Log
Date: April 11th
Weather: Sunny and Hot
Swell: small E
Wind: Variable to light NE
Distance: 30NM
Camp: Boat left at Pourerere Beach, I stayed at my Dads place in Otane.
Blog
Awoke early around 5.30 am to the wind battering my tent every now and then, I remained in bed till 6am when my need to pee finally got me to stir. The sun was almost to rise and there was a red sunrise coming, this along with the sometimes strong gusts of westerly wind, had me wondering if the day would turn sour? The forecast was for good weather, but I put my Gortex over trousers on just in case.
I packed up moved the boat down the beach, loaded the boat, ate breakfast, filled water bottles, made lunch, got snacks ready and measured my distance for the day; 28 -31NM, then by 7.50 am I was paddling of the beach in the warm sun. The surf
was small, however I still got a bit wet, and it ran down inside my over trousers….. GRRRR! I should have worn the Storm Cag over the top for the surf launch to avoid that, oh well. The day was stunning, the water flat, the sun hot and when the wind did decide where it was coming from it came from behind. Despite the dry pants I was quite a comfortable temperature, however the sun baked down and I needed to wear my full face protection to help relieve the intensity on my face from the reflected rays.
By 11am I had already chewed up over 10NM, and after lunch at 1pm I had done about 18. I pulled into Pourerere beach at about 4.30pm, after relaxing a bit near the end to catch a large Kahawai and question which part of the beach to land on, I was now in no rush as I had told my dad I would be there about 5pm, and I could have arrived at 3.30pm. coming into the sandy beach the waves where small, though I timed one that was 
bigger than the rest, not on purpose, and it again sent water down my over trousers ( as I again didn’t put on the storm cag jacket). This mistiming of course defeats the purpose of the trousers that are supposed to keep you dry, now they just keep the 3 cups of water inside. Hmm.
I got some weird looks from the local Cray fishermen (Crayfish are a spiny lobster) as I pulled up on the beach, then one came over to ask where I had come from and what I was up too for the night. I told him I was waiting for my dad, and he invited me up to use the phone and also offered to store the kayak near the beach over night so I could easily access it in the morning. This fisherman’s name was Rodney, and I quickly meet his friends Andrew and Tracey, they where all quite excited by my adventure and had been watching me paddle into the bay with binoculars. My dad turned up at 5pm and Rodney came down with a tractor and trailer and loaded the kayak on to it and we drove it back to the boat yard. I thanked them for their help and friendship then headed back to my dad’s place for a home cooked meal and a catch up with nephews and nieces. I slept well that night as it had been a big hot day of paddling. Oh and I got to see my first albatrosses today, I hope to see more soon
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