CANOODALOO The Newsletter of Wakehurst Touring Canoeists Inc . Founded September 1968 April/May 2006 This Edition Trip reports on the Barrington plus some flatwater trips on Cattai Creek and in the Wallingat/Myall Lake area. Also there’s an interesting article on Ian’s search for a new kayak. Ian on the Turon River Nov 20 05 1 Canoodaloo April/May 2006 Contact Details Wakehurst Touring Canoeists http://members.optusnet.com.au/wtc.inc/index.html Email: [email protected] WTC Committee President Ian 9440 0467 [email protected] Vice President Richard 9144 7927 [email protected] Secretary Rhondda 9948 6532 [email protected] Treasurer George 9476 3416 [email protected] Trip Convenor George 9476 3416 [email protected] Social Secretary Rhondda 9948 6532 [email protected] Editors Alicson & Shane 4758 9730 [email protected] Marathon & Canoe Polo Richard 9144 7927 [email protected] Training Convenor Greg 9871 2407 [email protected] Equipment Officer Greg 9871 2407 [email protected] Committee Member Julie 9488 9190 Committee Member Graham 9488 9190 2 Canoodaloo April/May 2006 My First Grade 3 There had been a week of solid rain in Sydney so we were tossing up where to go – what a luxury: The Macquarie or the Barrington. We (the Houghton’s) favoured the Macquarie because it’s been years since we’ve paddled it; but George and Debbie voted for the Barrington, so the Barrington it was. On Saturday we did the Gorge section from Jim’s place to The Steps. What a delightful paddle. No scraping on rocks for us and no hard paddling on the flat sections – well, there weren’t any flat sections and we didn’t have to paddle because there was so much flow to push us along. On Saturday the Houghton boys went in the Topoduo’s but on Sunday, doing the same section, Andrew (10) wanted to go it alone in a single. We came to the first grade 3 which was a drop immediately Caroline & Michael Houghton - Barrington followed by some manoeuvring around rocks. Andrew decided to portage, after seeing Ian go down and submerge to his waist in the wave at the base of the 1-2m drop. He thought it looked a bit daunting so paddled over to the bank. However, when he saw the wall of thick jungly and spiky bush he’d have to fight his way through to portage, he changed his mind and decided paddling would be the easier option. He followed Caroline down and paddled it beautifully. ‘My first Grade 3” he thought. Meanwhile, Ian was fighting his way upwards through the jungle to paddle Andrew’s boat down for him, not only realizing that Andrew had successfully paddled the rapid when, much scratched, he reached the top to find nobody there. It took a while before he emerged from the bush. The second Grade 3 was much chunkier at this level and for this one there was a civilized portage track so Andrew portaged. Andrew - Barrington Caroline Houghton 3 Canoodaloo April/May 2006 Some Flatwater Trips Wallingat Wanders Between Christmas and into New year (2205/2006), 3 club members did some flatwater camping and paddling on the rivers running into Wallis Lake. The CMA Great Lakes Tourist map is useful for this as it shows National Parks, State forests and Crown reserve areas. This would be a good area to camp and paddle in over winter as well. Below is a short outline of the trip. Day 1: Afternoon paddle on Myall Lake. Set up camp in Wallingat N.P. for next 2 nights. Day 2: Paddle from Coomba onto Regatta island, in Wallis lake and then explore McClymonts creek. This was a very warm and beautiful Creek. Day 3: 1p.m. departure for moving trip. Paddled up Wallingat River and stopped at Ferny creek for break and swim. Camped at Crown reserve 61 (boat access only). Met Joe and Victor who were fisherman who camped there last year. We were glad that insect proof gazebo had been carried in sea kayak. Day 4: Paddled to Crown reserve 69 on junction of Colongolook and Wang Wauk rivers. Set up camp for next 2 nights. Deb and George paddled down to Colongolook for fresh water in afternoon. Day 5: Paddle down river and up Minimbah creek. Minimbah Creek was not that interesting. Had a few well deserved swims. Several jumping fish hit our decks. Day 6: Packed up camp and returned to Ferny Creek . Explored several creeks and reserves on the way including Reedy creek and Sugar creek. Sugar Creek was very beautiful. Day 7: Returned to cars and left . Debbie 4 Canoodaloo April/May 2006 Cattai Creek 7 th January 2006 Paddlers: Debbie, George, Linda, Joanna, Ali & Shane We