I thought I would mention this small boating incident as it may make Wayne Smith feel a bit better. I was out on a day trip on the Hawksberry River which is just north of Sydney (everyone must have heard of Sydney by now). It was a nice day with a gentle SE wind. I launched at Brooklyn Bridge and headed out to where the river meets the sea. It was to be a longish day - around 30km and I was travelling solo enjoying the tranquillity of being on the water in my Kayak. As I was paddling back to where my car was I was dreaming away in that state you get into when paddling solo just enjoying the time on the water when my paddle suddenly hit the bottom. The water was murking and I had just drifting across a mud flat with only a few feet of water. No problem I just swung out into the middle of the river where its very deep. As I did I glanced over to my right and noticed a boat Marina or boat ramp a few kilometres away. To get to this area you need to go up river for another Kilometre then follow a channel back along the shore. If you are in a kayak and the tide is right you could paddle in a straight line across to the Marina and save a couple of kilometres but not if you are in a power boat and certainly not if you are in a Half cabin cruiser and this is clearly marked on any boat chart for the area. As I looked over I noticed the tide had gone down to just where the mud is appearing and there in the middle of this mud flat was a half cabin cruiser sitting in the last remaining puddle with 3 forlorn looking men. It was late afternoon and the tide had only just started going down, they were in for quite a wait and it would be impossible for them to leave the boat or for anyone to go to them without sinking deep in the mud. They weren't in any danger, except their egos, so I chuckled to myself and continued paddling. I wish I had taken a photo Cheers David Whyte Australia *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced/forwarded outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
> As I looked over I noticed the tide >had gone down to just where the mud is appearing and there in the middle of >this mud flat was a half cabin cruiser sitting in the last remaining puddle >with 3 forlorn looking men. It was late afternoon and the tide had only just >started going down, they were in for quite a wait and it would be impossible >for them to leave the boat or for anyone to go to them without sinking deep >in the mud. > >They weren't in any danger, except their egos, so I chuckled to myself and >continued paddling. I wish I had taken a photo A few years ago the Australian navy (you might have heard of Australia by now) had a ship in the port of Lyttelton, New Zealand, carrying landing craft. One of these had been out for a jaunt round Quail Island ( a shallow channel at the best of times) and on a receeding tide...... A pity one of our kayaking group, who is a photographer for the daily paper, wasn't a paddler then....... Alex . . Alex (Sandy) Ferguson Chemistry Department University of Canterbury New Zealand *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced/forwarded outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
Happens to me all the time. One of the ramps I launch from has a channel leading out to the main Intracoastal Waterway. At low tide there's about a foot of water in the area. I often see power boats trying to free them selves from the sand. Funny, it's usually the women out there pushing while the men run the throttle. It's always an amusing sight as I paddle by! *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced/forwarded outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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