Smart Track Rudder Fixing

Fixing the Smart Track Rudder system was as simple as destroying it!  One of the benefits of this system from my perspective is that you can easily replace the various components that make up the assembly.

I rang up Rob from Expedition Kayaks last weekend and explained that I had destroyed my current housing and by Monday, Mark had the replacement kit on the way and in my hands by the end of the week.

The kit itself doesn't contain a rudder or the spring which is the fundamental piece in the jigsaw puzzle, but for just over $100 AU, this kit would be worth while tucking away in your toolbox for longer trips.

The whole rudder assembly is held on by a single pin which is very simple to detach.  All the major components are held on by split pins or equivalent and you don't need a degree in engineering to workout what goes where and how to replace it.  A small pair of pliers would be useful.

This piece is critical for your repair kit.  It is the spring which fits inside the rudder and is under tension at all times.  Some duct tape or  a zip tie would get you out of trouble if you broke one of these on an expedition - but they weigh nothing and would make life a lot easier if you had a replacement on hand!

Rudder installed and ready to go for an afternoon paddle.  I shouldn't forget to mention my shed helper who likes to stick her nose in to see what I am up to whenever I am working in the shed.

Stress Testing the Smart Track Foil Rudder

I guess you get the idea - I didn't hit a bank or a rock, this was just the result of sideways surfing on a hollow wave after floating across the top of the breaking wall.  Along with snapping the rudder in two pieces, the metal side of the housing was also ripped up.

Apart from having to paddle the last few kilometers and navigate through a bar without a rudder, it was still a great morning on the water.  We were off the water by 9:00 am as the mercury went to 37 degrees Celsius in BrisVegas today - far too hot to be outdoors!

A glassy start to the day before heading out through the Cotton Tree bar on our way to Mudjimba Island.

Some island time was in order to clear the head!

Another paddle in paradise!

I guess we all have our favourite paddling destination - mine just happens to be Noosa which is a couple of hours up the road from where I live.  The swell models for last weekend had around 6 feet of easterly swell moving around with a reasonable wave period so the likelihood of running the gauntlet at Hells Gates was going to be a little unlikely.

We left the calm waters of the Noosa River to paddle out through the Noosa Bar.  The swell breaking on the bar was a heavier than expected with some larger sets coming through and pounding onto the outside banks which required some sitting in the impact zone and timing your run out onto the calmer waters of Laguna Bay.

The bay was glassy with a light winds from the NE and a rolling fat swell gently lifting our boats as we made our way over to first point which was breaking close to the rocks - but well protected from the easterly swell.

Tea Tree was a picking up a bit more swell, but small and crowded so we kept paddling around to Granite Bay which was picking up some larger swell.

We paddled past A-Bay and down to Sunshine Beach to look at the swell pounding onto the Eastern facing beaches before coming back to Granite Bay for a surf.

The swell was running very quickly so the rides were fast and furious.  Click on the link to the video below for some on-water footage.

Local Tidal Race - Skirmish Point

Living in Brisbane doesn't offer much in the way of tidal races for the Sea Kayaker.  Once a month we get the opportunity to play on an outgoing spring tide, only if we have wind and swell against tide - and don't get too excited because you need the swell pushing in to make the race start working well.

Today we headed out to Skirmish Point, on the bottom end of Bribie Island for a play in some rough water.  The wind and swell were out of the East and around 10-15 knots.  The tidal race fluctuated across the tide cycle and would have been better if the wind was more from the north (to push the swell down into Moreton Bay - we have Moreton Island in the way so most of the swell hits the coast further north, towards the top end of Bribie Island)

We took off from Bongaree just before the tide had started to turn so that we were at the tidal race just after the tide had turned.  The waves were larger earlier in the tide cycle.  Once the tide got up to peak flow, the conditions got rougher, but the overall swell size decreased and may have needed more wind to push up the swell.

The best position in the race was near the starting point which was on the western side of Skirmish Point - the waves cleaned up and gave some great rides.  Whilst the waves weren't large, they were big enough for me to endo, riding over the top of the first wave in a set.

We had a great day out and all ended up fairly exhausted by the time we got back to the carpark.  I think most of the paddlers were heading home for a snooze rather than the work we had all committed to do post paddle ;-)

I felt we had paddled a lot more than the 21.5 kms showing on the GPS with all the surfing we did in the race as well paddling against the tide on the way back.  Thanks to Silvio, Jonathan and Gil for keeping me company on a rainy Saturday.

