Super paddle under the supermoon

Now for something different.  A night paddle under this month's supermoon.  We (Brian, Cathy, Dean, Derrick, Gary, Neville, Shane, Sue, Terry and myself), arrived in total darkness and carried the kayaks to the slipway.

The kayaks are readied under the glow of a light thanks the harbour authority.

There wasn't room enough for the ten boats so the front lined up boats put in to enable everyone to get on the water.

Just before 7:00 we we all on the water and ...

... ready to go.  There won't be much scenery in this post, only my friends seemingly suspended in the inky blackness.  The moon had not yet risen at the time we put in.

While the pictures show an inky darkness and while the moon had not yet risen, the actual conditions were much lighter.  The moon lit up the sky announcing its imminent arrival and the sea was a steel grey colour.  We each had glow sticks so that we could keep track of everyone on the water if we got too separated.

Minutes after 7:00 the moon rose over the low hills to our left.  The dot hovering in the dark is the moon and the best the camera could do so I scammed the following image from Google images.

The moon averages 384,000 kms from the Earth.  Because the moon's orbit is elliptical, it is closest at what's called perigee.  This month its distance is 356,500, the closest its been since 1948 so we were determined to mark it with a moonlight paddle.  As you can see, last night it was 14% bigger and 30% brighter.

We arrived at Topsail Beach to stretch our legs under the moonlit night.

We all agreed to bring some wood so we could have a little fire.  It was unseasonably warm for November 15 but the fire was appreciated anyway.  It served as a focal point to stand around and chat.

Topsail Beach is car accessible and as we left some turned on their lights to see what the lights were on the water.  They were seeing our glow sticks.

The super moon, technically called a perigee moon, wasn't the only attraction on the water.  The bioluminescence was spectacular not unlike the sparks flying from a grinder on metal.  Sparkes flew from the bow as it cut through the sea and also from each paddle stroke pulled through the water.

At 10:30, three and a half hour later we were back again cruising through the channel into the harbour.

It was by all accounts a super fantastic night, a nice change of pace.  It will be some job to keep this paddle of my list of top 10 paddles for the year.  Thanks to everyone for a most enjoyable night.