Cirque 2 Sea Day 11 : 11-08-2016

Alex drove to Lake St Clair last night to meet me with his new red pack raft. I'll be using it to get down the river from here to Hobart wherever it's safe to paddle. Where it's not safe I'll be walking with it on my pack. We need to give it a name. Do you have any suggestions? So far all I can think of is Derwent Ducky but I think we need something stronger.

Some of the new equipment Alex brought for me includes a PFD (life jacket), paddle, river shoes (instead of heavy leather walking boots), a dry suit (stops water getting in), helmet, length of rope, paddling gloves and neoprene socks. It all fitted in or on the pack as I walked across to the top of the river to start paddling. Alex joined me in his river kayak and took some of these photos.

The first section was a series of whitewater rapids, probably the steepest I'll paddle down. With all my gear in the sides of the raft and little bit left to strap onto the top in my pack (yellow bag), off we went. I'll be honest and admit that I was mostly out of control and bounced through the rapids with my heart in my mouth. Alex was expecting me to follow his lead and pull into quiet patches of water between the rough bits but once I started there was no stopping. I shot past and led us on a wild ride until the water smoothed and calmed down. The fast flow continued under Derwent Bridge and finally slowed to flat water in Lake King William.

Between the chilly snow showers were patches of sunshine. Alex got out and headed for home and I pulled up for a lakeside camp. Tomorrow the weather is forecast to get worse so I might have a tent day and continue down the lake on Saturday? Thanks for your help today Alex, I'm glad I had a witness and someone to grab me had I fallen in! There's a water safety message in there somewhere. The lake is 737m above sea level and I'll get the temperature, turbidity and pH tomorrow.

River Safety tip of the week from the Royal Life Saving Society:

Wear a lifejacket

Watercraft related drownings can occur if people do not wear lifejackets, consume alcohol and fall overboard, are not prepared for changing weather conditions, collisions occur or their vessels are not seaworthy.

After oceans and harbours, rivers, creeks and streams are the second most common location for watercraft related drownings to occur with an average of 11 drownings per year. Wearing an appropriate life jacket can save your life when your on a watercraft.

T-shirt winner: 56Conquerors

Royal Life Saving Society Winner: Phoenixgirl14

Cirque 2 Sea is a partnership project between the Bookend Trust, the Derwent Estuary Program and our supporters.