HKK paddle - Swansea to the Caves

Steve, Werner (visiting from Noosa), Robin and myself put in at Swansea Channel at 9am. Conditions were pretty damn good. Blue skies, light breeze, sea below a metre and 1-1.5 m of swell. Steve, Werner and I launched at the boat sheds and met up with Robin at Swansea Head Beach. Then we headed south, going inside Moon Island and heading direct for Spoon Rocks.

Steve is the proud owner of a beautiful carbon fibre greenland paddle and he was kind enough to lend it to me for a play. I'm not very comfortable with the forward stroke with a greenland paddle but I can never resist having a roll if someone hands me one. This one did that job very well. After a few minutes of forward paddling I started to feel as if I was getting the hang of it, but there was something wrong with my technique as I was starting to get quite sore in the shoulder. Discretion being the better part of valour, I handed it back.

We stopped and had a bite to eat and caught up with Phil and Deb who had been to the caves and were heading back. Back on the water, we got down to the Caves, we stayed out of the northernmost cave,  it looked a bit messy. The bigger swells were coming into the cave at an angle and breaking inside, thumping into the walls, reflecting and interfering with each other. The next cave south was fine and we got in for a pleasant speleological interlude.

Then we ducked around the corner and into the Shark Hole. The entrance was nice and messy going in with waves and rebound. I ploughed straight through and arrived inside with a few piles of foam still sitting on the deck. Once inside it was tranquil and we all got to explore the slot. A new experience paddling backwards in a narrow slot with the wing. It worked well enough. We then had a choice of heading further south to Catherine Hill Bay or going back to Swansea. As I had some time restrictions we decided to head back north and stop again at Spoon Rocks as Steve needed to change his camera battery. A muesli bar and a drink and we got back on the water again.

We headed back keeping closer inshore than on the way down. There were some bigger sets coming through and we all seemed to feel it prudent to stay a little bit clear of the rocks though. It wasn't a congee squeezing day. Once we reached Swansea, Steve, Werner and Robin went to do a loop round Moon Island, I had to get back to painting duties, so I made sure that Werner knew I was peeling off and headed in. The timing was about right for me, the antiinflammatory was wearing off and I was starting to get sore. Still clearly a long way to go to get my fitness back up to where it should be.

Another beautiful day of paddle therapy and best of all, a day on the water and water with some rebound and a little swell and I didn't barf on a single boat.