Just taking a new Surfango Jet Kayak for a spin on Lake Hood in Ashburton, New Zealand. We’re trying to run in the motor so it’s not full steam yet but heaps of fun. This is running a 9.5hp 4stroke motor. We’re planning to take these up the rivers and gorges to chase salmon and trout!
That’s Ben in the vid – the motor”s running a lot better now we pulled out the ton of weed sucked into the unit!
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Playing with Jet Kayaks!
Ben and Julian at Motenau
On Monday Ben Viv and I decided to take a fishing day at Motenau. It’s true offshore Canterbury fishing, and has a tricky shallow bar you need to cross in only certain conditions within a tight timeframe either side of the low tide. Our boat sits about 60cm deep in the water and the whole way down the river and out the water was averaging 50-70cm – so man she was tight!
Over the bar’s waves and into the open ocean it was ver clear that the 2 metre swell was here to stay. It was confused sea, coming from two direction in a motion that made us pretty green.
Once over the bar, we are unable to come back for 4hrs til the tide is right, so we decided that we’d get out to the spot. I had marked the fishing spots on the GPS so we drove about 6kms up the coast and 3kms out and got within a few metres of the spot!
The fish were biting, but our lunch was coming up. We both spent about 3hrs vomiting over the side and attempting to fish in between chucks!
We both caught plenty of fish, but Ben caught the ‘keepers’ and also hooked into something huge that fought hard for 10 mins before breaking off. We think it was a huge shark!
As soon as the tide was right, we got ourselves together and got back in over the bar. Land sweet land!! I think I like Motenau – not a 1st choice spot but I would do it again… Just never again on a 2 metre confused sea!
Some shots above of the river going out to the bar. Very shallow and tricky but doable if careful.
Ben hooking into a massive fish! I wish we could have see what it was! We suspect he had either a shark or a Mack Truck.
The pictures don’t show it but Ben’s looking serious as we were getting into some decent waves ahead.
The Bar is by the rock. This is about 1/2 way to the spot we fished.
After crossing the bar, coming back up the river…
Fishing with Dad at Akaroa!
I took the day off today and took my Dad out to Akaroa for a day boating and fishing. Nice and calm and no wind at all. We caught a few cod and a pile of dogfish, but have a nice relaxing day!
Early Morning Wakeboarding!
We took off this morning at 7:30am through a cold southerly drizzle for a morning wakeboarding at Lake hood. It was Julian, Sarah, Jackson and Ben that went. Sarah’s first time, and she did really well! Here’ a vid of me playing around…
And here’s Ben having a blat!
The Stones and Vivian’s take to the water for the day! To nice to stay home!
The Stones and the Vivians took off today to Lytleton for a wakeboard session and picnic on the beach. We were in a nice bay behind Quail Island. 18 degree water – nice and warm! We all did a bit a wakeboarding and got in some good jumps!
Here’s some highlights from the day…
* Julian forgot the clamps were on the boat when launching (so was stuck on the trailer)
* Rose got up on the wakeboard for the first time! Did great!
* Ella and Jackson had a cuddle
* Sarah busted the traler light on a rock
* Ben did some supreme jumps
* Julian tried a 360 jump which I spectacularly failed (got to 270)
* Jackson held his first crab!
* Grace was just cute as normal
* Good bit of chop coming back to the ramp
Jack just hanging in the sand!
The kids enjoying the day! They were all very well behaved and had heaps of fun.
Sarah, Ben and Rose chilling! We all work hard so it’s nice to take time to just relax once in a while.
Jackson stealing a kiss from Ella!
To hot to work! I’m off fishing!
I started back at work today. Got bored, looked at the lack of wind and decided to head out fishing. I called Graeme Evans (mate of my dads) and took off with him to Lake Coleridge for the day. It was about 30 degrees and the water was like glass. Plenty of fish in the lake but they weren’t very obliging! However, he caught this nice Salmon…
Oh! and this little one below. He went back though as he was too small.
This is the general condition of the lake…
Glas, glass, and more glass! We had a great day!
Ferg and Nathan’s maiden adventure on their boat.
Ferg and Nathan took their boat down to Lake Hood for their maiden ride after restoring it to lovely condition. It went well!
Now this is dedication!
Jack is so keen he wanted to pull the boat out of the shed himself. Must love the boating heaps eh!!
Family Fishing Trip to Coleridge
We woke up today and the weather looked just perfect for a wee backcountry jaunt. So I told the family “We’re going!”, we packed the boat and took off to Lake Coleridge.
It was the first time that only Sarah, Jackson and I had put the boat in with just us. The wind was fairly non-existant, and it was a great morning. We got the boat in ok and took off around the lake. After a bit of sightseeing, I showed Sarah how to troll for trout.
We saw fish and they weren’t biting, so scooted back to the South side of Ryton Bay and Sarah took over as Skipper. She drove the boat and kept us over the fish. We hooked up! I landed a small (but very eatable) salmon.
It was great to be with Sarah and Jackson when I caught the fish – and even better because Jackson now knows what fishing is! A great day was had by all!
Jack’s Bed Boat is finished! Awesome!
Finally, the bed is done, however we’re nervous about putting him in it – he’ll never sleep!! But whatdaya reckon? 10/10 for effort? What a great dad!
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