SeaTrek

Navigation Tools and Rules www.vskc.org.au

Winter/Spring 2015 Issue 84 The VSKC Bass Strait, and take their its annual general meeting held to remote and interesting areas. as part of a weekend of activities The Victorian Club Equally, we all love relaxing short on and off the water, with was formed in 1979, aimed at trips in our local waters, with informative training sessions and bringing together sea kayakers in plenty of time to socialise. presentations from interesting our part of the world, creating We welcome new members and speakers. We run a range of club opportunities to meet and encourage a culture in which trips throughout the year for all organise trips, and to promote members help each other with levels of ability, helping members the interests of sea kayakers. skills, gear, safety, trip to improve their proficiency and Club members have done some information and organisation. take part in trip leadership. We marvellous and sometimes very The club runs training courses keep in touch through this challenging trips by and has a grading system, website, email news, and our club around our nearby coasts of although training is not aimed at magazine Sea Trek. Victoria and Tasmania and absolute novices. New members For more information read go to further afield. Our founding are expected know something of the Docs and Downloads link members made the first sea sea , have access to a from the Web page, and kayak circumnavigation of kayak, and be ready to explore download our Operating Tasmania and the first south to the marvellous opportunities Principles and Membership north crossing of Bass Strait. which sea kayaking offers. The application, or contact our Members regularly across club gets together once a year for Membership Officer. Sea Trek 84 Winter/Spring 2015

In this Edition

Regular Columns Editorial 4 President’s Podcast 4

Feature Using a GPS for kayak navigation (Raia Wall) 6 Rule of Twelfths and 50/90 Rule revisited (Helmut Heinze) 8

Gear A year in the Epic 16x (Helmut Heinze) 11

Day Trips and Overnighters The Prom Alternative — Gippsland Lakes ( Terry Bary ) 12 To the First Village in Scotland (David Golightly and Heather Tor- bet) 13 Keppel Snippets (Bronwyn Skowronski) 16 Greenland — Sea Kayaking Heaven (Richard Rawling) 18

Cover Food for Thought Photo: Helmut Heinze Skills and anxieties (Roger Bellchambers) 29 Missing the Point? Women in Kayaking (Kate Hives (Vancouver Island, BC)) 29 Do you Leave No Trace? (Bronwyn Skowronski) 31

Club Life

Sigla Walkerville Weekend (27–28 June 2015) (Greg Skowronski) 33 Level 3 Surf Assessment (Steve Collins) 34 Level 3 Assessment BF: Bob Fergie • BS: Bronwyn Skowronski • DG: David Golightly • GO: Gerard OReilly • GS: Greg Weekend (Steve Collins, Helmut Heinze, Gerard Oreilly, Kerry Vo- Skowronski • GT: Graeme Thompson • HH: Hel- gele and Graeme Thompson) 35 mut Heinze • HT: Heather Thorbet • KH: Kate Hives • KV: Kerrie Vogele • LC: Lynden Costin • PC: Peter Costello • RR: Richard Rawling • RS: Roger Bellchambers • RW: Raia Wall • SC: Steve Collins • TB: Terry Barry.

Responsible Editor for this Edition: Helmut Heinze

Contact [email protected] Photo Stories http://www.vskc.org.au On—In—Under at Waratah Bay — Photo Story (Bronwyn c Victorian Sea Kayak Club – http://vskc.org.au Skowronski) p37 SeaTrek 84 Regular Columns

Editorial

in a separate small pond. I of kayaking in two ways. own navigation challenges briefly hesitated but could One. All natural envi- that have to be dealt with. not see to make it work ronments are at the same Low-tech or high-tech? for me, to my own disap- time cultural environments. A compass, a chart, a wet pointment and of those lo- A landscape may be ideal to thumb, a GPS? High-tech cals who were taking snaps be explored from a kayak preparation before the trip of me all the time on their but pollution and regula- and low-tech execution on smart phones, for Fuzhou tions may prohibit it. In this the water? What works, does not encounter many respect we are very lucky what doesn’t?— I would tourists at all. Let alone in Australia with environ- like to explore these ques- long-nosed ones. mental conditions by and tions a bit more, starting What is the connec- large improving since the with this Seatrek. tion between long-distance mid 70s. Still we can do As always I am most jet travel and kayaking? our tiny bit — see Bronwyn grateful to our authors, Some club members travel Skowronski’s opinion piece our prolific regulars, our around the world either in this edition. first-timers and our guest to get on the water (read Two. The topic of nav- contributor. A big Thank Richard Rawlings account igation. There’s a strange, Your to all who have con- of his Greenland adven- inverse connection between tributed (in order of their ture in this edition) or at jet aviation and kayaking. initials): Bob Fergie, Bron- least manage to sneak in a In a fast jet the motion wyn Skowronski, David paddle worth writing home determines place and time. Golightly, Gerard Oreilly, about (David Golightly and Good enough a kajak ersatz? Flying east or west, your Greg Skowronski, Graeme Heather Torbet). watch is always wrong. Thompson, Heather Thor- I myself had to contend The Fujian province is There’s the local time of the bet, Kate Hives, Kerrie with winter in local full of shippable water- departure port, the destina- Vogele, Richard Rawling, waters with some time off ways, rivers with strong tion port, and the Roger Bellchambers, Raia due to the flu and a visit to currents winding through location. The fast motion Wall, Steve Collins and South China in June. valleys with steep moun- compresses or dilates time Terry Barry. There I was in Fuzhou, a tains. Scenes out of a on the clock, determines Finally the obligatory provincial capital with few Chinese picture book. A the season when crossing not exactly kayaking re- attractions and a steamy kayaker’s dream. Yet the the equator, changes the lated (but close enough) hot climate. Suffering se- rivers are a brown sludge location and its attributes. reading recommendation: vere kayaking withdrawal and carry a whiff of de- Navigation in aviation has A. J. Mackinnon, The Un- symptoms — even a mid- cay and sweet smelling to deal with these dynam- likely Voyage of Jack de winter Red Eye in pitch chemicals, bringing back ics criss-crossing the globe.. Crow. Collingwood: Black darkness started to look ap- childhood memories of the Navigation in kayaking, in Inc, 2009. A young teacher pealing — I was looking river Rhine in Germany. contrast, is bound to the travelling in a 12 foot sail- for some on-the-water ac- Most Chinese never learn local conditions, and the ing dinghy from England to tivity. Our hotel was next to to swim — so the concept actual motion of kayaks the Black Sea. A craft even a central leisure park with of water sports in general is influenced by tidal cur- slower than a sea kayak. a large ornamental shallow and boating in particular rents and local wind condi- Light entertainment, well muddy lake. But all it of- has not emerged. tions. These are sufficiently written. fered to the burgeoning ur- This China trip and strong to be dealt Enjoy! ban middle class were some other long-distant travels with. Thus, travelling in Helmut Heinze (Editor) motor-driven plastic swans bring me back to the topic a sea kayak comes with its

c Victorian Sea Kayak Club – http://vskc.org.au 4 SeaTrek 84 Regular Columns

President’s Podcast

states and territories be- join us for this year’s VSKC water tasks, testing leader- yond Qld. It was an honor Blue Water Paddle Fest in ship, judgement and sea- to have been invited by a spirit of welcoming reci- manship proficiency. This the organizer, Tim Mor- procity. was then followed by a two ris, to provide some Green- hour theory exam requiring land and rolling an 80% pass mark. instruction as one of five in- While this was a very structors (Rob Mercer, Dave enjoyable time together, Winkworth, Garry Forest, everyone (instructors in- Lyndon Brown being the cluded) concluded the Photo: Tim Morris other four). We were kept weekend feeling rather busy over the five days weary given the demands As the weather warms leading trips and offered a of assessment tasks. I’m up quite a few folk are get- broad range of training in- certainly looking forward ting back into the water af- struction. I was also asked to presenting certificates to ter a period of winter hi- to give an evening presen- Showing little respect ... the successful candidates at bernation. Others, on the tation based on one of my the Blue Water Paddle Fest other hand, have enjoyed paddling proverbs: Capsize over the Cup weekend (in a range of paddling trips may be inevitable, but it’s spite of them showing little through the winter period also recoverable. respect for my presidential not only along the Victo- carcass on one occasion). rian coast but interstate and The time and commit- overseas as well. This issue ment involved in provid- of Sea Trek includes articles ing these training programs on a number of these. Per- are not insignificant and I sonally, I find winter pad- thank all those who have dling a real delight and I’ve been involved, candidates enjoyed regular opportuni- and instructors alike. While ties to get out on the wa- L3 Assessment — Photos: TB Training is not our primary ter for day trips in the main. focus as a club, it is an abso- I have enjoyed a number Another multi-day trip lutely essential part of ful- of other multi-day trips as Photo: Syd Mainland took place early October filling our mission purpose, well. I make mention of at Snake Island and sur- “cultivating sea kayaking as two of these in particu- Our little Victorian con- rounds. This was our VSKC an enjoyable adventure — lar, one inter-state and the tingent had a wonderful final assessment weekend inclusive, safe and sustain- other down at Snake Island, time and the three-day for Level Three candidates able”. just south of the ‘Prom’. drive each way was well — a bi-annual training Similarly, our Sea Trek Late August, and to- worth the time and effort event on the VSKC calen- magazine provides a won- gether with three others involved. This was the dar. This year Terry B derful chronicle of shared from our club (Bronwyn third year that this unique and I, together with in- stories and insights about S, Jeannine S and Dave event has been run and structor trainees Brandon our common love for ad- B), I drove up to Yeppoon I would thoroughly en- S and Wim B assessed venture in long skinny (just north of Townsville) courage other VSKC’ers to five level three candidates boats. On behalf of all to participate in a brilliant consider booking in for over a rather rigorous two club members let me thank five days at the Keppel Sea next year’s symposium days. Each of these candi- our Sea Trek editor for an- Kayak Symposium hosted around August. (https: dates had completed a nine- other terrific issue of our on North Keppel Island and //www.facebook.com/ month program of training club magazine. I hope you organized by the Paddle KeppelKayakSymposium/ and assessment culminat- will enjoy the read as much Capricornia Club. ?pnref=story). I know I ing in this final assessment as I have. Numbers were limited am planning to go again. weekend. Over the week- Cheers to fifty paddlers with par- I was able to offer an invi- end candidates were sub- Bob Fergie (VSKC Presi- ticipants representing New tation to a number of the jected to a range of on- dent) Zealand and various other symposium participants to

c Victorian Sea Kayak Club – http://vskc.org.au 5 SeaTrek 84 Navigation Tools and Rules

Tracking with GPS on a Trak folding kayak (front centre of image: in waterproof case) — Photo: RW

Raia Wall Using a GPS for kayak navigation

This text has been adopted in a Proficiency in chart reading and with GPS use, though the Navionics redacted form from a blog entry by the use of a compass is a vital skill software for iPad and mobile also con- the author (source: Raia Wall, Kayak when venturing out on the water. A tains some GPS functions. This is not Navigation — the Garmin GPSMAP good reference for sea kayaking in intended as a comprehensive guide, 78sc. Blog. URL http: // www. the south hemisphere is Sea Kayaking but does give an impression of the eastcoastkayaking. com. au/ blog/ — A Guide For Sea Canoeists by Phil workflows and workflow options in- kayak-navigation-the-garmin-gpsmap-78sc . Woodhouse. volved in the preparation of a trip. Accessed 1 Nov 2015. — (Ed.) I use a GPS as a trip planning tool, particularly when I am going to an Garmin GPSMap 78sc area that I haven’t been to before — for planning daily distances and lo- The Garmin GPSMap 78sc is a cating suitable campsites. This is par- fairly recent addition to the number ticularly useful in areas where camp- of rugged hand-held GPS’ available. sites are hidden in forest and there is Why do I use this GPS model? The no obvious beach to guide the way. Garmin GPSMap 78sc has: It is then simple to follow the GPS • Colour screen — so different colours route into the campsite, with the pa- of marine charts can be seen per charts as backup. We also used • BlueCharts for AU, NZ & part of Sth this technique in the Pacific coast side Pacific preloaded of Vancouver Island in Canada where • Memory expandable with a microSD we took our Trak folding kayaks three card slot — you can purchase addi- years ago and also in Bathurst Har- tional cards & load charts from other bour, Southwest Tasmania, in Decem- areas purchased ber 2013. • Buttons are that are easier & quicker The Garmin close up This article is primarily concerned to use on the water than touchscreens

c Victorian Sea Kayak Club – http://vskc.org.au 6 SeaTrek 84 Navigation Tools and Rules

