Preparing to go on a multiday camping paddle where you plan your route, load food, tent, minimum 5 litres of water for each day away from a water source and a 20% buffer with everything to allow for the unexpected can see me pack up to 100kgs of gear in my 22kg kayak – with me added I can be paddling 240kgs of laden kayak through the ocean. 6kmph across the water and 30km covered in a day are great numbers – stopping to watch a whale and her baby play is done without thought, exploring a sandy bay, finding birds nesting among the driftwood and spinifex is the why and purpose of the trip.
Paddling 111kms in one stint chasing a time, speed across water is a very different thing – to start with the equipment loaded on the boat is almost zero, enough water, electrolyte drinks and protein bars to get you through to the next checkpoint where you can reload and go again. Your focus instead of being on the environment and its wildlife becomes the kmph number on your GPS, the length depth and draw of your stroke and trying to nail the paddle exit from the water so as not to slow the boat. Monitoring your body for signs of breakdown through either dehydration or calorie deficit, working through the pain in your shoulders and back, ignoring the chaffing that just insists on happening when you paddle hard for four hours or more. The why and the purpose is to challenge yourself, push your limits, raise money for a good cause.
The two are so different that it seems strange to call both paddling – both are hard, both are rewarding in completely different ways. Both are challenging and push your limits which is why I guess I love paddling.
This resident White Bellied Sea Eagle has seen me so often over the past few months he is now starting to let me paddle under him almost half the time
The afternoon Thunder storms – I really enjoy paddling in the rain, not so much when lightning is closely followed by a deep and vibrating grumble. This one cut my Monday afternoon session a bit shorter than planned but added a dose of adrenalin to my day.
redwinekayaks 