Three days, five to six women (one had to leave after day two), three days paddling along the south coast of NSW, and, to give context to the numbers, days 6 to 8 of my hard things project. A couple of months ago I decided I would work towards my Sea Guide qualification with Paddle Australia. Among the eye-watering essentials – the risk matrix makes a comeback – there are practical requirements including leading six open water sea kayak trips (day or overnight). Our group was all experienced paddlers, so they don’t really need leading, but they were willing to allow me to practice on them, and, in any group it is good to have someone acting at least as coordinator if not leader. Leaderless groups don’t really exist. Someone is calling the shots even if by subterfuge.
The weather was challenging and plans had to be updated and changed. We left Kioloa just after 9:30 am on Saturday departing from a busy beach and full car park. The weather was hot, sunny and above all humid. A northeasterly wind picked up as soon as we turned past O’Hara Head and, based on forecasts, we expected this wind would quickly build to 15 to 20 knots. Fifteen knots is fun sailing for most people, 20 knots is engaging sailing for strong and confident kayakers, but can be anxiety provoking for paddlers less practiced in such conditions, and rescues start to become challenging. Our group planned to be off the water before the wind ticked above 15 knots. We were pretty much on target with this although the landing proved a bit more difficult than planned due to a very steep beach, soft sand, large surging waves and heavy boats. Everyone managed really well, although getting the loaded boats out of the surge zone was heavy work.
It was a hot and humid afternoon and evening. There was lots of swimming and exploring some deep caves. Some went for a walk, and I walked north to get a weather forecast for the next day, returning dripping with sweat. That night, the air was still and damp with humidity while the sound of the surging waves was deafening.
The next day, with spectacularly good timing, we launched from the beach – much easier than the day before as the seas had dropped – just as rain started. It was a grey but calm paddle south for a beach break where we could get an updated forecast. The forecast had changed again with rain and thunderstorms forecast. We decided to lap around the Tollgate Islands and then repair to our house near the beach as an alternative to sitting out in the rain the rest of the day. One of our paddlers had to leave to go to work the next day and another paddler went home but came back the next day. Four of us descended on Doug and we enjoyed a convivial evening. It rained steadily but there were no thunderstorms.
The final day we planned to paddle all the way back to our vehicles at Kioloa. There was some disagreement in the forecast models but only in terms of wind strength, not direction. Inshore, we could expect winds from the south at anywhere from 15 to 25 knots. If we got the upper end of the forecast we would have challenging conditions indeed.
We had fairly steady rain over the entire 30 kilometres and I was happy to have worn my warmest kayak top which I usually only wear on cold winter days, in addition to a beanie and a paddle jacket. The first 22 kilometres of the 30 kilometre paddle featured only light winds, no more than 10 knots, so just enough to make paddling feel easy and fast. We did have some bumpy conditions, most notably passing Point Upright where rebound is common on even the calmest days.
Over the final eight kilometres the wind was steadily increasing and reached about (my estimate) 15 or 16 knots. The seas built rapidly and we started to surf down waves and have larger wind waves cresting behind us. In an out of character move (I am not an authoritarian at heart) I called sails down about five kilometres from Kioloa. Ruby’s sail was very poorly mounted and had tilted so far to leeward that her whole kayak was canted over, steering appeared difficult and I thought if the sail tipped any further over, Ruby herself might capsize. While the sail makes travel faster, rescuing a capsized paddler takes away any speed advantage. Ruby was travelling much slower than the rest of us as most of the wind was spilling out of her sail and the remainder of the group simply could not go slow enough to keep her in sight with our sails up. A tough call for a person who believes adults should be self-determining but the correct one in the circumstance.
Immediately, the sails were down our speed dropped. I admit to thinking, lets get the “puck off the water” before conditions worsen. In these situations, I generally increase my power output to get the thing done - there really is safety in speed - but in this instance I pulled the throttle back and thought “patience grasshopper.” It was a relieved practice trip leader who pulled into the calm waters behind O’Hara Head and landed at the now deserted car park and beach.
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