The fourth paddler into the Blue Cave has been in there a long time and, worryingly, had paddled bow first into the tunnel which lies perpendicular to the narrow entrance passage. The Blue Cave is a somewhat mystical place, scene of dramatic rescues, and bragging rights for people who have got into the Blue Cave for the first time. Rumour is the cave was discovered by PL, a local paddler turned mountain biker who looked at the entrance every time he paddled the Tollgate Islands and finally decided to venture in one day. It’s both conventional and eminently sensible to back into caves stern first so you can easily see what’s coming and make appropriate adjustments to your paddle strokes. But, the entrance to the Blue Cave is very narrow, less than a paddle width wide so entering stern first was not a reasonable option. PL, a bold paddler in his time, paddled in bow first and discovered he could spin the kayak around, continue backing up, make a 90 degree turn and then paddle deep into a tunnel under the island. On a sunny day, blue light filters in from above, hence the name.
My tactic, on this day, and all days when I enter, is to paddle smartly in bow first. I don’t dither in the narrow constriction where even the smallest wave is squeezed to impressive heights. Immediately through the squeeze channel is a larger cavern where I spin the boat around and then reverse back, turn 90 degrees and continue reversing until I am back in the dark, rising up and down, listening to the boom of waves at the back of the cave. When it is time to exit, I move forward, pause to assess conditions – it’s not uncommon to have to wait out a set of bigger waves - and paddle smartly out. It’s not really possible to see exactly what size swell is coming as the opening to the cave is narrow and the cliffs on either side high, but, if there is a lull in swells, I break out smartly. There are multiple dodgy points, but the narrow entrance is definitely one of the dodgier points as it is impossible to brace because the entrance is too narrow to accommodate a paddle. Other folks paddle bow first all the way to the 90 degree turn and rotate the kayak there to back paddle stern first into the tunnel. No-one paddles into the tunnel bow first because if you can’t turn the kayak around, you have to back out into some pretty exciting and dynamic conditions.
I am starting to think two things. The first is, as a new leader I should never have brought people to the entrance to the Blue Cave and paddled in myself thus setting the stage for everyone to want to paddle in; second, that I am going to have to go back in to find the fourth paddler and how challenging will a rescue be in the confined and dynamic conditions? Just as I am preparing to get tow ropes handy and to sort the remaining paddlers into a rescue back-up, the bow of the fourth paddlers boat emerges into the narrow passage, and, with tentative strokes but a very big smile, the paddler exits safely. It is with relief that I move the party along. One more paddler should have been given the opportunity to enter as, ironically, the fifth paddler has much more equanimity and paddle skills in dynamic conditions but my new leader nerves aren’t up to another long wait. When I got my Paddle Australia Sea Guide qualifications a few months ago, my assessor told me this would be the start of another learning journey and he has thus far been proven correct.
This year the winter solstice fell over a weekend, and, as I run a regular Sunday paddle, l would be paddling on Sunday anyway so I decided to run a weekend paddling trip with a night camped out on the 21st. There were the usual sign-up, drop-outs, but, come Friday evening, I had six paddlers happy, if not outright keen, to spend the darkest, coldest night of the year sleeping in tents wet with dew but with an outstanding weather forecast: calm, sunny, with a falling swell.
From Kioloa, we paddled the Murramarang Coast, a delightful section of coast protected by national park status and with some areas of marine reserve. This is the sort of coastline that sea kayakers love – steep cliffs, rocky headlands, small islands, quiet coves and beaches, caves and gauntlets and cliff-lined slots. We hugged the coast on the way south paddling under 40 metre high cliffs near Snapper Point, through a narrow wave washed gap between Dawsons Island and the little sandspit, through the gap between Clear Point and its offshore rock bombora to land on a small steep and completely deserted beach for lunch.
After lunch we had more island gaps to paddle, more cliffs to sneak alongside, more small beaches and coves. The water was astonishingly clear and we could see fish swimming below us, while off-shore whales breached and closer in, dolphins and seals hunted, swam and rested along the rocky shore daring the breaking waves. The hidden cave at a tiny cove was too wave washed to enter so we carried on past until we found a deserted beach where we landed to pass the night.
When I walked along the beach early the next morning, the kayaks were encased in a coating of ice, the first time I have seen this so close to the ocean. We paddled south with an even smaller swell than the day before which meant we were able to play in slots and caves. Near North Head as we were paddling through various different gauntlets, tourists were looking down at us from the lookout and a drone flew overhead. Perhaps we would star in somebody's movie. At North Head we landed on the beach and walked up to the lookout and then launched and headed due south to the Tollgate Islands and the Blue Cave.
The Tollgate Islands are a paddlers paradise, there is always something interesting to see and fun features to paddle through, and after the Blue Cave we finished with our circuit of the island paddling around rocky islets, visiting the horizontal shower and backing into the big arched cave on the southern end. In some of the glassiest and flattest conditions I’ve paddled in, we finished up our circuit of the Tollgate Islands and paddled back to my home bay and the end of the weekend.