This was Marty's first event. An early morning paddle, starting at 7am. Crack of dawn for most on a Saturday morning. Early or not we still had a great turnout, from both the Klan and the Central Coast Canoe Club. It was a perfect day, flat calm with just a hint of swell and just a breath of wind. We launched off the beach at Cabbage Tree Bay, on the northern side of Norah Head. This is a nice little beach with good protection from the prevailing southerly swells. In a Noreaster the exposure is far greater and in conjunction with the steeply shelving profile of the beach, there can be a nasty shore dump, especially at low tide. This can provide hours of entertainment watching the poor souls trying to get their boats back on their trailers, but I digress.
We paddled out and just inshore of the bomborah. Most of us took a prudent line where the energy of the break had dissipated, but Geoff showed his skill and confidence and ploughed straight through the middle. I was tempted to follow him, but thought better of it, he's a better paddler than I will ever be. We continued on along the beach for a while before cutting out and heading around the island. This little rocky island has no easy landing spots on it. It was used for bombing practice in the second world war resulting in extensive rocky rubble on the sea bed around the island. Above water there is little sign of this abuse after a few decades of constant erosion from wind and waves.
The water was crystal clear and I kicked myself for leaving my mask behind. Next time I'll spend some quiet time checking out the underwater scenery better. After a loop of the Island, the bulk of the group headed back over to the big bommie just east of cabbage tree. Unfortunately I had chores to do with the pool being installed the next day, so I took the direct line back to the beach. Another perfect outing, just too short.
Video of the trip can be found here:
http://www.hunterpaddler.ning.com/
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