The Sunday Paddles: Up Wind, Down Wind

A strong wind warning for Sunday with a 1.8 metre southerly swell meant that conditions on the Sunday paddle would be interesting - just what I like.

I expected a maximum of three people - Nick, Doug and myself - to show up but, in the end, we were a group of five as both Mike and Adrian came along. Adrian is fairly new to paddling on the open ocean but a game bloke who regularly goes out and trashes himself in a tiny surf boat he bought from Wildey and it is good to have him along as a semi-regular on the Sunday paddles.

The plan was pretty simple, launch from our local beach - selfishly I wanted to avoid driving on Sunday - and paddle south into the wind. I was secretly hoping to get as far south as Guerilla Bay, but knew I would be satisfied with getting to Jimmies Island area. Either way I should meet my self imposed constraint to paddle at least 20 kilometres every time I go out.

The low swell and calm conditions at our local bay belied the conditions we would have as we got further south. In southerly conditions I find the headlands north of Mosquito Bay mark the point at which sea and swell begins to build.

We started out with light headwinds but these gradually increased as we headed south to around 10 to 12 knots and the swell and sea picked up quickly until conditions were pleasantly interesting. Paddling near Mosquito Bay we were surprised to see the local kayak guiding company bringing in a convoy of three double kayaks. The boats were surfing along on waves up to two metres high; certainly interesting conditions for rank novices.

Conditions were challenging enough that I thought it wise to have a regroup and rest in Garden Bay, so we pulled into the shelter of the southerly headland for a few minutes. Next was Pretty Point Headland where we pulled in again to regroup before continuing on to Jimmies Island.

We had no hope of paddling through the gap at Jimmies Island, the swell too big and the tide too low so we landed at a lovely little sheltered beach at the south end of Rosedale.

Decision point. I would have liked to get just that little bit further, another 3.5 kilometres down to Burrewarra Point which would be rough in these conditions. Mike offered to wait on the beach while the rest of us nipped down and back, but, the wind and seas were building and in dynamic conditions I am loathe to split the group up; a procedure that so frequently signals the beginning of a clusterfuck.

It was cool on the beach in the wind and, if Mike got cold or weary of waiting, I suspected he might head back on his own, and, while I knew he felt confident in the conditions, every sea kayakers is merely between swims, a facet of our sport that needs to be considered at all times, but particularly when the conditions are challenging and cold. I try to make it a rule when out with a group to never do anything that is inexplicable to search and rescue personnel. In a tightly knit and highly competent group of two or three, risk taking is reasonable, but, when more people are involved, some of whom may not be appropriately assessing risk, I try to keep my decisions just that bit more conservative.

After some discussion, we opted to paddle out past Jimmies Island to where we could set a downwind course and see how many runners we could catch on our way back to our launch bay. Thanks to some coaching from Nick, I have finally got the hang of catching runners. It is easy with a sail, but without a sail it requires a degree of timing and some sprint paddling to get up onto the wave. This was the first time I have reliably caught runner after runner - until I got puffed out at least - without a sail, so my skill set has improved. In fact, I was quite impressed with how fast I was speeding along compared to Adrian and Mike. Not as fast as Nick, I don't think that day will ever come, but significantly faster than I would have done in the past.

Once conditions tamed a bit, north of Mosquito Bay, Mike put up his sail and that helped him speed a long as well. Lots of fun but I was wet with sweat when we pulled into our launch beach as I had an extra warm paddling top on, a beanie and a cagoule. One of my most fun Sunday paddles yet.