Myall Weekend

[Owen Walton]

Annie and I have just returned from a great NSWSKC weekend camp at the Myalls, led by Adrian Clayton & assisted by Bruce McNaughton. 12 of us set out from Nerong on Sat morning paddling through the Broadwater, into Lake Boolambayte, up Boolambayte Creek, then returning at dusk to our campsite at Freshwater. We paddled just over 30 Km in very calm but overcast conditions. Good night around the campfire, then to bed for a well earned rest. This morning the wind came up as we set out heading for Tamboy, where we eventually stopped for lunch. After lunch the cold Westerly meant that the trip back to Nerong was a bit of a hard slog into it, but we made it back by 1500. All up we paddled just over 50 Km; the company was great and Adrian was a beaut leader and imparted to us quite a bit of information on the area (and it's birdlife). Finally I must mention Terry's boat, magnificent, self built, timber, Greenland style, Shearwater; paddled with a GP (of course) see photo. PS: he also has a self built SOF greenlander.

[John Anderson]

Hi Owen,

glad you and Annie had fun. I went on this trip with Adrian last year and it was a fabulous weekend. Adrian runs a nice relaxed trip doesn't he and the Freshwater campsite is a great spot. Your pic is one of the best I've seen of a Shearwater in it's natural habitat:) I've never managed to get that close to one. Talk about a low back deck, it's virtually awash !

[David Bartley]

Owen - Myall lakes is a great place for a relaxing overnight paddle! Do you know whos design the Shearwater is? It doesn't seem to have the same lines and cambered deck of the CLC design!

[Owen Walton]

David, It was built with a CLC Shearwater 17 kit (from Capeboatworks) and it has the "cambered" ply deck; the designer is Eric Schade. The only modification being to the hatches, which have no external toggles or straps' (held closed with internal shock cords). If you look closely at the photo you can see the deck ply has 2 different colours (dark and light). This is where the "jigsaw" pieces meet. He stained the hull just the dark colour only. It weighs just over 20Kg; his SOF (built from plans in a book,) weighs about 14Kg (I think).

[David Bartley]

Excellent - its probably sitting lower in the water than the photos on CLC's website as its loaded with gear. This is the next boat I plan to build - as soon as I convince my wife to let me take over the garage. Eric design may not be a pretty as his brother's Night Heron but it gets better reviews in terms of performance. I think you should change your unhealthy fetish for the S&G Night Heron to a Shearwater :)

[Simon McGuire]

It sure is a sweet looking boat. I will also add that one to my list of need to build.