Working platform (for desalination pipelines?) 100 m off the high cliffs

I was tempted to paddle underneath – it was just a touch too rough…

9 am:

I decided I don’t like another ride like yesterday in today’s forecasted 3-4 meters seas.

I’ll stay ashore today, and probably the next days as well, if the forecast doesn’t change drastically.

This is the chance for a social weekend in Sydney!

Stephan Meyn will pick me up around lunchtime again today – thanks, Stephan! – , and probably organize whatever party, dinner or meeting there will be.

So see what’s happening…

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10 pm:

What was happening: Stephan wasn’t able to give me a pickup until lunchtime, and he said it would be best from the other side of the bay where there is better car access…means I had to pack my boat and paddle across.

I warned him when I have packed my boat I might decide to sneak around the corner and have a look how it is really like today out there…

This is where Michael Steinfeld called just before I launched and told me *he* will do the actual pickup. As he is living in Sydney close to Shark Point, I may as well pull into La Perouse for just a 10 min drive to the pickup…but I told him I’ll call him in Botany Bay if I feel comfortable enough today out there to keep on going…

This is what happened…once across the (easy today…) bay to the Kurnell Peninsula with again some ugly rebound, I guessed I could as well keep on going to Manly…15 km paddle to La Perouse wasn’t worth to get wet…so i paddled just another 25 km in very rough, but about 20 to 30% less worse conditions than yesterday. I could eat a bit, pump out with balance and even take some pictures of a working desalination platforn 100 m offshore, some close by passing sailboats and of the beautiful high cliffs.

On one glance over my right shoulder I reckoned I got a shark attack from 10 great big whites now…but those where only the white triangle top of the sails of the still far away yacht race…

Yacht race off Sydney, Shark Point, the human ballast dangling to one side to keep balance

I had three Bluebottle wraps today :-(( – the first one was with the stingingm tough blue strings like around my paddle, neck and arms, with the blue bastard itself dangling behind my back.

What to do? It was right offshore the high ugly bouncy cliffs of Kurnell Peninsula and some good balancing when not paddling was quite required…so I was grabbing the disgusting quite tough blue stinging strings with my bare hands off my covered arms and covered neck, but luckily they didn’t sting into the palms. No stinging at all luckily. And the whole Bluebottle came off off my back eventually – disgusting and scary at first! The second and third wrap was on the paddle only and easy to get off.

Houses up the cliffs of Sydney – Ben Buckler

Arriving at Manly, Shelley Beach, I got a call from epic kayaks Australia – “where are you?” last night they where waiting for me in Manly with big media, but I missed it…tonight I was paddling quietly and unattendet into Shelley Beach, as I didn’t know myself that I was getting there today…

They gave me a quick welcome, but my actual pickup, Peter Osman, sent by Michael Steinfeld, was heading already coming across Manly from the ferry terminal where he was waiting for an hour already.

I had another online offer to stay in Sydney – Simon Birch – thanks, Simon! – but as I agreed this “early morning’s pickup” is done by Michael, I was likely to stay with him, though paddling up to Manly. And though it was a longer drive to his house than just staying with Simon at Manly…can’t help. The carrot cake his partner Audrey was preparing for the dinner’s desert was well worth the drive! Thanks for hosting me and driving around!