Seal launch day dawned clear and sunny and thankfully a little cooler than the day before. S&V arrived a little after 8.00am and we were quickly on our way.
Arriving at Pumphouse we discovered the water level well over 30cm lower from when we inspected the launch site on Wednesday evening. After V&L returned from the short car shuffle we packed the boats and with L acting as anchor man we lowered the boats one by one down the bank.
L requested I launch first - I don't know why - either to set the example of what not to do or maybe he was thinking of the nice launch path my heavy boat and I would press out in the soft mud. The lower water level made launching easier. Knowing about the perils of seal launches, once the bow was in the water I made sure one end of my paddle was planted firmly in the mud under the water and L gave me a gentle shove.
Supported by the paddle all went well and I slid into the water and the boat floated gently upstream in the eddy. Phew, I made it.
The next to go was S, who without using her paddle and hence with a wobble or two made it in also unscathed. Then it was V's turn!
Looking good so far
Still okay but what's happening with that paddle?
Oops, looking a bit whopsy
Here I will let V give her version of events:
"We
were promised a few more ruffles which was duly delivered. It was agreed on
steepish incline as a put in spot and the boats were lowered one by one via a
long rope with L as anchor. M, who was first, was very trepidatious with this
arrangement considering the sticky mud, deepish entry and lack of control.
However, M slid in like a hot knife in butter (L guiding with his hand and
instructions).
S
next and she went out onto the river like a seasoned pro. V watching from the
bank and admiring the professionalism.
V's
turn. All good until the last few centimetres, when she was certain she felt a
kick at the back of her boat, wobbled and ended arse up in the muddy Murray.
Standing up, with her feet slowly going into quickmud the green pump (past
birthday present - thank you to all concerned) was niftily retrieved out of the
hatch, christened and a bathtub of water was extracted from the beautiful
Mango. Other two boats were dragooned into service along with L's paddle and
the plucky V [re-entered her boat and] was on her way. Wet, dirty and somewhat embarrassed. L, after the
sabotage, silently and with a small but obvious grin, left the bank in one
smooth action and proceed to lead the team into the swirling water."
I think we were all impressed with V's calm and sensible response. Not even cursing as she tried to find her feet in the slippery deep mud. And once achieving that it was straight into pumping out the boat.
Once settled back in her boat, at 9.40am L led us in the turn to head down river.
Once again there was too much movement in the water to take hands off paddle for pics. Almost continual concentration was required to deal with the roils, hazards and riffles.
At last, a quiet stretch of water.
And these cockies were obligingly perched over calmer water.
About 10.35am we found a perfect spot to pull in for morning tea and to allow V to empty the remaining water from her boat.
Heading off again around 11.15 we were soon back amongst the riffles. V, unruffled paddles into a riffle.
A little before 12.30pm L yelled "follow me and eddy out" - into what turned out to be a tiny eddy behind that log (behind the boats).
Talk about a pile up, by the time the last of us crashed in L and his boat were nearly shoved high and dry up the beach. Being jammed together it took some time to extract ourselves from the boats and get set up in the shade for lunch at the other end of the beach.
Our lunch time view up the river and
on the opposite bank we recognised the launch spot at Bullocks Reserve -
the hazard just downstream that ruled Bullocks Flat out as a possible put in spot.
After a leisurely lunch we paddled on down river.
Sliding past, I manage a pic of half a roil.
A young Wedgie keeps an eye on us as we are swept past its perch.
Before we knew it, we had something less than a kilometre to go
and at 2.15 paddle no.2 was over. Not expecting to finish for at least another hour we realised the current had been pushing us along faster than we thought. While this section was not as attractive as yesterdays it was definitely more of an adrenaline buzz .
I will finish with another quote from V:
"The
day produced much more river movement and at the end we were all quite chuffed
with ourselves. M reported that she is now not so sure about moving water as it
requires too much concentration and no time for daydreaming and rollies."
Trip Notes:
River Levels (Mean): Brigenbrong Bridge: 1.28m Jingellic: 1.90m Hume Weir: 98%
Put In: Pumphouse Reserve
Take Out: Burrowye Reserve
19kms
4hrs 35mins
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