And it gives you something to play or User. it is easier to leave as True waypoint in the route — continue un- with as you paddle! and be aware of what the magnetic til all the relevant waypoints are se- variation is. Also this is the menu lected. where you should Calibrate the com- • Press Quit button to save the route Tips and Tricks pass function. Name the Route: • from Main Menu, select Route • Replace GPS unit’s batteries each Planner. day on an expedition, otherwise every Setting Waypoints • 2 days Select the route (eg. at this stage Setting a waypoint for the location • Do not leave open on Map pages as it is probably called Route 001), press you are currently at: this burns valuable battery life Enter. • Hold down the Enter/Mark button • • While on the water place GPS unit in Toggle to Change Name, press En- and the waypoint screen is opened, a waterproof case (eg. Aquapac 348) ter, then use the keyboard screen & recording Lat/Long. Use rocker but- • Understand how to also use a toggle to type a new name, then press ton to navigate through various fields base plate and deck-mounted com- Done. to add notes or descriptive way- pass, and carry charts copied onto wa- View the Route on a Map: point name. Enter to select let- terproof paper. Do not rely on tech- • from Main Menu, select Route ter/number/Done. nology 100%! Each person on an ex- Planner • Select Done to save & return to Page pedition should have and know how • Select the route, then View Map Setting a waypoint from known to use independent GPS units, in case Navigate a Route: Lat/Long to navigate to: one fails. • • Read Lat/Long off chart / atlas Press Find button and select Routes • Use Google Earth to plan your trip • / Google Earth or other record (eg. Select a route, then Go — this will — useful for finding beaches and SPOT record from someone elses’ direct you to each waypoint in turn landing sites. trip!). Make sure the units are the Tracking & use of GPS for dircec- • When working between your GPS, same when copy/pasting Lat/Longs, tion/speed monitoring paper charts, Homeport software and eg deg & dec minutes: Pages: Google Earth, make sure you are us- • Menu / Waypoint Manager / New • Compass this page is useful for nav- ing the same Lat/Long units (eg. de- Waypoint. igating to next waypoint on a Route grees & decimal minutes) and map se- • Use rocker button to navigate — note that it is a straight line so if ries (WGS 84) through various field and add notes the waypoint is behind a headland it or descriptive waypoint name. Enter will point in that direction. Also has Setup to select letter/number/Done. speed & distance to next. While in • For ease of use, if naming waypoints this screen use Menu button to bring Batteries — use Lithiums — will last in an area use a meaningful prefix, up page-specific options — the fields 2 days for longer crossings if used eg. WP-001 for a waypoint at Wilson’s being tracked can be varied. with Compass/Trip Computer screen, Prom. • Trip Computer — again the Menu less for Map page. Select correct Bat- • Return to map or other page or use has the option of varying which fields tery Type in System Go to navigate to this waypoint are monitored. Use menu to Reset the Position Format: fields & Track as you are about to set Charts — will be preloaded & en- Creating a route off on your journey — otherwise the abled in this model & correct map se- average speed & odometer will con- ries selected (WGS 84) A route is a series of two or more way- tinue ofn from your previous journey Lat/Long — use decimals rather points that leads you to your desti- (& even from the drive to the launch than seconds (hddd◦mm.mmm’) — nation. Either first ensure you have point!) align with your paper charts all the relevant waypoints already en- • Map — the map page displays the Display / Battery Saver — leave tered in your GPS or select them off current map — two views are possi- OFF — otherwise screen will blank the map page as you go. ble: North to the top of the map or and you will waste time pressing Using existing waypoints: the course direction to the top. Gen- buttons to wake it up. Instead • from Main Menu, select Route erally it is preferable to have north reduce battery consumption by re- Planner / Create Route / Select to the top as this is usually how we ducing Backlighting (reduce Back- First Point. think when orienting a map. The light Timeout) and reduce backlight • Select Waypoints, then first way- alternate results in the view shifting brightness by quickly pressing the point by name/number. Enter (se- around a lot with even minor direc- power button and use the toggle. lects Use) tional changes. To change this go to Heading / North reference — • Toggle to Select Next Point, Enter, • Main Menu / Map / Orientation. you can choose True, Magnetic, Grid then select Waypoints and the next Note that leaving the GPS open to

c Victorian Sea Kayak Club – http://vskc.org.au 7 SeaTrek 84 Navigation Tools and Rules the map page all the time severely re- Creating Waypoints: latitude & longitude from the Google duces battery life. • Use the Waypoint tool in Homeport Earth placemark info window into a • Track Manager — recording your to simply click on the map where you new waypoint in Waypoint Manager journey: want to place the waypoint. You can or in the Homeport software. — In Setup/Tracks/Track log se- add notes and change the icon in the Uploading and Downloading lect Record, Show on Map. Se- waypoint’s properties screen. from your computer: lect Record Method — an option to • Alternately, click anywhere on the • Save your waypoints and tracks record track points according to Dis- map to create a waypoint, then dou- from your trip to your computer: tance, Time or Auto ble click on that waypoint to open its • Connect the Garmin to your com- — Select Recording Interval — Nor- properties window (Advanced tab), puter using the USB lead and open mal will be ok for most purposes then type in the co-ordinates you have Homeport software. — Your track will record as you previously sourced. • Use the Transfer / Receive from travel. at the end of your jour- Device menu item or Receive button ney save your track by Track Man- • Select what you want to transfer — ager/Current Track / Save Track. It eg. waypoints and tracks. All the data is now ready to transfer to your com- of this type will be transferred so it is puter if you choose (see below)! useful to clean up the memory from — Clear the track at the start of your time to time. next journey — Setup / Reset/ Clear • The tracks and waypoints will be Current Track / Yes saved as a list in My Collection as Re- cently Read from [device name] — Trip planning you should rename this list to some- thing more meaningful Charts on the PC/Mac: If you have created a set of waypoints Rather than use up your GPS bat- and routes on your computer as part teries, use your computer to aid in of trip planning you can transfer these trip planning — you can use Garmin’s to your GPS unit. • Homeport software allows you to con- Adding waypoints and connecting them to Connect the Garmin to your com- nect your GPS unit to your PC/Mac form a Route puter using the USB lead and open and view the Garmin BlueCharts and Homeport software. • create waypoints and connect them Creating Routes: Select the list you want to transfer into routes for your day trip or expe- • To create a route on the Map — from My Collection • dition. You can also view any other click on the Route tool and click on Use the Transfer / Send [List purchased marine charts on this soft- the locations on the map you want the name] to Device . . . menu item or ware. route to follow. To end and save the Send List button HomePort Software Link: route right-click or Esc. Homeport software is free and is • To create a route from a set of Final Caveat designed to work with the BlueChart waypoints, select a waypoint or use marine charts on your GPS so that Command key to select multiple way- Never rely solely on electronics! you can download / upload from your points and and click Create Route Electronic devices can let you down GPS to/from your computer. from Waypoint(s). To edit the route so never rely wholly on them — try- Download Homeport from hold down the Option key to add ex- ing to push batteries too far or ingress https://buy.garmin.com/en-AU/ tra points to bend your route around by salt water could spoil your day. Al- AU/prod64242.html?locale=en_GB land masses. ways have a back up — know how Creating Waypoints & Routes Using Homeport with Google Earth: to navigate with a base plate compass ahead of time Use Google Earth to plan your and carry charts copied on waterproof First select where you want your trip — useful for finding beaches and paper on your deck. Enlarge the de- waypoints / routes to be saved (eg. in landing sites. Use the Add Placemark tail so they can be read unaided! My Collection) button to mark a point. Copy the

c Victorian Sea Kayak Club – http://vskc.org.au 8 SeaTrek 84 Navigation Tools and Rules

Plymouth Tidal Stream Computation of Rates — Source: K Bater, Tidal Streams

Helmut Heinze Rule of Twelfths and 50/90 Rule revisited

Tides matter. Kayakers have to fac- • +3h: 3/12 + 3/12 => 6/12 tor them in. There are two - Rule of Twelfths • +4h: 6/12 + 3/12 => 9/12 releated rules in use for kayak navi- • +5h: 9/12 + 2/12 => 11/12 gation: the so-called Rule of Twelfths To quote from VSKC training mate- • +6h: 11/12 + 1/12 => 12/12 and the 50/90 rule. They are reason- rial: Assuming in an area with a tidal dif- able simple in that they don’t require ference of 1.2m we would get a se- any serious mathematics, not even a ... in the first your of the quence like this in hourly intervals: calculator. Just some mental arith- cycle the tide will rise 1/12 • +1h: 0.1m metic required, with a bit of practice of its range, the second hour • +2h: 0.3m 2/12, third 3/12, the fourth and some generous rounding it can be • +3h: 0.6m done on the go. Yet I have always 3/12, the fifth 2/12 six 1/12. • The same relationship applies +4h: 0.9m been bothered by the question how • to the fall of the tide. +5h: 1.1m accurate these rules of thumb are. (T Barry, Sea Proficiency • +6h: 1.2m For those familiar with the rules Course, VSKC, 16) To be precise the counting starts al- but not troubled and still wanting to ways half an hour after slack tide. know: here an executive summary: The rise is cumulative – eg in the sec- If low tide was at 10:15am the ond hour the tide rises and additional time span +/- 30minutes, ie from • The Rule of Twelfths: very good 2/12 on top of the 1/12 of the first 9:45—10:45am would constitute the hour: 0 hour. The +1 mark would occur at • 50/90 Rule: way off, to be used with • +1h: 0 + 1/12 => 1/12 11:45. great caution • +2h: 1/12+2/12 => 3/12 The Rule of Twelfths is a rule of

c Victorian Sea Kayak Club – http://vskc.org.au 9 SeaTrek 84 Navigation Tools and Rules thumb, an approximation that can be — Too good. But then we ignored the difference. So let’s multiply our Rule applied in the absence more precise 1/2 hour shift after slack tide. And of Twelfths steps by 400 to get flow local data, and under the assump- the actual tidal half-cycle is more like rate percentage values that max out at tion that fall and flow of the tide fol- 6 1/2h hours, but not exactly. Nor 100% (3/12*400=100%). What do lows more or less a sine-shaped curve is the typical tidal wave a clean sine we get are figures like these: 1st hour: (which is not really the case, even curve in our part of the world (or at 33% — 2nd hour: 66% — 3rd hour: simpler tidal models use breathtaking most other places). Still surprisingly 100%. This is very, very far of what complex mathematical functions — good. Given the irregularities of the the 50/90 Rule suggests and yet con- just have a look at the Wikipedia ar- tide there is no point in using com- sistent with more sophisticated tools ticle at https://en.wikipedia.org/ plex formulae, for our purpose the as tidal stream computation sheets wiki/Tide). Rule of Twelfths has passed with fly- such as the one depicted at the head ing colours. No surprise that this rule of this contribution. is so well established in maritime nav- How can we salvage the formula? igation. Starting the clock 30 minutes af- For us sea kayakers the practical ter slack tide, as we do for our rule relevance of the rule depends on the of Twelfths, we may point out that circumstances. Many won’t ever use the flow rates apply to the endof the it in anger. But if for example if you hour in question. So we may shift our plan a trip along the northern edge of curve by adding 33/2=17%, the equiv- French Island you may want to know alent of half an hour. Then we would how much water you can expect un- get for the first hour 33+33/2=50.4% der your keel (or skeg, that is) on a and the second 66+33/2=83.4%. We given day at a given time. are getting closer but it’s too much a stretch as we would get into trouble with our 100%. 50/90 Rule So it seems that the 50/90 Rule Cosine curve — Source: http://www.a- errs, not just a little but a lot. This is levelmathstutor.com/sin-cos-tan.php The 50/90 Rule, in contrast to the Rule of Twelfths seems to be less es- fine if the rule is used when dealing with adverse conditions requiring a The ideal curve of the rising tide tablished. Where the Rule of Twelfths is concerned with the gradual in- ferry glide or upstream paddle. In this would represent the part of the cosine case the rule errs on the side of cau- function from -180—0o (or -pi/2-0). crease or decrease of the water level during the tidal cycle the 50/90 Rule tion. If, however, you want to know If we divide this range into 6 steps of how much downstream speed you 30o, and adjust the result to our ex- deals with the relative flow rate. The rule stipulates that at then can expect to exploit, then the 50/90 ample (multiply by 0.6 and shift the Rule is misleading, promising way too curve up by adding 0.6 so that we end of the first hour after slack tide the water flows at 50% of the maxi- much. In these cases better expect don’t start at -0.6 but at 0) we get the a flow rate proportionate to the ver- following results: mum speed, at the end of the second hour at 90%, the third hour 100%, tical rise or fall of the tide (keeping Apply the following formula in a in mind that the actual flow rate and spreadsheet fourth 100%, fifth 90%, sixth back to 50%. direction is heavily influenced by the =(COS(3.14/6 * X) * -0.6 + Navigation tools for vector solu- wave form of the tide with it har- 0.6) tions of flow rates suggest that there monic and non-harmonic distortions and enter for X 1,2,3,4,5,6, you will is a linear (!) relation between the and the complex swirls that form over get the following result (rounded to speed of the vertical rise of the tide the uneven ). two digits): 0.08m, 0.30m, 0.60m, and the horizontal flow rate of the 0.90m, 1.12m and 1.2m. Let’s add water (see figure at top of article, Sources these values to our original list, cal- Plymouth Tidal Stream Computation culated values in brackets: Rates). • T Barry, Sea Proficiency Course, • +1h: 0.1m — (0.08m) So let’s assume, for the ease of cal- VSKC-internal manual, Vic, 2015 • +2h: 0.3m — (0.30m) culation, that the maximum flow rate • K Bater, “Tidal Streams.” Skysail • +3h: 0.6m — (0.60m) be 1.2kn and map it against the rela- Training. TidalStreamInterpolationHandout: • +4h: 0.9m — (0.90m) tive increments of a tide rising. Refer- Web Site. URLhttp://www. • +5h: 1.1m — (1.12m) ring to the Rule of Twelfths, the max- skysailtraining.co.uk/tidal_ • +6h: 1.2m — (1.20m) imum flow rate of 100% would occur stream_calculation.htm. Accessed How good is this! An error of just at the time when the water rises in 15 Oct 2015. about 2% for the first and fifths hour! increments of 3/12ths of the overall

