New Flat Earth Kayak Sails

My new kayak sail arrived this week so this weekend was spent installing the new sail and then heading off the next day for a test paddle.

The installation on the Pace 17 Tour went smoothly, utilising existing attachment points for most of the fittings and only needing to punch holes for the sail mount and the two jam cleats.  

I followed most of Mick's (from Flat Earth Kayak Sails) instructions, apart from the positioning of the jam cleats which I positioned low on the sides of the boat to keep the ropes out of the way of the deck.  

As Jon had purchased a sail at the same time for his Taran, we setup both boats together.  It took us a bit longer than expected, but we were both happy with the result as was proven by our test paddle today.

There wasn't a lot of wind for the test paddle so we headed off shore to pick up around 10 knots.  The sails performed well and the side stays kept the sail nice and upright even when taking wind on the beam.  Once I have taken the sail away for a week of paddling, I'll post about the setup in some more detail and go through what worked and what didn't.

The beam wind put some stretch into the new ropes so after 14 kms of sailing we headed back into shore to tighten the fittings before heading home into a head wind (30 kms all up).  I had the sail up for the last part of the trip back as you will see in the GPS track - playing with tacking upwind and seeing how close to the wind I could sail. 

The Winter Westerlies

Winter has arrived and is making its presence felt in our part of the world.  With strong westerlies and only single digit temperatures predicted, I was looking forward to a sleep in and the morning spent faffing around the workshop installing the new Flat Earth Sails that we needed to fit for an upcoming expedition.  That plan fell through when Australia Post failed to deliver via their not so Express Post service, so a new plan was hatched on Friday night.

No alcohol was involved, but somehow we had decided to battle the westerlies in a one way paddle from Victoria Point to Oyster Point in Moreton Bay with the outgoing tide.  This is a great paddle when you have a southerly blow and you have a good meter or so of bay runners happening, not to be mistaken when you have an off shore (westerly) wind blowing...

The best part of the trip was when we ran with the waves for a few hundred meters whilst waiting for the Stradbroke ferry to pass by.  The rest of the 24 kms was a slog fest into a head/cross wind and the resultant wind waves.

I may have a tainted view of the trip as I pinched a nerve in my shoulder which is on the mend after a bike accident and struggled with it for the trip - just didn't have my zen mind set happening today!

The winter sunrise was the highlight of my day...that and the anti-inflammatory drugs after I got home :-)

Day paddling to Moreton Island

After a week in the mountains, it was time for an ocean paddle.  With the winds predicted to be off shore in the morning, dropping off and swinging on shore later in the day it was a perfect forecast for a day paddle over to Moreton Island return.

The tides lined up for us nicely with a morning high tide and and an afternoon low tide.  I always try to cross the spitfire channel within an hour of the change over of the tide as the tide can move up to 4 knots with a spring tide.

This is a technical crossing and we tend to be a bit complacent having done this on numerous occasions.  Careful planning of tides and the detailed wind models for the area are advisable.  Considerations when planning the crossing are:

• Taking off south of Woorim on Bribie Island to Comboyuro Point is 16 kms.  We averaged 8.8km/hr on the crossing including breaks and did the crossing in 1hr 53min.  If your average speed is slower, you will need to leave a wider time margin around the tide change over.
• Cross the Spitfire Channel at the either the M2 or M4 channel markers as you have the channel clearly defined at that point.  If you see a ship within the distance of the next marker, wait for it to pass as it will take less time than you think.  We usually cross at the M2 beacon on the way over and the M4 beacon on the way back.
• Crossing Yule banks on the Moreton side of Spitfire Channel is perfect with crystal clear water running over shallow banks - when the waves are breaking it is a hoot, unless you don't like waves.  Beware of large easterly or north easterly swell as this will hit the banks and can even break at high tide, the explosions of white water can be seen from shore.
• Alter your ferry glide angle depending on the tide and where you are on the crossing.  There are three points on the crossing where the tides can run in excess of 3 knots (Close to both islands and Spitfire channel).
• Try to avoid paddling against the tide close to the islands - it can be done but you will expend a lot of effort to make slow progress.
• Bring some cash for a hot breakfast at the shop at Bulwer.

