Had another great day today, with the Northerly blowing first thing in the morning, freshening all day, and making the 40k trip from Mystery Bay to Tathra a hoot. I did have a “situation” pulling in to some unknown, uninhabited beach for lunch. There were rocks all over the place and the surf was quite high driven by the wind accelerating around the headland, so I was picking my line and waiting for the right moment to paddle in through the shorebreak. I spotted a lull and started in on the back of a wave, and just then my hat blew off. Mind you, this is no ordinary hat. It’s a BC hat, made just for the trip by Bill Connor himself out of some waterproof, shrink proof, bomb-proof leather. It was supposed to be tied on but instead of trailing behind the kayak on its lanyard it disappeared behind the kayak and started sinking. With the surf coming in behind me it was already 4 foot underwater by the time I got to it. I went for it, just reaching it in my fingertips, and then, there I was, upside down in the breakers on an unknown beach, rocks all over the place, with the paddle in one hand and a hat in the other. Obviously you need two hands to Eskimo roll, and there was no way I was letting go of that hat!. Beauty. Letting go of the paddle with the other hand I managed to stuff the hat down my spraydeck (actually it was “up” my spraydeck since I was upside down). Found the paddle, re-orientated after a wave went over the top and rolled back up. Hat saved, sinuses cleared, rocks avoided, Eskimo Roll tested in unusual circumstances. Double Beauty. The rest of the day was uneventful - surfing whitecaps in a gale. Now we’re at the Tathra SLSC where we’ll be staying for the night, and had a fantastic chat with the people here. They already have solar on the club’s roof and are about to install put a wind turbine too. They will also soon run Australia’s first carbon neutral sporting event - good on them, and just as well since the clubhouse is only a metre above sea level. Its no longer just the ‘greenies” who are concerned about the environment, its everyone. Most people around here also seem opposed to the wood-chipping mill in Eden. They don’t mind forestry for construction material, but think that wood-chipping is a terrible waste of a precious resource.
And speaking of projects which consume precious resources for little return- here’s some news on the pulp mill. Tasmanian premier Paul Lennon still refuses to rule out pulling the decision out of the RPDC’s (independent assessment body) hands and just making the decision himself (ie in parliament). In the meantime, Dr Warwick Raverty, CSIRO scientist and technical expert on the Mill, is free to express his personal opinion since resigning from the RPDC. He continues to “tell it like it is” See http://www.examiner.com.au/story.asp?id=380067 for details.
Thanks to all the new sponsors for the trip – everyone “chipping” in for a more sustainable Tasmania ( no pun intended)
Till tomorrow, Sim
Preserve……protect….provide……paddle......