c Victorian Sea Kayak Club – http://vskc.org.au 10 SeaTrek 84 Gear

Helmut Heinze A year in the Epic 16x

By now my Epic 16x is well used with easy acceleration helps to catch waves pleasure to paddle on one occasion). add-ons, scratches and scuff marks (so tested by John E). all over. I had the Kayak out on • The movable seat and footplate with The ugly glassy calm winter mornings on the the rudder pedals show no signs of Bay, in messy, whipped up waters, stress cracks despite heavy use —due • I managed to smash the rudder as- in peaky rebound, on short leisure to the pure carbon construction (car- sembly in surf (my fault, I lost hold of runs on Bay paddles and on bon either breaks or stays but does the boat after coming out on the way long distance paddles of 70+ km (a not fatigue). double crossing of Port Philipp Bay to a rocky beach and it rear-ended on and a French Island circumnaviga- a boulder). When patching together tion), not to mention various train- The bad the pieces with epoxy and some car- ing events that involved planned and bon I became aware that the rudder • unplanned boat contacts, altogether No compass mould, no fittings for assembly is filled inside with what about 60 paddles. spare paddles, electric bilge pump, looked like unprotected polyurethane flimsy 4mm deck lines that were so foam. Over time this foam will soak worn after a year that they had to water through osmosis. Shoddy de- The good be replaced (now with proper 6mm sign? lines). • After a getting clobbered a few times • The kayak has a comparatively high • Rudder lines and the uphaul line for in surf I noticed an inordinate amount top hull speed — tested in occasional the rudder blade look fluffy after a of water in the day hatch, even on sprints against traditional kayaks with year despite having been rarely used. calm days. It turned out that the bulk strong paddlers. • Hatch covers leak and require con- head behind the seat has partially de- • Comfortable enough on long dis- stant attention. They need to be kept tached from the hull and water was tances (with an additional layer of clean of sand and salt and carefully seeping from the cockpit into the day bubble wrap on the seat shell). centred before fastening the levers. I hatch. Hard to tell weather it was • Well-defined secondary stability, fitted the front hatch opening with just glued in or epoxied in. Bad de- easy paddling in really choppy waters, an additional rim of rubber which sign, bad workmanship, or too much including rebound. seemed to keep the water out but for a pounding in surf? — I fixed and • Easy directional fine-control just a few drops. The large back hatch, reinforced the rear bulkheads with through edging, lateral upwind / however, remains a concern. Rough a multi-layered seam of glass fibre downwind control through leaning or a few rolls mean inevitable a cloth. forwards / backwards with the seat in small puddle. the right position. • The gel coat is extremely thin, or Verdict • Paddling downwind is a treat, the rather, there is no traditional gel coat boat accelerates fast, starts surfing but a protective layer of epoxy. After You need to be very careful in an Epic early on typical Bay wind waves in 12 a year the boat is full of scratches and — more than I am willing to be, or to 15kn. scuff marks; a few deeper ones (less accept to watch out for problems and • With the rudder up (I only use the than 0.5mm) expose glass fibre. fix them. Yet the Epic 16x remains at- rudder downwind) it is quite playful • Hard turns require super-aggressive tractive to me as multi-purpose craft, and can be easily turned with bow edging, harder than in many tradi- mainly because I have become ad- rudder or an aggressive low brace tional designs, sculling brace and rolls dicted to its overall speed and ef- turn in a tight circle. are OK but there are kayaks that seem fortless acceleration while retaining a • The 16x can be surfed reasonably to be much easier to handle (for ex- good level of playfulness. well despite its rockerless hull; the ample the Avocet which I had the

c Victorian Sea Kayak Club – http://vskc.org.au 11 SeaTrek 84 Day Trips and Overnighters

Terry Bary The Prom Alternative — Gippsland Lakes

As many readers would be aware it in PortPhillip. We were lucky the shore and we could hear one close has been a long standing tradition to enough to see these fascinating crea- to shore during the night as well. We run a trip to the Snake Island Cattle- tures every day, often jumping com- had an enjoyable evening around a man’s Huts on the Queen’s Birthday pletely out of the water and very close robust campfire (thanks to Michael weekend in June. However this year to shore. the volcanologist) and discovered the the unfavourable tide times and cat- mozzies disappear soon after dark. tlemen’s use of the huts meant an al- ternative plan was put in place- A trip down the East Coast of Wilson’s Prom to Johnny Souey Cove. This trip is doable for relative be- ginners if conditions are right and there are enough experienced pad- dlers in the pod. As it turned out the weather gods combined against us and the fore- cast was pretty bad- 15 knot Westerly winds on day one, 20 knot NW on day two and 30 knot NW on day three ! So an alternative paddle was de- Burrunan dolphin — Source unknown cided on the Gippsland Lakes a cou- Enjoying camp at Storm Point — notice the ple of days before the event, where We met at Hollands Landing on ‘terrible water conditions! the forecast was for west and north the eastern end of the McClelland west winds of under 10 knots for the Strait that joins Lake Wellington to The next morning we awoke to the whole weekend, We were amazed at Lake Victoria at 0900 after Richard , sounds of gunfire as it was duck sea- the difference in conditions a couple Tony & Terry camped the night nearby son, the birds on the lakes seemed of hours drive can make. While we at Marley Point, Evelyn & Michael very skittish all trip and we attributed enjoyed sunny calm conditions over opted for the soft option of accommo- this to the amount of hunters on the most of the weekend we kept check- dation in Stratford and Bill took the swamps surrounding the lakes. ing the wind observations back at the hard option of a very early start from prom and they got up to over 30 Melbourne! After unloading the gear knots! we did a car shuffle to our finish point The Gippsland Lakes is also in Lakes Entrance, a three hour oper- known as “The Victorian Riviera” with ation and returned to set off to our a climate that is milder than Mel- first camp site at Storm Point, a short bourne and quite a lot of winter sun- paddle of around 8 km. On arrival in shine. The lakes system is the second the calm sunny conditions the group largest navigable inland waterway in soon were met by the local welcom- Australia, the Murray/Darling system ing committee of mosquitoes. (I did being the biggest. The land surround- tell them before attending, that if they ing the lakes is a mixture of free- liked mosquitoes they were in for a hold land, state game reserves and real treat!) However with a little care national park, between these there this problem is easily managed with are a number of formal and shall we appropriate clothing and a spray of say ‘discrete’ camping opportunities. repellent, don’t let if put you off ex- Tony doing war dance to fend off duck The lakes are also home to ploring the Lakes. hunters about 50 of the recently described The area has a great beach which species of bottlenosedolphin, we chose to camp on rather than in By 0900 we were on the water the Burrunandolphin (tursiops aus- the more sheltered (and mosquito in- heading for our longest days paddle tralis). The other 150 or so of fested) bush. Soon after arrival the to the eastern end of Raymond Island this rare species are to be found dolphins turned up only meters from some 28km away.

c Victorian Sea Kayak Club – http://vskc.org.au 12 SeaTrek 84 Day Trips and Overnighters

We stopped at Waddy Point to up by all the group. Again we en- check out future camp options (not countered a very light NE wind which too bad here), then a short break at dropped out to no wind by mid morn- Wattle Point before a lunch stop on ing. We were conscious of the pre- the Banksia Peninsula. Predicted NW dicted 20+ knot NW winds forecast winds did not eventuate but we had for the afternoon so keen to make little resistance from the light NE, not the 17km to Lakes Entrance before enough to call it a headwind! Dol- lunch. We stopped for a short break phins put on quite a display along the at Metung and cruised the last section way, jumping clear of the water and to Lakes Entrance with the assistance cruising close to shore where we had of an outgoing current flow. At some lunch. points we were cruising at 9kmh. We than paddled across the lake to We arrived at Lakes entrance be- Raymond Island and continued on the fore midday at a balmy 21 degrees far eastern point where we were able (highest for the state that day) and End of the paddle — Photo: Michael *** to locate a nice discrete area to camp soon packed up and headed for home, at about 1600. The NW winds came just as the predicted high winds hit We all agreed we chose the best along and helped with this last section the area. (it was gusting to 40 knots place for a paddle given the forecast and made for some small chop. at the prom at the same time) pick- and although it was not ‘The Prom’ it ing up a car left at Hollands Landing was a great paddle with lots of inter- along the way. est and for most of the group the first time paddling to Lakes Entrance.

Cruising towards Raymond Island

Day 3 arrived and we were under- way at 0730 after an efficient pack Cruising near Lakes Entrance

c Victorian Sea Kayak Club – http://vskc.org.au 13 SeaTrek 84 Day Trips and Overnighters

The Fisherfolk of Witnessing the Disaster of 1881

David Golightly and Heather Torbet To the First Village in Scotland

We are again fortunate to be spend- a finish at the historic border town of a problem, that said, we were con- ing the Victorian winter in a North- of Berwick on the River Tweed, it- fident that in the expected high tide ern Hemisphere summer – or at least self famed for its link with Sir Walter conditions we would be able to tuck we were hoping for a summer in the Scott. close into the cliff line and make our three months we planned to be here. Located approx. 58 degrees N and way through the rock gardens. Our schedule included some paddling 2 degrees East with a in The modification made to Doug and we had a number of iconic day excess of 3 metres, this was a very dif- Coopers trip was to simply paddle trips in mind including Gigha, Seil Is- ferent paddling location for us, add to down to a wee village called Burn- land, Skye, Arisaig and perhaps even this a sea water approxi- mouth (The First Village in Scotland), as far north as the Summer Isles. mating Port Phillip in winter, this was hang around for a bite to eat then Our initial attempts however were an area we would be wary off head back the way we had come to defeated by the forecast of adverse Knowing that the potential key Eyemouth, a modest all round trip of winds on our preferred sea kayaking risk of the trip was the continuous line some 12 km. Just what was needed destination of Scotland’s west coast, of skerries, sea caves and cliffs, which after a years absence from our Scot- so we turned our attention to our line the coast in this part of Scotland tish based kayaks and from the chill- nearby East coast and what it had to we needed a ‘friendly’ wind to make ier waters of these parts. In addi- offer. the paddle possible for us. tion we hadn’t paddled at all since Our recently purchased copy of The forecast favoured us with SW the VSKC Nooramunga National Park Doug Coopers ‘North & East Coasts of – WNW winds making at least the Easter Weekend trip, understandably Scotland Sea Kayaking Guidebook pro- direction for our planned South to we both felt somewhat apprehensive. vided the inspiration and the infor- South-Easterly outbound paddle, in The launch site of Eyemouth is mation we were seeking, when after theory at least, sort of working in our etched in Scottish fishing history a careful study, we modified a trip favour. The forecast velocity however as the site of a nineteenth century which recommended a launch in the for 12-18 knots, gusting to 26 knots tragedy where the local Herring Fleet, fishing village of Eyemouth and con- as well as the threatened wind shift which was the largest in Britain at tinues all the way to England with to the WNW later in the day was more the time was hit by a huge storm