The views from Moreton Island are always spectacular.

The problem with paddling to such a beautiful destination is the lack of motivation to paddle back in the afternoon.

"The Head" - Condamine River

We took a short family holiday at the head waters of the Condamine River, up from Killarney in the border ranges.  We stayed at a old farm house known as "Mill Cottage" (part of Oakleigh) next to "The Head" on the slopes of Mount Superbus and the Cambanoora Gorge.

With no set agenda other than sitting in front of the fire and reading, we achieved our holiday goals.  I did take my mountain bike and rode to Killarney on the Condamine River Road which was a beautiful ride, crossing the Condamine River 14 times;  now known to me as the shoe on, shoe off ride.  In the middle of winter with sub-zero mornings, walking the creek crossings brought tears to my eyes to go with my numb feet!  It would be a good day ride to take off from Queen Mary Falls, and do the circuit via Spring Creek Rd and then Condamine River Rd into Killarney and then back up to Queen Mary Falls.

Scarborough to Bribie Is via Gilligans return - here comes the front...

This was the front we were looking for!  It just failed to deliver the 15-20 knots of tail wind we wanted in a timely manor so we ended up paddling home in another glass out to complete a 35km training paddle against the run in and run out tides (yup - I did actually plan it that way).

We were tossing up a plan to paddle over to Moreton Island, but 25-30 knots of headwind on the way home put those plans to rest. Plan B was hatched to paddle from Scarborough to Bribie Island, and get some surfing in on Gilligans (a sandbank off Skirmish Point) whilst we waited for the front to come through and liven up proceedings for the crossing home.

We were treated to another great sunrise over Moreton Island as we made our way to Skirmish Point for breakfast.  A pod of dolphins kept us entertained as we sat on the beach hatching a plan for the rest of the paddle.

The front came through as we made our way over to Gilligans where we stayed to play in the surf for a while before paddling against the tide back to Scarborough.  The wind failed to turn up until we reached our destination - where the wind sock went from hanging limp to horizontal within 5 minutes of us turning up. This flat water paddling is doing my head in - bring on some wind and swell!

Winter Solstice Training Paddle

Well the water temperature has cooled off a bit, but the winter solstice started out at 16 degrees Celsius at 6:00 am this morning and only increased from that point.  I spent the day comfortably paddling in a short sleeve rashy wondering if we are skipping winter this year.

Another weekend training paddle spent paddling on flat water! We took off at 6:00 am with first light appearing on the horizon heralding a very calm day.  Not as spectacular sunrise this morning with the coastal showers receding away to leave us with another hot winters day.

39 kms paddling today as we looped around Mud Island from Shorncliffe.  We pushed the pace today and sat on over 9 kms/hr for a couple of hours which left us feeling like we had a good workout by the time we returned for lunch.  We took a diversion as per the images below - thanks to Jono and Gary D for keeping me company.

Paddling on glass

Winter in this part of the Southern Hemisphere has failed to turn up as yet with the only tell tale signs being the shortening days.  It was 16 degrees this morning as we took off for a 30 km training paddle - it wasn't long before we were covered in sweat and wondering when our cooler mornings were going to turn up.

Our training paddle was interrupted by an inspiring sunrise so our average speed dropped away as we sat appreciating the beauty of the breaking day.  We had the promise of some wind picking up later in the morning but it failed to eventuate so it was a flat water paddle on the ocean.

Whilst calm conditions on the ocean offer some artistic scope for capturing images, they are a bit boring for the ocean paddler.  We ended up trying to entertain ourselves as we clicked over the kilometers - and no, we didn't tip anybody out of their boats!  So the inventory for the day ended up being a couple of dolphins, a school or two of bait fish, one small shark, a number of birds and floating debris.

The yellow marker off Woody Point turned out to be the boundary marker for the North-Eastern corner of a green zone.

We paddled past the Sandgate Jetty on the way back into Shorncliffe and noticed that the council had erected a barrier to stop people getting to the end of the pier as it was no longer considered safe.  I'm not sure what the plans are but it is bit of an icon so I hope it doesn't end up being dismantled.