THE MAGAZINE OF NSW SEA KAYAK CLUB ISSUE 93 | MAY 2014 SUCCESS! ROCK ‘N’ ROLL 2014 SURFING LESSONS GOING SOLO MURRUMBIDGEE RIVER TASSIE BOOT CAMP ALSO INSIDE: Basic skills | The twist | Nutrition | Croatia 2 CONTENTS From the President’s Deck 3 Editor’s Desk 4 Surfing Lessons 5 Going Solo 8 Rock N Roll 10 First Kayaking Experience 12 A Queenslander’s Perspective 13 Ripple Effects 14 Toll Gate Islands: 16 Saltiest Submission Winner 19 It’s Not All Aboutthe Tollgates... 20 The Making Of The Basic Skills Website 22 It’s All About The Twist 26 Expedition Paddling & Nutritional Needs 28 Racing Paddling & Nutritional Needs 29 Murrumbidgee River: 30 Tassie Boot Camp 2014 34 Solo Trip In Croatia 39 All Care, No Responsibility? 40 Shawn Armitage, in the Rock n Roll Spirit Nawi Indigenous Watercraft 42 Front Cover: David Brown at Tollgates by Matt Bezzina NSW Sea Kayak Club Inc PO Box R1302, Royal Exchange NSW 1225 The NSWSKC is a voluntary organisation run by members who give their time freely to the club. Membership is offered yearly. Please see the website for details and application. To contact the club, please email: President: Campbell Tiley Trips Convenor: Shaan Gresser [email protected] [email protected] Vice President: Adrian Clayton Rock’n’Roll Coordinator: David Linco [email protected] [email protected] Secretary/Treasurer: Rae Duffy Internet Coordinator: Stephan Meyn [email protected] [email protected] Training Coordinator: Fernando Charnis Editor: Steve Hitchcock [email protected] [email protected] www.nswseakayaker.asn.au Contributions yes please! Salt the magazine of the NSW Sea Kayak Club is published four times a year by the NSW Sea Kayak Club. The NSWSKC welcomes articles relating to sea kayaking for inclusion in the Club’s magazine and website. Publication in the magazine and/or website is at the sole discretion of the editor. All articles submitted are subject to review by the editor who reserves the right to reject or edit material. Please email contributions as Word or text files. Images need to be supplied at the highest possible resolution. All material is copyright. The contributor retains underlying intellectual property rights in the contribution however the contributor grants the club a global perpetual all-media license to publish the contribution in club communications, including in print and digitally. Reproduction in whole or part is strictly forbidden without written permission from the editor, author or photographer. Advertisers must adhere to legal requirements and undertake to indemnify NSWSKC against any consequences arising out of their advertisements. For further information contact the editor. All views expressed in this magazine are those of the authors and are not necessarily those of the NSWSKC. IMPORTANT: Please review the Paddler Safety, Required Equipment, Grading System and Club Calendar sections of the club website. MAY 2014 | SALT 2 FROM THE PRESIDENT’S DECK 3 From the PRESIDENT’S Deck Campbell Tiley I write this still on a paddling ‘high’ For the other half of our club who Members with Australian Canoeing after being fortunate enough to have could not make it – think about certifications and relevant First Aid been included on the successful next year. Thanks to everyone who certificates should also check the expiry club trip lead by Stu Trueman to SW contributed to a wonderful weekend dates which have been added to the Tasmania. It highlights some of the – see David Linco’s report in this issue user profile and contact the training great strengths of the club which for all the detail. Our working dates for coordinator with the correct dates if include the chance to meet and share RnR 2015 are March 20-23, venue still the listed information is incomplete or a favourite activity with like-minded under discussion. incorrect. This information forms our paddlers and the opportunity to learn membership register and the club has a from experts. The willingness of our We have a wide spectrum of paddlers responsibility to ensure that it is correct. leaders and instructors to donate their in the club and also see significant time to developing and practicing our ‘churn’ of new members, some The club AGM will be held at Bundeena paddling skills is, arguably, the club’s of whom join for a year or two, over the weekend of August 2-3 with greatest attribute as an enduring and presumably do not find what they are the meeting on the Saturday night as successful organisation. looking for, and do not renew. The club well as a presentation by an invited has very clear objectives in relation speaker. Mark your diaries and come The club magazine, Salt, is another to sea kayaking as