Holey f***
We had a hole in one of the inflatable SUPs. It had been sent down by plane the day before, with no box or protection and had obviously been treated really rough as the side was pierced. Gutted, but certainly not giving in, we charged into repair mode, and mistake number two. We rushed the repair, the glue time, and the wait time, of course. Half an hour later on the river’s edge we pumped the board up the repair blew off and the SUP started going down with a hiss. We were now losing vital time and the stress levels rose with Jerry starting to look like he would become a resident of Gunns camp for a few days. But we calmed ourselves, dried and warmed the damaged area and did the repair again, but in a far superior way. In fact we read the instructions and followed them, amazing. And it worked! We had a full team again and I have to say we were a team, although no one offered to take the repaired board. It was Jerry’s with no discussion required.
Gear was strapped on, water proof bags sealed, and safety gear checked. This river had claimed the lives of some of our friends in years past and while we were excited we were also very aware that we needed to have safety as a focus. It was raining hard again and rivers rise really fast around here due to the huge catchment areas above the valleys. As we left there was certainly a sense of the unknown and slight apprehension as we had a few challenges along the river to contend with, such as grade 2-5 rapids, log jams and by now 70kmph wind gusts slamming down the hill sides. We also had a time factor as it would be dark by 6pm and we had lost nearly 2hrs with the board repair. We had a vital connection with a jet boat which had to happen before dark but we really had no exact idea how long the trip was going to take. So paddle hard was the call, take in the scenery but don’t stop moving. There was beauty at every turn and it was not lost on us as we moved through the eerie mist that hung due to the low cloud and rain. It was odd as the mist was thick yet the wind was fierce so it swirled in the gusts before the wind hit us, at times knocking us off our boards.
