[Paddlewise] Eddy currents and down river racing

G'Day,

The Hawkesbury Classic is coming up next month. Its a flatwater, down river,
overnight, 110km, kayak race that I used to eneter every year and I'm about to
start again.

As the river has significant tidal currents many of us make use of eddy
currents near the shore when the tide is running against us. But its all guess
work. The river is very wide so paddling from one side to the other to work
out if theres an eddy would waste valuable time. Question is are there some
rules of thumb that can be used to predeict which side of the river an eddy is
likely to be running counter to the tide? Would it always be the shallow side,
or up stream or down stream of the concave or convex side of a bend ? Are
their other parameters to consider?

I'd be keen to hear if anyone has develioped any rules of thumb or at least
has a theory that could be tested.

All the best, PeterO
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