c Victorian Sea Kayak Club – http://vskc.org.au 14 SeaTrek 84 Day Trips and Overnighters when temptingly close to home af- Before long we paddled into a us from their nests perched precar- ter days at sea working in treacher- small bay with a considerable sea cave iously high in the sheer cliffs. In- ous conditions. Almost forty fisher- as its backdrop, we took stock while terestingly this is an area appar- men from the small town drowned we identified Hurkers Haven; we ently devoid of seals although the within sight of their families who were both somewhat nervous but also informative website resource www. watched the struggling boats trying to enjoying finally getting out on the seakayakingnorthunberland.co.uk reach the safety of the harbour. To- water. Heather requested a change does mention the possibility of spot- day a poignant sculpture of minia- of paddle, she would normally pad- ting Dolphins, or even a Basking ture women and children commemo- dle with a ‘Greenland Stick’ but being Shark or even rarer – an Orca. How- rate the disaster. cautious in the conditions had opted ever, we did rejoice however in the Our chosen launch site from the for using our friend Stuarts Euro- company of the thousands of sea birds beach in front of the modern Leisure Blade, it was now feeling too heavy that make this area their home for at Centre provided a much relieved – so Heather then used David’s lighter least part of the year. short carry to the waters edge and Euro-Blade for the rest of the trip. Judiciously ignoring the tempta- soon after our arrival we prepared for Continuing on we soon met the tion to actually enter any of the some- a nervous launch by retiring to a local bigger natural elements of high cliffs times massive sea caves that dotted caf´e for a coffee! Suitably sustained (up to 150 metres or 300 feet in el- the cliff line – there were only two of we loaded the little red and yellow evation) at Fancove Head and with us and we were determined to con- Northshore ‘Atlantic’ kayaks with the it some of the most impressive caves tinue with our cautious approach as minimum gear we needed for the day you could imagine, in and out of we explored islet after islet, af- and at 11.30 am we were off. the rock gardens we dodged as ter reef on our southwards journey to- Our timing came from the Sea we rounded headland after headland wards England. kayak Guide and its recommendation none of which posed any threat in the Soon the line of houses along the to do the trip around high tide which conditions of the day. We were careful bottom of the cliff which we knew would allow a more up close and per- however not to venture too far from to be Burnmouth came into view and sonal relationship with the skerries as land as a capsize and potential need as we drew closer we marvelled at well as good access to the inner ar- for a rescue in the off-shore winds, what must be the sight of this tiny eas of the Burnmouth harbour at the would see both paddlers pushed well fishing hamlet under the of an other end. out into the North Sea towards Nor- Easterly storm, frankly it’s a wonder Getting used to the boats again af- way before a rescue could be com- there is anything there at all after cen- ter a years absence made for a gentle pleted. turies of winter gales. The high wa- start to the North-East as we paddled ter mark is just metres from the front across the bay towards the narrow en- door of the houses backing onto the trance to the harbour, this is a very steep cliffs and the 1 in 5 road which busy harbour and you are well ad- snakes down from adjacent the main vised to approach the almost hidden Edinburgh to London Rail track atop entrance with care which is what we the cliffs. did and soon we were making the first turn around the headland to change course to the south. The first kilometre or so is flanked by the local golf course so it is not as high as the land mass further south, as a result we didn’t get as much shelter as we had hoped, neverthe- less onwards we pushed leaving be- hind us the well known local fea- High cliffs and some of the most impressive tures such as Nextends & Scout Point, caves you could imagine ... sometimes paddling harder than we wished for against the strong down- Another attractive feature of pad- drafts coming in overland from the dling this magnificent coast of geo- South-West. Where we could we graphical and geotechnical wonders, would head closer into shore seeking is the sea birds which nest annu- Approach to Burnmouth Harbour the refuge offered by the land which ally in the area, Shags, Cormorants was getting higher and higher as we Fulmars and Kittiwakes screeched moved south. and squawked as they flew around Burnmouth despite being a tiny

c Victorian Sea Kayak Club – http://vskc.org.au 15 SeaTrek 84 Day Trips and Overnighters village has a busy productive double did stop and marvel at one or two of Pausing at the narrow entrance to harbour, which displays a prominent the larger caves en-route. the harbour to make sure we were not sign advising of the ten pounds ster- going to be run over by an emerg- ling fee for the landing or launching ing boat, we headed straight for the of boats – of any size! As a result beach and with much relief landed we wound our way into the inner har- safely. bour and with Heather firmly grip- No sooner had we caught much ping the rusty rungs of an access lad- needed breath than we were ap- der built into the rock wall, we ex- proached by an enthusiastic local pad- tracted our tea and our lunch. Now dler who chatted for a while about we were simply ‘moored’ – no pay- his experiences paddling these wa- ment of fees required at least by our ters. We were surprised to learn that interpretation of the sign. he regularly went out alone – hope- We were both feeling the now fully he picked his weather well as bright sunshine burning our faces so he also admitted that as yet he didn’t before we left we reapplied copious have the skills to roll! quantities of sunscreen, why did we Our first paddle in local waters doubt that the sun would shine in Steadily we worked our way around rock over we slowly made the transition Scotland? features such as Breeches Rock and Hawks from water to car, wet to dry gear This little village has to be seen to Nest and headed for the compulsory and be believed, a single row of houses highly sought after local ‘fish & chip- in a street just wide enough for one Steadily we worked our way pery’ which Eyemouth is famed for. car, one wonders who lives here, around rock features such as Breeches Later after suitable sustenance we are they now ‘weekenders’ owned by Rock and Hawks Nest. As our course made our way back to Haddington well-heeled Edinburgh folk, or per- changed from north to north-west via Heathers brothers place where we haps even the English gaining a toe- and we began to sense that the ex- knew we could hang out our wet gear hold in Scottish real estate before the pected wind-shift had come earlier for a hose down and dry – a difficult country elects itself independent? than forecast, we were now battling task in our apartment. It was time to head back to Eye- to make headway as the stronger We had enjoyed a good day and it mouth so we began to extricate our- downdrafts belted us from the high was Heathers first time paddling such selves from the inner harbour, luck- ridges of the sea cliffs. Pausing in the continuous cliff and reef zones; in- ily Heather warned of an engine noise lee of each headland we continued on deed we were fortunate to be able to and around the corner came a big until the Eyemouth Golf Course came experience such a place. fishing boat looking to occupy the into view as well as the rock anglers very space we had just va- perched on every accessible spot in cated – the men were friendly enough the now considerably reduced eleva- although a bit surprised to see our tion to our left. wee craft hanging around where they After about one and a half hours should be. of our journey back we arrived at The Doug Cooper recommended the final headland of Nextends . We strategy of planning our paddle paused and consulted, we knew we around high tide certainly paid off as now had to cross the kilometre wide even on the journey back we were bay with what was now a lively breeze able to stick reasonably close in to the in our faces, the nearby reefs to our reefs. left served as reminder that a capsize Having played around in the rock would inevitably see us struggling to gardens on the outbound journey we effect a rescue in time. didn’t hang around so much on the Anyway, with nothing more to say way back, we also had the benefit of we poked the bows of the kayaks Safely landed at Eyemouth the wind behind our backs, which we around the corner and just kept on go- were grateful for. Nevertheless, we ing ... and going.

c Victorian Sea Kayak Club – http://vskc.org.au 16 SeaTrek 84 Day Trips and Overnighters

Bronwyn Skowronski Keppel Snippets

North Keppel Sea Kayak Symposium. you need to ask the story about the 2015, Mid-winter. What was this Mel- Greenland stick and the unrestrained bournian really looking forward to? relentless dog. Warm weather and warm water. Ev- Inspiring evening talks, as din- erything else would be icing. That ner was digesting, on paddles near cake of warm QLD conditions was re- and far, done mildly and others done alised, so what topped it? boldly. Europe by the Danube. New Zealand firsts. Rolling lessons for life. Perfect weather. We enjoyed a per- North Reef QLD, all man power. fect window of weather. Unbroken sunshine (apart from the one morning we spent snorkelling off Great Keppel Island, what a rude joke Miss Mother Nature!) and calm breezes, joyfully wasteful evenings with rich sunsets. A Curlew “if I stand still no one will see me” The oceanside of North Keppel Island delighted in gentle onshore winds, Total immersion and selfish pace enough to whip up lumpy water for to enjoy all things paddling. Relaxed a play, but none too big to miss out on and copious time to spend with new venturing into the sea caves, and for and old friends, great to paddle with, some, daring rock gardening. be inspired by, learn from, and pro- voke sore abs from so much laugh- Birdlife. Spotting and talking ter (one being Bob’s talk one evening, birds with fellow bird nerds. Sharon I suspected the woman next to me have you got that bird app on your came close to wetting herself). Bob Fergie and Tim Morris smartphone yet? The Sea Eagles were People. As with my other outdoor a treat, with babies spotted peering pursuits, kayaking is a sport that at- Learning and unhurried practice. above their nest. Curlews. I thought tracts all sorts, and what a rich and Remarkable line-up of fabulous kayak someone was playing a joke on my lively world it is to mingle in. Hooksie teachers, who all gave their time for senses. Those massive eyes, tall legs, and Syd. Syd took up kayaking at an free, yet gave the guidance, care and and their unreal comical darting and age that would have enabled him free effort worthy of a top paid perfor- freezing. Such a funny bird! Too skiing at near any resort in the world. mance. Egos left at the shore, great much to distract you from a great He paddles and rolls with the best of care and comradeship of all paddlers, conversation at breakfast and lunch, them, Greenland no less! If you have new or decades seasoned. So often seated outside under the shade of a tendency to spit the dummy, Syd has paddling peers were more supportive tree. your fix. If you ever meet these two, and delighted in assisting the learn-

c Victorian Sea Kayak Club – http://vskc.org.au 17 SeaTrek 84 Day Trips and Overnighters ing of others. What a joy to witness Wonderful hospitality and tucker. Well done and a big thank you Bob get one paddler rolling (who pre- Though many a time, conversations to Paddle Capricornia and Tim Mor- viously voiced that “Kayaking is not spoke of temptation to crash the ris for organizing such a great event. a water sport!”). I enjoyed being a neighbouring ‘XXXX Island’ and all its Please don’t all you sign up for next part of Rob Mercer’s beautifully or- novel amenities. year’s symposium, as I’d like to attend chestrated pod control. Intense learn- Whale and her calf. Darn it I did again myself! ing sessions in perfect pockets of is- not see them, but other paddlers were land shore, and ventures of scenic cir- lucky enough! I did get a treat of a sea cumnavigation. turtle or two.

Richard Rawling Greenland — Sea Kayaking Heaven

Paddling Group – Tasermiut Trip Leader fore. This sounded like a much bet- tion was universal – WOW! I reckon I Leti Boscos (Argentina), Richard and He- ter idea than getting slowly drunk and had the answer to my birthday bash len Rawling (Australia), Concha Guil eating too many party pies! For me, challenge, and the coolest (get it?!) Marchante and Cristina Fortuny (Spain), atop my sea kayaking bucket list was thing was that my wife Helen was go- Bjørn Rasmussen (Denmark), Matteo paddling amongst ice and experienc- ing to join in the adventure (albeit en- Carinelli, Andrea Dipietrantonio and ing the culture of those who live there couraged by the promise of some his- Tomaso Pelos (Italy) — Photos by various – not just a land of ice alone. tory jaunts and the vague attraction members in the group. of some decent single malt whiskies But where? Antarctica is logis- in Scotland post kayaking). tically a very difficult and expensive What do you want to do for your big place to go sea kayaking in. Patago- “0” birthday next year? Good ques- nia was of interest but is too far north Greenland and sea kayaking tion I thought and the more I pon- for there to be large ice flows, plus dered over it, the more I was se- I have already explored and hiked Greenland is the largest non- duced by the idea of sea kayaking there. That left the Arctic regions, continental island in the world with somewhere unique, somewhere mem- and as I researched options one place an area of some 2.18 million km2 . orable and somewhere with paddling clearly stood out – Greenland. As I The name was coined by a famous dimensions I had not experienced be- tested this idea with friends the reac- Scandinavian settler Eric The Red,

