So on the final weekend before the Hawkesbury Classic Shell and I decided that it was time to up the ante a little. Although not blogged here, in the past few weeks, we have paddled on the Hawkesbury from Sackville to Wisemans Ferry (~35km), from Wisemans Ferry to Spencer (~32km), and completed a paddle in somewhat choppy seas from our usual launching spot on the Lane Cove River across to Birkenhead Point at Drummoyne (on Sydney Harbour). Each of these paddles happened on different days though, and we were yet to paddle more than about 35km in a single day.

With the actual Hawkesbury Classic being 111km, we decided that we needed to stretch that distance a little. Having previously paddled from Windsor to Sackville, this weekend’s organised familiarisation paddle was in the reverse direction – from Sackville to Windsor – and timed to start an hour or so before sunset such that most of the paddle would be completed in darkness. Shell and I decided to start out just before lunchtime and paddle on our own from Windsor to Sackville before completing the return leg with the rest of the crowd completing the organised paddle.

The number of boats taking part in each paddle has certainly increased as we’ve got closer to the Hawkesbury Classic date. Despite the crowd, our boat continues to be "distinctive" (that’s what a number of people have told us) in that it is one of the wider and slower in the fleet. (We like to emphasise that it’s stable, comfortable and carries lots of gear!). In fact there have rarely been any other plastic boats on the organised paddles. On a couple of the paddles, there have been two guys in a canoe, but even they have swapped over to a speedy fibreglass kayak for the past couple of practice paddles and for the actual event. Still, even if it takes a bit more effort, we’re determined to attempt the Classic in our own kayak .

So the big question that should be on your lips is: did we actually make the distance? Yes – all 62.4km of it!! We arrived back at Windsor sometime around 8:30pm – didn’t actually check the time, but it had been dark for a few hours when we finished. The paddle was very challenging, and the last few kilometres of the return trip to Windsor seemed to take forever! Let’s just say we can certainly feel the trip in our muscles this morning! Somehow, no matter how many calluses develop on our hands, long paddling sessions always seem to uncover fresh areas to become blisters and hot spots. Thankfully we’ve also invested in some kayaking gloves which are a great help once our hands become too sore, and also help to keep our hands warm in nightime paddling.

It was actually a beautifully still night, so the water was pretty glassy for most of the return trip – in contrast to the head-winds that we experienced for most of the way from Windsor to Sackville. Every boat was also carrying a cyalume light (mostly pinned to the PFD of the back paddler) so for many stretches of the river, although we were paddling in darkness, we could try to follow a somewhat eerie collection of glowing greeny-yellow lights off in the distance ahead of us. A shame that we had neither a camera nor the energy to take a picture of it, as it looked quite cool with these lights dotted over the river ahead of us.

Anyway, we’re very satsified to have proved to ourselves that we can paddle 60+km in a single day – that should at least see us through to Wisemans Ferry for the actual Classic. Our challenge now will be to actually continue beyond Wisemans. We’ll probably arrive there sometime around midnight, and we’ll be tired and sore. The tide will have turned against us, and be stronger than further back upstream. So will we actually finish the Classic? I honestly don’t know, but life’s nice when you’ve got challenges Wish us luck for next weekend!