With a rising NE breeze and an outgoing tide until just after midday the conditions were angling for a leisurely paddle from Shorncliffe to Redcliffe. At this time of the day Shorncliffe was claimed by the racing crowd. There was the odd snide remarkregarding the time it took to deck out the sea kayaks. While you expect that from kayaking minimalists, there is nothing quite like a wave or wash to put them back in order.
Summer is getting uncomfortably close and the gentle NE took the edge off the heat. Coming into the Woody Point jetty Brian lined up for first swipe at the red balloon and missed. Probably just as well. Turned out it was being used as a float. I only saw the nylon line at the last minute and gave the back up swipe a miss on account of the less than rapturous expletives from the friendly natives fishing from the end of the jetty.
The NE would have been up to 10Kn by the time we pulled into Redcliffe Beach for lunch. Redcliffe has very limited shade. Maybe that will change as the art deco loo block was closed and public works abound. The convenience is now across the road. It is one of those very modern looking blocks replete with solar panels and a disconcertingly large air gap under the door which opens directly onto the main street. Not for the privately prudish.
By the time we pushed off the NE was a ruffling 15Kn and generating a fun swell. I thought I had been seeing things. I could have sworn Yvonne’s boat didn’t have a rudder at thebeginning of the day. It didn’t. Yvonne had added the feature for the return trip but it had limited effect as the rudder pin was not fully engaged. Instead of heading south, Yvonne’s kayak decided Moreton was more of a goer making for a constant sweep stroke to stay online. It was an easy surf, sail and pause to wait for the paddling purist. Having nearly been rumbled off Shorncliffe in slightly rougher conditions I pulled down the sailin anticipation of the shallow stretch just before the channel. About 15 minutes later Mark and Yvonne came up the creek and nosed in next to the ramp.
A couple of turtle, an occasional stingray and cormorant was about all the wildlife on show today. A 15Kn NE made for excellent sailing and surfing and comes highly recommended on an incoming tide.