c Victorian Sea Kayak Club – http://vskc.org.au 18 SeaTrek 84 Day Trips and Overnighters who thought that the name “Green- Greenland’s borders and at these lat- types of rolling. This kayaking her- land” would attract potential settlers. itudes, the ice is essentially perma- itage was an utterly compelling rea- Despite such a large landmass, the nent. Down south there are extensive son for me to want to visit Greenland, current population is only 57,600, fjord systems, with non-permanent especially to paddle a modern boat in with about 15,500 living in the cap- snow on land but large glacier sys- its home seas – complete with lots of ital Nuuk, located on the west coast. tems that calve a lot of ice (10–15,000 ice of course! Greenland is a protectorate of Den- icebergs per year). July is the only mark, and is self-governing, albeit month in which Greenland’s temper- Getting there is always half the relying heavily on Denmark for eco- ature rises above freezing point. Po- battle nomic growth. Danish is widely spo- lar bears tend to appear between lat- 0 ken in addition to the native dialect. itudes 66–88 north, which is a good As many who have tried will attest, English is typically understood. The thing because these animals are a real long distance paddling logistics can currency is the Danish Kroner, and threat to paddlers. But they can also be a serious challenge. The only vi- the economy is largely founded on appear further south due to their ten- able way to do this trip was to find fishing, tourism, sheep farming and dency to live on ice flows, so it pays to a guiding company who could sup- forage agriculture. The majority of keep vigilant. Other wildlife include ply the gear and organise the trip. It goods need to be imported and food reindeer, musk ox, artic foxes, hares, was not feasible to take boats or large reflects the expense of this necessity. birds, whales, seals and some pretty gear with us, especially since we had The bulk of the population (some weird fish! 3 weeks of onward travel. So I fired 42,100 people) live outside Nuuk in Greenland is the home of the Inuit up Google and started researching. To small villages concentrated on the people who populated this land in my pleasant surprise I turned up a few west coast. Perma-ice inland covers about 1300 AD (the first Europeans companies, but some ran custom trips 85% of the country and is generally actually arrived on the west coast (at a premium price) and some spent not inhabited. around 980 AD). Arctic peoples spo- a lot of time outside the fjords. This radically inhabited Greenland from was an issue because with my wife about 2500 BC. Together with the Helen coming along, it would not be Aleut peoples further west, the Inu- fair to take an inexperienced paddler its invented the kayak. They used it on a challenging paddle such as out to to hunt and fish from, and for travel. Cap Karvel and similar territory. Just The classic shape of the Greenlandic quietly, I shall keep that in mind for a hunting kayak with its long overhangs future trip! at the bow and stern derives from de- My research finally turned up signs that date back some 4000 years. Tasermiut South Greenland Expedi- Inuits became masters of these small, tions. This Spanish company is close fitting craft and this design in- named after one of the iconic fjords fluence is still felt today with many in southern Greenland. It has been of our sleek, high tech kayaks owing going some 20 years and was es- their lines to these fine boats. We can tablished by Ramon Larramendi, a largely thank enthusiastic early 19th Spaniard who has run extensive ex- century European paddlers for copy- peditions in Greenland since the ing some of these designs and intro- 1980s. Tasermiut offers a range of ducing them into western kayaking guided kayaking trips, mixed hik- activities. Books like Kayaks of Green- ing/kayaking and Rigid Inflatable land – The History and Development Boat (RIB) based trips. Tasermiut has of the Greenlandic Hunting Kayak, a long history of using South Ameri- 1600–2000 by Harvey Golden (2006) can guides from Patagonia, I suspect point to the amazing variety of Green- because of their Spanish origins and landic kayak forms, and many of us familiarity with a similar landscape. love the light, sleek, stripped back Tasermiut also offers kayak logistics skin-on frame Greenland-style boats (boats, etc) for independent paddling that are a joy to paddle. I must say (now there’s an idea!) I made con- that I do love my own skin-on frame tact and I have to say that the whole boat built at a VSKC workshop last process of due diligence – registration year. Many of our paddling actions and pre-paddle information flow was also owe their origins to the Inuit pio- excellent. I kept wondering if some- The actual North Pole is within neers of kayaking, notably numerous thing was going to unravel, notably

c Victorian Sea Kayak Club – http://vskc.org.au 19 SeaTrek 84 Day Trips and Overnighters that they had failed to get enough of Narsaq, which is located some were reminiscent of typical Scandina- people to sign and had to cancel. But 50kms further south and is home to vian architecture, and the sight of ice- in the end they were actually over- 1,500 people. We were met by the bergs just off shore blew us away. subscribed and ran two trips back-to- Tasermiut logistics team who wran- They are unique, beautiful, myste- back (in opposite directions). As the gled our bags down to a waiting rious and potentially quite dangerous date drew nearer I could hardly con- boat for transfer to Narsaq (where we because they are prone to rolling and tain my excitement. I was about to would start the paddle). And we had bobbing up in surprising places (but live out one of my greatest kayaking quite a few bags too! I decided to more on this later). dreams – paddling amongst ice! bring our own sleeping bags, inflat- able mats, some paddling gear (hats, Forming the pod and getting to gloves, etc) and a seat. I knew 2.5 Geography on steroids! grips with the trip ahead weeks camping would do my back in, so in went a Helinox chair as well. I Our fabulous guide was Leti Boscos, swear I could have sold 8 of them by an Argentinean who hails from Bar- the end of the trip! aloche in northern Patagonia. Leti’s Our speedboat roared down the leadership style was extremely profes- fjord toward Narsaq on a perfect blue- sional and encouraged cohesion de- sky day . Arriving in the town, our spite the group’s differing paddling bags were ferried up to a Tasermuit- experience. There were 8 paddlers owned hostel (the standards of which in our group, with myself the most were well above the average hostel). experienced paddler apart from Leti. Cristina from Spain was a passion- ate sea paddler from the Barcelona area, and Dane Bjorn had lots of shel- tered waters experience. My wife He- len, three young Italian guys (Matteo, Andrea and Tomaso) and a Spaniard from Cadiz (Conche) had limited pad- dling experience. With Leti at the helm, our group bonded quickly into a team with great spirit. We mainly spoke English, but our pathetic efforts at Spanish and Italian were well re- ceived. I gave up on Danish, but hav- ing Bjorn in the group was a great benefit when it came to communicat- ing with the locals, and his anecdotes about Greenland were always inter- esting. Given the mix of experience in the group, the trip was never go- ing to be ‘fear, pain and danger’, but it was going to have its challenges as any extended trip of 15 days would. We were living out of the kayaks, car- We flew into Narsarsuaq from rying all our food, water and gear. Reykjavik, a 3-hour flight affording Before we begun, we sorted out us some truly jaw dropping views the gear into what we were leaving over the immense Greenland coast- behind in a secured store, and what line. Greenland’s geography really we were taking. That went into a does appear to be on steroids. Ev- truck and we then decided to walk erything – the mountains, fjords, the 2.5kms over to the old mink farm glaciers, icebergs – are so large and sheds that Tasermiut use as their gear monolithic, it completely screws up store. It is always fun getting kit- your sense of depth and distance per- Walking around Narsaq ahead of ted up, but when Leti arrived with a ception. Narsarsuaq effectively func- the pre-trip briefing, the evocative mountain of food and stuff, I was be- tions as the airstrip for the little town coloured houses on the shoreline ginning to wonder where everything

c Victorian Sea Kayak Club – http://vskc.org.au 20 SeaTrek 84 Day Trips and Overnighters was going to go. phones could sometimes get 3G cov- named because this island is thought erage, but as we went further and fur- to be one of the sites of those early ther south this was lost. eastern Viking settlements. Down at the water’s edge, we Leti’s concern about icebergs was could not take our eyes off the bay full quickly vindicated because we heard of icebergs that we were about to pad- a roaring noise and turned to see dle through. a massive iceberg in the process of The excitement was palpable! rolling. A spectacular sight, but an Given some of the group was not that event riddled with danger for un- experienced in boat packing, it took wary kayakers. We quickly learnt to a while to optimise everything, but in tell which icebergs were likely to roll the end there was a place for every- given their shape and age, but the thing – even a large saucepan and ket- temptation to paddle up close was al- tle in the back of Leti’s boat for group ways there. We often heard this roar- meals! ing sound, but sometimes it was hard to get a bead on where it was com- ing from. Cameras were whirring as we glided along in slightly ruffled wa- ter and we probably took a lot longer than we should have to paddle 12km as we soaked in the unique sights (in- cluding one iceberg that I reckon was at least 75m long – huge!).

Tasermiut favour a system of putting 20-litre dry bags on decks, which I reckon is basically not a good We took the kayaks down to the idea in any sort of wind or significant waters edge on trolleys. We were us- wave action. But I didn’t get to test ing a mix of single and boats (Prijon my theory – the weather turned out Kodiak – single and Prijon Excursion – to be pretty tame! double). These boats were very stable and given that we were always land- ing on rocky beaches, a good choice. Finally our paddles hit the water It took some of the less experi- We had to wear drysuits (Crewsaver) enced in the group a while to get the because the water temperature was First paddle strokes are always excit- timing of the paddle strokes in the about 1.5–2.5C. I thought I would boil ing, but especially in such an exotic big doubles, but I was pleasantly sur- in these suits, but because of the cold location! After some simple guidance prised with the tempo and style of the ambient air conditions, they were ac- on forward paddle strokes, we were group as we neared our campsite. tually very comfortable. Mind you, off. Leti was always (rightly) con- The top end of the fjord we were they required a bit of assistance to cerned about paddling too close to paddling in is close to a large glacier get on/off as they have a stiff diag- icebergs because they have a nasty and as a result, the iceberg density onal chest zipper. You also had to habit of tipping over. Paddling was high. As we headed further south be well organised for toileting, be- amongst ice is like paddling amongst the icebergs thinned out, and as we cause they had no pee zip! For safety, floating rocks – it is hard when it skated through the last of the ice- Leti used a Delorme In Reach GPS- hits a boat. Despite this we could bergs in this section, we beached on enabled communications device in or- not get the smiles off our faces as we the island and carried the boats up der to stay in contact with base and glided past iceberg after iceberg on above the high water mark. This other guides. This satellite-based de- what was to become a 10km paddle campsite, and many others like it, in- vice worked flawlessly. Those with to Eric The Red Island (Illutalik), so volved camping on grass. This meant

c Victorian Sea Kayak Club – http://vskc.org.au 21 SeaTrek 84 Day Trips and Overnighters mosquitoes. They were not as bad agonising trip to the nearest rock for a as I thought they might be, but de- pee was a good idea! Going forward, cent repellent is a must if you’re even our plan would be to have breakfast in these parts. Our tents were Atlus at 8.00 am and be on the water by (Spanish) and of excellent quality. 10.00 am. Breakfast was always pre- Leti used a large Bergen Tee Pee Tent saged by Leti’s musical call “Breakfast for the communal tent, and she also is ready!”; what more could one ask cooked and slept in there. for, really? This regime was pretty leisurely paddling by my expedition standards, but all things considered it was a very practical plan that worked well. It was also one that the group was very disciplined in observing, lest we incur Leti’s wrath!

