Saturday at Davistown

What a beautiful morning for a paddle. The sun was shining and the prediction was for only 13km/hr winds. Sweet! I told Jack and Anton that I'd meet them at the put in place at 7am on the water(the usual). Well, my little alarm clocks woke up late. At 6:20am I rolled over and asked Chris what the time was and quickly got dressed, put the Mirage on the roof and drove off to Davistown. I made it there by 7am, but then had a mad panic trying to get myself ready so I didn't hold everyone up too much. I HATE being late!
Anyway, there was a surprisingly large group of us there. Me in my Mirage 580, Anton is his Mirage 580, Jack and Jen in their double, Craig Dodd in his TK1, another 2 guys from the club in a TK2, another guy in a K1, and his teenage daughter on a surf ski. So 9 paddlers in 7 craft. It was fantastic to be paddling with such a large group.
Soon into the paddle though I was struggling to keep up in my Mirage. Absolutely lovely kayak, but definately a cruise ship, not a speed machine. Jack kindly let me hop on the wash of their double and then it was much nicer paddling. I stayed on their wash almost the whole paddle. Thank goodness, because I know I couldn't have done the pace otherwise. So a huge thankyou to Jack and Jen for that one!

There was a strong ingoing tide and it was surprisingly choppy out in the middle of Brisbane Water. With such low winds predicted I was very surprised at the nasty short, sharp waves. I was glad I was in the Mirage and am amazed that the TK2 and K1 guys handled it ok.

All up it was a great 13km paddle. Everyone hung around afterwards for Jack and Jen's renowned hot drinks. But being Mother's Day weekend, I had to rush off for family arrangement

A nice relaxing paddle

I saw that the forcast was good for this morning so I asked Carole if she would like to go for a paddle again. She was very keen and so we arranged to meet at 7am at the boat ramp. Anton, Jack and Jen, and Colin and Ann Rae were there too. Colin and Ann wanted to try a few different double craft so Jack brought them along. Most of the paddle was done with Jack and Jen in the Supersonic, Colin and Ann in the Macquarie double, Anton in his TK1, Carole in my Mirage 580 and me in Jack's Flash. "Jumpin Jack's Flash, it's a gas, gas, gas." Sorry...couldn't help myself.

We paddled up to the lake with a nice relaxed pace. The weather was beautiful. The 2 double craft went off ahead and it was me, Carole and Anton paddling together for most of it. Towards the end Anton headed off with the doubles and Carole and I paddled to the bridge and back together. It was so nice just to paddle easy and have a nice chat.

At the end Colin and Ann tried the Supersonic, and then Anton and I had a go in the Supersonic. We got it moving pretty quick. It felt very nice and something I would definately paddle again. I reckon it would be a great kayak to do the Hawkesbury Classic in. I was in the front and I enjoyed that too (as I am normally in the back when I paddle with Mick).

After all the kayaks were put back on our roofs we headed back to J&J's place for a lovely cup of hot milo with honey. Oh yeh, this is the life!!!!!

One of my most enjoyable paddles

What a paddle! A beautiful morning - warm, but not too warm. No wind, clear blue skies, and the water was like glass. I've never seen the lake so calm. There were 4 of us. Me (in my orange Mirage 580), Anton (in his green and yellow Mirage 580), Ern (in his red and black Mirage 580) and Mark (in the boat know as the Tucan - a kind of downriver racer made for the Avon Descent). We paddled from our usual put-in spot up to the point, across the lake, and under the bridge to The Entrance. We stopped on the beach there and took some photos, and then paddled back around an island and across the lake and back down the river to our starting spot. The pace was very comfortable, the scenery lovely, and great company just made for one of my most enjoyable paddles that I can remember. All in all we did 14km and averaged 8.1km/hr. Pretty good for what felt like an easy paddle.

When we got back I decided to try to stand up in the Mirage. Not only did I stand up, but managed to paddle it whilst standing up! I wish I had photos of that. Then, I thought I'd try to do a deep re-entry. I've never attempted one before in the Mirage and for a long time I've thought that I really should know how to do it. So I swam out into the middle of the river and practiced that a few times. No worries. Afterwards, Mark headed over to the BBQ and started cooking up some bacon and egg sandwiches. Anton and Ern stayed, but I thought it best that I head home to the boys. What a great morning.