any quicker. To save some distance I headed for the south side of the cape. By the time I hit the beach I had paddled for 9 hours, walked for 2.5 hours and loaded and unloaded for about 2.5 hours, and I still had to cook my meal!

Happy to be on firm ground I cooked my meal, relaxed, looked into the night sky and reflected back to the last few days. It had been such an amazing journey and so many things had happened, it had truly been an adventure.

Cleaning my breakfast bowl a few feet from the water’s edge a three foot reef shark started splashing and charging towards me. For a moment I thought I was under attack, but it was chasing a fish in the shallows.

The receding tide was exposing more of the mud and the reef every minute making me work quicker to pack. Pushing off into the murky shallows my heavy kayak was stopped within minutes by an exposing reef leaving deep scratch marks along the hull. After rounding the exposed reefs of Cape Wellington I headed north-east towards Bat and Coronation Islands. In 1819 Captain King made an excursion from Careening Bay to Bat Island where he found a cave with bats inside, hence the name.

I was told of a water point on a beach nearby, but how reliable it was I didn’t know. My mind was convinced that it would be there but with the sea being extremely bouncy I didn’t know if I should chance going ashore with such a pounding surf. Getting closer I could see a spring bubbling out of the sand. With the need to keep topping up my supplies I decided to risk going ashore. My surf landing was successful but the weight of the kayak only allowed me to drag the bow up the beach, leaving the stern being pounded by the surf. With the rising tide it meant I had to drag it up a little every few minutes or the kayak would be swamped. The spring water had a strong taint of salt and certainly undrinkable. The lush vegetation behind the sand dunes hid three deep holes. I dug down about 2 feet to see if I could find water, but the constant caving in of the sand and the energy expired in digging was an uphill battle. I quickly checked the area, only to end up fighting through a tangled mass of vines.

My time was running out, if I wanted to check the area properly I needed to unload. After fighting my way back through the vines I returned to find my boat on the verge of being swamped, so I immediately tried leaving. This was easier said, than done. By the time I managed to enter the cockpit it was half full of water, the weight making it sit even lower than before. I wasn’t happy with my rushed departure, my kayak was even more unstable so decided to land again on a calmer section of the beach instead of using my pump to bail out.

Rough seas kept me on my toes.

My eyes had deceived me, the waves were even bigger than before. As I came in on a wave the boat was then dragged back down into the trough to be battered by the next wave. The boat was now completely full of water making it truly impossible to drag it from the ocean. I bailed out with my large mug being hampered and bashed by the waves. When the majority of the water was out I was able to drag it slightly up the beach to empty it fully. My next problem was to turn the boat and face the bow out to sea. Success was short lived as even bigger waves of the rising tide started breaking. With only 2 to 3 inch freeboard it didn’t take long for the water to start filling the kayak up again. As I desperately tried to control the kayak, the waves and backwash had the upper hand. I was becoming the target and a battering ram as a kayak repeatedly pushed to and fro by the waves and then sucked back on a wash to hit my legs. My shins soon became bruised.

If I wanted to carry on kayaking my options were now limited. The only hope I had was to enter the kayak full of water and pump it out, when at sea. The kayak was unbelievably unstable with all the water in and it was like riding a one wheeled bicycle. It took me several minutes for the pump to clear the cockpit of water but I was extremely pleased it was out and I was on the road again. Rounding Bat Island, the wind, the waves, the tide, and the cliffs together posed another threat. The waves rebounding from the cliffs caused havoc and the uneven wave patterns thundered towards me in all directions. The kayak was like jelly wobbling in a shaking bowl.

Around the next point the water looked a lot more sheltered, but as I headed towards Careening Bay the rough following sea was more difficult and energy draining than I expected. Coronation Islands to the north failed to give any shelter. The 10kms of severe conditions took its toll on my left shoulder. The soreness was adding to the frustrating task of keeping up-right. With 1½ km to go the rocky shore, the tide effect and the wind made the sea such a muddle. The beach didn’t look far away but it might as well have been a million miles as I was fighting for survival. Waves broke over the rear deck and then buried my waist and cockpit area to eventually shed off before another wave swamped me again.

It was such a relief to feel the beach beneath my feet knowing that the day’s work was done and I could rest. I then unpacked, washed and had a short rest while eating nuts and dried fruit.

Careening Bay was part of our history. In 1820 captain Philip Parker King careened his boat Mermaid here to do repairs. His men scarred the area by carving the ships name, HMC Mermaid 1820 into a boab tree which now was quite huge.

It only took me a few seconds to notice the tree. There it was, the trunk bigger than a complete elephant and with the words in large bold letters carved into it, ‘Mermaid 1820’. With the beach only 100m away I decided to carry my kayak over to the tree for a photo session.

If you ever watched Guy Baskin’s film, Wonders of Western Australia he visited the tree some years later and he said that you needed to walk several kilometres by compass course, fight your way through a jungle of rainforest and watch out for wild pigs, to reach the tree, yet it was only 100m away. Journalist’s license!

As I busily clicked photos the sky suddenly filled with black clouds and the wind started howling. Within seconds a downpour started. My gear which was sprawled out was soon wet, so was my camera. I rushed over taking a garbage bag from the kayak and placing everything in it. I was getting drenched, I had no wet weather gear and only a jacket that was stored away. With only a towel to keep the chill out I was wet and cold and had nowhere to hide from the storm. Finding two shallow holes I place plastic bags in them to catch some water. They were steadily filling up but within half an hour the storm had blown over.

Just before dark I tied my hammock on the branches of Kings giant boab tree. I laid back in my hammock protected from the mosquitoes by my clothes, but sweating from the heat. It was pitch-black, clouds were overhead and it again threatened to rain, which I wasn’t looking forward to. In fact it didn’t rain and the 45 minute downpour I had earlier was the only rain I had in 100 days. With so much to write about that evening I didn’t get to sleep until midnight.

Back in 1982 not many people had been to this tree.

HMC Mermaid 1820

Paddle WA Live Lighter Sprint Regatta #4

Sunday 29th November 2020 Champion Lakes Regatta Centre

Entries now open now and close Monday 23rd Nov Midnight

 

Indian Ocean Paddlers

Races

Summer Series dates are now locked in. We are also very pleased to announce that Brad and Kate Hardingham Realmark have agreed to stay on board as our seasons sponsor. This support for IOP is massively appreciated.
Race dates:
12th December Xmas paddle
9th Jan 2021
30th Jan
20th Feb
13th March

Next race 12th December Xmas Paddle