What a picturesque spot, but the wind really started blowing as we struggled to set up the tents. It was Heading south – whales, icebergs so windy in fact that as I was setting and a flying tent mine, our Italian friends lost their tent inner and poles as the wind picked it up and blew it out to sea! I gave chase as did the others but once it landed on the water (upright) it behaved like Day 2 of our trip dawned as perfect any good sea-going tent and started It got very cold at night and by paddling conditions indeed, another heading for the far shore at a rate of running the MSR fuel stove it be- blue sky day with little wind. Our knots! This was funny, but deadly came quite toasty in the Tee Pee route for the next few days saw us fol- serious of course. Copious swearing Tent (we did not make fires because lowing the southern coastline of Tut- in Spanish, Italian, Danish and Aussie there wasn’t any surplus natural wood tutooq Island in the Tunuaraq Fjord could be heard as Leti and Bjorn who to burn). Our dinners were always (see map) in a south-westerly direc- were still in their drysuits took off in healthy and tasty, but I must say that tion. There is a narrow neck in the the kayaks after it. Once Leti snagged I was feeling very guilty with Leti do- island and in a worse case weather it about 500m offshore, she hooked a ing so much work. Dinner was always scenario you would have the option towline and Bjorn helped her wran- preceded by what became our signa- of a 400m to get over to Ik- gled it back to shore. ture beverage of the trip – fruit tea. ersuaq Fjord on the northern side of We always had hot thermos flask of the island. This then opens up the water on hand in the boats, one per glacier-infested fjords to the west (but kayak. more about that later). We had a solid As the sun started to go down on paddle of 20kms or so and ended our first day we spotted a whale not up camping at a place called Turtle 100m from camp and I was grate- Point (by virtue of its appearance). ful I had packed binoculars. This Some of our open crossings on this was a pleasing offset to the fact that leg were long (approximately 7kms) the area we were camped in an area and would be potentially pretty ex- that had been used in the past as a posed in decent wind. Day 3 started whale slaughtering ground. Fortu- in similar weather to Day 2, but got nately, viewing Minke and Humpback windier with what I reckon was only a whales close to our campsites became 12 knot headwind, but can neverthe- a regular occurrence throughout the less be annoying for unseasoned pad- trip. We snuggled into our tents rel- dlers. As a result, we stopped short of atively early, given we found that by the preferred camp at a place called Lesson absolutely learned! After 9.30-10.00 pm we were all so tired the Lakes Camp that featured an ele- this excitement and given the shorter that a warm sleeping bag was a pretty vated site up a short cliff at the back trip we decided on a hike up into the attractive option. It would get very of the landing area. It also lost all the glorious mountains nearby. Once we cold at night (probably -10C at least), beach at high water, so diligence in ty- got to the top the panorama was spec- so being well organised to avoid an ing the boats up was required. tacular. As we gathered wild blue-

c Victorian Sea Kayak Club – http://vskc.org.au 22 SeaTrek 84 Day Trips and Overnighters berries and spied yet more whales, I tutooq Island and crossed over into the edge of the main Greenlandic ice reflected how uplifting it is to know Ikersuaq Fjord to the north. We al- sheet.; it looked absolutely spectacu- that places like this still exist on this ways had lunch on these days in lar, especially as the sun set. planet. Simply sublime. lovely little locations on grass or rock. As we paddled, we were shep- We saw many beautiful plants, some herded along by inquisitive seals, just coming into flower. Prostrate which were clearly gun-shy given that birch grew everywhere, as did blue- they are still hunted in these parts. berries. We saw many stunning blue – violet We stopped at another stunning icebergs in this area, their colour tes- campsite on the southern side of the tament to the fact that they are older Ikersuaq Fjord (The Chilean Camp) and the ice has been compressed over after a 25km paddle. There were time. Different spectral effects then strange shaped icebergs everywhere, occur as light passes through, which because they had spent a lot of time renders the blue shift in the light spec- only partially melting. We saw a spec- trum. tacular whale tail slap and dive right in front of the camp, in addition to plenty of seals and auks (a relative of the Puffin and the northern replace- ment for penguins which do not ap- pear in northern climates). We were now bearing north-east, and heading for a large glacier field that we were going to spend the next 4 days or so checking out.

Glaciers here we come with mystical blue ice and curious seals

We saw Caribou at our lunch spot. They were stunning as they appeared on the ridgeline, darting over boul- ders in an elegant dance. We finally set up camp at the northern end of a place called Skinny Island. We caught some local fish (cod) using left over sausage spread from lunch as bait.

Day 5 saw us undertake a long and exposed crossing of Ikersuaq Fjord. It was pretty cold and if we had signif- icant wind this would be tricky for anybody. My hands were starting to get quite chilled as I was paddling We continued south-west the day in yachting gloves, but on this I leg after the flying tent episode, pleased switched to neoprene gloves (which that the wind had settled somewhat. unfortunately tended to give me blis- Day 4 saw us paddle through a com- ters). We could see the massive This was tasty with cous cous for plex area of channels near Little Tut- Qaletallit Glacier in the distance on dinner the following night. It was

c Victorian Sea Kayak Club – http://vskc.org.au 23 SeaTrek 84 Day Trips and Overnighters a measure of Leti’s overall approach near our kayaks, much to our con- that she solo paddled back a couple sternation and the annoyance of hun- of kilometres to fetch water, then got dreds of seabirds feeding on micro- back and made fruit tea and dinner. organisms in the water. Day 6 saw us paddle further up the The walk up onto the glacier re- Qaletallit Imaa to Tasermiut’s fixed vealed deep fissures and strange icy geodesic dome base camp. They use anthills that occur due to osmosis of this as a base camp for RIB boat trip- earth laden ice through the glacial pers. Here we wrangled a food drop core. Walking up to these glacier and did a walk across to see a large fields is very hard work as you have glacial lake in the moraine field which to negotiate cracked boulders and was pretty impressive in itself. The moraine debris. We were absolutely base camp had been trashed the week exhausted when we got back to the before in really strong winds, so we Glacier Camp, but what a stunning were wary of that episode repeating day’s paddle and exploration. itself. We then paddled over in the Day 7 saw us do a 22km return shadow of the Qaletallit and Naa- paddle past the front of the Naajaat jaat Glaciers to what is known as the Glacier and then over to the Qaletallit Glacier Camp (kayakers and trekkers) Glacier where we did a walk up onto where we were to stay for two nights. the surface of the glacier.

Day 8 saw us paddle south-east back down the Qaletallit Imaa in a stiff breeze. We had contemplated staying given the long downwind pad- dle and the fact that once we turned The paddle over to the camp north we would have to paddle back seemed to take a while and it was up into that breeze. But the down- then I realised just how large ex- wind leg was pretty quick as we shot panses of white completely throw along at about 10kph. Once we out your distance perception. Be- turned north into the breeze we had cause there were two groups doing to hop from headland to headland the trip in opposite directions, we in order to leverage our way up to caught up with the other group for our next campsite where we would one night at this camp. We also again be for two nights. We slogged got our first good glimpse of the it out and after 21kms finally pulled Northern Lights. At first they ap- into a magical camping location at the peared as white clouds (even though foot of large mountains (Akuliaruseq) it was dark around 10.00 pm), but where we would do a full day trek the as midnight approached, they steadily following day. turned green. We saw these lights on We were all knackered, but we several other nights, but it was always This was a spectacular paddle, were getting pretty fit and dropping a struggle to haul yourself out of the rendered more so when as we took body as the combination of sleeping bag at 1am when it was so selfies, a huge jagged iceberg of blue healthy food, strenuous activity and cold and there was no guarantee that ice broke free from the foot of the the cold caught up with us. It was the ionospheric activity would occur. glacier and burst through the water hard to find fresh water for drinking

c Victorian Sea Kayak Club – http://vskc.org.au 24 SeaTrek 84 Day Trips and Overnighters at this particular site, and the climb though they had been scoured over up to the high level creek was tough hundreds of years by active glaciers. as you navigated your way through Eventually we arrived at a stunning sharp, cracked boulders that were overlook of the Naajaat Glacier where wicked on boots. Definitely not a we had lunch and napped in the good place to fall over. bright sun. Day 9 was set side for a hike up into the mountains to view the Naa- jaat Glacier from the opposite moun- tain range. We geared up and started our 18km trek up into the mountains. At first the scenery comprised of rocky boulder spills as we grappled to get up onto the moraine fields proper. We passed many picturesque lakes and valleys, but there is a distinct lack of The vistas of rock, small lakes, soil in these parts, so what vegeta- alpine grasses and the odd flower tion there was clung to a precarious were stunning. Once we got back af- existence. The trail was unmarked, ter a long day our legs were pretty but Leti guided us well through the wobbly, and we greatly savoured the boulders and scree. Once we got up famous fruit tea. By this stage another higher we came across a very large group had turned up. They were do- freshwater lake that was convenient ing the 5 day kayak trip. Two Tasma- given this was our designated ‘wash- nians in the group bemoaned the fact ing day’. The girls went right off a they had not done the longer trip, and I have to say that doing the longer trip little rock outcrop and the boys went Our trek back down was via a dif- was a far better call given what they left. It was far too cold for me but ferent path and we twisted through told us they were not seeing what we Tomaso and Andrea plunged in stark moraine fields where the boulders were. naked. Suffice it to say, the look of had been for hundreds of years after horror on their faces was well wor- the ice had melted. Pretty awe inspir- Narsaq bound but in no hurry to thy of photographic record as the true ing, although I thought Andrea’s at- end our magical journey impact of the icy water took hold of tempt to roll one of these monoliths various parts of their anatomy. Helen was a tad ambitious! Once we left the trekking camp we said and my hair was pretty disgust- had effectively started our long, slow ing after 9 days without washing, so trip back to Narsaq, and we wanted we both opted for a head wash only to be sure to savour every last paddle which was well worth it. stroke. By now everyone’s paddling was really efficient and we glided along at a good clip. I kept thinking that we should slow down to soak in the glorious scenery. As we headed south-east down Manitsup Tunua, the majesty of the massive mountains re- ally hit us. So too did the tiredness of a period of non-stop activity. We stopped many times for a breather and Leti always seemed to find a food bar or a bit of chocolate, and of course our lovely fruit tea! On Day 10 we left our camp spot on the northern side of the fjord and crossed in per- fect weather, but I again thought that We saw an artic hare on the way this could get pretty gnarly in a strong Our climb took us further up onto back, which for all the world looked side wind. It was a 22km leg that took huge granite slabs, much like what like a bunny on steroids, much like us through a field of jagged and un- you see at Wilsons Promontory. Here the mountains. stable icebergs.

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stead. Conditions were dead calm. as a lot of the ice had moved around, We saw many whales and many ice- but it was still full of icebergs and bergs fall apart and reform, again a perfect opportunity for Andrea and underscoring the dangers of getting Matteo to finally test out the drysuits too close. We could also by now in the water – suffice to say it was still see Narsaq in the distance. We were bloody cold! nearly at the end of our kayaking ice We decamped all the boats and odyssey, although I think many of us dragged them back up to the stor- could have happily gone on. Our final age shed. Once we had washed all night was really cold and we awoke the gear, we had a final picnic lunch to fog. We knew Narsaq was due east, on the grass, again in sunny, blue-sky but care was required in those condi- conditions. We decided to walk the tions. As we pushed on, Narsaq grad- 2.5kms back into Narsaq as somehow ually emerged from the fog as the sun it did not seem right to jump into a burnt through. We only had to cover truck after all we had just achieved 8kms or so, but use of the GPS was There were more icebergs here in the boats – 180km of sheer kayak- certainly prudent. than further south because we were ing bliss. The hot shower in the hostel now much nearer the calving head was sublime, to say the least! of the main glacier in the area – Eq- glorutsit Kangilliit. Some of the ice- bergs were huge, and in some cases had fallen onto their neighbours. We gave these a wide birth, as we did Time to explore Narsaq and the ones with moraine rubble embed- reluctantly head back to ded in their upper levels. We camped ‘civilisation’ near an old fisherman’s hut, which al- though being relatively modern was quite run down. The red colour of the hut was in stark contrast with the blue Once we had settled back into quasi water, white icebergs and dark moun- civilisation, the focus quickly turned tains in the background. We met a to food. While paddling, we had group of three Spanish women who daily fantasies about spaghetti car- had hired their boats from Tasermiut bonara and pizza, and this was a chal- for a self-guided trip (this is actually lenge that our Italian friends gladly a great option for this area provided accepted. So off to the small su- you know where to find water ). I permarket we went for supplies and remember ending this day sitting in then back to the hostel for a lazy my Helinox chair, sipping fruit tea and pasta lunch. The boys really excelled gazing out over the scramble of ice- themselves, actually hand making the bergs, and made a note in the diary pasta. Once that had barely hit the for the umpteenth time – “this really sides along with a few of the local is kayaking heaven”. beers to wash it down with, we went Day 11 saw us leave iceberg al- for a stroll around Narsaq taking in- ley and head over to a place called teresting photos and checking out the Stephensen’s Haven. This is an little local stores. The little church old Inuit village dating from 1350 interior was gorgeous, as were the that was archeologically excavated in brightly painted little houses in the 1935. There was not much there, but town. The local hotel was the only we enjoyed checking out the old ru- As we stopped to reflect on our place with any sort of wi-fi so we ins where stone houses had been. It accomplishments, a tinge of sadness used that to reconnect with emails, must have been a very hard life. This washed over me at the knowledge and sample a hot chocolate and cake. was only a short paddle (12kms) as that the trip was nearly over. We took That night the two groups joined up we decided to avoid a big group from a celebratory photo with our paddles for a pizza party courtesy of our Ital- another company who were camped in the air and then weaved into the ian friends again. The pizzas kept where we were heading. So we spied bay west of Narsaq where we had coming and we were only too happy a nice spot and pulled up there in- started. It was pretty unrecognisable to keep eating them – marvellous.

c Victorian Sea Kayak Club – http://vskc.org.au 26 SeaTrek 84 Day Trips and Overnighters

