Due to various commitments, I was
unable to make the last two weekend paddles, although Doug managed to
join the boys for an overnight trip from Bawley Point to Wimbie Beach
which involved a pleasant night's camping at Snake Bay and a minor
tangle with the rock walls in the Blue Cave on North Tollgate Island
proving that no sea kayak trip can ever be incident free.
Under the gum trees down by the river at Thompsons Point
Doug and I had a fantastic week
clipping ring bolts at Thompsons Point and off the Braidwood Road
enjoying fabulous autumn weather and crowd-free (people free) climbs
before coming back to Moruya in time for Saturday's paddle from
Maloneys Beach to Mossy Point. It was another one of those weekends
that are supposed to be a bit windy but turn out glassily calm.
The age of the electronic guidebook at
New Nowra
New Nowra
At first glance this promised to be a
rather long day due to the car shuttle involved, but various partners
of kayakers were pressed into service ferrying cars about and we
ended up in the very cushy position of only having to drive to
Maloneys Beach once and having our car waiting for us at the end of
the day at Mossy Point.
Some kind of mine is longer than yours competition
Apart from P getting drug tested on the
drive between Mossy Point and Maloneys Beach - do older bearded men
wearing (spray) skirts really profile as ice users? - the car shuttle
was rapidly dispatched and only ten minutes after our scheduled
departure time we were all on the water and heading out to the
Tollgate Islands.
Near the Tollgate Islands
I, of course, was at the back of the
line, as the lads sped away on the five kilometre crossing to the
Tollgates. With a swell up to two metres running, no one seemed
inclined to approach the Blue Cave and we paddled past heading for
Black Rock another three kilometres south. Last time I had paddled
to Black Rock we stayed on the sheltered western side as my
companions were a wee bit anxious, so this time I wanted to paddle
around this tiny island. It didn't take long to convince the lads to
add this extra bit of paddling so around we went before heading into
Mosquito Bay for the ubiquitous Aussie bakery stop. If pie eating
(or even grain eating) is required for becoming an Australian
citizen, Doug is in trouble.
Heading around Black Rock
PL joined us at Mosquito Bay so we were
seven as we headed south and a light northeasterly wind came up. I
had my sail up and down all the way to Burrewarra Point and
occasionally got within a few hundred metres of everyone else. PL,
of course, was in and out of half a dozen gauntlets sometimes luring
other paddlers in with him. We paddled inside Jimmies Island which I
have not done before and had an easy passage past Burrewarra Point.
At Mossy Point
After that it was pretty much a
straight-line for Mossy Point where a small wave was crowded with
surfers and SUP'ers. MS was exceedingly gentlemanly and waited for
me to paddle into the channel at Mossy Point perhaps fearing that as
the lone female I might somehow go astray in the final stages of the
paddle. The day was almost over and incident free until, in a tussle
over a wave, M managed to pitch-pole down a steep wave straight into
the side of P's Mirage driving a hole through the fibreglass and
almost making P an involuntary kidney donor. The final, and most
spectacular scene came when M's five metre long white kayak flew
vertically out of the water in a maneuver reminiscent of a great
white shark feasting on a seal.
Celebrating the demise of another Mirage
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