Mick's Trip 2011

Mick's Trip, April 2011
Little Musselroe Bay to Binalong Bay
(Map) Just before Easter I received an email form Jeff Jennings inviting me to join him and Mick Verrier on an easy paddle on the NE coast of Tasmania - maybe from Eddystone Point to Binalong Bay. This was a bit of a surprise as I haven't paddled with either of them since I resigned from the Maatsuyker Canoe Club in 2000. I was a bit doubtful as I hadn't done any remotely serious paddling for over 12 months. Still it was supposed to be an easy trip so I decided to go. I had actually been intending to camp in that area over Easter in the 4WD, but canned that as it is not a vehicle I care to leave in some remote area for any length of time with its solar panels and all the other expensive gear in it. I stayed home over Easter and drove up to Binalong Bay very early (4.30am) Wednesday 27th April to meet Mick and Jeff at a holiday house Mick was staying at with friends of his.

There I found that Mick really wanted to do a trip a bit more serious and we decided to start at Little Musselroe Bay - a long way north of Eddystone Point. Little Musselroe Bay to Eddystone Point is 20nm (39km), and Eddystone to Jeanneret Beach is 13nm (21km) - 33nm total. I knew straight away that I would be struggling to do this - but didn't know how much unless I tried it. So we loaded Mick's kayak and all his gear onto my car, and in company with Jeff drove to Little Musselroe Bay - the jumping off point for all our Flinders Island trips. The forecast was for light E to NE winds for at least the 3 days, and it was flat calm at Little Musselroe Bay. Actually an ideal day for going across Banks Strait and heading to Flinders.

But we launched and headed in the opposite direction - Mick paddling his new Greenlander, and Jeff his new Seaward kayak, and me in my old Sea Leopard. The pace seemed fairly quick for the first couple of hours and I had to make a bit of an effort to keep with them, but then I could feel myself tiring and knew I couldn't keep that up. So for the rest of the day Mick and Jeff had to stop and wait for me to catch up, but it was a delightful paddle just cruising along inshore of the many rocks. We has a good rest at Big Musselroe Bay lazing in the warm sun.

Later in the day it was obvious we weren't going to get to the designated camp site at the southern end of Stumpys Bay, so Mick went ashore at the northern end of the bay and then waved us in. It wasn't the greatest spot (I hate camping in sand) an would have been very exposed if there's been any wind forecast. We soon had a small campfire going so Mick could cook his sausages (the ones his wife Lisa won't have in the house). My shoulders had been so painful that I'd thought the minute we got ashore I'd be putting my tent up and immediately getting into it - but I ended up sitting round the fire late into the evening.

The following morning I decided to get away early and let Mick and Jeff catch me up during the day - so I launched quietly at 7.30am without informing the others. I rested ashore near the original designated campsite for 3/4 of an hour without any sign of pursuit, so kept cruising down the shoreline. My shoulders, which I thought would have been almost unusable this morning weren't that bad. I talked to the father and daughter crew of 'Black Witch' - a fishing boat, and asked them to let Mick and Jeff know I would wait for them at Eddystone Light if he saw them. He told me that conditions would be a bit rugged the other side of Eddystone, and that the bar over Anson's Bay entrance would be large. I found this a bit hard to believe as so far there had not been any swell at all, and you could land on every beach you went past. I had a few short rests ashore before Eddystone, where I went ashore at 12.30 for an hour and stripped down to my undies and soaked up the sun, and repaired a broken wire on my battery.

There is a large group of rocks offshore (George Rocks) which I knew Jeff was interested in visiting, but even if they went out there I figured they still has to come past Eddystone Point. But by 1.30 I was thinking that if I didn't get going I wouldn't make Anson's Bay in time to get ashore and camp. I began to wonder if they had been out to George Rock and got past me unseen way offshore. So because I was still paddling slowly I decided to continue. Rounding Eddystone Point I thought I could see Mick's white sail way across towards Anson's Bay, but it was so far away I couldn't be sure. I also noticed that there was a huge swell on the beach in the Bay of Fires, and that any landing would be impossible - well not impossible but you wouldn't have got off again even if your kayak was still in one piece.

It took me 2 hours to do the 9km across to Anson's Bay and the 'Black Witch' was dead right, the entrance was quite ugly. I sat off shore for a while (narrowly missing being creamed by huge swells breaking out to sea) and thought that the conditions in the main marked chanell were maybe just possible. However being on my own I gave it a miss and carried on south, looking for a more benign landing. Two hours later I was still struggling along looking, and had to get ashore soon before it got too dark to see where I was going. The last beach before The Gardens just looked possible so I headed in close along the rocks. I got within a few metres of the beach before being broached by a big swell, and surfed it sideways into the beach, where at the last moment the kayak straightened up suddenly and left me too slow to sit upright so I capsized. There I was with the nose of the kayak hard ashore on the very steeply shelving beach, upside down with me underneath it. The rear end was still in the water, as was my head, and for a moment the thought went through my head that I was going to drown with my kayak on the beach. It took a bit of effort to get the spraydeck off and kick the kayak up on its edge so I could scramble out - huffing and puffing. It was very lucky that Jeff wasn't there with his video camera - incidentally several times during the afternoon I had turned my kayak right around and had a good look behind me for any sign of the two of them. It looked a bit doubtful if I'd get off in the morning if the swell increased overnight - it was marginal.

Just above the beach was a fence and a lovely green grass field where I promptly set up my tent after getting into dry clothes. It was now dark so I as I was too tired to do anything about I campfire I retired - and was able to now have a good look at the map to see where I was. (I hadn't had time before the trip to waterproof a map for thr deck.) I was at Gardens Lagoon Beach - only about 11 km from the finish at Jeanneret Beach. I was still unsure whether Mick and Jeff were ahead or behind me - if they were ahead then I needed to get to Jeanneret Beach fairly early in the morning before they started looking for me.

I was on the water at 6.45am and got off at the first attempt, the swell was noticeably smaller than yesterday. But I was very glad that I hadn't continued last night as the reefs and rocks off the Gardens was like a mine field - monster waves rearing up out of nowhere. I got through OK but further along there is a similar area at Sloop Reef and I went well outside this. I was feeling better than the first day but it was still an effort to keep the kayak moving along. Landed easily at Jeanneret Beach at 9am to surprise eveyone as they had a text message from Mick last night that they'd be there between 12 and 1pm. And so they were, they had got into Anson's Bay, and out again this morning with some difficulty.

Then it was the long drive back up to Little Musselroe Bay, taking Jeff's kayak and gear so he could head straight off to Bridport. While Jeff was loading his car I scattered some of Elli's ashes at the boat ramp. This is the scene of some of Elli's greatest achievments, paddling across Banks Strait - twice in the dark, and once in 5 metre seas. And she was 62 when she did the first trip, with no bracing skills, or rolling skills - just an overall fitness and a willingness to participate in a little adventure. Three times she has paddled to Flinders Island and return - a record that would put a lot of so called sea kayakers in Hobart to shame.

I collected my car and was back at Jeanneret Beach and loaded ready to head home at 5pm. Home at 8pm absolutely exhausted.

The start at Little Musselroe Bay Lagoon.