Blackwolf Turbo Lite 240 Plus

I needed a base camp tent as my Blackwolf Tanami is too small. It’s a good tent but it is either too small for a base or too large for the boat. After careful consideration and some lengthy reviewing I opted for the Turbo 240 Lite. It weighs 17kg and will fit in the back of the Volvo. I can erect it in a minute or so and have plenty of room for my things. I plan to use it as the Hunter Kayak Klan HQ at Rock n Roll 2010.

As with most Blackwolf products, the Turbo is extremely well made and practical. I will carry out some personal reviews of it over time but in the mean time check out Kangaroo Tent City for great pricing and brilliant service.

Refuge Bay

Klan trip 31st May 2009

The klan organized a day trip to Broken Bay on Sunday 31st May. I’ve paddled here before but more to seaward and out along the coast. Since the weather was poor we settled on Patonga as our put-in point as it would give us some options if the wind turned ugly. The six of us decided to put Henry in charge of the trip again as he is the best choice and Broken Bay is his back yard. He quickly planned out a nice day trip with a few stop overs so we could have a good look around and paddle some mixed conditions and so we set out.

In the middle of Broken Bay the swell was anywhere from 1 to 2 meters with a calm sea and it was a very relaxing leg. As we approached the Pittwater side the fetch shortened to about 10 meters but paddling was still quite nice. First stop was Refuge Bay. This is a sheltered bay surrounded by steep cliffs and is famous in Australian military history as the training base for Z Force and the Krait. If you don’t know about this commando unit you should do some homework as the Z Force raid by kayak on Singapore Harbour in WWII is considered the greatest seaborne raid in military history and their story is quite amazing. So Refuge Bay holds a certain, almost mystical, aura as you paddle in. At the apex of the bay is a tiny sandy beach below a cliff where a beautiful waterfall flows only rarely, perhaps a handful of times a century. We were lucky that it was in full flow. At the base we had some coffee and admired the incredible beauty of the place. It is very ancient and inaccessible except by boat. Eagles soar overhead in what seems like a scene from Jurassic Park.

photo by Owen Walton

After leaving Refuge Bay, a Nor’Easter blew up the sea and made for some rougher conditions and a bit of a slog into a headwind. After checking out some Aboriginal paintings of indeterminate age at Eagle Rock, complete with more Eagles, we headed to the beaches of Gunya, then across to the north side and some lunch on a little beach. When rested, we headed out into the main bay for a choppy workout into Patonga where the increasing swell and beam sea made for an interesting and concentrated ride home.

I have to say the Assateague was not in the least perturbed by the tougher conditions and at no time did I feel tippy or unsafe. It is a superb craft for these type of conditions. I am sure the Eco Bezhig would have been less certain and I would have been more nervous in it. All in all a great day out in awe inspiring settings with great company and the ideal trip leader in Henry who, incidentally, has the habit of showing up your level of preparedness with a range of nifty gadgets that make you green with envy. I thought my camping kit was fine until he pulls out an espresso maker and starts making a real cup of coffee! I demonstrated my disinterest by drinking a cup of tea instead. Bloody hell, more cost.

The Hunter Kayak Klan is getting vastly more experienced. We now have the numbers that allow for at least a trip a week and sometimes there’s simultaneous events being run. Our local knowledge of coastal conditions is increasing and we can now put together trips with several paddlers with little notice and go to some more challenging places. If I am the klan organizer and official mouthpiece then Henry is the clan skipper. It’s a natural and unspoken choice. He has loads more experienced than the rest of us combined and we all feel more comfortable on big days when he is there. It’s good to have someone to pull us up to higher standards without pressure or fuss and to ensure we are well equipped and well recorded so thanks a lot Henry.

Immersion Research Thinskin Review

I was using a good ol’ O’Neill rashie Oz style for ages but the problem with it, like all rashies, is that the seams are not optimally placed for paddling. Long paddling ends up with badly chafed armpits. Enter the IR Thinskin. I bought it at Rock n Roll when I arrived and I can say it totally RULES. No noticeable chafing even when wet and it keeps you snug in cold weather (I mean cold for NSW not cold for North Americans and Europeans. We don’t want that sort of cold here). Long term owners tell me that it even keeps its shape despite continual abuse. Rashies stretch and change shape making it hard to set a chafe-proof fit.

I know the Sharkskin is a competitor and it’s Australian but the Thinskin rules so hard that it’s difficult to imagine anything better. When Sharkskin give me a free sample to demo (XL please) I will give a fair review of that as well but until then the IR gear should be de rigeur for kayaking in NSW.

I have chosen the image above from the IR site rather than model this garment myself due to the fact that, unlike the Thinskin, my physique has distorted over time and may present an image unconducive to IR ongoing sales.

Hurricane Riders

I just got onto these nutjobs and now I totally aspire to be one. The Hurricane Riders claim to be “committed to representing Ocean Kayaking in a safe and exciting manner”. Yeah right! Go an have a look at the insane things they do. The Oz kayaking community would be appalled at their treatment of their craft and of the crazy stunts they pull. Of course, this makes them all the more attractive.

