Maatsuyker Canoe Club
Corinna to Pieman Heads - 7&8 June 2003
Paddlers: Jamie Fergusson, Anthea Fergusson, Dave Slowitzky, Matthew Watton
All paddlers used tasmanian made greenlander kayaks except Dave who paddled a plastic ‘Storm’.
During the past few years several members of Maatsuyker Canoe Club have suggested that we conduct a trip from Corinna down the Pieman River to the Pieman Heads and return.
The trip had been cancelled or not able to be fitted in previously so there was quite a bit of interest when it was scheduled again this year.
We expected 7 of the 9 club members to come on the trip but 3 pulled out on the day before the trip due to illness and other factors - so we ended up with 4 keen paddlers at Corinna at 10.45am on Saturday 7th of June.
Jamie and Anthea had driven the 4 ½ hours from Hobart and Matthew and Dave had also taken 4 ½ hours to drive from Bridport. The two pair arrived within a few minutes of each other except Jamie/Anthea were on the southern bank of the river and Dave/Matthew were on the northern bank. Rather than waste $11 to bring his car across the river (100m) on the punt, Jamie and Anthea launched from the southern side and paddled across to meet us. [photo 1-Jamie & Anthea paddle over to us]
As they approached the northern bank a torrential downpour came down [photo 2]. This passed after a couple of minutes but the sky remained grey and the weather was hovering around 7-10 deg. C.
Dave and Matthew launched from the boat ramp at the rain fell steadily. As we looked around there were hundreds of shades of green from the thick rain forest. The river didn’t have its usual dark tannin stained appearance due to the huge rainfall in the past few days.
The first landmark that we passed was Savage River to our right. There was a deluge of water at the mouth and a strong rip as the two currents met. The sky was dark grey and about every 15 minutes it would absolutely bucket down. [photo 6]
We all headed up the swiftly flowing Savage River. Our speed dropped from about 8km/h to 3km/h and less as we struggled to make progress up river. We all warmed up a lot as we made about 500m progress against the swollen river. When we turned to run back down stream the speed picked up to 14 km/h and we were shot back out into the Pieman. [photo 7]
One of the regular squalls passed over again as we continued down the Pieman except after a few minutes this one developed into hail that bounced off the otherwise still river surface.
The next 3km were fairly uneventful. Anthea and Jamie were identifying trees and I think Dave was happy to be back paddling after his back was buggered. There were areas where there were large groups of Huon Pine at the waters edge. They weren't huge but were probably very old - in human years.
The Pieman river level seemed to be up about 2 feet higher than normal judging by the number of trees that were partly underwater on the banks. In the distance on the right hand side of the river we could see white water and hear a roar in the distance. The question was asked if we were heading for rapids but upon closer inspection it was white water at the base of a roaring waterfall. We paddled over for a closer look and while we had a break the 'Arcadia II' cruised up the river. As the boat cruised along at 7 knots it created a wake about 1-2 feet high that collided with the banks. It made me think about the speed limits that are placed on commercial vessels in the Gordon River and how some vessels create a wake that is a lot bigger at slower speeds and it defeats the purpose of the regulations that aim to reduce erosion of river banks.
We continued on as the river turned more to the west and we reached the Donaldson River. We had planned to paddle up here as far as we could but we decided to leave that to the next days paddle as we were all a bit cold and very wet.
The last 8km (approx) was a bit of a slog as the fresh westerly wind funneled up the river. We tried to hug the sheltered sides of the river - as well as taking the straight line route. As I rounded every bend I hoped to see an open view out to sea. I had built up a picture in my head about what the surf at the river mouth would look like. There had been gale force winds for a few days and there had to be some big surf out there.
The steep hills that were a feature along the river so far, started to become smaller and finally a jetty came into view on the southern bank. As I approached the jetty I could see about 5 shacks made mostly from dark green corrugated iron. I decided to continue past the shacks and have a closer look at the mouth. The others stopped at the shacks I headed towards a shack and boat ramp on the northern side of the river. I was told later that the track continues up to Sandy Cape and further up to Temma - as long as you don't mind driving on beaches, crossing rivers and risking the loss of your car.
I kept paddling past the shack as the river became more narrow and shallow as I approached the mouth. I found that I was getting washed towards a wall of white water in a strong outgoing flow. I started to turn the kayak so that I would be facing back up river well before I got washed out to the surf but I became a victim of the 'road train' sized turning circle of the greenlander. Before I knew it I was covered in foam and black, muddy, tannin stained water.
I finally managed to turn back up river and then started to fight against the current. There had been a 1-2 km/h current further up the Pieman but I now found that paddling flat out (normally 10-11km/h) I was barely making progress back into the safe haven of the river. I angled across to the southern shoreline that was piled with huge logs stretching as far as the eye could see in the mist.