expressed in our along for a weekend of paddling as highly valued privilege of membership. constitution, available on the website well as the opportunity to provide The editor’s job is always a tough but for your reading pleasure. The first feedback and suggestions to your rewarding one and Steve Hitchcock objective is to ‘conduct, encourage, committee on the running of your club. has grasped the nettle with energy and promote and advance sea kayaking…’ enthusiasm and I have been keenly How we best achieve this is a frequent Finally, brush up your skills by checking awaiting this, his first edition. I know item of discussion for the committee. out the fantastic video training library that you have heard it all before, but If you have suggestions as to how the for basic skills now live on the website. the magazine cannot exist without club could better support you in your Cathy Miller has done a remarkable your contributions and all of you have paddling or function better, please job coordinating such a professional a story, a gear tip, a near disaster that drop me an email. To address one product. others could learn from or perhaps just increasingly frequent request we are in a great photo. Take a few moments to the process of implementing a trial of Keep paddling, type up a draft and shoot it off to Steve. a simple blog that will hopefully allow Campbell Tiley members to briefly communicate Rock n Roll was a great success once what they have been up to and to again and reflects the inclusive and post some photos. friendly nature of our club. The roughly half of our membership who made And now for some bureaucracy. it to Batemans Bay know how well it We want to know who you are, where went off and how well the weather to send your magazine and who to turned out despite the early forecast of ring on your behalf if we need to. rain. It was great to welcome some 30 Could you please check, complete interstate paddlers to the event and to and correct your User Profile on the see many of our new members. login section of the club website. NSW SEA KAYAK CLUB | MAY 2014 4 FROM THE EDITOR From the EDITOR’S DESK Steve Hitchcock We all go a little mad sometimes. I’m happy to say, this role has already I would also like to use this opportunity My moment of madness occurred when opened my eyes to a world of to thank our sponsors; Expedition I put up my hand for this desk job, when wonderful kayaking stories. To meet Kayaks, Coral Sea Kayaking and the main purpose of joining NSWSKC and receive submissions from our Currawong Beach Cottages for their was to get away from my desk job. Was fascinating members is reward enough support of our club and this magazine. it then an omen when after 13 years for the hours at the desk. The pages that of pleasant paddling, I was circled by follow are clear evidence that not only And lastly, I wish to thank my daughter a shark off Blue Fish Point? Safety in do we have adventurous members, but Vanessa who through faster fingers numbers I thought, stick with the group you’re an articulate bunch too. than me, converted your articles and and I’m only a 10% mortality risk. The photos into the artwork you see before link between my life insurance career Following Campbell’s lead, I too you. No matter how short or long, how and weekend activities has become must thank David Linco for running local or afar, please continue to send disturbingly close. a successful Rock ‘n’ Roll weekend me your letters and submissions by in Bateman’s Bay. My highlight email or by seamail. My first task as Editor is to thank Mark was witnessing David Williamson Schroeder for his wonderful editions and Ben Woodcock present their [email protected] of SALT. He lifted the quality of our club extraordinary expedition highlights magazine to a professional level envied at the presentation evening, and then by organisations much larger than ours. reliving it all again in the car on the way Through the continued contributions back to the airport the next day. We and constructive criticism from you, wish them well with their New Zealand our members, I hope to maintain the to Australia trip later this year. standard going forwards. MAY 2014 | SALT 4 TRIPS AND TRAVEL 5 SURFING LESSONS Fer “ I wrote this recount almost 2 years coming so I pushed the gas and was I was a bit shocked by the whole ago. A lot of water has gone under airborne just before it broke. However experience, so I packed away and my bridge since then. This is a part the third one had broken already went back home with my body still extract from an old story written on behind the one I used as a ramp to harbouring some adrenaline and my the Hunter Kayak Klan site.