After successfully crossing Bass Strait in a sea kayak, John Jacoby filled us in on his six day journey to Tasmania Australia.
 I had been wanting to paddle the western route to Tasmania via the west coast of King Island for a couple of years but what with babies being born and not that many willing paddling partners I was beginning to wonder whether I’d ever get to do this paddle. On Tuesday the 16th of November everything fell into place. I’d found a paddling partner (Jarad Kohlar) plus due to a leg injury I was forced to miss a big adventure race, which gave me the perfect opportunity to tell my wife I needed an alternative activity to keep me sane! On top of all that the weather forecast was looking pretty favourable
Day (1)
It was 8am and we were standing on Blanket Bay beach near Cape Otway. Looking out to 92km of salt water we were about to embark on one of the best paddling trips I have ever done. The weather observations earlier that morning were recording 5.5m swells off C. Sorell, winds 10-15 knots from the west increasing to 15-20 in the afternoon and swinging around to the north-west. Not a perfect forecast as I struggled to believe the wind would swing to the north in the afternoon – it just simply doesn’t do that in November!
We set off apprehensively (I went to the toilet five times in the five minutes before we left) as there was also the odd 6-8 ft. sets closing out across Blanket Bay. I didn’t want to start the trip by getting cleaned up on the reef in the first 5 mins. I was thinking if everything went smoothly we should be hitting Cape Wickham at the top of King Island at around 6PM, 10hrs of paddling. We soon got into our rhythm of paddling and Jarad kept reminding me every fifteen minutes to make sure the bearing was looking good. Every 2.5 hours we would stop and eat and I would check the GPS.
At around 5hrs we raftered up and Jarad’s breakfast and tea came straight up. This worried me a little, but Jarad ate some more and kept paddling. This boosted my confidence a lot. I like a man who can be violently sea-sick, eat more food and resume paddling as if nothing happened. At this point we could see no land at all. We were very much on our own bobbing along in amongst the big rolling swells. The wind began to swing (the weather forecast was right!) and this allowed me to set my sail. The sail doesn’t increase boat speed that much but it makes paddling a lot easier and a lot more enjoyable.
 At around 5pm Jarad spotted Cape Wickham lighthouse, however the last few hours seemed we were never getting any closer. About 10km off the lighthouse there are large reefs that break heavily plus the tide starts really racing around the top of the island and to really top things off I spotted a small shark in the water. I was now getting concerned whether we would make land before dark. The landing point I had planned looked good on the map but I had no idea in reality whether the small cove would be protected from 5.5m swells, and I didn’t really want to test my theory in the dark! Luckily we landed at 8.15PM, about 20 mins before dark in a beautiful beach lined cove that had a small surf breaking. We quickly set up camp and enjoyed the circular light show put on by the 84m tall lighthouse, the tallest in Australia.
Day (2)
The next day we were on the water paddling by 9am, and aiming to paddle to Currie the main town on King Island, 42km away. We paddled down the west coast keeping an eye out for reefs and big waves. This was the part of the trip I was looking forward to the most. King Island west coast is littered with offshore reefs and bobbies and it is a bit nerve racking when a 3m swell is still running to ensure you don’t get “cleaned up” by a set that breaks on some reef that you had spotted before, or forgotten where it lay because a wave had not broken on it for the last 10 mins.
 We stopped for lunch after about 30km at another beautiful little bay with a great surf beach around the corner. We chatted with a couple of locals who dinked us down the beach on their ATV to look at the resident sea elephant who was moulting on the beach. A massive animal with really bad breath but was great to see this creature close up on land.
We arrived at Currie late afternoon after another day of favourable conditions with a steady northerly blowing all day and an easing swell. It was comforting to note that even the locals commented that the day before there was “a fair roll up” referring to the 5.5m swell! We camped right in the harbour at the grassed picnic area and watched the locals come and go (they watched us a fair bit too) each party wondering who was the weirdest.
Day (3)
Forecast was for strengthening NW winds to 30 knots ahead of a WSW change up to 35 knots in the middle of the day. As a result of this plus the information about the tides we had gleaned from the locals we left at around 8am to make the most out of the tides and wind for the day. We got to Stokes Pt. (Southern tip of the island) as the wind was freshening and beginning to swing more westerly. The swell was building again and the tidal current around Stokes Pt. was really treacherous. As we rounded the point it was like pointing your kayak upstream into a flooded river. We battled around the point trying to stay inshore to avoid the worst current but also wishing we were further off-shore to avoid any “hurry” sets. We pulled in for a well earned lunch and hot soup in a protected bay and thought a bit more time out would hopefully see the wind swing further round to the SW as our new course up to the township of Grassy was NE. As it turned out, “Uncle Hughie” was on our side again and treated us to 35 knot WSW wind which allowed me to hoist my sail and have one of the most exhilarating paddles up the coast. The sail in those conditions literally pulls the boat on to runs and I often had to try and slow the boat down so I didn’t bury the front half of the kayak and perform a nose stand, and slow me down!