As I picked up a few 2-3 foot waves I
started to edge forward to the narrow river mouth. I had a fresh tail wind
and I was paddling hard but I was only just creeping forward so I decided to put
a sail up. Some times they can really be a lifesaver and other times they
just get you into more trouble. I briefly considered what would happen if
I got tipped over by the strong gusty wind while I had the sail up and being in
the fast flowing river mouth. I probably wouldn't be a
ble
to get back in the boat when I would be washed back into the surf with the
current.
I proceeded cautiously with the sail up as the kayak made slow progress sailing and paddling against the current. Once I had forced my way through the narrow mouth I traveled quickly again and cruised back to the jetty. Dave waved from the shore to indicate where they had landed. I crossed a wooden barrier that the locals use to prevent log build up on the boat ramp and paddle up the ramp area. The river level was so high I paddled the kayak up about 30m further than the normal river bank level.
[photo 8 - shacks] [photo 9 - view to heads] [photo 10 - drift wood]
[photo 11 - sun over river] [photo 12 - flood water]
I had a walk around the shacks to explore and found a 2 level composting toilet nearby also.
[photo 14] We set up tents on the grass and then we all went for a walk out to the mouth again. We passed a few wood piles and Jamie identified that there was a lot of Huon Pine and Myrtle cut up in the fire wood heaps. It seemed wrong but we guessed that it was from drift wood at the river mouth. I don't know if that justifies it though.
We walked along the beach towards Conical Rocks Point and discussed how good it would be to do a 3 day trip where we paddled down to the heads one afternoon and then had a whole day to just explore at the head area and then paddle back the 3rd day. The locals said that the state of the beach at the mouth is always changing due to the wind and big surf and that a couple of days a year runabouts with courageous or stupid skippers head out through the surf.
We walked back to the tents and cooked up some tea. The sky had cleared and it was a cold evening. It didn't take much convincing to get into our sleeping bags early.
Sunday 8 June 2003
We got up around 8am and the weather was more settled than the previous day. Between 8am and 9am the wind had dropped and there was a light n/e breeze wafting down the river. We had hoped that the strong westerly would still be present from yesterday to blow us back up the river. We all had a chat to some locals who filled us in about some of the local history. [photo 13 - view across river]
They pointed out an area across from the jetty where cattle used to be swum across the river and up a previously cleared area on the hill opposite. We also found out that the jetty that we were standing on had been recently rebuilt using Huon Pine posts to hold it up (to prevent rotting). They said that Parks & Wildlife ok'ed the use of the valuable timber but I got the impression that if you asked P&W service they would deny giving permission. They said that they just used driftwood from the beach. Does that make it ok?
We started heading back up the river at 10.15am and shortly after we started a light westerly breeze helped us along. After a couple of bends in the river it was obvious that the wind wasn't helping anymore. The conditions became calm and the river was glassy for some beautiful reflections on the river. [photo 15 - brief sunshine]
After an hour or so we reached the Donaldson River. We all headed up the river and found that initially there was a 3km/h flow downstream. We had been told that there was a ship wreck in the river somewhere but we didn't see it anywhere - possibly due to the higher river levels. Jamie and I made it past a few small rapid sections - a couple of kilometres up the river and then turned and flew back down again.
It took Jamie and I about 20 minutes to catch back up to Anthea and Dave. As we reached the Savage River this time it was tame in comparison to the previous day. There was no rip or standing waves caused by the flow out into the Pieman. [photo 16] & [photo 17] reflections
A short distance later we heard the chugging of a diesel engine heading towards us as the Arcadia cruised past. About 10 minutes later it appeared again behind us - so it must have only been on a short trip. I was keen to try and wash-ride the ferry so I positioned myself so that I could get across to the wake. I got onto the biggest wave immediately behind the ferry and moved over to the right hand side so Jamie also had room to also get on the wave.
Jamie fell back onto of the wake and I continued along. I had turned on the gps before as the ferry came along and I could see that I was traveling at 15km/h on the wake - with only moderate effort. I was disappointed to see the jetty at Corinna come into view as I was cruising along so quickly. The ferry slowed as it approached the jetty and I pulled off the wake to head over to the boat ramp.
Jamie and Anthea said goodbye as they headed over to the southern bank where their car was parked and Dave and I pulled up on the northern bank. Another downpour came over just as we stopped but it passed as quickly as it arrived.
We changed and headed back home and looked forward to the shop at Waratah to get some warm food. [photo 18]
We had a good weekend considering the extreme weather that led up to the trip and the long drive to get there and back. The trees along the banks were spectacular as was the mouth of the river.