Eventually we made our way the return trip said it all – a sense down to the wharf for the RIB boat of having had one of the experiences ride back up to Narsarsuaq. We left of our lives and one of great achieve- Leti on the wharf as she reluctantly ment. So how do I come down from got ready for another 3-day trip – the such an amazing experience? By final trip for the season. We donned working on the logistics for trip num- polar jackets for the fast boat ride be- ber two on my sea kayaking bucket cause the air was bitingly cold. It was list, that’s how! also quite foggy and the driver was navigating by GPS. I am just glad he Reflections and dreams of more ice didn’t smack into one of the big ice- bergs! Would I go back to Greenland? Yes I Once back at the airport we got or- would – in a heartbeat. It was stun- ganised for the flight and had a few ning and logistically very doable in snacks plus what was left of the beer the end. My target if doing it a second The next and final full day, we did from our raid on the Narsaq super- time around would likely focus on some shopping for local maps and the market the day before. We left on Disco Bay, Ilulissat and maybe Nuuk. like, and just kept exploring around. different flights at different times, de- But by the sounds of it, the paddling Our French friends in the other group pending whether we had flown via south of Narsaq around Qaqortoq and were cooking on the last night and Reykjavik or Copenhagen. It was a bit Nanortalik warrant attention. I might had chosen to do fish. The fish vari- sad saying goodbye given the bonds be tempted to free rent kayaks this eties in these waters were unknown made within the group, but we have time, but there is a lot to be said for to me, except wolf fish, which is god stayed in touch quite a bit since and a guided trip, especially with a guide awful ugly with jaws that can crush we now have many couches that we like Leti, and I thought it was really rocks. It is a bit like an arctic version can crash on in various parts of Eu- good value for money (see Tasermiut of a Moray eel. But it ended up being rope. Concha has made a stunning website). very tasty! They had also purchased video and checking that out bought Things to remember when plan- some seal, and cooked that up in a back many great memories. I have ning your own Greenlandic kayaking dark glaze. Probably because I am a a video as well if I can ever get it adventure: proud owner of a lovely Golden Re- sorted. . . • Do your homework – if you go on triever dog, and seals seem much like a guided trip be confident it will have the Goldens of the sea (cute and play- enough stretch for you given your ca- ful), so to Helen and I the thought of pabilities. But be satisfied that at eating seal was too much. Suffice to times what will be easy for you, might say that those who did try it did not be harder for others. rush back for seconds! • Check expected weather – investi- On our last morning we paid a gate the weather relative to the time visit to the small local museum. It had of year you plan to go (the pad- an interesting display of old kayaks, dling season in Greenland runs from harpoons and other related gear. Boy, mid-June to mid-September), outside those Inuit kayaks are tight fitting! those times forget it. If you want to see the Northern Lights, then late Au- gust is best. • Take a few paddling luxuries – I took a collapsible chair, a bet- ter than average sleeping mattresses, As the plane pulled out of Narsar- good head torch and some well worn suaq, we gazed over geography on and trusted paddling clobber. steroids one last time. In many ways, • Check out proposed gear and the ice flows, glaciers and mountains guide – we thought Tasermiut got it were somehow now all in an even pretty right, but I have heard horror more sensible context. We had been stories about others who have got it part of that brilliant environment for badly wrong. 15 stunning days and it will live with • Appreciate local context – seek to us forever. In many ways, the selfie understand the local people, customs, Helen and I snapped on the plane on history, geography, etc before you go,

c Victorian Sea Kayak Club – http://vskc.org.au 27 SeaTrek 84 Day Trips and Overnighters as it makes for a much richer experi- are going with a non-paddling part- • Narsaq weather –www. ence. ner, be patient and do not push the worldweatheronline.com/ • Leverage the trip – if you are go- envelope too much. This was not a v2/weather.aspx?q=Narsaq, ing to the other side of the planet trip for novices, and I worked a lot %20Greenland for sea kayaking purposes, then fac- harder on boat wrangling, camp set • Viking settlement – en. tor in some other activities that make up and the like more than I would wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_ it worthwhile. We spent 4 days in Ice- have with an experienced paddling Settlement land and I paddled in Scotland for a partner. But to do a trip like this with • Greenland Tourism – www. few days (and the west coast is an- Helen, was really special. Kudos to greenland.com/en/ other branch of sea kayaking heaven her for having a go, which she did • Ilulissat – whc.unesco.org/en/list/1149 from what I saw), but we also checked brilliantly well. • Lagavulun Whisky Distillery, out a lot of historical aspects in Scot- Isle of Islay –www.discovering- land and then had a lovely stopover distilleries.com/lagavulin/ in Shanghai on the way back Some useful web references • Reasonable expectations – if you • Tasermiut – www.kayakingreenland.com/

c Victorian Sea Kayak Club – http://vskc.org.au 28 SeaTrek 84 Food for Thought

Roger Bellchambers Skills and anxieties

I write this brief piece as a reflection • Does everyone have the skills My belief is that we all do need the of my years of paddling experiences needed for the paddle? practical skills that are taught through which I hope may help other pad- • Does everyone have the capacity for the VSKC — but there are often many dlers. the distance required? unspoken anxieties. When paddling on club day trips , We need to recognise our own AGM paddles and any extended expe- ... and myself fears — including fear of the un- dition, -in fact any paddle, the things known, anxiety about what other peo- I think of as we get underway relate to • What is my personal paddling abil- ple think, fear of coming out of one’s the dynamics of the paddling group, ity and skill set? boat, not being able to get back into including the confidence of the leader, • What is my level of comfort on this the boat; fears of the depth of wa- the groups’ collective skills, the expe- particular event? ter, difficulty in unfamiliar water, rience and personality of individuals , • I believe EVERYONE needs to assess fears of , ... and of course, and then where my past paddling ex- themselves at the start of every trip. the primordial fear of sharks! periences fit in with this group. • It is then possible for YOU to then Until we overcome anxieties one The questions I ask myself in- feel comfortable with your position we struggle to move forward. clude; within the paddling group,-regardless Inability to roll, and coming out of your degree of experience. of one’s boat is all a normal part of The leader ... kayaking, and should not be the After looking at, and considering all source of personal anxiety and, thus, • How confident is the leader with de- the above, I would add one more an impediment to improve and enjoy. cision making? thought. I feel it is vital for each person to • Has the leader got the skills for this be able to think through the above particular trip and prepared for actual Anxiety questions, and have confidence in the or potential conditions involved? group of paddlers around them. It • Will the leader encourage the group Let’s distinguish anxiety from edu- may then encourage paddlers to step to do as instructed? cated concerns about recognised spe- out of their comfort zone, take more • Will others try to take over and then cific risks. Anxiety, in contrast, is opportunities to increase skills and possibly undermine the leader’s confi- generic, a broad perception of danger. deal with their possible anxieties. dence to lead? This perception of danger might have I have wanted to share my an object but it remains vague — it’s thoughts as have personally expe- The group ... the fear of the unknown and unspeak- rienced challenging kayaking condi- able. Thus, anxiety can be called irra- tions, including unplanned swimming • What is the size of the group ? tional and unproductive, but yet, it is events- but have had complete faith in • Will they stay together or stretch out real. my fellow paddlers’ ability to assist in ? I consider anxiety to be a major in- any situation and left me with lifetime • Is there a big variation in people’s fluence one’s enjoyment, and ability memories. paddling ability and speed? to stretch oneself to a higher level.

c Victorian Sea Kayak Club – http://vskc.org.au 29 SeaTrek 84 Food for Thought

Kate Hives (Vancouver Island, BC) Missing the Point? Women in Kayaking

Adapted for Seatrek with friendly permis- Kayaking. This has been a topic that our wonderful, albeit fringe, sport. If sion by the author. Source: Kate Hives, has been circling my awareness for you are a sea kayaker, you can proba- Love what you do, inspire others to do what some time now and as a woman in sea bly identify your motivations for sea they love. Blog. http: // katehives. com , kayaking, I feel it deserves some fur- kayaking – fitness, friendship, com- Posted 2 Sept 2015. Accessed 10 Oct 2015. ther investigation. It may be true that munity, time in nature/outside, love — Kate is a coach with ‘SKILS’ (www. there are more men participating in of the water, personal challenge, to skils. ca ) and holds certifications as a sea kayaking than women; We see this overcome fears ... Level 3 Sea Kayak Guide, Guide Trainer and represented at symposium, in coach- Examiner with the Sea Kayak Guide’s Al- The reasons that we participate liance of British Columbia (SKGABC ), with ing demographics and on the water. However, the question itself of how in sea kayaking are varied and di- Paddle Canada as a Sea Kayak Level 2 verse, just like our community of pad- Coach and Level 3 Coach aspirant. Kate has we might encourage more women dlers. In the same breath, we need been with the VSKC during training weeks into sea kayaking, might be missing with Nick Cunliffe in March 2015 the point. to acknowledge the various different styles of paddling that people par- If, for a moment, we set aside the ticipate in. From flat water tour- polarizing aspects of gender and look ing in lakes and calm water; to long I was recently asked for my opin- at general participation in sea kayak- challenging expeditions circumnavi- ion around how we can encourage ing, perhaps we can see more deeply gating continents; rough, adrenalin more women into the sport of Sea why more people don’t get involved in packed play around waves, surf and

c Victorian Sea Kayak Club – http://vskc.org.au 30 SeaTrek 84 Food for Thought rivers; technical rolling skills with tra- not go there right now.) local lake. There is room for all kinds ditional blades; racing and glide at Ok, Kate, so what’s the of paddlers in this community, we high speeds; and so much more . . . here? need to foster acceptance around this we all find a niche within the sport reality. that suits our needs, hopefully. What this looks like in practice is clear communication around pad- dling events and excursions. In creat- ing space for a discussion around in- dividual expectations, goals and de- sires, participants can more accu- rately select a paddling partner or group that suits their needs. This way we don’t scare new paddlers in conditions over their heads and we can limit frustrations held by pad- dlers waiting at the front of the group, wanting to push harder. There is nothing more important in building a strong, healthy and vibrant commu- With such a mix of paddlers, mo- nity than clear communication and tivations and challenges how can we acceptance of diversity. This is the point . . . we are diverse build our community to create a My call to action here is to build community of paddlers, with a range stronger more inclusive and unified acceptance around all genres of pad- of motivations for participation in the adventure sport? dling (from calm water paddles to sport. So what then are the barriers We are all paddlers, regardless of rough water play), to support new- that inhibit newcomers from joining? what kind of waters we like to pad- comers to the sport and cultivate clar- I can identify some obvious offenders dle — this needs to be a part of our ity around expectations on our trips like time, money, knowledge and fear, dialogue. To be a paddler does not and events. There is room for a lit- however I will highlight that these af- mean you must surf the biggest waves tle bit of everything in this commu- fect both men and women. (It could or roll in 200 different ways; it also nity, but it requires support from all be argued that it is more challeng- doesn’t require that you paddle thou- angles. Love what you do, inspire ing for a certain demographic to over- sands of miles around countries. . . it others to do what they love. come these challenges, but I’d rather might mean you paddle around your

Bronwyn Skowronski Do you Leave No Trace?

