Crabbing. Mandurah, West Australia.

I took my Oasis solo crabbing on the weekend. Normally, using the scoop net (like an open wire basket on a stick), we walk thru the shallows scooping up the crabs (Blue Swimmer Crabs) and/or chasing after them if they swim away. I quickly found that the Oasis is stable enough for me to scoop from my seat. Great fun. It’s quiet enough to sneak up on the crabs, and with the rudder stowed and using the paddles it’s manoeuvrable enough to chase them if they try to swim away. One can cover a lot more ground finding crabs than possible just wading.

The trip home was a long haul. My launch point was directly upwind. I pedalled and sailed back, tacking. Took bloody ages. Next time I will leave the sail furled, recline the seat right back, and pedal straight into the wind. I’m also going to launch on the other side of the waterway so that the prevailing afternoon wind will blow me home.

I was on the water for over 4 hours and must have covered about 8 km all up.

And the best bit was seeing all the people pointing at me, sail up, pedalling away, crabbing gear on board, saying “Look at THAT!â€

G'Day Gorkle,
An interesting solo trip!
If you have to go directly into the wind I have found that it is definitely quicker to remove the mast and pack the sail away. A combination of pedaling and paddling should see you through the strongest of headwinds.