One of the kayak lads suggested
paddling from Potato Point to Mystery Bay over the weekend.
Apparently, this isn't a big ticket paddle like the Nadgee or even
the coast south of Tathra but, I had only paddled a short section -
from Bogota Head to Mystery Bay when we went out to Montague Island -
so I was keen. Apart from Mark, who pulled the trip together, there
was me and Mike from Nelligen who seemed to be a veteran of many sea
kayak adventures. I knew both the lads would be in their light
home-made boats while I would plug along in the heavy Prijon,
hopefully not too far behind. Optimistically, I packed the sail.
We were supposed to meet "in the
park" at 9 am, but I had no idea where the park was. Potato
Point, however, is not a large metropolis so I figured I would work
it out. Luckily, as I was driving south I saw Mark's car in Bodalla
so I pulled off on the Potato Point Road to follow him into Potato
Point. We drove down a dirt road, through the park, to a pull-out
behind Potato Point Beach. The beach looked easy to launch from with
the type of surf you read about in kayak books but never actually
see. A wide swash zone where you could hang out waiting for the
smaller swells to paddle out.
The lads heading out from Potato Point Beach
But, of course, we still needed to find
Mike. Back we went to the park, where upon Mike went whizzing past.
So, off we went, catching up with Mike as he was turning about to
catch up with us, and we found our way to the boat ramp. I've been
to this boat ramp a couple of times before and it always looks like a
worse place to launch than the beach so we went back along the dirt
track to the first pull-out.
It was a bit embarrassing hefting my
heavy boat off the roof compared to their featherweight jobbies,
especially as I proceeded to fill mine with all manner of kit. After
the boats were carried to the beach, Mike and Mark set off to Mystery
Bay to leave a car for the return trip. They optimistically
announced they would be back in half an hour, but I had done the
Google maps thing the night before and knew it would take an hour.
On the beach, I faffed around and then
spent the time stretching. The sun was beating down and, despite a
forecast 10 to 15 knot wind, there was nothing at all. It felt like
north Queensland. Just as I was beginning to develop heat stroke,
the lads came back and we moved the boats down the beach to launch.
Usually, I just plunge out and end up getting smacked in the face by
a few waves. This time, I waited patiently for the smaller swells
and then paddled easily out. The lads took the face smacking
approach. I saw the underside of Mike's boat early on but he rolled
up very quickly.
Looking back at Mike from my brief lead
I knew I would be the drogue on this
trip so my tactic was to straight line the entire coastline to
minimise the waiting the other two would have to do. Once you pass
Potato Point and Jemisons Point there is the long straight Brou Beach
at the south end of which is Dalmeny. There are some nice rocky
coves around Dalmeny but I just kept paddling straight south past
them all while Mark and Mike wandered closer in. Occasionally, I
would put my sail up just in case there was a tiny bit of wind that
might make me a bit faster but it just sagged in sun.
When we got past Kianga, the lads
started looking for somewhere to land but nothing really obvious
appeared until the breakwater at Narooma which was easily navigated
on a rising tide. I guzzled the 750 ml of water I had brought and
wondered why I had not brought more. It was frightfully hot out on
the calm sea with no wind. A stout fellow from Orange ambled down
the beach and engaged Mark in a long and detailed conversation about
sea kayaking. Eventually, we extricated ourselves and with our new
friend waving madly, paddled back out to sea.
Impressive thunderheads
Narooma to Mystery Bay is the most
interesting part of this trip but I saw little of it as I continued
with my straight line policy. Looking towards land I would see Mark
and Mike weaving in and out among rocks and little islands. It all
looked like great fun but it would have made me even slower. As we
neared Mystery Bay, some big thunderheads starting building out from
the hills behind the coast making for very scenic conditions and my
straight line policy finally bore some fruit as I got ahead of the
lads for the first time all day. I was congratulating myself on
sticking resolutely to my plan when I heard the faint trill of a
whistle. It seems I was overshooting where the car was parked and I
had to turn around and come back thus loosing my hard earned lead.
We had a swim off the beach which
actually felt great on achy muscles and then embarked on a forty
minute exercise in loading three kayaks on to a roof rack designed
for two. Strangely, a feisty red pair of men's underwear seemed to
feature frequently in this endeavour. Eventually the kayaks were
wrestled into submission, stray underwear was stowed away and we were
on the road back to Potato Point.
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