With summer almost here, and the getting wrong. You can check out animals around campsites and picnic peak of camping season upon us, the full list athttp://www.lnt.org. spots, both while you are there, and let’s review and refresh ourselves with au/programs/7-principles.html after you leave. Wombats, possums, the principles of ‘Leave no Trace’ One. Dispose nothing in fresh birds learn to frequent these areas, camping and general outdoor adven- waterways. No, not even tooth- and even become aggressive, some- tures. Think about how you go about paste, soap, environmentally friendly times destroying bags and tents, in treading and paddling, your good detergents (whatever that is?!), food their pursuit of this learned resource and bad habits around this, and the scraps, urine, old dishwashing water. for food. People’s food is often harm- broader picture, so that you might en- Nothing. ful to wild animals. Currawongs in courage and educate others to looking Two. Apple cores, banana peels Tasmania have even learnt to unzip after our beautiful playground better. etc. Yes they are biodegradable, but tent flys and bags to gain trekkers Here’s a few thought provoking they do not belong in the bush. Pack food! principles I have either previously got them out. Four. Don’t burn used toilet paper. wrong myself, must keep reminding Three. Don’t leave food lying Either bury it or carry it out. myself of, or commonly see others openly obvious, or easily accessible to Five. Have an attitude of “Leave

c Victorian Sea Kayak Club – http://vskc.org.au 31 SeaTrek 84 Food for Thought it better than you found it” when ven- Remember that the preservation of So: Leave only footsteps, Take turing outdoors. If you find rubbish, our wild playgrounds are dependent only photos (and other people’s rub- if it’s safe and easy to do so, collect it on the good habits of every individ- bish). so it can be disposed of properly. ual. The actions of 100 people, or a single one, can have a massive nega- So? tive impact on an ecosystem.

c Victorian Sea Kayak Club – http://vskc.org.au 32 SeaTrek 84 Club Life

V–tow under sail — Photo: BF

Greg Skowronski Walkerville Weekend (27–28 June 2015)

As part of his path to level 3, Steve C dling towards Cape Liptrap but as it oranised a weekend of paddling down turns out they turned back shortly af- at Walkerville on the weekend of June ter we left them. Apparently with 27-28th. Around a dozen paddlers the offshore wind and no safe passage turned up for the weekend. On Sat- close to shore the decision was made urday the weather conditions were to turn back for safety reasons. Af- quite pleasant with moderate ter we got back a few of us decided and moderate N-NW winds so the de- we haven’t had enough paddling yet cision was made to do a leisurely pad- so we paddled from Walkerville South dle from Walkerville South to Cape to the nearest reef in search of some Liptrap. Initially the wind was be- sea life. To our surprise we were soon hind us as we were paddling south, surrounded by a pod of dolphins and so we made quick progress towards seals playing around so it was well our destination. After 3 km we turned worth the effort. west so the wind was more offshore. ... around the surf in Warathah Bay – Pho- Just after the 5km mark a pod mem- tos: BS ber felt quite sick and low on en- ergy. So the decision was made to V– On Sunday morning a few of us tow them back to Walkerville South. played around in the surf in Waratah Four pod members volunteered to as- Bay. The more adventurous ones sist with the chaperoning duties. Ini- were surfing the dumpy surf and the tially myself and Terry B volunteered rest were just happy to play in the to do the towing. We put our sails smaller stuff closer to the shore. The up which helped slightly. After a few tide was going out and the waves kms the decision was made not to do were steepening so after about an a burial at sea but just yet but keep hour or so we exited the water. towing them back to safety. Bren- I thought Steve did a great job that don S took over the towing duties and weekend and I do hope he gets his he and Terry finished the job. All Level 3. Good luck! good! The rest of the pod kept pad- A few of us played ...

c Victorian Sea Kayak Club – http://vskc.org.au 33 SeaTrek 84 Club Life

Fun playing in the waves — Photo BS (Waratah Bay)

Steve Collins Level 3 Surf Assessment

Ocean Grove, 19 September 2015 learn to protect yourself and others The only catch was a rocky beach with from injury. Once you have built up some shallow rocks above and under some skills you will feel much more water that required a bit of caution The is one of the most dy- confident, and, even find, that play- and good timing. After a successful namic areas that we as sea kayak- ing in the surf is loads of fun. launch we followed the beach east in- ers paddle in. Whether you enjoy Our grading system requires that side and outside the surf zone, catch- playing in the surf, or, find it con- we have a degree of ability in surf at ing the odd wave. The launch then fronting and a bit scary, there are both Level 2 and Level 3.The require- was complemented by a surf land- times when it is unavoidable. For in- ments at Level 3 are, of course, more ing scenario, organised by a differ- stance, a club weekend at Tidal River rigorous. With this in mind, three, ent team (well not entirely different, will pretty well always require that of a larger group, of this year’s Level with just three candidates to mix and you paddle out through small to mod- Three candidates met at Grove match there are limits). No drama erate surf, most can manage this, it’s Beach to undertake Level 3 Surf As- here as well. This was followed by coming back through the surf to land sessment. Club instructors John E and some play in the waves, tumbling on the beach where capsizes often Greg M generously gave up their time and bumbling, rocking and rolling, happen. Flipped over, a wet exit, the to assess whether Helmut H, Gerard forwards, backwards, intentionally or long walk, with your kayak full of wa- O and myself each had the skills and unintentionally (Helmut kept accus- ter back to the beach. Sounds famil- ability in surf required of a Level 3 ing his Epic spinning him on one oc- iar? It does to me, I have done it so paddler. casion maliciously from a broach into many times in the past, pleased to say Surfing, rolling, re-enter and roll, a fast backward on a pile of bumpy not so often now. Learning to control surfing backwards, entering and land- white stuff — yet another way of surf- your kayak in surf is an intrinsic el- ing in surf and organising a group on ing backwards). The session was fin- ement of sea kayaking. Our club of- and off the beach were a few of the ished of with a re-enter and roll for ten runs training sessions in the surf, skills that we needed to demonstrate. each of us in the surf zone. and experienced kayakers are always We started out with a scenario I must say that we all had fun play- happy to give advice and pointers. where two of us had to lead a group of ing in the waves, and better still, John Learn and practise in the club envi- intermediate paddlers out to the see gave each of us pass. ronment, as there are certain rules to through some quite moderate surf.

c Victorian Sea Kayak Club – http://vskc.org.au 34 SeaTrek 84 Club Life

Yet another holdup, what is it this time?

Steve Collins, Helmut Heinze, Gerard Oreilly, Kerry Vogele and Graeme Thompson Level 3 Assessment Weekend

Find below some reflections on the Level 3 as I arrived at Port Welshpool for the will forever remember who I did my Final Assessment weekend that took place Level 3 Assessment weekend, how- Level 3 with, a great bunch of com- 9—11 October 2015 at Port Welshpool and ever, as with the other Level 3 candi- rades .As for the instructors, well, the on the waters around Snake Island, Wilsons dates, I did not sleep particularly well less said the better. They confronted Prom. It should be mentioned to our read- that first night, and not much better us with scenario after scenario, and ers that as much as we wish and as much as the second. challenged us in many ways . there was to tell we are not able to render a detailed account of the assessment weekend. So, it’s probably fair to say, that, Weary and tired we arrived at The best stories have to remain untold. with a certain level of trepidation I the Cattlemen’s Huts on Snake Is- All photos by Terry Barry. — (Ed.) began what was to be a challenging land ,once we had completed a writ- weekend, both on and off the wa- ten exam we were able to relax a lit- ter. From the start, there was defi- tle and reflect on what had been an nitely a feeling of, them and us, the in- eventful day. There was more to come A challenging weekend structors and the aspiring candidates the next day, and then finally we were .Early on a bond was formed between back at Port Welshpool. I was not feeling particularly anxious us five candidates, so much so, that I It was a weekend where I learnt

c Victorian Sea Kayak Club – http://vskc.org.au 35 SeaTrek 84 Club Life so much, the instructors, were really, We pushed off on from Port Welsh- ness. — Sunday was pretty much not that bad ,and I thank them for pool, taking turns leading assigned a continuation of Saturday’s work. the time and effort they put into the legs of our trip to Snake Island, and More legs to paddle, other leaders, whole Level 3 program , it has been a only minutes later we were batting other disasters, other stuff-ups. I had great experience and I highly recom- away all sort of minor and major- a bit more sleep, was feeling much mend it to others. And a big thank made incidents. To be expected, but better than on the day before but was you to Kerrie, Graeme, Helmut and still nerve-racking. And when there still sluggish and made too many un- Gerard. was a lull and everything seemed to forced errors. (Steve Collins) be peaceful, you knew something else In the end I was disappointed with was brewing and you were wonder- my performance. It’s easy to blame ing what it might be. In the after- the circumstances such as lack of noon, at last, came the signal that sleep but the whole idea is prove that we are off scenarios and ready to one can still navigate, keep a group set up camp. With our last strength together, make the right decisions and we pushed and dragged the loaded perform rescues under duress. This kayaks up the dunes. Done? No, not way, the assessment weekend dou- yet! A 100 meter swim. Bob und bled as invaluable training days. The Terry took position in hip-deep wa- weather and the sea had been very ter marking a distance of some (gen- pleasant and did not pose any chal- erously inflated) 50 meters, and we lenge paddling-wise, but is was an in- had the pleasure bumbling from one teresting experience to see how things end to the other and back in what- start falling apart (at least for me) un- ever mode our aching and cramp- der stress. ing bodies with PFDs, spray decks, All in all it was a tough but fan- Weary and tired ... trapped air in our clothing could han- tastic weekend. Big thanks to the in- dle. Not pretty, best described as truly structors who put in their time and ex- ’freestyle’. hausted themselves (almost) as much as us candidates. My fondest mem- A fantastic team ory however of this weekend was At last the Assessment Weekend, the the spirit of solidarity and coopera- Grand Final of the Level 3 sequence tion among us candidates. A fantastic was on. Actually I had been look- team we were! ing forward to this weekend. I ar- (Helmut Heinze) rived early at Port Welshpool after a chaotic week at work. We had dinner Testing times at the local pub, and then the pres- sure was on. Us, the candidates in one The Assessment Weekend seemed like cabin, were sweating about details of ages away from the Level 3 Intake, it our trips we were to lead; them, the crept up on me. Nervous, am I up instructors in the other cabin seem- to this? Meet and greet at the Port ingly having a good time, presumably Welshpool pub on a Friday night, a bit fine-tuning the mischief they were go- of navigation to be done that night, ing to inflict upon us candidates — Very ‘free’-style Saturday on the water. may their bad conscience haunt them The Saturday would be a gruelling in their sleep, I thought. But it The rest of the day was just a blur day scenarios to face the prospec- was me lying awake and having sec- in my memory, my lack of sleep made tive trip leaders, group reflections and ond thoughts and re-doing tide and the simplest task a challenge. We put self-assessments. Saturday’s paddling ferry glide calculations in my mind up our tents, had a quick coffee and ended on a beach at low tide in front until dawn, only briefly nodding of then sat our written exams until dark- of the Cattlemen’s Huts, Snake Island. with nightmares about mass drown- ness, exhaustion, lack of willpower or The last boat is lifted well above the ings at Singapore Deep in mountain- all three made us and hand in the pa- high water mark, legs straining, will ous waves. — Saturday morning we pers. I got pretty early to the point there be a cardiac arrest? What an ac- loaded the kayaks and readied our- where I did not care re-checking my tion packed day, relax at last! Just one selves for what was to come. Every- answers and handed in early. Ku- more hurdle this day, an exam to be body complained about having slept dos to my fellow candidates who kept done as the sun sets. Soon we would badly, some coped better, some worse. working with a head torch after dark- be using head torches to finish, there’s

c Victorian Sea Kayak Club – http://vskc.org.au 36 SeaTrek 84 Club Life that question again; how fast will the numb extremeties we can look back group paddle? I’ll get that one right! and, almost, laugh about the Level 3 Finally time to light up the Trangia, assessment weekend. relax and talk about the day’s events. After a (sort of) relaxing drive from the beautiful south coast of NSW we arrived at Port Welshpool and, be- ing first, claimed what was apparently the best cabin . . . not a good way to gain favour with the instructors . . . really, we were just going where the receptionist told us . . . honestly. A ‘nice’ room (well, a bed at least), a walk along the waterfront, a cou- ple of quiet drinks, a meal at the pub . . . this weekend might be alright af- ... leadership, navigation, swimming and ter all, we thought!! Well, a couple camping of hours later, after we had been in- vited into the hallowed cabin of the Yes, it is over and yes, it was tough instructors and briefed on our mis- . . . would we recommend this to Soon we would be using head torches ... sion for the weekend, that thought others? Most definitely. It is a fan- had certainly disappeared. The best tastic learning experience and, whilst Sunday back on the water and a thought though was knowing all five you can read all the theory, study the demonstration of how quickly things of us were in this together and that marine charts, buy navigation books, can unravel. Finally the home stretch we would be working as a team to get watch YouTube first aid clips and per- to Port Welshpool. though the next two days. form calculations on paper, nothing is What an action packed weekend There was no turning back now. as good as getting out there and expe- and great experience. The group dis- Two days of paddle skills, safety, first riencing it. cussions and feedback, priceless. Af- aid, leadership, navigation, swim- Oh . . . and yes, we do have ter a de-brief from the instructor’s ming and camping — all tested very fond memories and lots of laughs group everyone split to go their sepa- through carefully planned scenarios. from the weekend. rate ways. This feedback from each of Some would say the instructors took A big thank you to our fellow can- the instructors was most valued and way too much delight in thinking up didates and especially to our instruc- will be reflected upon for a long time. these challenges!! tors who certainly put it all on the line Thanks to all, level 3 candidates and for us. the instructor group for a great learn- (Kerry Vogele & Graeme Thomp- ing experience. son) (Gerard OReilly)

Nothing is as good as getting out there and experiencing it

Wow . . . it’s over . . . an intake week- end, six months of training to impove skills and prepare for the unknown, a mentored paddle, a surf assessment and now the final assessment week- end . . . all done. Now that the nerves have settled, the muscles aren’t quite so sore and feeling has returned to Two days of paddle skills, safety, first aid ...

c Victorian Sea Kayak Club – http://vskc.org.au 37 SeaTrek 84 Club Life

On—In—Under at Waratah Bay — By Bronwyn Skowronski

c Victorian Sea Kayak Club – http://vskc.org.au 38