Weekend at Manly

Mark and Erik were racing in the Heron Queensland State Titles at Manly this Sunday. In light breezes, they were able to get a first and a second and are looking forward to more racing next Sunday a bit farther south down the bay to finish up the regatta, which is being held on two consecutive Sundays at different venues. It's an interesting approach, less stressful than the usual weekend regatta. Also a lot of the crew (kids) have sports on Saturday, so this way there are not as many conflicts.

I took my kayak and paddled to Green Island about four nautical miles out. The coral sand beach would have been lovely except of the midges/sand flies , and although my stay was rather short, my legs now are covered in bites which still itch three days later. Thank goodness, I was wearing a long sleeve paddle top and my arms are OK. After collecting a few shells, taking a few photos, I mounted a hasty retreat and paddled back to watch the second race, which was a drifter. Finally, as the sun was growing low, the wind filled in and they were able to finish.

As you might have guessed, I've been enjoying my kayak quite a bit. On Saturday we took it down to Currumbin on the Gold Coast (try dragging the "street view" figure down to the park/reserve to look around). It's a good location to practice surf paddling because a creek flows onto the beach and there is a protected bar tucked in behind a point. Both Mark and I got rolled just in the secondary break but still had a good time. Perhaps we should read up on surf technique a bit. Also during the Easter holiday I made some progress on my Brisbane River Project. Read more on my kayaking page.