Swan Song
Start and finish times.
Start at Steps Beach: - 0257
Finish at Rebecca Bay: - 0714
Start at Rebecca Bay :- Early
Finish at Spike Bay: - 0900
Start at Spike Bay:- Before 0900 I think
Finish at Preservation Island: - 1011
Start at Preservation Island: - 0803
Finish at Cape Portland: - 1343
Finish at LMB: - 1536
Banks Strait March 2019
(once again)
This trip had been planned for over 6 months but for one
reason or another (family and health and work) the starters dwindled to just
me. But I love the Flinders Island area and thought I’d go anyway.
Several
things to take into account.
The
difference between low and high tide at Devonport is 1.7 metres – that is
relatively low for anywhere in Bass Strait. This means the currents through
Banks Strait will be slow.
Low water at
Swan Island is at 0431, and again at 1704.
The present
forecast (from Meteye) for Banks Strait is for SW winds 10 to 15 knots till the
middle of the day and then going north-westerly at 15 to 20 knots. (I’m not
taking it for granted that these forecasts will be at all accurate, a few days
ago BOM were predicting SE 10 to 15 knots all day. The forecast they are
now giving does not bear the faintest resemblance to that previous forecast).
Leaving 2
hours before low water is really not on – that’s 0230 or 1504. By 1504 the wind
is predicted to be NW (a head wind) so that is not an easy option. Leaving at
0230 is not an easy option either; there will be no moon as it is the period of
the new moon What there is of it rises
about 0805 and sets about 2119. Might leave Little Musselroe Bay Wednesday
evening and camp around the corner on the first beach. An early morning start
from LMB in pitch darkness at low tide launching over rocks wouldn’t be any
fun.
But because
the currents will be slight (east to west) and the early wind SW, that would
let a kayak pretty well sail straight across - one cancelling out the other.
(from sunrise for the next few hours)
So I drove up to Little Musselroe Bay Wednesday and loaded
the kayak down close to the water and then parked the car in David’s property –
which I had a key for. There was a possibility of an early morning start in the
dark and I didn’t want to be trying that from LMB so was just going to paddle
round the corner and camp on the beach where the steps come down from the end
of the road.
Looking across at Swan Island when I first arrived at LMB.
All the way across to Swan Island was a mass of whitecaps,
but the sea in close here was fairly calm. Now I have to say that for some time
now I have been getting a bit unsteady on my feet. I’m alright on flat floors
and foot-paths but on uneven ground I stumble a bit. As I got out of the kayak
at Steps Beach I fell over in the water – not a great start. Got into dry
clothes and set up to sleep at the top of the beach just with the bivvy bag and
sleeping bag but no tent or fly as I normally use.
It was not warm and while sitting there in the sleeping bag
I began to wonder if I was slightly crazy doing this again and did give thought
to putting everything back on the car and going home. Then I thought I’d spend
the next few years wondering if I could have done it. I was still trying to
decide when I would leave and thought that a start at first light at 6am would
give me about 6 hours before the predicted change. However while sitting there
(about 8pm) I noticed it was now a flat windless calm out in front of me and it
shouldn’t have been – not this early. It seemed to me that the predicted
weather pattern was arriving more quickly than forecast and it was more than
possible the change tomorrow would arrive well before the middle of the day. A
6am start was now out of the question. Two options left – go home, or start
paddling at 0230 which should have me arriving over the other side about
day-break and I’d be able to see where I was. I’ve done a hell of a lot of
night paddling on the ocean over the years so decided this would be another
one.
I launched before 3am and headed off magnetic N as I usually
do, and as I got away from land started to feel the wind and with the aid of my
headlamp put the big sail up. I had a small pencil like torch for a compass light
and it gave more of a yellow light than white. I used it for a while to pick up
a couple of stars to steer by and then turned it off for the rest of the trip.
The SW wind was just right, no white caps but I was constantly supporting as
waves came out of the darkness. There was just starlight, and a few clouds.
When my stars went behind a cloud there was a very bright star back over my
right shoulder I could see and help me know I was still basically going in the
right direction – plus the wind on the back of my neck.
