Often when I find myself trying to describe the state of the salt surface on lake lefroy I resort to long wordy descriptions which seem kind of clumsy. Like the Inuit who have many words for snow I think it’s time we had a few detailed definitions for salt states or conditions.

Those who have read Douglas Addams “The Meaning of Liff” will understand the rationale behind the word choices. The idea is to take some of the more obscure or disused place names languishing on signposts around WA and give them new life and meaning.

Cuballing: Smooth Fine: The best possible condition for land sailing just like fresh laid asphalt concrete, a hard level surface composed of small crystals 5 to10mm tightly packed into a smooth surface.

Chittering: Smooth Coarse: The second best condition similar to smooth fine but with larger average crystal size 10 to 20mm more like spray on asphalt with blue metal stuck on top.

Marbelup: Fluffy or Slushy Top: The condition where brine has permeated up through a harder top layer of salt to dry into a fine fluffy or slushy layer depending on moisture content. Probably caused by tidal force and or heat expansion of the water below the surface. Still not too bad to sail on, less grip and if damp you will wish for mud guards.

Nannine: Soft &Thin: A condition usually found closer to lake shore where the salt is thin enough for a yacht to break through to the muds underneath, if you come to a stop on this surface you will be pushing your yacht back to harder salt.

Nanson: Soft but not so thin: When you sail onto an area of nanson salt you will notice an immediate speed reduction wheels will leave noticeable tracks but you will not break through the crust. Unless you know the width of a nanson patch it’s better to turn around especially if approaching a shoreline as nanson usually progresses to nannine.

Kundip’s: Pocks: Circular depressions varying in size from 10 to 30 cm in diameter and 1 to 5 cm in depth usually filled with brine or slushy salt. When describing Pocks it’s useful to note their density per square meter. This condition is most noticeable on an otherwise smooth surface.

Jacup’s: Ant Mounds: Best described as the opposite of kundips raised mounds of hard salt crystal with a similar range of size and density to kundips.

Mandogalup: Very Rough: Specifically a combination of kundips and jackups adjacent to each other. Probably the most unpleasant condition to sail on. In its worst state you will need to slow considerably to maintain steerage and avoid damage to your frame or pod.

Gnarabup: Rough: But defiantly not as bad as a mandogalup, unpleasant but not quite bad enough to reduce speed. Could be a combination one or more of the conditions described above but not quite as pronounced.

Jingalup’s: Pressure Ridges: Salt which has been baked hot enough to expand and form pressure ridges exactly like sea ice. Ridges vary from 1 to 10 cm in height but ridges above 5cm are uncommon. Like kundips its useful to describe the density and height. An area of dense jingalups is almost as bad as mandogalup.

Windanya’s: These occur where a body of water has sat in one place as it dries out. Gentle breezes cause the lapping water to deposit a soft sandy region of salt around the edge of the water Similar to a the seaweed deposited along a beach at the high tide mark. Usually 2 to 5m in width and raised 3 to 8cm above the surrounding surface. Feels like sailing into a nannine patch.

Yallingup: That sneaky patch of water hiding under the shade cast by the only cloud in the sky, that when run into at full tilt is like being hit by a stream of white shotcreate.

Koolyanobbing: The itchy burning sensation which is the result of hitting a yallingup as it quickly dries on clothes and exposed skin.

Walyungup: That sinking feeling you have when you arrive at the lake only to realize that there is less than a postage stamp of useable/dry surface to sail on.

Thus armed with our new vocabulary a description of the journey from the clubhouse over to the St Ives causeway and back could be vastly simplified to read something like this.

Cuballing away from the clubhouse parallel to the causeway with kundips developing after about 3km. Leading to 4km of bad mandogalup with windanyas every 800m or so, before chittering along for the last 4km with a few small jingalups near the St Ives causeway. After an hour or so of pleasant chittering between Delta Island and Invincible I decided to head home. Unfortunately while trying to chart a course around the mandogalup I managed to find the last yallingup on the lake.

so whats the heads up for the lake Octoberish ?????