On last Sunday's flat water paddle, a
few of us were chatting about guided versus unguided kayak trips and
I, of course, came out in favour of unguided trips. Doug and I have
always been proponents of self guided activities whether it is
kayaking, rock climbing, skiing or mountaineering. For us, the
process of planning the trip is every bit as important as executing
the trip, and a lot of satisfaction comes from being entirely
self-reliant. In the past, I'd done a couple of guided ski trips
and, they were, quite frankly, kind of lame. We skied a lot less and
covered much less terrain than I would have done by myself.
But, that raises the question, as
someone asked last Sunday "how do you know where to go, where to
launch, where to land, where to camp?" It is the exact same question I used to get back in Canada when people would wonder how we
could always be ski touring somewhere new, when they went to the same
places again and again and again and again.... The answer, of
course, is, you work it out. Which does not necessarily mean you get
it right first time - the perfect segue into this trip report about
our paddle from Bawley Point to Kioloa.
Yesterday, the winds were forecast to
be light until late morning so we decided to paddle from Bawley Point
down to Kioloa. The distance, by road, is only about 8 km so one of
us could easily cycle back to retrieve the car. As it turns out,
another local sea kayaker joined us so we were able to do a car
shuttle and the bicycle plan was unnecessary.
Our plan was to launch at the south end
of Bawley Beach where a little boat ramp is located. These little
beach boat ramps can be quite exposed to wind and weather and its
hard to tell from looking at the chart, the topographic map, and
Google Earth, exactly how the launch will be on the day. On the map
this ramp looked as though it would offer a protected launch spot in
the forecast easterly swell. Of course, there is the map and then
there is reality, and this particular boat ramp was actually rather
unfriendly looking. Large waves were surging onto the beach between
some nasty looking rocks and the swell was kicking off in all
directions.
We arrived a little before Neil and
were all ready to go, figuring we would just have to punch out
through the waves hoping for the best and paddling like hell, when I
saw Neil drive past the ramp and continue south. Figuring that Neil
had some local knowledge and knew a better place to launch, I jumped
in the car and attempted to follow him. This took me past Cormorant
Beach, which, although it faced due east, seemed considerably less
hazardous for launching - at least that is what I thought as I drove
past looking for Neil.
Turns out Neil was actually a wee bit
lost and he soon came back to the boat ramp and was equally
confronted looking at the launching conditions. I mentioned that
Cormorant Beach looked better so we decided to head over there to
launch. Doug was not convinced, but I am pretty sure the waves were
a bit smaller on Cormorant Beach, and, it was a significantly safer
location to launch from as there were no rocks nearby. Also, there
was a small rip allowing easier passage through the waves around the
north end of the beach.
Neil and I put the car shuttle in while
Doug moved the boats down to where the little rip was idling up and
down the beach 100 metres or so. When we got back, the lads were
humming and hawing about the best place to launch, but, I figured the
rip was right in front of my kayak and the only way to get out was to
go for it, so I moved my boat down to the water, got kitted up and
starting the kayak shuffle down the beach waiting for a lull to
paddle out through.
Neil gave me a helping hand by pulling
me into the water just as a slight decrease in the waves arrived and
I shouted "watch out, I'm going for it," put my head down
and paddled hard. I cleared the first couple of waves and then
stopped paddling in amazement as a sting ray with a span fully two
metres swam under the kayak in the clear water between swells. I was
so struck with awe that I completely stopped paddling while Doug and
Neil yelled "Paddle!" Looking up, another wave coming, so
paddle hard, pulling through the foam to the green water on the other
side, and, after a few waves across the chest and head, I was out in
the rolling swells.
Doug came out next, again helped by
Neil, but, of course, that meant Neil was on his own. He came a
cropper on one wave, but, after emptying out, he was soon back in the
swash zone and then, paddling steadily, Neil too crashed over the
backs of the swell and we were all at sea.
There was so little wind, the ocean was
almost glassy except for a low rolling swell and we quickly arrived
at Brush Island. I had thought that we would have to paddle around
Brush Island, possibly a fair distance off-shore, but, the swell was
low enough that we could paddle through the gap between Brush Island
and Wilfords Point.
On the south side of Brush Island, the
fog that had been hanging slightly out to sea, moved westwards and
engulfed the shoreline. As the fog washed over, it almost felt as if
the sea got calmer as we paddled southwards in a woolly bubble. We
stayed well out from shore as we could not see the breakers very well
in the fog and chatting casually, we paddled steadily south. After
about an hour, a small island swam out of the fog which was gradually
contracting westward.
As we have not yet got around to
printing a chart, I have been trying to memorise the relevant
topography before we go paddling and, as far as I could remember, the
next southward island from Brush Island was Belowla Island near
Kioloa. We all thought that we could not possibly have arrived at
our destination so quickly and easily so Doug checked our location on
our mobile phone nautical chart and, yes, we were at Kioloa.
We lapped around Belowla Island before
paddling easily into the beach and landing amidst a gaggle of
foraging wildlife - another large stingray cruising the shallows,
some cormorants, gulls and pelicans all looking for hand-outs from
the local fishermen.
All of which leads me back to the
beginning of this blog post. You may not know exactly where to
launch, land, or camp, but, if you engage your brain, you can work it
out.
Doing the kayak shuffle
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