All the Way Round by Stuart Trueman

Author:Stuart Trueman
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Biography & Autobiography, Personal Memoirs
ISBN: 9781742612225
Publisher: Macmillan Australia
Published: 2013-05-15T07:00:00+00:00

I set off from Seal Rocks 15 January 2011 after another family farewell, but this time in a much better frame of mind than when I left Sydney.

As I paddled further north, the floods had moved down the rivers, which were now running into the sea. At the river mouths there was a sharp line which delineated the brown river water that was being pushed up against the clear blue sea. The amount of floodwater I saw flowing into the ocean brought home the fact that I could forget trying to seek refuge in the estuaries. I’d never be able to paddle against the flow unless it was almost high tide. This would only get worse the further north I went as I approached the areas most affected by the rains. There was also a lot of debris in the water, from trees to dead animals. In the ocean it had been neatly arranged into lines by the currents or was circling behind headlands in eddies.

The next day I was at Crowdy Head, where the seas were being stirred up by the weather leftovers of a cyclone. A 3-metre swell was running west onto the coast, and the harbour entrances were definitely closed out. It is an easy trap for a kayaker to think that with the construction of walls and groynes man has tamed the ocean, making a harbour entrance a safe passage to calm waters—it’s not. The gap you’re expected to get through is guarded by waves that break all the way across from wall to wall. The messy breakers are caused by the ocean swell competing with the outbound current over the battleground of silt which has fallen to the seabed, exhausted after flowing downriver. To add to the rather frightening prospect of getting smacked by a dumping wave while trying to paddle against the current and then being run over by boat traffic and washed back out to sea are the jagged rocks of the harbour walls. These complete the picture, ensuring complete success or complete failure. These were exceptional conditions, but nevertheless I wouldn’t champion the harbour entrances of New South Wales as one of man’s greatest contributions to maritime safety.

Warnings of big seas, dangerous surf and rogue waves were being broadcast on the radio and locals were surfing in what would normally be sheltered waters. It could have been my imagination but over the next few days I’m sure I noticed a few more broken bones, people limping or having some evidence of a recent visit to the hospital. Anyway I stayed at Crowdy Head until things settled down a bit.

I had originally planned to leave the following morning and I rather optimistically got packed up and moved my kit and kayak to the boat ramp. It was so early it was still dark. I wasn’t really sure what to expect but got ready in case it looked good enough to head off. But daylight came and revealed a sea bigger than the day before.

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