a fish on land

Its summer here in Cape Town, the sun shines almost every day leaving the temperature at about 30 degrees Celsius. Unfortunately this time of the year is renowned for another formidable kayaking foe, The South Easter. This relentless wind has been dubbed the Cape Doctor due to its ability to give Cape Town a thorough pneumatic enema. Great for removing smog from the Cape skies but not so great for sea kayakers. The Cape Doctor has been blowing for more than a month now, with only a few lulls in its otherwise average 20 knot speed. The wind is so well known and reliable that going to the beach is cosmopolitan wind surfing and kite surfing experience with "Ja, dies ist gut", "Questo è buono", "Dit is een goede zaak" etc, etc. But still no hope for the sea kayakers. That is why we have hardly had the opportunity to paddle our new boats and at this stage withdrawal is getting rather unpleasant. Pretty much like a fish on land gasping at the air in a futile hope to fill its gills with much needed H20.

A sure sign of the SE - Table Mountain has a tablecloth on





The first time Paul joined us on a paddle at 3 Anchor Bay, I realised that this guy was either pretty hardcore or insane. It was a windy day with bigger than average swells. From land it looked manageable but once we hit the water, it was rather hairy. Going in was tough as you had to punch through a pretty messy break in a narrow rock channel and then face the wind and swells causing havoc. All the time while paddling in, my mind was more worried about the landing afterwards than the current conditions which were tippy to stay the least. After about 1 km we decided to turn around rather as it felt like the conditions were deteriorating . Navigating that channel out with wind and waves storming down on you was as bad as I envisaged. I let Paul go first so that I could help him if anything went wrong, at one stage he came insanely close to some rocks on the left but he managed to correct himself. During all this excitement he managed to remain calm and collected without a sign of worry. At this stage it is important to bear in mind that Paul had bought his first kayak about 2 weeks prior to our meeting and had paddled about 3 times including his training session. In retrospect we where rather foolish to take on these conditions with inexperienced members but at the same time we gained respect for the sea and its power.

Many a blade has broken the surface of the water since then. We often go "big boat surfing", as we like to call it, most regular paddles end up being a surf sessions anyway. We enjoy the surf aspect of kayaking so much that we even persuaded each other to do a surf kayaking course late last year. This course taught us some new skills which improved our our surf and sea kayaking confidence. Prior to the course, Paul could not roll at all and I managed to roll every other time. After the course we both roll quite successfully and most importantly quite reliably.

So when the wind is blowing and that urge to paddle gets too much, we go hunt some surf and if there is no surf, we practice our rolls, but we always get wet in the end.

p.s. I have come to the conclusion that Paul is mostly hardcore with a touch of insanity - great combination for exciting times


No waves just wind


Paul's Roll



Guido's Roll




Hermanus has to be one of our favourite paddling areas. This beautiful little tourist town is situated about 1.5 hours from Cape Town. The magnificent rocky coastline serves as a wonderful contrast to the otherwise exuberant mansions above. Again care must be taken not to take on this paddle when conditions are bad as this coastline can be very unforgiving. There are very few safe put-in and take-out points so a little planning is needed too. Also, bear in mind that apparently between June and November the area from the New Harbour all the way to Gansbaai becomes a whale sanctuary. This means that you are only allowed to paddle here if accompanied by the local accredited tour operator. Ironically the only mention of this on the internet is on the tour operators own website.

We put-in at the New harbour on the small slipway used by all the local fishermen. I do think that they might charge you to drive into the harbour but I dont think they will charge you to launch your kayaks. We have never been confronted or charged as yet. Just don't disrupt the locals by leaving your car on the slipway or blocking one of their cars and all will be well. We just dropped our boats and gear on the slipway and parked the car at designated parking area. If the slipway is green, its more than likely slippery so be carefull. They do clean the moss of the slipway quite often though. Also be aware that this is a working harbour so have respect for the other vessels in the area.

On the water at 0600 to beat the South Easter


The route to the Old harbour has some of the most magnificent rock faces and views. You often come across a colony of seals closer to the harbour, they also constitute as locals so respect them. If you adhere to the Whale Sanctuary times you should not see any whales in the bay unless they are really out of season. There was apparently whale sightings in the beginning of January this year so it does happen.

Also be aware that you will be affected by clapotis(waves reflecting back off rocks) the closer you get to the rocks. On Thursday there was a little bit of a swell so we stayed a little deeper most of the way. When we reached the point, The waves were pounding Boiling Pot and Castle Rock so we went a little wider around them into the Old Harbour. So far we have always been able to land at the Old Harbour, you must however be careful and check the sets so as not to end up on the rocks as the mouth of the harbour is quite small. We usually check the water conditions at the Old Harbour before start paddling. From the Old Harbour its a short walk into the heart of the little town. Not sure if its a good idea to leave your boats unattended though. From the sea the Lookout point opposite the harbour looks amazing as its a shear drop from above.

Whitewater on Castle Rock


Aiming for The Old Harbour Mouth



Suz doing a beach landing


Nice view of the harbour wall and the cliff



As we still had a little time, we also paddled past the Marine Hotel tidal pool and a little further down before heading back to the New Harbour. I just love the New Harbour, to me its a very romantic little harbour filled with many good memories.

Approaching the New Harbour


Suz upsetting a flock of gulls on the New Harbour wall



All in all due to time constraints we paddled 7.4km but this can quite easily be extended by paddling in the direction of Grotto Beach.

Hermanus even has penquins


Blue



Track Log




You are standing at the edge of the pool, its not a heated pool, so you know the water is going to be rather cold. Your whole body anticipates that moment of shock on entering the liquid realm. Now your mind takes your body’s lead and starts to inform you that your intention is unnecessary, terra firma is where you belong, take a shower rather, you have feet not flippers.

But you still jump in ….. and you always enjoy it. Why? Why do we have to be such complicated creatures. Nothing is black and white, there is always millions of shades of grey in between. I suppose that’s what makes life interesting.

This analogy describes so many things in my life right now. One of which is the start of this blog. I have been contemplating it for a long time but never quite knew how to start it until I took the plunge. Hopefully me jumping in is not going to cause such a splash that all the pool water ends up outside the pool but only time will tell.

For those of you who don’t know about www.paddlingplanet.com , it’s a sight created by René Seindal that collects rss feeds from various kayak related blogs and displays it in chronological order. It’s a great way to stay in touch with various kayaking related news and views from all around the world. I have been a regular visitor to the site since its inception late last year. Seeing all the interesting locations other paddlers are enjoying around the world has been very inspiring. This is where GS blue comes in, hopefully it will allow the paddling world an appetizer into paddling in South Africa and at the same time act as a reference for our journeys and adventures.

The other plunge we took recently was acquiring new boats. As simple as this task may seem, it’s actually quite a harrowing. Living in SA leaves you with few options other than what is predetermined by retailers and economy. For sea kayaking in specific, your options are limited to only a few brands, each with their own set of pros and cons. Even though there was very little wrong with my previous boat, I have an urge to improve my kayaking skills and hopefully take my sport to a new level. That’s why we went for something with slightly more traditional lines(Lets blame the This is the Sea series for that.) Deciding on the boats took many months of sleepless nights and even more visits to our bank but at some stage you just take the plunge and hope for the best …. You do always enjoy it, don’t you?


 

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