Newsletter 18
Southland Sea Kayakers
20th November 2004
Monowai Kayaking Skills Weekend Report
The Monowai Kayaking Skills weekend on 6/7 November went well with 18 keen participants. We kicked off at 9.00 AM Saturday with a talk on kayaking equipment including safety equipment. The rest of Saturday morning we spent up on the pool in the river where various paddling strokes were practised. In the afternoon we spent 2 hours at the Blackmount Pool where we practised various self rescue and assisted rescue techniques. We covered 6 techniques in the 2 hours available. Then it was back to the Monowai Holiday Camp were we had a talk on "Rules of the Road at Sea". The buffet meal was great as everyone brought loads of prepared food. After dinner we moved onto a talk on the Preservation Sound trip and after this we showed 2 DVD's on kayaking the Tsangpo River in Tibet ( one of the worlds steepest rivers dropping 9,000 feet through the Himalaya ) and another one on kayaking at Port Davey in Southwest Tasmania. On Sunday we headed up to Lake Monowai where we had a paddle up the lake for several kilometres and then practised wet exits and self and assisted rescues. It was interesting to see how much more difficult self rescue was in cold water and how serious things could be in this situation. We wrapped things up at lunchtime and debriefed before leaving for home. The feed back has been very positive and the success of the course due to the active participation and enthusiasm of all the participants. I am looking forward to the Monowai Skills weekend next year.
An Invitation
An evening with Mark Jones, one of New Zealand¹s leading mountaineers and sea kayakers.
8.00pm, Thursday 25th November
Senior Citizens Centre, Forth St, Invercargill
Door Sales on the night: $5.00
Mark will speak and show slides on his recent kayaking trip to the Antarctic Peninsula, as well as climbing in Patagonia.
Enquiries to: Matt 0211 537 870
In association with:
Outdoor World & SIT Adventure Rec
There is an excellent book on the expedition available called "the Frozen Coast" full of stunning photographs and available in book shops.
Kayaks wanted to rent 5-15 January
My partner and I are trying to go on a chartered boat from Bluff to Port Pegasus on Stewart Island for the 5-15 of Jan. The boat does not go via Oban so we need either a double or 2 single sea kayaks from the mainland.
1 double or 2 single sea kayaks wanted for Stewart Island trip
5-15 Jan
Contact: David Chittenden
Home: 04 383 5638
Work: 04 917 7509
[email protected]
Vacancy for Preservation Sound kayaking Expedition
We have had a late cancellation for our Preservation Sound kayaking expedition next January/February and if anyone in the network would like to join us please get in contact with me as soon as possible. We have 14 confirmed members for the trip and we can accomodate an extra person. Cost of trip is $400.00 excluding food.
New Zealand Kayak School
I am thinking of doing a course at the New Zealand kayak School in Murchison this summer. They run a very comprehensive 4 day course in river kayaking at their base in Murchison. I have talked to Janetter Kear their contact person and they run a "Meet the River" course for beginners and a "Catch the Wave" for intermediate kayakers. The cost of the course is $695.00 + $60.00 for gear hire. If anyone is keen on doing this let me know and we could organise a course for the network. I think there are very useful transferable skills for sea kayakers to be learnt on such a course.
Their web site is: www.nzkayakschool.com
We have not had any kayaking trips lately but several members are also mountaineers like me and we have been active in the mountains lately. I enclose an account of Bold Peak.
Bold PeakBold peak was an afterthought. The original plan was to do a traverse of the Llawrennys but there was uncertainty as regards the weather forecast. As it turned out the weather was better than expected but that's the way it goes in the mountains. Simon suggested Bold Peak which is a 7000¹ peak south of Bonpland at the head of Lake Wakatipu behind Kinloch.
We were away by 5.30 AM from Invercargill. At Lumsden we rendezvoused with Caren who came over from Te Anau and switched to Simons car for the journey to Kinloch. About 2 hours later we were at Kinloch and decided to ask the motel people there if there was a track up through the forest onto the mountain. We were given sketchy directions and set off. About a kilometre south we left the car by a gate and crossed a bracken covered hill side to the forest about 700 feet above. The bush was fairly open and we made good time to the upper bushline. Then on it was a succession of rocky bluffs and tussock slopes to the snow line above.
We were making our way up this when we heard a helicopter hovering above in a basin and a short while later came clattering over us. This was not the only noisy intrusion as earlier the noise of the Dart River Jet boats was clearly audible. The day was incredibly clear and majestic mountains were all around. Especially prominent was Earnslaw dominating the northern horizon.
Ahead was the final cone of Bold peak and it looked somewhat formidable especially with the snow being so soft. We had lunch at the base of the cone and here I had a brew as I had brought along my gas stove. Then it was up the rock as the snow was too soft. Higher up we veered left and decided to go around the south face of the peak. About half was round we found a steep snow/ice gully and this we climbed for about 400¹ to a higher level. From here we cut up a steep face onto the summit. View were superlative and then we were off heading down an easier route. We made a quick descent of the 5000¹ we had climbed and arrived back at the car just on dark.
A trip up Bold Peak on 22/10/04 by Caren Shrubshall, Simon Marwick and Stan Mulvany
Evening practise sessions in kayak rolling and surf launch/landings at Awarua Bay and at Riverton or Colac Bay.
Now the weather is warmer I am keen to use these long days to run some evening training sessions in rolling and surf practise. If anyone is keen register your interest with me.
