Mother Nature Will Always Find The Weak Spot

Saturday 3rd March and we’re back out there, the swell has dropped considerably to ~2m as it was forecast to do, so we continue north on calm seas and not a breath of wind to High Rocky Point and into Hartwell Cove for lunch.

As we pulled into the beach Guy mentioned how much of a slog it had seemed from Mainwaring Inlet, which is exactly how I felt too. Perhaps there had been a northerly current against us for both of us to feel the same way.

We had the usual, for this trip anyway, leisurely lunch in the sun and a quick look around the Cove, checking out the campsites and the flotsam and jetsam along the high tide mark before launching and paddling over to Christmas Cove and the mouth of the Wanderer River. We discussed whether to explore up the river but given the time and a further 20km to Point Hibbs and Sanctuary Cove we decided not to and turned to head back out to sea.

I was thinking about the wind, it had picked up while we were having lunch, blowing straight into Hartwell Cove from the NW. After the slog this morning from Mainwaring Inlet I wasn’t particularly looking forward to what could be a 20km headwind plod to Point Hibbs. With the wind on my mind I was straining to look well ahead out to sea to try and determine the wind direction when suddenly we realised we were well and truly in the wrong place, at perfectly the wrong time.

I don’t remember seeing anything break over that particular reef as we made our way out of Christmas Cove from the Wanderer River mouth. If I had it would of course have jolted my mind away from the wind and back to more immediate concerns. 

"Paddle!!!" I shouted and pushed the right rudder pedal hard - we turned just in time to crest the first breaker as the top edge turned white and started to curl towards us, we see-sawed over the crest and hit the back of the wave with a bellyflop like crash that felt strong enough to break the boat into little pieces. Ahead there was another wave, just starting to break.

They were so close together, there weren’t many paddle strokes as, still sprinting, we smoothly dropped into the trough then rose to the second building crest of white water, and seesawed over that one too. 

Only to see the next one, the third. It had already broken and was crashing towards us fast. 

“We are going to get totally smashed” flitted through my mind and I saw Lynne lean forward onto the front deck and it was on us with a force you would not believe. 

I remember feeling us surfing backwards, then upside down, then tumbling and bouncing, then I was conscious of all my fingers gripping the cockpit coaming holding myself to the deck, the bouncing stopped and I bailed out. 

I emerged, surprisingly my hat was floating right beside me, I grabbed it. My special kayaking hat, handmade by Lynne for me for Christmas. I looked around, the boat, upside down bobbed next to me, Lynne was on the opposite side. I could see two sponges bobbing in the foam and Lynne’s paddle in two pieces, broken neatly in the middle.

I righted the boat and clambered back into my cockpit as Lynne said “Something’s happened to my legs and I can’t move them”. Right, that’s changed what otherwise would have been an embarrassing close shave to a much more serious event. 

Lynne had pulled herself partially out of the water onto the back deck, so I paddled the double, still full of water, slowly away from the danger zone.. The wave that hit us had washed us pretty clear anyway but we weren’t hanging around to find out whether we were still in the surf zone. 

Guy and Ebi pulled alongside and rafted up to the left of our boat. Ebi held the boat steady while Lynne pulled herself onto the deck and back in her cockpit and we emptied the water out. 

The beach in Christmas Cove was only about 200m away but it was steep with surging surf, an awkward landing at the best of times. So with Guy and Ebi towing and me paddling our boat we returned to the flat sheltered beach in Hartwell Cove. On the way we chatted to a fishing boat at anchor in the Cove to see whether we could use their sat phone to call for help.

The three of us lifted Lynne out of her cockpit, carried her up the beach and made her comfortable on a patch of grass. Ebi dug out some Endone to alleviate the pain and then with Guy paddled back out to the fishing boat to ring for rescue.



The wave hit us about 2pm, we were in the Emergency Dept at the Royal at 8pm.

What to learn?

We simply shouldn’t have been where we were. 

I basically wasn’t on the ball, not concentrating, I’ve a feeling I was thinking the reefs were further out than they actually were.

Maybe I was relaxed after lunch and perhaps a bit too complacent after the big swells of the day before, only a couple of hours or so before we had been cruising through the 250m gap between Montgomery Rocks and High Rocky Point. 

Perhaps at the moment I realised we were going to get completely smashed we should have capsized, but maybe not. The breakers were very close together, if there had been a fourth wave, we would have just bailed out and surfaced in time to be hurtled shorewards in a massive washing machine with 100kg+ of kayak, paddles and leashes. 

Self reliance, if we had not been able to use the sat phone on the fishing boat we would of course have set off one of our PLBs. Being able to call the police directly meant that our PLB contacts would not be unduly worried, they would have known we were in trouble but have no idea of quite how much trouble. It would have meant a few hours of wondering worst case scenarios before finding out that although Lynne was injured, she was on pain killers and we were safe and stable onshore. Perhaps to be truly self sufficient we should have had our sat phone with us, it’s a $100 or so for a month long pre paid SIM. With that we would have been able to make that direct contact for help without the happenstance of a fishing boat nearby.

Perhaps too it’s just an increasing odds on making a stuff up. The more we are out there the more likelihood of making a mistake, of being in the wrong place at exactly the wrong time. 

She'll be back. I'll be back. We’ll be back.