Paddling long (downwind :-)) 2:15:00 [3] 18.0 km (8.0 kph)
shoes: Spirit Surf Ski
I did my first Indian Ocean Paddler's downwind leg today. From Sandtracks (Freo just north on the key) to Trigg Island (although no matter how much I looked, I never saw an island).
It was awesome! The conditions were perfect for a gumbie like me, 10 knot SSW winds, 1-2m swell.
Previous ocean paddles had me being spun around in the boat by the waves. My spirit is fitted with a downriver rudder and in the ocean, it is mostly out of the water. I bought a longer rudder from an ocean kayak and fitted it just prior to the paddle. It made a difference and I was able to 1) catch waves and 2) stay on them and skate across the face (sometimes).
After Cott the ocean gave me great sets of waves to play with. I would catch some for 20-30 meters at a time. I would also swamp every second wave too. That sapped the energy out of me after a while.
Around Scarbs it got a bit choppy and the swell seemed to get a tad bigger too. It threw me out of the boat a few times.
I thought it was a 12k paddle, and having fallen out 11 times, I was pretty happy that I managed 1.1k/f (km per fall). But when I got into shore, i was told it was 18k, so in fact I did 50% better than expected; 1.64k/f.