This year the planned route crossed Port Philip Bay from west to east - a distance of about 35kms. The plan was to start 5kms up Werribee creek at Ninety Degree bend and then paddle down the river and across to Sandringham Yacht club. Accordingly the most Reverend Dr Bob and I rendezvoused with the six other paddlers at Sandringham 0630 hrs in order to load kayaks onto cars and trailer for the 50km trip to Werribee.
We decided to leave Bob's Caddy at Sandringham and hopped in Helmut's car, diverting to the city to pick up his partner (an essential part of the car shuffle needed).
It must have been a mere 5kms from our destination when the light dawned almost simultaneously for Bob et Moi... Whether it was the sleep deprivation or the unfamiliar nature of the boat transport, but whatever the mitigating circumstances, we had both managed to neglect to bring an important article with us on the paddle - namely the paddle!
Perhaps, we mused hopefully, others had brought spares?
On arrival at the assembly point, our predicament predictable became the source of much amusement for the assembled mob. The former vice-president and current president had been found out - up the creek with out a paddle! No doubt we will hear about this for some time...
Alas, only one spare paddle was found and so Plan B was called into action - we would nobly return to Sandringham, locate the missing paddles and set out from the previously assigned destination with a view to meeting the pod half-way (or thereabouts)
We finally got on the water around 10 and set our course to intersect with the Westerners ending our way...
Well, we thought, we have either missed them (possible, but with clear visibility???) or they had turned back/chosen another route.
With a couple of basking seals for company, we slowly hauled our way back the 13.5 kms to Sandringham... to be greeted by members of the aforementioned pod which had arrived 45 mins beforehand!
"Oh", they said, "we started off too far south and had to make a course direction halfway..."
Unbelievable that we still hadn't seen them, even if they were several kms south of us while we were resting at the tanker??? Guess it shows how short your horizon is when you are a couple of feet off the water...
Nonetheless, we still managed to have a very enjoyable, albeit somewhat tiring, 28kms of paddling on one of the calmest days seen on the Bay
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