Later in the day I scrambled up the bank to look for a
campsite but when I got to the top I realised I didn’t have the energy to make
a few trips up here with camping gear so would have to camp on the beach. On
the way back down I stumbled and rolled down the rest of it.
My paddling clothing had dried out and I spent most of the
day lying in the bivvy bag, partly for shade and partly to get away from the
March flies which were bad. During all this lying about I was starting to
partly regret my decision not to go home before I started. I was quite tired
with a lot of sore muscles and was beginning to think about the return trip
back across Banks Strait. Would I have the energy to do it?
It was calm and there were no waves – a novice could have
launched with extreme ease. The tide was running towards Spike Bay. I got away
as soon as I could and rounding Lookout Head met a very very light northerly.
Paddled into Spike Bay but didn’t land immediately as I considered going on to
Preservation Island but then thought I had all the time in the world and would
keep the paddling days as short as possible. Landed in the usual place and then
felt very cold again – worse than yesterday. I put on every bit of clothing I
had – long sleeved thermal, down vest, long polar fleece trousers and then just
lay down on the grassy area at the top of the beach.
Approaching Spike Bay.
By noon I was starting to warm up and removed the long
sleeved thermal and set about setting up camp. Hardly any fire wood in here so
lay in the sleeping bag for the rest of the day. I’d only eaten a few cheese
biscuits on Wednesday and Thursday and still wasn’t feeling at all hungry but
forced myself to have 8 Sao’s and Spam – I figured I needed all the energy I
could get. I got very weak VHF reception here and heard that Sunday was going
to be NE all day with a NW to W change very late in the evening.
Another still morning with the tide running in the right
direction so had a more leisurely start for Preservation Island. A sunny day
and I paddled close to the yacht “Savant” anchored just off the east of the
island. I paddled alongside it and knocked on the hull and also called “is
anyone home?” but got no response.
My plan for a long rest in the shack were shot down in
flames as they now have a warning they have video surveillance. I had noted a
couple of years ago that they had NBN out there so video surveillance would now
be easy to arrange. I set up my tent fly just outside the fence and again spent
most of the day lying still. The forecast for Sunday had changed again and was
now NE till the change late afternoon. And over the next few days a couple of
cold fronts were forecast and where my tent fly was was not the place to be
when they came.
They have put a new deck on.
I still wasn’t feeling hungry but forced myself to eat
again, and I was still only on my second bottle of coke after three days. Then
late afternoon I felt an incredible thirst and finished that bottle and most of
another one before going to sleep. Then I woke up a lot during the night and
had to keep drinking.
The forecast had changed yet again – now light variable
winds going N 10 to 15knots and the change mid-afternoon. The range of tide at
Devonport was 2.2m so not as good as Thursday but still would not have the
extreme tides when the range is 3m.
I landed on a beach right at the west end of the cape for about ten minutes and then could see the tide on the beach was falling so headed off again for LMB. I now had 6 hours of current so for long periods just sat in the kayak not paddling and letting the current take me along. But even with not doing a lot of paddling the tracker shows the distance between the half hour points was not a lot different from coming across Banks Strait. It’s a lovely current along here when it really gets going.
I managed the fast out pouring current at LMB to get to the
boat ramp but was feeling fairly done in and sat in the kayak for a few minutes
before getting out. Retrieved the car and backed it down the ramp to load all
the camping gear into it – then parked it on flat ground to load the kayak. I
found I did not have the strength to pick the empty kayak up and had to drag it
over stones and concrete to get it to the car, and then I needed to sit down
for 5 minutes. Then I managed to get the kayak up on the car and then had to
sit down again for 5 minutes before tying it on. I found I could not take my
paddle apart – it got a fair pounding at Rebecca Bay so maybe full of sand
stopping the button from depressing.
Those of you that have seen me recently unload my kayak off
the car and then put it back on at the end of a paddle might find this
difficult to believe – but I was well and truly knackered, barely able to
drive. I still had an incredible thirst and drove into Gladstone for an ice
cream and a pie and a large bottle of lemon drink – I thought I’d had enough
coke in the past 24 hours. I stopped at the Anson’s Bay turn off to eat the pie
at a more suitable temperature and continued to St Helens at a steady 80km. I’d
finished half the bottle of lemon by the time I got to Scamander.