Grassy is basically a ghost town (it used to have a large tin mine there, which was shut down 15 yrs ago) but is still the main port for the island. We hitched a lift up into town as Jarad had a friend who was teaching there. We managed to borrow her internet connection and get a weather update. It wasn’t favourable. Gale warnings were issued, however the wind direction was good. We nervously went to bed that night deciding to assess the conditions early the next morning as to whether to set out for the other big crossing of the trip, the 75km paddle across to Hunter Island.
Day (4)
The day dawned blowy but not too bad so we poked our heads out of the tent and walked up the nearby hill to get a true indication of the wind strength and direction. It was a different story on the hill where it was already blowing 30knots and it was only 7AM. We decided to have a rest day purely on the basis of the wind strength. The direction was favourable but with the forecast predicting the wind to increase to up to 45knots by the afternoon plus the fact that the Bureau of Met. had been extremely accurate over the last week we took the wise choice.
We caught up with a friend of Jarad’s who gave us a guided driving tour of the island plus tested the island’s bakeries and cafes. The island geographically is fairly flat and boring but there is still unlimited potential for diving, surfing and paddling around the area. We also went for a snorkel and grabbed some abalone for dinner that night.
Day (5)
 The crossing to Hunter Island is a long and difficult paddle with strong tidal currents so it was imperative we planned the day carefully. We left just before 8AM and were forced to paddle against the tide for the first 3 hrs. After that we then hoped the next 6hrs of flood tide would give us enough time to make it to the lee side of Hunter Isand. The wind had swung to WSW and was still blowing around 20 knots. Not ideal but still O.K. with the breeze on our right shoulder I was able to get some benefit from my sail for most of the day. The swell had risen again to a solid 4+ metres as it rolled across our course.
The paddle was long and frustrating as we could often see a small but rocky isolated island in the distance off to the south and it seemed we were never going to paddle past it. To make matters worse I didn’t have a map for about a 20-30km section of water (where this island lay) so I didn’t really know how our position should relate to it. Every 2.5hrs I switched on the GPS and hoped it was telling us any lies as we were still making progress at between 8-9 KPH
Three Hummock Island then Albatross Island (actually 20km closer but a lot lower) and finally Hunter Island came into view. We paddled right past Albatross Island which was a boiling mass of water and rock plus plenty of Albatross who seemed to take a passing interest in our activity. We arrived at Cape Keraudren (northern tip of Hunter Island) just as the tide was turning again which was perfect timing as even the last 45 mins paddling was against a stiff current which was really making the swells stand up. The northern part of Hunter Island is virtually impossible to land anywhere so we had to paddle down the east side a further 7kms before we camped in the idyllic Shepherd’s Bay, a clean and protected horseshoe shaped bay lined with white sand.
Day (6)
 At last a nice easy days paddling lay ahead. It was only about 25km to Tasmania (Woolnorth Point – the North West tip) but the final 5km crossing between Hunter Island and Tassie is a wild and exhilarating piece of water. Again huge tidal flows race thru this channel and at one point I was stuck in a flow and paddling hard but going nowhere while Jarad was 10 metres away and paddled straight past me!
We paddled just inside the point after noticing a red object in the distance and paddled on to discover a ute parked on the rocky beach. We were greeted by a friendly farm worker who was attempting to take the wife and kids out for a fish in their tinny but he decided to give it away as a result of the heavy drizzle. He gave us a lift up to his house 6km away where we rang a friend to give him directions as to how to pick us up. The whole of North West Tasmania is owned by one large property owner (Woolnorth Station, 22,000ha) and we had landed on private property but in good Tasmanian tradition the locals were very friendly and willing to help out. In fact they gave us a bit of a tour of the property and the wind generators out at Cape Grim where 42 of the huge turbines serenely rest on the headland.
Our friend arrived within a couple of hours and drove us back to Devonport and we jumped on the ferry that night for a relaxing trip back to Melbourne.
It was a very successful trip and from my records I think we are only the 3rd or 4th group of paddlers to have made this crossing, as the preferred route is usually through the eastern chain of islands. The trip was conducted in fairly harsh conditions and it further reinforces my view that sea-kayaks are one of the most sea-worthy boats available and can handle virtually any conditions (apart from big surf entry and exits and strong head winds). We paddled two single sea-kayaks and carried all our own food, camping equipment, sufficient water for 1-2 days, safety equipment including flares, GPS, EPIRB’s, fibreglass repair kit, 1st aid kit and satellite phone (although CDMA has good coverage throughout most of the area).
Article by John Jacoby, Wednesday, 19 January 2005
Photography by John Jacoby
 This article has been provided for publication by Australian Canoeing. Unauthorised use or reproduction is strictly prohibited. Article and photography is © John Jacoby & Australian Canoeing and may not be used without their express permission.
Australian Canoeing (AC) is the National Organisation responsible for the management, coordination, development and promotion of paddle sports in Australia. AC is committed to the provision of a high standard of competition, safety, and opportunity for participation in paddle sports in Australia.
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2-7-2005
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2-7-2005
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breakloose
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