It’s
been a windy year. Winter is always the season of the westerly wind
on the coast, but lately, apparently due to Sudden Stratospheric Warming, our usual spring pattern has been
disrupted by continuous strong westerly to northwesterly winds. The
day before the NSW Sea Kayak Club Annual General Meeting (AGM) at
Windang, Doug and I had been rock climbing at Nowra, where, on the
escarpment top, the westerly wind was howling. Luckily, down at crag
level, we were somewhat sheltered.
On Saturday, I had a full contingent of paddlers (six plus me) for
an ocean paddle. I had originally intended to paddle out Tom Thumb
Passage, turn the kayaks south and paddle down to Bushranger Bay and
Maloneys Bay, two small sheltered bays on the protuberant Bass Point.
In 2024, with a group of women paddlers, we had paddled out of Tom Thumb Channel and
down to Kiama. The channel at that time was deep with the current
running out but nothing too crazy. We had debated at length how long
after the Port Kembla tide change the current would switch directions
with estimates ranging from one hour (from a very confident
individual) to two or more hours (me). I can now say, after
observing Lake Illawarra and Tom Thumb Passage over multiple days
that the current changes approximately 2.5 hours after tide change at
Port Kembla.
The afternoon before Saturday’s paddle, I walked down to look at
Tom Thumb Entrance. It was interesting. A strong tidal stream was
running out with standing waves inside the channel (small), and a
series of standing waves (a little bigger) north of Windang Island.
All manageable with a competent group of paddlers, but, as I was
thinking about the next day’s paddle, I started imagining the worst
case scenario. It’s always useful to consider the worst case
scenario in addition to your preferred (best case) scenario because
if you are prepared for the worst case the best case is a doddle.
If, however, you have not considered the worst case, you could find
yourself in a challenging and dangerous situation.
The worst case of a capsize in or near the channel was a complex
rescue in fast moving water (with standing waves) that would be
further complicated by the forecast afternoon wind, paddler fatigue,
and boat traffic. The more I looked at the channel, particularly in
conjunction with the forecast, the more I thought about changing the
launch site.
One or my issues as a leader, which will surprise anyone that
knows me, is that I can be too agreeable! Impossible, I hear you
say, how can anyone be too agreeable? But you can. You can agree to
many things against your better judgement simply to be agreeable.
Agreeableness is one of the big five personality traits. You can measure your own agreeableness
here. A couple of people, including Doug, wanted to launch from
Windang. To be clear, I also wanted to launch from Windang because
it obviated the need to drive, but, after looking at the tide, the
weather forecast, the currents, and the channel, I decided to move
the launch site south to Little Beach which is a small sandy beach
inside the old Shellharbour marina.
This would shorten the trip to Bass Point and back by seven
kilometres and allow us time to explore the south side of Bass Point
which is far more interesting than the coast immediately around
Windang. The biggest boon, of course, would be shortening up the
distance we would have to paddle into the wind at the end of the day.
Like most people I usually plan paddle days to start into the wind
and return, when people are tired, with a tail wind, but heading
north from Windang is all long sandy beach and not very interesting
paddling.

Which brings me naturally to the forecast weather and how
confident I felt in the forecast. Meteye had a very clear and
unnatural dividing line where the wind was forecast due west (10 to
15 knots) on land and north to northwest on the ocean. Life, and
weather, are seldom clear cut and I was very suspicious that the
strong westerlies would be, somehow, northerly, one, two or even
three kilometres off shore. Maybe 10 or 20 kilometres off shore, but
not along the on-shore waters that sea kayakers typically frequent.
So, an off-shore wind, the most consequential wind there is for
sea kayakers. Yet another reason to launch from further south. We
got away closer to 9:30 am than 9:00 am owing to the usual kerfuffle
that accompanies bigger groups. I had two very willing assistants as
two paddlers were working towards Paddle Australia guide status (one
Enclosed Sea and one Sea Guide). I think I am too new a Sea Guide
myself to be a great supervisor to aspiring guides and, of course,
there is my agreeableness which makes it hard for me to correct
inappropriate decisions or behaviour.
I wanted to look at emergency landing sites on the way to Bass
Point so we went right into where the old jetty is that was used to
load gravel on ships. There is a small boat ramp, exposed in
northerlies but offering a reasonable landing in a pinch. Other than
that, there is only Maloneys Bay on the south side of Bass Point or
the new Shellharbour marina but if you make it that far you have only
a kilometre or so to return to Little Beach.
By the time we had paddled around Bass Point and ducked into
Bushranger Bay the west wind was up and passing by Maloneys Bay,
exploring all the little bays and caves along the shore to Killalea
Beach it was clear that a strong and gusty west wind would greet us
on the north side of Bass Point. We had lunch at Maloneys Bay where
there is very little sand left after a series of east coast lows. I
partnered stronger paddlers with weaker paddlers before we left the
beach making sure to pair PS, who has – there is no polite way to
say this – a terrible paddle stroke with Doug. Paddlers can limp
along with a bad stroke in benign conditions but, when you need power
into a headwind, that ineffective short stroke becomes a real
liability.
We were blown rapidly along the south shore of Bass Point at a
cracking pace but, as we started to negotiate the rougher water on
the east end of Bass Point, PS got slower and slower. My watch
indicated our speed had fallen below four kilometres an hour and we
were not even into the wind yet! Eventually, we got around the
breaking reef that runs northeast from Bass Point and most of us were
able to pick out the breakwater around the old marina that was our
destination. PS, despite having it pointed out to him, could not
seem to locate it and kept drifting further north.
I left PS to paddle on with Doug for 10 or 15 agonising minutes.
By this time we had a headwind of about 15 to 18 knots with stronger
gusts and my watch indicated our pace was, at times, as slow as 2.5
kilometres/hour. As everyone who has paddled into the wind knows, at
a certain wind strength all forward progress stops because the
kayaker is being blown backwards as fast or faster than they can
paddle. With a wind that runs up or down the coast, there is some
lee-way, but off-shore winds are dodgy. Finally, I made the call, PS
needed to be towed. Doug hooked him on and immediately we were doing
a much more respectable 4.5 kilometres/hour. PS started to look more
comfortable and less rigid, although I am sure he was not happy with
being towed.
Somewhere around 1.5 kilometres from our destination, PS had sped
up enough that he passed Doug and that was our sign to remove the tow
line. The wind had not decreased but we did have less chop and PS
was now paddling well solo. He was still heading in the wrong
direction – to the south this time – but, as I brought up the
rear of the group, I could see all the paddlers in front of and, even
PS, would safely hit the beach if he kept his course.
Just as we were all ready to leave to drive back to Windang,
probably 40 or so minutes after we had landed, I spotted two kayakers
coming in. This was the remnants, or perhaps a better term would be
leading edge, of a group of five who had gone out to Bushrangers Bay.
Three were no where to be seen, but, another two did come into sight
very far out, probably a couple of kilometres still off-shore as we
were driving off. The final and fifth paddler had somehow made his
way to a rocky landing near the gravel loader jetty and had to be
later retrieved by car by the other paddlers. So glad that was not
my trip!