There’s far too much emphasis in Australia on going on long trips in a kayak. There should be more emphasis on adrenaline fueled kayaking insanity for which my new Impex Assateague is perfectly suited. Hurricane Riders, I salute you.

A beautiful thing

Just look at this piece of art. A thing of beauty. What could be better than a Mission Eco Bezhig atop a Volvo 245, arguably the greatest car ever made. Let me tell you, an Impex Assateague atop a Volvo 850GLT. That’s what. All I need now is a picture of Stephan Meyn’s Boreal Labrador on his Volvo XC70. The man has style. Volvo’s & Kayaks. For Life.

Impex Assateague Review

This week I picked up my new Impex Assateague. I have been paddling a demo boat from Expedition Kayaks and I made the decision to take one of the last ones in stock. It is one of the few boats available designed for large paddlers. I’m 6′1″ and 240lb. My initial impressions of the Assateague were very promising. I paddled one for a day at Bateman’s Bay and was impressed with the secondary stability and remarked that my skill set seemed to improve. Actually, I already had those skills, it’s just my Eco Bezhig was holding me back because of its very poor secondary stability.

My new boat is beautiful. The gelcoat is very thick and the finish is superb. Every fitting is perfectly attached and the decklines are thick and strong. Bungees are almost as thick as the decklines and don’t appear as though they’ll break for some time. Inside the cockpit, the thigh braces are comfortable and perfectly positioned. Footposts are strong and easy to adjust. The seat is impressively comfortable and the ratchets behind make it easy to adjust for a perfect fit. This is a far cry from the molded seat of the Eco Bezhig which seems comfortable at first but soon reveals its shortcomings.

In short, it is hard to find a flaw in the Assateague as far as its physical construction is concerned. You’d be hard pressed to find a superior boat. At the Expedition Kayaks warehouse I was shown a boat with 2 years of wear and tear with no scratch penetrating the gelcoat. Early versions had one or two issues with leakage from the cargo hatch coamings but this has now been corrected. The new version even has extra stiffening in the hull to prevent flexing in the hull.

In the water, the boat shines. I wanted to go rudderless so my skills would improve and I’ve aready mentioned the improvement in edging and bracing I got just by changing boats. The Assateague edges just fine. It goes over smoothly and reaches a stable point where you can just hang. It actually takes some effort to go all the way over so recovering a spill with a brace is a breeze. Compare the Eco which is harder to go over to an edge but once done keeps going until you’re in the drink. The waterline of the Assateague is slightly shorter because it has greater rocker and I think this makes it slightly slower on a long haul. This greater rocker makes it a far superior handler of rough condition. On Saturday, we paddled in a northerly wind twisting to nor’ west that blew the lake up and gave us a quatering sea on our return. The Assateague was incredible stable and I only lost my control once or twice with no ill effect. I found it hard to adjust onto waves but I know this is due to my skill rather than the boat. As I build up trust I will be easily able to edge into and off waves without a rudder. I also found that using only partial skeg rather than full on gave me enormous variation in handling so being able to trim resistance to the water is fabulous.

On a following sea I’ve had mixed results. It needs larger volume waves to push along than the Eco which is brilliant riding swell and surf. I will get used to this and the early results in the demo lead me to believe the boat is no slouch. I did catch and hold a large wave in Broken Bay that gave me a good ride for a few hundred meters. I also had trouble keeping up with Mirage paddlers in my klan but once again this could be me but some other reviewers, who love the boat, say it’s not a fast ride.

Overall, I think this is the boat for me for the future. I am keeping the Eco as it is great in the surf but from now on the Assateague is my boat of choice. If you’re a big bloke looking for the right boat, check this one out. Here’s what some other paddlers have said:

http://www.paddling.net/Reviews/showReviews.html?prod=1140

Australian Outdoors Idyll

Surf Lifesaving

Derrick at Kayak Quixotica has recently painted a picture in ‘Telling Stories’ of an American outdoors idyll on the Adirondacks complete with bears, plaid jackets and Dad teaching to read a compass. It’s an American fantasy, a romanticized legacy of early frontier life that strikes a chord in, presumably, white middle class Americans. It’s how certain Americans perceive the perfect transmission of the American psyche through a rite of passage that’s rarely lived out.

Australians also have these romances. The spirit of ANZAC is our most sacred. It’s a myth. This belief promulgates an idea that we are the successors of tough, fierce bushmen; expert horsemen, crack shots and brilliant soldiers. The truth is that the majority of the men who served in the 1st and 2nd AIF were urbanized coastal dwellers who had never fired a shot prior to the war. The fact that these men became legendary soldiers has nothing to do with the bush myth. Of course, the myth stems from an element of truth in men such as the Light Horsemen and from these the entire AIF received the ANZAC benediction.

