Glassy seas

It was a pleasure to resume Sunday paddling in Torquay this weekend.

The weather was perfect, with winds under 10 knots.

We launched at Fisho's a little earlier than usual.

Launching at Fisherman's Beach

On the way, John found some waves to surf at the reef break at Point Danger. I stayed out, but took some photos. Unfortunately, the flat light and distance caused the camera to struggle, as can be seen from this photo. This might have been the 'decisive moment' that photographers talk about, but marred by lack of focus. Even in this fuzzy form, it gives a sense of the dynamics and scale of the wave.

Take off - but sadly out of focus

And I got these photos as well. I am not sure that they are all from the same run, but they could be.

John makes it look easy.

There were many surfers out enjoying the clean swells, including at Bells Beach.

Bells

Heading back from Point Addis

We landed at Point Addis for an early lunch.

On past trips, we have always headed past Point Addis to Red Rock - which would have been more exposed this day.










On the trip back, we went inside Jarosite reef. It was exciting to watch the waves pick up, then expend themselves on the reef before passing calmly in the deep water under the boat.

VSKC Skills Day 15 May

Having neglected paddling for more than two months, I finally got back on the water on the 15th. West coasters Tony, Tina and John were running a skills session for VSKC. The weather obliged with winds under 10 knots, and there was a good turn out for the session.

Briefing

Launching at Fisherman's beach, we headed around to the front beach to practise strokes.

Launching from Fisho's

In small groups we ran through sweep strokes. A small swell made for realistic conditions for this practice.

Sweep as!

I learned a neat new technique for sweeping into wind, involving a partial sweep while leaning forward or backward to change the boat's pivot point.

After some sweep strokes, beginners were given some bracing practice in the gentle waves of Fisho's beach.

After lunch, we surfed some small waves on the front beach.