Maatsuyker Canoe Club - Cape Raoul - 4th & 5th October 2003
Paddlers: Jeff Jennings (greenlander), Mick Verrier (north sea tourer), Matthew Watton (greenlander), Julie Howard (greenlander)
The initial plan was to paddle from White Beach, Nubeena to somewhere in the Port Arthur area (either Stewarts Bay or Safety Cove) on Saturday. On Sunday we hoped to continue from Port Arthur area, around Tasman Island and then head north visiting the sea caves in Munro Bight and surfing the waves past the Candlestick and Totem Pole at Cape Hauy - finishing on the beach at Fortescue Bay.
After leaving a car at Safety Cove we drove to White Beach and started paddling at 10am. There was a light s/w wind but it wasn't strong enough to cause any problems. As we approached Salters Point the s/w swell and rebounding waves from the cliffs started to slow our progress. It was hard to enjoy the spectacular scenery while we were being bounced around in the choppy conditions.
Shipstern Bluff looked impressive but it was dwarfed by Mount Raoul behind it. The views from the top of Mount Raoul would provide an awesome panorama across Storm Bay around to Tasman Island.
The water conditions were becoming increasingly unpleasant and at 11.50am Jeff and Mick veered of towards Tunnel Bay. They had been discussing landing in Tunnel Bay for some lunch and a stretch. Julie and I continued on in the sloppy conditions - towards Raoul Rock. The swells were crashing together from all directions between Raoul Rocks and the jagged cliffs making progress very tricky. You had to be very deliberate when placing the paddle blade in the water to avoid a fresh air strokes in the steep swells.
Julie wasn't enjoying these conditions so I suggested that we put in a big effort to get through it as quickly as possible. Before I knew it Julie was powering away and I was chasing.
We passed Raoul Rock and the swells became less confused but a lot bigger. Approaching Cape Raoul the swells would have been about 3 metres and were crashing into the dolerite columns of the Cape. The cliffs were awesome but you could only take a quick glance because you needed full attention just to stay upright.
We gave Cape Raoul a wide berth and then turned to run with the s/w swells when we had a full view of Tasman Island. The s/w swells were moving quickly and we only managed to get a small run on the waves every few minutes. We had been paddling for over 3 hours without any breaks so Julie and I rafted up so she could get a banana from her day hatch and to have a stretch also.
After rounding Cape Raoul we had good following swells for about half an hour until the rebounding s/w swell from Mount Brown was bouncing back at us from many angles. There were impressive large waves breaking on that point as we rounded Mount Brown.
We rested in the shelter of Crescent Bay, feeling very satisfied with our effort. Jeff and Mick were out of view behind us and we estimated that they would be an hour back - if they stopped for lunch in Tunnel Bay.
The large dunes in Crescent Bay loomed above us as we paddled around the bay - with small waves breaking on the steep beach. We finished with 3 leisurely kilometres before landing on the beach at the southern end of Safety Cove at 2.30pm. 36km - 4.5 hours.
We lay on the beach soaking up the sunshine for 45 minutes before Jeff and Mick appeared around the point. Their experience had been a little more eventful than ours.
They hadn't landed at Tunnel Bay for lunch but just went in for a closer look and then checked out Shipstern Bluff to have a look where experience surfers go for their adrenaline fix.
Jeff said that he had started feeling sick between Cape Raoul and Mount Brown and Mick described the sight of Jeff with bits of carrot stuck in his beard after an 'out of stomach' experience.
The evening was overcast but we were very comfortable as we relaxed around the fire as we debated 'heat pumps vs. wood heaters' and 'Is Aurora ripping us off by not telling us that we could be on cheaper tariffs?' ... and various other topics.
Tasmania was changing to daylight savings overnight so we decided to have a leisurely start on Sunday (due to losing one hours sleep). After the hard day on Saturday we decided to paddle around Port Arthur and explore the cliffs and bays.
On Sunday morning we paddled across Safety Cove and had a look at the sea caves on the northern side of the bay. Mick ventured into a couple of them but the swell was making this hard as some of the caves were filling up to the ceiling.
At the Isle of the Dead we had a friendly chat to the tour guide and the ferry captain who were happy to tell us about the island. We had a look at the historic site and then paddled across the bay to Denmans Cove for lunch. It was overcast and there was a cool breeze so we ate lunch around a nice fire that boy scout Mick constructed from driftwood.
No-one was eager to leave our fire to head out into the cool breeze again but after the smoke turned around into out faces we thought that we might have a tail wind to sail back to Safety Cove. This only lasted until we started paddling and then found that we had a light headwind all the way back to Safety Cove.
Just before landing at Safety Cove I thought I should try a roll before we finished. I packed away everything that I didn't want to float away and then practiced the correct paddle movement and then tipped over. The water was cold but I looked up at the surface to try and position my paddle blade, ready for the sweep. As I swept the paddle around I started coming up out of the water and thought "great" until I reached the end of the sweep and I wasn't quite up. I was lying back and trying to get a bit more leverage to get all of the way up but I didn't quite make it. My excuse was that the gear in my partly filled kayak had shifted to one side and the lop-sided boat was hard to get upright as well as the propeller paddle being harder to sweep with.
Anyway ... I pulled the spray deck off and popped up next to my kayak and tipped it upright again. It leaned to one side at a 45 degree angle due to the shifted gear inside the hatches. I leaned the boat over to the other side to even it up again and eventually clambered in and pumped the boat out with my manual pump.
Mick attempted a roll also and popped up after the second attempt. He swam his boat to the shore - about 50 metres away. Jeff was the smart arse that successfully rolled back up on the first go - without his wide brimmed 'Greg Chappell' cricket hat coming off. Julie said that she thought that she was in better hands and that she was going to learn as the water warmed up a bit.
The trips debrief was held at Dunalley Bakery where Jeff was rejuvenated by his scallop pie to give him the energy for his 4 hour drive back to Bridport.