Thursday 8 July 2021 Wallagoot Lake

 What a perfect day for a paddle it turned out to be. The launch site at the Wallagoot boat ramp was still in shade and quite chilly when we arrived so we hustled to unload and launch the boats. By 10.20am we were on the water and soaking up the sun.

After warming up in the sun we headed for the entrance, doubtful if we would make it. We picked our way over the shallows looking for leads and

following the leader whenever we found one.

Sometimes in perfect synchronicity :)

Until now we had presumed the entrance was closed but suddenly we felt the pull of the outgoing tide and sat back to enjoy the ride.

The two other times we paddled Wallagoot the entrance had been closed for a long time and the water up here had been very manky so it was a joy to be paddling over crystal clear water.

We snaked out way toward the entrance

Time to think of pulling in

Beaching out boats at 11.00am we walked across to admire the surf.

Aware that we would have to paddle back up against an ever increasing outgoing tide and decreasing water level we only lingered for about 10 minutes. We got back to find the boats completely out of the water and the channel comsiderably narrowed and the water flowing out quite fast.

S set off first and made good headway up the middle of the channel until nearing the first bend where the current picked up her boat and swept it across the channel and slammed it into the opposite bank. I was following S and although having seen what happened and so was prepared, it was all I could do was stop the boat from spinning downstream and I too was slammed into the opposite bank, just managing, by a bees dick, to get upstream of a rocky little outcrop before hitting the sandy bank. From there it was easy to get the nose pointed in the correct direction to paddle round the bend.  L having watched our lack of finesse stuck to the shallows on the inside of the bend, closely followed by V and other than grounding a couple of times, they made it through without any dramas. Having learnt our lesson on the first bend, from there on back to the lake it was just a steady slog against the current.

After negotiating the sand banks back into the lake proper we turned left and resumed our poddle over

the clear shallow water.

At noon we pulled into Hobart beach for lunch.

The combination of sun, warmth - can you believe it's the middle of winter - stunning outlook, good company and lots to talk about resulted in a very long lunch break and paddling was not resumed until 1.30pm

The water was mesmerising which

made for even slower poddling than usual.

Halfway down the lake we made the turn and steadily paddled the 1.5km or so back across the lake to the boat ramp finishing a delightful paddle at 2.30pm

Trip Notes:

Put In/Take Out:  Wallagoot Boat Ramp (Yacht Club)

Low tide: 12.33pm 0.7ms

8.36kms

4 hrs 10mins