While I was driving home from Sydney, Doug was landing at Oaky Beach. Oaky is one of the few beaches between Moruya and Ulladulla where I have not landed. It’s not for want of thinking and even looking on the way north and south along the coast. Oaky Beach always looks like a dodgy landing as the beach is consistently steep, the swell picks up a fair way from shore and smashes onto the beach in a classic shore dump. Oaky Beach has the same aspect of Richmond Beach just one kilometre to the north but is always a much sketchier landing site.
On Sunday, Adrian and I paddled from Sunshine Bay over to Three Islet Point, where, despite some larger waves coming through, we paddled through one of the gauntlets. There are a couple of main slots at Three Islet Point and we don’t often get through any. One has a big rock in the middle and dog leg before exiting north, the other also has a shallow reef midway and exits straight east. We got through the second one.
We had the current with us heading north and so were soon at Oaky Beach where we ran into Fishkiller heading south. The main beach at Oaky had the typical large dumping wave but at the very south end, between some gravelly sand and a rock reef we were able to land easily with a bit of timing. It’s instructive to look at the map or satellite imagery because this small difference where the beach faces a bit more east then southeast makes landing possible.
Adrian and I left Fishkiller at North Head where he paddled west to Long Beach while Adrian and I lapped around the Tollgate Islands before heading back into Sunshine Bay. I felt a bit tired, but did three rolls because the water is warm enough now and that seems a good way to keep my head in the game.
A couple of days later, on a hot day, Doug and I went down to practice rolls and rescues. I ran through a variety of self and partner rescue techniques: rolling, re-enter and roll, paddle float roll, paddle float re-entry, cowboy reentry (never works as although I can get onto the kayak it is too unstable and always tips over), scoop rescue, stirrup rescue – I was pleased to find I can rig this with the equipment I normally carry so I do not need an extra piece of kit. There was quite a swell and wind rolling into Sunshine Bay which made the practice a bit more realistic.
Yesterday, we left Sunshine Bay in very calm almost glassy conditions. On the way out to the Tollgate Islands we passed some dolphins and a shark. About 1.5 kilometres west of the Tollgate Islands the southerly blew in with strong enough winds that I had to latch my hat on so it did not get lost. The wave buoy had Hs at 1.8 metres and Hmax at 2.7 metres with a period of around 10 seconds. That’s some big waves and the gap between the North and South Tollgate Islands was regularly closing out. Probably passable with good timing and strong paddlers but we had my nephew in tow so instead of taking our usual route through the passage we paddled around the eastern side which was likely rough enough. The rock reefs on the south side of the islands were breaking solidly and we gave them a wide berth.
From there we went back inshore to Snapper Island, I got my nephew into the gutter that leads to the big cave on the island, although definitely not in the approved reverse in style. Over to Corrigans Beach where you can often pick up some very small waves good for beginners but the tide was already too low and finally back to Sunshine Bay through the passage between the headland and the rock reef to the northeast. There was a cool southerly blowing and I did not feel like rolling but did my now obligatory three.
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