May Sea Kayaking

It may appear from the blog that I am doing nothing during the Covid lockdown. Not so, in fact, I am busy all day everyday, always wondering about the people who complain of being bored. Among my multiplicity of goals is getting one blog post up per week. This week's is a compilation of a few of the sea kayak trips I have done over the Covid weeks.

Looking back at our trip database, we did a few kayak trips in May and all of them were outstanding. Maybe I am just thinking it would be churlish to say the trips were dull and boring while most of the world suffers under lockdown, but, I think it is more than that. They were actually outstanding trips - sunny, bright autumn days, clear water, good company, amazing scenery - you get the drill.

I made a short video about a trip I called Caves and Coves tour, which you can view here. This was an outstanding trip. The sea state was best described as amazingly calm and allowed us to easily paddle into all sorts of nooks and crannies not normally accessible. I went in the Blue Cave and then we paddled north up the coast, paddling through all manner of gauntlets and landing on tiny little beaches that are normally inaccessible. The most exciting event of the day was finding a new cave we had never been in before and paddling into a big chamber after backing in via a long dark tunnel. 

A week or so later, we went back with a friend to show him the cave we had found and, discovered another cave! Very close to the first and also a long dark tunnel to paddle into. It's possible this one may go right through the headland but it narrows down and twists into the cliff and is not the kind of "all the way through" that you could actually get a kayak in.

On this trip, we rounded North Head and came into a terrific off-shore westerly. It was a bit of a battle to cross the Bay to our home beach in those conditions but a good lesson in paddling into a headwind.

Later, when the restrictions lifted and we could gather outside in groups of 10, 8 of us paddled out to Montague Island from Mystery Bay. This was yet another stunning trip. There was a 1.5 metre easterly swell rolling in with occasional big and powerful waves washing the reefs at Mystery Bay, so some careful timing was involved in launching without getting cleaned up.

The paddle out to Montague Island went easily as there was very little current, and, along the way, a big group of dolphins came by. Nick got some amazing photos as they swam around his boat for a while.

The seals at the island, Australian Fur Seals at the north end, and New Zealand Fur Seals at the south end are always entertaining and again Nick was a wildlife magnet with one seal about 30 cm away from him and very curious. We paddled around the island which is always a treat as the east side is almost always rough with strong currents and big waves. While not placid, it was easily as calm as any of us have seen it on the east side which enabled us to take our time and paddle close along the stunning cliffs and into rocky bays.

Paddling back to Mystery Bay, everyone was feeling good about a day out with friends in such a stunning environment. There was one crash landing on the beach which resulted in a flesh wound and dinged up kayak but nothing that could not be mended.

And, best news of all, the Covid travel restrictions are due to be lifted June 1 in NSW which means overnight and longer kayak trips are back on the agenda.