It was another silvery day with high cloud streaming across the sky. A persistent smudge stealing the warmth, turning the water green and hiding the piercing blue that is more a part of this time of year. Somethings don't change with the seasons, including etiquette in the vicinity of the Victoria Point boat
ramp. Leaving on the low, the four kayaks were resting on the mud next to the foot of the ramp. Slip, slop and slapped with a photo for the start, a boatie just couldn't wait another 10 seconds and hustled for the the kayaks closest to the ramp to be moved. No great urgency, he wanted to sit his tinny on what was
must have been a prime piece of mud. Simply no other mud would do.
Off and into a south easterly we skirted the sand bar into a gently rocking swell. We had scampered to be at the ramp by 1pm and my head was reminding me that I had forgone my mid morning coffee. Potts is not particularly pretty on a low, but neither is caffeine withdrawal. A call on the radio downed all paddles and a suggested redirect was accepted. The bommies mushroomed like
stepping stones as we picked our way to the shoreline with a beached swimming enclosure. A lone figure greeted us and joined us for a chat as we took a pew in the sun for coffee and the surprise of a cake. Carol had made a rich lemon tea cake skimmed with a sharp
lemon icing. A beautiful contrast complemented by the astringency
of fresh strawberries. And guess what there were only four of us.
Turns out the person on the beach paddled an Artic Raider which in his opinion is a good boat. During the chatter he told us of the day he found himself in a SE blowing 40 - 45 knots heading north from Zoe Bay off Hinchinbrook. Caught out and on
his own, he just had to rely on the boat. Because of the direction of the wind and swell he couldn't make it to any of the Family Islands. He continued to the shelter of Dunk, came into Mission Beach and paddled back along the shore to Cardwell where
his car was. Turns out that this was Digby, a K1 paddler of considerable repute. Sounds like I have a decent boat, too bad about the power source.
With a happy head, we went back out into what was now a southerly
rendering the sails redundant. The first of the Pelican Banks were a foot under water. However, as to be expected the final stretch just off Blakesley was not be paddled across if only by a span of six feet. Ray was out of his boat first, soon followed by Mark who knuckled his way over. The age of chivalry has clearly
expired with this lot. They buggered off just as Carol and I came to a scraping halt.
Nev and Terry came down to great us. They had just set up camp and had two golf umbrellas speared into the sand as rain protection. Not sure how these were going to he helpful in a tiny tent in the middle of the night. After another slice of that delicious cake (isn't a small group great), catch up and a change into dry warm clothes we were heading back into the sunset. The wind filled the sails as the bay became quiet with the shades of silver morphing to black studded by shore lights.
Being out on the water in late afternoon and early evening can be
quite solitary, definitely quiet, even eerie. An ominous low cloud bank settled in over Stradbroke as the moon broke through over Potts. The fishermen were surprised by the sails and had a friendly chat as we slipped by. The red and green of the ferry to
Coochie with green on our left was hardly reassuring, being flashed by their spotlight was. A couple of years ago we were impressed by the lighting at the Victoria Point boat ramp. Complete with centre strip lights it had taken on the appearance of a place to put down a light air craft. This time we found the ramp to be pretty much in the a dark. Whether this has been vandalised or is being replaced as a part of the overall works in the area is unclear.
What we all enjoyed was was the timing of this 20Km paddle. Heading out in the early afternoon gives you a chance to do some things in the morning, see the bay at the end of the day, share an evening meal before coming in at an hour that does not take the shine off the next day.
|