So, Derrick’s post got me thinking about the real outdoors as it is in Australia. We have dozens of TV shows from the likes of Malcolm Douglas and the Leyland Brothers showing adventures from the Pilbara and the Kimberlies but only the tiniest fraction of Australians will ever visit there and only a few dozen will live there. However, tens of thousands routinely live the outdoor life along the coast. Surfers do this every day. The Surf Life Saving movement institutionalizes this life and contains within its ethos the seed of the ANZAC spirit. The surf clubs teach young Australians about the sea, the weather, how to read a beach, ride various craft and how to rescue people. When you’re a Nipper, you learn to wade in the surf, run in the sand and gradually learn the skills of a lifesaver. You learn how to treat stings from bluebottles, sunburn and heatstroke. When you’re old enough you are examined and put on patrol where you ride a ski, a rescue board and even a IRB or rubber duck. You become tuned to your beach and are now the repository of local knowledge. This is the real outdoorsmanship in Australia. We are a coastal people and learning to find witjuti grubs in the bush is nowhere near as important as learning to read a rip in the surf.

A few days ago I was reconnected with the surf club culture that raised me as a boy when we chose as our set-out point the boat shed for Swansea Belmont Surf club. Old clubmen were there washing down their skis as we were washing down our kayaks. They kindly offered us their facilities and I took the opportunity to ask advice on selecting different surf skis. The old blokes, who referred to me as ‘cobber’ which is just beautiful to hear, gave me the benefit of decades of life in the surf and regaled me with stories of local paddling legends like the eternal Archie Salaris, trainer of champions and a legend of the Hawkesbury classic, the Hooey brothers, past Swansea Belmont champions and many more. I was indulging in the mythos of a very real outdoors culture and I felt proud and glad to be a part of it. My father understood the need for this culture and took great pains to make me part of it. I would like my boy to be part of it too.

Of course, these days I ride a kayak but my reconnection with the sea is also reconnecting me with that legacy and I think I’d like to be like those old clubmen, never losing touch and always maintaining a link with a very Australian idyll.

Spoon Rocks Klan Trip 13-04-2009

Today was the largest klan trip since we formed. Since most of us had today as a holiday, we planned to paddle out of Swansea channel, out to Moon Island and down to Spoon Rocks near Caves Beach. South of this point is a series of sea caves and cutaways which might offer some decent play.

Eight of us set out at 8:00am under the watchful eye of Henry Van der Kolk, a NSW club instructor who recently joined the klan, and broke out of the Swansea bar soon after. To greet us, a pair of large dolphins ripped through our ranks defying all attempts to photograph them. We decided that the Moon Island leg would delay us too much as there was a cold front heading our way and we didn’t want to get overtaken by bad weather. Next time.

We made Spoon Rocks in good time and beached in a little sheltered beach made just for us. A quick chat and some photos later and we were on our way to the caves. The rebound off the shore was pretty strong and when we got to the main cave, we found it a bit too dangerous to enter. A little further south is a cutaway guarded by fierce rebounding rock gates. By picking a good line through these, we could get right into the cutaway which was calm and we could inspect a narrow gorge, more a long crack in the coast. Returning to the open water again, we headed home as time was important. The trip back was uneventful and calm with a gentle half meter swell. The problem was that Leonie became seasick and her paddling became very lethargic. The gentle swell was making me feel a bit nauseous as well and I don’t usually get seasick. Unfortunately, Leonie didn’t make it and the seasickness took its toll. We tethered her up and towed her to Swansea Heads beach for a rest. Henry towed her boat back to the cars and Graeme picked her up in their car.

This was a lesson in making sure tow lines are always available and in making sure the group doesn’t scatter too far. We were on top of the situation but had someone got sick with a large distance to go then things might have been more problematic. It can happen any time and to any one. Leonie is a good paddler and well equipped but there you go – sick. She recovered quickly enough but some don’t. Best be prepared.

Apart from this, the trip was enjoyable with loads of dolphins and mixed conditions; a good solid outing for the klan. With so many new members, it was good to get this many at once and find out each other’s strengths and personalities. Not a big trip by any measure but a milestone for the team.

Cameras for Kayakers – revisited … again.

As a camera specialist for a major retailer, I am overjoyed to finally get to play with a range of new underwater cameras from vendors other than Olympus and Pentax. I have only had a cursory look at each of these except the Canon D10 which is not available until May. Since the recent Rock n Roll event involved numerous photographers and a whole range of opinions I thought I’d give a brief rundown on the current line-up and my initial thoughts. Bear in mind, I haven’t done any real world testing but I will. Canon and Olympus have already agreed to give me demo units to test and I’m sure Panasonic will come to the party when I shame them into action. Here they are:

Rock ‘n’ Roll 2009

Broken Bay – mouth of the Hawkesbury River

Well it’s over for another year. The NSW Seakayaking Club’s annual event was held at Umina on the NSW Central Coast and it would be hard to find a better venue. The Ocean Beach Holiday Park was the host venue and it’s great. Right on the beach and with outstanding facilities. Unfortunately for me, I didn’t have my leave confirmed till a week before the start so I had no accommodation booked and had to live out of my Volvo for two days. Not a big problem but it meant I was separated from the central activities and had to walk a good half mile to get things I needed. Anyhow…what do you do?