Safe kayaking
Stanley
20th November 2004
Monowai Kayaking Skills Weekend Report
The Monowai Kayaking Skills weekend on 6/7 November went well with 18 keen participants. We kicked off at 9.00 AM Saturday with a talk on kayaking equipment including safety equipment. The rest of Saturday morning we spent up on the pool in the river where various paddling strokes were practised. In the afternoon we spent 2 hours at the Blackmount Pool where we practised various self rescue and assisted rescue techniques. We covered 6 techniques in the 2 hours available. Then it was back to the Monowai Holiday Camp were we had a talk on "Rules of the Road at Sea". The buffet meal was great as everyone brought loads of prepared food. After dinner we moved onto a talk on the Preservation Sound trip and after this we showed 2 DVD's on kayaking the Tsangpo River in Tibet ( one of the worlds steepest rivers dropping 9,000 feet through the Himalaya ) and another one on kayaking at Port Davey in Southwest Tasmania. On Sunday we headed up to Lake Monowai where we had a paddle up the lake for several kilometres and then practised wet exits and self and assisted rescues. It was interesting to see how much more difficult self rescue was in cold water and how serious things could be in this situation. We wrapped things up at lunchtime and debriefed before leaving for home. The feed back has been very positive and the success of the course due to the active participation and enthusiasm of all the participants. I am looking forward to the Monowai Skills weekend next year.
An Invitation
An evening with Mark Jones, one of New Zealand¹s leading mountaineers and sea kayakers.
8.00pm, Thursday 25th November
Senior Citizens Centre, Forth St, Invercargill
Door Sales on the night: $5.00
Mark will speak and show slides on his recent kayaking trip to the Antarctic Peninsula, as well as climbing in Patagonia.
Enquiries to: Matt 0211 537 870
In association with:
Outdoor World & SIT Adventure Rec
There is an excellent book on the expedition available called "the Frozen Coast" full of stunning photographs and available in book shops.
Kayaks wanted to rent 5-15 January
My partner and I are trying to go on a chartered boat from Bluff to Port Pegasus on Stewart Island for the 5-15 of Jan. The boat does not go via Oban so we need either a double or 2 single sea kayaks from the mainland.
1 double or 2 single sea kayaks wanted for Stewart Island trip
5-15 Jan
Contact: David Chittenden
Home: 04 383 5638
Work: 04 917 7509
[email protected]
Vacancy for Preservation Sound kayaking Expedition
We have had a late cancellation for our Preservation Sound kayaking expedition next January/February and if anyone in the network would like to join us please get in contact with me as soon as possible. We have 14 confirmed members for the trip and we can accomodate an extra person. Cost of trip is $400.00 excluding food.
New Zealand Kayak School
I am thinking of doing a course at the New Zealand kayak School in Murchison this summer. They run a very comprehensive 4 day course in river kayaking at their base in Murchison. I have talked to Janetter Kear their contact person and they run a "Meet the River" course for beginners and a "Catch the Wave" for intermediate kayakers. The cost of the course is $695.00 + $60.00 for gear hire. If anyone is keen on doing this let me know and we could organise a course for the network. I think there are very useful transferable skills for sea kayakers to be learnt on such a course.
Their web site is: www.nzkayakschool.com
We have not had any kayaking trips lately but several members are also mountaineers like me and we have been active in the mountains lately. I enclose an account of Bold Peak.
Bold PeakBold peak was an afterthought. The original plan was to do a traverse of the Llawrennys but there was uncertainty as regards the weather forecast. As it turned out the weather was better than expected but that's the way it goes in the mountains. Simon suggested Bold Peak which is a 7000¹ peak south of Bonpland at the head of Lake Wakatipu behind Kinloch.
We were away by 5.30 AM from Invercargill. At Lumsden we rendezvoused with Caren who came over from Te Anau and switched to Simons car for the journey to Kinloch. About 2 hours later we were at Kinloch and decided to ask the motel people there if there was a track up through the forest onto the mountain. We were given sketchy directions and set off. About a kilometre south we left the car by a gate and crossed a bracken covered hill side to the forest about 700 feet above. The bush was fairly open and we made good time to the upper bushline. Then on it was a succession of rocky bluffs and tussock slopes to the snow line above.
We were making our way up this when we heard a helicopter hovering above in a basin and a short while later came clattering over us. This was not the only noisy intrusion as earlier the noise of the Dart River Jet boats was clearly audible. The day was incredibly clear and majestic mountains were all around. Especially prominent was Earnslaw dominating the northern horizon.
Ahead was the final cone of Bold peak and it looked somewhat formidable especially with the snow being so soft. We had lunch at the base of the cone and here I had a brew as I had brought along my gas stove. Then it was up the rock as the snow was too soft. Higher up we veered left and decided to go around the south face of the peak. About half was round we found a steep snow/ice gully and this we climbed for about 400¹ to a higher level. From here we cut up a steep face onto the summit. View were superlative and then we were off heading down an easier route. We made a quick descent of the 5000¹ we had climbed and arrived back at the car just on dark.
A trip up Bold Peak on 22/10/04 by Caren Shrubshall, Simon Marwick and Stan Mulvany
Evening practise sessions in kayak rolling and surf launch/landings at Awarua Bay and at Riverton or Colac Bay.
Now the weather is warmer I am keen to use these long days to run some evening training sessions in rolling and surf practise. If anyone is keen register your interest with me.
Safe kayaking
Stanley