Endless Summer

Summer has certainly made its presence felt this year with water temps sitting around 26 degrees Celsius with weeks of northerlies pushing in hot and humid conditions.  To escape the heat, we have been getting on the water early, though you need to be on the beach by 4:30 am to catch the sunrise.

A southerly change had come through overnight, though lighter inshore, but with a promise of up to 20 knots.  A small car shuffle was in order to extended the downwind run from the Port of Brisbane to Redcliffe.

We spent the first hour paddling into the headwind, hugging the coast and winding our way in and out of the mangroves exploring a number of inlets up to the Port of Brisbane.  The wind was building but only got to the 10-15 knot range as we headed out to the "Coffee Pots" (a name for a set of the channel markers outside the Port of Brisbane) for a tailwind run to Redcliffe.

We saw a lot of bird life along the foreshore leading up to the Port, including a colony of Bee-Eaters which make a stand of Casuarinas home.  The inlets were protected from the wind and the incoming neap tide allowed us to wander our way through the mangroves.

A change of pace, but we were looking forward to another down wind run!  I will get around to editing some of our downwind run footage but I have been a bit pushed for time lately with the run into Christmas.  We are doing the extended family Christmas at our place this year so I might have to do some mowing and yard work that I have been putting off! 

Downwinder with wind and a swim

Its time to get out the lawn mowers in BrisVegas with plenty of summer storm activity producing rain, hail and the humidity to make mowing a weekly affair.  The weekend saw the wind swing to the south to bring in some cooler weather with 20-30 knots of southerlies to herald the change.

With that sort of wind blowing the lawn can look after itself for another week.  Instead we grabbed the kayaks and headed out for a downwind paddle from Wellington Point to Redcliffe.

With family commitments for lunch, we took off early for a 33 km paddle/sail around the outside of Green and St Helena Islands before crossing the shipping channel for a lumpy downwind ride to Redcliffe.

The swell started picking up around Green Island and the runners kept growing in size as we made our way past St Helena and Mud Islands - without paddling I was still travelling between 10-20 km/hr.

I ended up going for a swim whilst we were waiting for a container ship to clear the shipping channel. We had turned beam on to the wind, whilst letting off the boom ropes to clear the wind out of the sails when the wind whipped the sail around the mast on a gust as some swell pushed me up into the breeze and over I went.

I dropped the sail under water but my paddle had become entangled so had to pop out of the boat to sort the mess out.  Rather than do a re-enter and roll I called my paddling partner over for an assist as I don't have an electric pump in the boat.  It has been a long time since we have had to practice some of our rescue techniques in rough water so whilst it wasn't orthodox- I was back in my boat in short order, pumping the remaining water out as the container ship cleared the shipping channel.

We kept the sails down whilst we crossed the shipping channel as the conditions were still building and gusting around 28 knots with swell coming from all directions - very much a washing machine.  We paddled back towards the coast to get a good line into Redcliffe and then put our sails up for a fun trip back.

We had some hootin' rides and had an average speed over 10 kms/hr including the time I spent having a swim and sorting myself back into the boat in adverse conditions - thanks to Jono for the assist.

A downwind slog

Mother nature didn't come to the party and deliver the promised 15-20 knots of northerly wind to assist us on a downwind run from Redcliffe south.  There was plenty of kayak bling on show as 3 Tarans, a Pace 17 and a ski lined up for the downwind blast - the only thing missing was the wind.

In a Queensland summer we are nearly always guaranteed to get some afternoon wind, but with the prediction for afternoon storms, a plan for an early morning down wind paddle was hatched earlier in the week.  We were watching the predicted wind models decrease the wind intensity over the week, but still were supposed to have between 10-15 knots off shore.

The original plan to go around Mud Island and down to Cleveland was shortened within half an hour of heading off shore, to head down to St Helena Island for a break before coming in at Manly Harbour to a well earned ice cold drink (thanks to the support crew for providing!).

Summer is well and truly here with a week of storms predicted so I think we will be early morning paddling only for the next few months.

The wind turned up as we were sitting at our destination, having slogged 30 kms, averaging 8.5 km/hr with no wind assistance at all - just four hours late!

It was great to catch up with some of our paddling mates who have been enjoying paddling ski's in recent times.  I'm not sure it was a great day out to convince them to get back into some sea kayaking but there is always another day!

Some further photos can be found at: Sutton Beach to Manly Harbour Paddle