Brisbane Water – 22 Jul 2020

Kayakers paddling on Brisbane Water

22 July 2020 Group Paddle trip report – Brisbane Water: Woy Woy to Tascott/Koolewong

Participants: Val Walker, Rebecca Gleeson, Jenny Newland, Cheryl Hogan, Eddie Gove, Peter Renkert, Mark Walker, Debra Ardern, Christine Wheeler, Janele Purvis, Sandi Eyles, Mike Guest, Peter Walker, Colin North

Fifteen keen paddlers gathered at Lions Park boat ramp Woy Woy on another perfect Wednesday weather morning, hardly even a whisper of wind. I forgot my life jacket (lucky Colin brings a heap of them), someone forgot a kayak, and where did that orange flag get to?? … Luckily Peter didn’t forget his new 5mm booties and soon we all got ourselves sorted and in to the water, good to go.

Paddlers resting on Saratoga Island

Great to have a break on Saratoga Island

We headed from Lions Park to a nice little sandy beach at Saratoga Island where we stopped for a short time to marvel at the little shells and discuss where we were headed next. Colin reminded us again about paddling across open water and how to line up two points/landmarks, and the group then tried to work out exactly which landmarks we were all aiming for: ‘see the headland?’ ‘which headland?’; ‘in between those two telegraph poles’; ‘where the train is’, ‘what train?’; ‘where those cars are on the road’; (all very technical) with Peter for some reason thinking the huge crane way over at Gosford Central might be the go.

We paddled over to Tascott then close to shore along Tascott and Koolewong past all the moored boats of various sizes, conditions and price tags, and back across to Pelican Island. With the tide up we were able to paddle through the narrow gap on the southern/channel side of the island (with our eyes on the sharp oysters either side) in to the ferry channel back to the boat ramp.

It was a gentle, easy paddle today, blue skies, virtually no wind, clear water and as always, a terrific bunch of paddlers. Thank you to Colin and ‘better-luck-next-time-Emma’ for making the paddle possible.
Here is the video

Thanks to:
Words: Rebecca Gleeson
Pics: Eddie Gove
Vid: Mike Guest & Tim Wheeler