Slow day

The general vibe in Melbourne has been fairly sombre this week. I have been keen to get out on the water, for some restorative PPB time, waiting for a day with some sun and some reasonable wind.  I guess one out of two is not too bad, a sunny day with mostly vanishingly light winds.  It was good just to get out there, no going very far (about 7NM for the day) or fast (average speed 1.7 knots).  A thermos of tea, a book to aid escape, and Oz for company. 

There were lots of gannets gliding, searching, diving, or just bobbing on the water.   I find them hard birds to photograph.

I wasn't the only one escaping.  I heard this guy before I saw him, the music on his boat cranked right up so he could hear it over the noise of his engine.

You have to admire the style -  bare chest, shorts and Alaskan furry hat.  You wouldn't want to get cold ears.

It was surprisingly quiet today down at Altona ramp, so I took advantage of the lack of traffic and the light wind to try out my new Padook, essentially a greenland paddle blade at one end, and a boat hook on the other.  I think I can add about .8 of a knot of boat speed if I really put some energy into the stroke.   As I was Padooking/sailing into the safe harbour, a nice older gentleman in a fishing boat coming out was very concerned for me, and wanted to tow me in.  And when I was pulling the boat up to the trailer, I flipped my key piece of boat infrastructure - my waterproof cushion - over the side, causing me to make a right hash of my approach to the trailer. A nice chap came and held the stern line for me.  And the little girl you can see running down the rock wall to the left of the picture above was totally taken with Ozzie and wanted to know all about him and the boat.  So I came back home feeling a lot more cheerful and well disposed to the world in general.