It was another inauspicious start to
the Eurobodalla kayak paddle from Surfside Beach in Batemans Bay, the
30 cm swell was causing havoc for one hapless kayaker who had somehow
managed to capsize three times trying to egress from the beach.
Eventually, after being dragged out to deeper water by the "beach
master" B finally escaped the pounding surf and joined the rest
of us on the glassily calm water.
The destination for today was Archeron
Ledge beach, unnamed on the topographic map but situated just east of
Maloneys Beach. Doug and I headed over to Square Head where there
are some fun rock gardens to play in, while the others were
straight-lining for Archeron Ledge beach. Doug and I wove in and out
of some easy rock gardens, then paddled into the narrow slot that Mr
Honey calls "the pool". I almost got washed side ways up a
rock platform but my new shorter paddle made it much easier to do
draw strokes and pull myself off. We popped out at the far northern
end into a half metre swell and A saying "I feel like a coward
now," as he had not paddled in.
Heading for Archeron Ledge
The swell was rapidly dropping as we
headed east and by the time we landed at Archeron Ledge there was not
much left. For some reason, perhaps they thought it was more
sheltered, the group landed at the far eastern end in the shade
instead of down the west end of the beach in the sun. I was wet from
taking a couple of waves chest on and it felt quite cold. B had
capsized again coming into the beach and must now have been
thoroughly wet and chilled. Doug tried to give him some tips for
getting off the beach - just simple ones like "paddle, don't
just sit there," but B was having none of it and J had to walk
him out into waist deep water off the beach again. I doubt I would
be so patient with someone who obviously needed some instruction but
refused to accept any.
We tried to hit "the pool"
again on the way back but the tide had dropped too much and it was
impassable so we had to back out again. A, Doug and I paddled into
Cullendulla Beach to practice some eskimo rolls. My rolls did not
feel as smooth as they did a couple of weeks ago but I was still
getting up consistently and did not have to bail out. The air and
water is getting colder and spending much time practicing is taking
more mental energy. By the time we got back to Surfside Beach even
the larger swells were not big enough to ride in.
No comments:
Post a Comment