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

Club race

The race is 11.35km. My start time was 9:23am (based on my last race time of 1:07). I started with another guy in a K1 and soon after we were on our way he started talking to me. I'm sorry but when I race in a single, I'm normally not in the mood to talk. So I sped up to get in front and he quickly hopped on my wash for the whole trip up.

At the turn around I nearly crashed into a few people due to my inexperience, but it turned out ok. I think I must have had at least 4 people riding my wash by that point. Anyway, after the turnaround I hopped on their wash and it was messy but great. I still struggle riding the rear wash and have trouble staying on it, so I switched to riding the side wash of a double Mirage. Now that was a nice wash.

There was by now a heap of people in this pack and we were passing many others. This was tricky, trying to stay on the wash where there was often little or no passing room. It was so hectic and messy, but I managed it and didn't fall in. Now there's the difference between the Struer and the Van Dusan. I would have been swimming for sure in the Van Dusan.

About 1.5km before the end I was struggling to get back on anyone's wash after a rather messy passing, and someone behind me called out and let me tuck in front of them on Mick's wash. I don't know who it was but THANKYOU! I managed to stay on Mick's wash until the end and finished in a time of 1:05:10 (hr:min:sec). I had nothing left. I gave it everything. My average heart rate was 191bpm and a maximum of 202. But I'm absolutely stoked with the time. Imagine how fast I could go in the Van Dusan when I can paddle it as well as the Struer. Hopefully that's where I'll be by the Worlds.