It’s Been a While..

Since I posted an update or been out on the canoe for that matter! a combination of poor weather over the weekends (but beautiful during the week) and selling the Terrano meant that opportunities were few and far between.

However last weekend on Saturday we went to the little bay by Mangere Bridge to get out of the house. It was a full tide with a nice breeze so I was determined to take the canoe out the next day. Of course it rained with  the wind gusting to 19 knots…

So bring on this weekend; with a morning tide, Saturday was out but Sunday was promising; 8:30am high tide, 4 knots wind and small chance of rain.

Saturday evening I up the new car for the first time:

It shrunk in the wash!

With an early start I got to the beach at 7:30 and got set-up. The weather was perfect save for one detail… No wind. Cecile and the kids arrived just as I finished setting up without the wind I set off under paddle power:

Without any wind I consoled myself with the fantasy of going fishing. Not knowing where to go I cast my line a few times and headed back. Paddling went very well, I dipped the leeboard into the water to help a little with tracking and with a bit of practice I got it under control and managed to get up a nice pace.

Coming back to the beach I was time to take Nicolas out:

Nico had been asking me the whole week when we were going to take the canoe out so he was keen as to get aboard. And when on the shore he was there to help pull the boat ashore.

Much to my surprise Eloise was dying to have a go too:

So we put her in Nicolas’ life jacket and off we went. After a quick tour of the bay we came back and waiting for us was Ashley (from Nicolas’ old daycare) and her sister waiting to have a go. After that it was another turn for Nico and Eloise before the outgoing tide was at the point that we had to stop before we were landing in mud.

All up it was a fantastic morning and great to be back on the water again.

So next job… getting a life jacket for Eloise and adding another seat.

Boats’ Got Wheels

Saturday was another beautiful day so I was itching to get some more sailing in. There was a tsunami warning in place due to the earthquake in Japan so after discussions with a friend we decided to give Lake Ototoa north of Helensville a go.

On a whim however we decided to check out launching from Eric Armishaw Reserve, Pt Chevalier on the inner Waitemata Harbour.

The tide was in so we decided to give sailing a go. As I was setting I noticed that there was a surge of the tide, coming in about a meter further. This was the affect of the tsunami all the way from Japan, pretty awe inspiring to say the least!

The launch went well, we sailed out with a light breeze behind us past Coyle Park then ran along pointing towards Herne Bay for a while before deciding to turn back. Shortly after that the wind died and we were forced to paddle back most of the way. Again, with just two people I was amazed at how much ground we covered.

Back at the reserve, the tide had gone out so far that there was 300m of sand flats to cross. Fortunately I’d brought along my new kayak trolley!

The new rudder is working well, although it wasn’t really a strong test.  All up, another great day on the water: