Paradise Point

[Kyle]After a quick trip From Bum’s Bay back to Paradise Point, we were quick to inflate our new kayak. Our initial impressions were good. It is much more durable than the old one {Maryanne: We deliberately purchased an inexpensive PVC inflatable kayak (initially to see if we would really use it, how it would stow, etc), one we expected to maybe last a season, but we are only upgrading 3 years later}. The new kayak, of much higher quality build wise, tracks straight as an arrow and the seats are drier. The long, narrow hull also makes it slice through the water much faster. That’s great, but the reduced width also makes it less initially stable. It took a while before we stopped feeling nervous that every little roll was going to send us over into the drink.

Playing with our new kayak

We (okay, maybe mostly me) decided that the best way to get accustomed to it was to spend a whole day paddling around. To that end, we decided to make the 6.8 nautical mile (each way) back-canal excursion to The Boat Works and back for parts at their chandlery, retracing the dinghy trip we made in 2019 using our electric motor. It's a pretty route through the backs of homes, and through wilderness. This time we even had dolphins share the waterway with us for a while.

Unlike our previous trip however, the timing of the tides wasn’t so favorable, so we ended up doing much of the kayak trip against the current. We arrived at The Boat Works a little stiff from sitting so long, but otherwise we were okay. The trip back was much more grueling and we were both pretty wiped out by the time we were halfway home. That’s also when the wind and current really turned against us. Those last three miles were a real grind.

We were lucky to have a rain/rest day after that, which successfully reset our desire to give the new kayak another go. This time, we confined ourselves to the miles of canals adjacent the anchorage, where we could get a couple hours’ worth of morning exercise gliding on flat water past bazillion-dollar houses.

Exploring the fancy homes within the Sovereign Islands (at Paradise Point)

The weekend came and we quickly learned you don’t want to be anchored at Paradise Point on a weekend. It seems half the population of the Gold Coast thinks of it as their favorite jet skiing, waterskiing and speed boating spot. We had several of each pass by going way over the speed limit (There is one, nobody cares.) close enough to slap, had I only been fast enough to run out and do so.

We celebrated Kyle's birthday while there (so sampled a few of the bars and restaurants too)

Relief from all of that quickly arrived at the Sunday sunset. Then we got to re-enjoy being anchored in what passes for a quiet little cove around here.

We had one day where Maryanne let me get away with skipping any jobs and doing what I want, presumably because of my age. {Maryanne: Kyle has taken to push his birthday to two days - one for each time zone (USA and Australia)}.

Then it was time to get Begonia ready, for a north wind was finally on its way.