It was a near perfect winter's morning, light cloud and forecast to reach about 22C. The wind threatened to freshen but did not deter the ten paddlers who converged on Weinam Ck nearing the bottom of the tide. John had just finished his new wooden double and it was the centre of attention as we prepared to launch. He was preoccupied with the sea trials and with a few others headed south toward Pt Talburpin rather than to the north to clear the mud flats off shore from the esplanade boat ramp.
It did not take long before we had two parties - the northern and southern. We finally regrouped near the Alan Robb beacon when the southerners realised they had a long paddle around the bottom of Pannikin Is and return to Karragarra.
We paddled (some sailed) to the W's and elected to circumnavigate Karragarra before landing for 'world's best hot dog' at the Pt Pininpinin boat ramp caravan shop. The shop has had a face lift with sealed footpath and carpet on the floor in the 'dining room'. Rather than let the hotdogs go cold while we paddled across to the picnic spot on Karragarra, we elected to have lunch overlooking the boat ramp. The boaties provided light entertainment with their comings and goings.
Silvio joined us for the paddle back to Weinum Ck and we elected to head north to Garden Island to get a little protection from the now Westerly breeze. There was just enough water to cross using the channel south of Garden Island and we sprinted back to the boat ramp.
|