met at about 10am at a small reserve where Pitt Town road crosses the Cattai Creek where we were to put in. The creek here is still tidal and the banks somewhat steep inducing a certain amount of care getting in our boats. Having done so uneventfully, we set off upstream observing the maximum Setting off on Cattai Creek speed limit of 4mph. We wended our way up the narrowing creek passing houses and lots of willow trees before stopping after about an hour or so for lunch at a nice grassy spot on the bank. Continuing on after a bit of swapping around of boats the creek became even narrower with a number of fallen trees plus extensive reed beds. At one point there was even a large Lunch on Cattai Creek stand of feral bamboo. Passing some quite large houses we came within sight of a busy road – probably Cattai Ridge Rd – whereupon we decided we’d had enough and turned around. A pleasant little flatwater paddle of about 4hours or so. Alicson 5 Canoodaloo April/May 2006 Ian’s Kayak review Last year I got an itch to buy a new kayak, feeling I’d like to extend my skills. My white water boat, a Necky Gliss, is a great river-runner, but I felt was a bit limiting for play-boating, and surf, compared to more specialized craft. I was wanting something with some extra “zap”. It isn’t easy choosing a new boat. Here are my impressions of the boats I tried, comparing with my classic Necky Gliss. PLAYBOATS Jackson Fun – at Penrith Whitewater course The shape of the Jackson Fun looked ‘right’, and I could surf, eddy, and loop, and try new moves, but somehow felt a bit “sedate” compared to what I would like when I was trying to play – certainly better for play than the Gliss, but somehow not a big enough jump from the Gliss. It felt as if it would make an excellent all-round boat, but considering I plan to keep the Gliss, the gains in the play area alone didn’t justify a new boat. It didn’t feel as if it would be quite as good on rivers or surf as the Gliss – a bit low in volume for rivers, and slower getting out through the soup for surf. Dagger Kingpin 6.2 – at Penrith Whitewater course It looked unconventional compared to the Jackson, but handled more the way I expected a dedicated play-boat ought to. I felt I could really throw it around, could spin and reverse surf on steeper waves without the stern catching, and even managed to fluke an accidental and totally out-of control partial cartwheel. I found it quite comfortable. Loops were very easy, rolls were instant – it had a good feel to it that encouraged me to try new things. Overall I preferred the feel of this boat to that of the Jackson, and it had the potential to be more fun than the Gliss for river use, especially if the integral volume pods (that screw onto front and back to increase volume, but that I didn’t try) worked as claimed. The drawback was I felt it would be too slow in the surf. SURF KAYAKS Surf Shoe In England, 20 years or so ago I tried to paddle a surf shoe but the fin was so long I was “nailed” to the sand – I never managed to launch it. Waveskis I tried a couple of wave-ski’s about 5 years back, but they didn’t “click” with me. On a beginners model I caught waves, but it wasn’t that exciting. The advanced model (a Christo) was wonderfully manoeuvrable, but I had troubles with stability and kept reverse looping it. An intermediate one would have been better suited to me, but overall, I felt awkwardly loosely connected to the ski without thigh braces or a backrest, and couldn’t translate my whitewater skills onto the new craft in the way I wanted. I also found I was quite uncomfortable after only a short time- they killed my stomach muscles – overall, I didn’t feel as if a wave ski was the way to go. Mega Prowler - North Narrabeen Beach The Mega Prowler I sampled was a Kevlar-carbon composite surf –specific kayak, with a tri- fin on the base, weighing only 9-10kg. The first thing I noticed was that the it was one of the most beautifully built boats I’ve seen, in terms of the deck and hull - on a par with the best Prijon slalom boats. 6 Canoodaloo April/May 2006 Unlike my experience years ago with the surf shoe, I had no trouble launching either surf kayak – lifting the boat off my knuckles, the drag from the relatively short fins in the sand was barely noticeable – certainly not an issue It was a very small surf day at my closest beach, North Narrabeen where I sampled it – the bigger sets were about 1 metre, and shape wasn’t that great.