Kayakers, Plan Your Trip!

26/09/2011

Today a regular kayaking visitor to our river had a bit of a scare. He decided to paddle out to nearby Jarman Island for a spot of fishing. Nothing wrong with that. The problem was that the wind was calm and the tide was coming into the river. This meant that he had a reasonably easy paddle out to the Island, but would have the tide to contend with when he came back in later. Worse still was that the wind was forecast to blow up later in the day.

Well, it happened. The wind did come up and the tide was coming out of the river. Our intrepid kayaker tried, but to no avail, and was unable to guide his 'yak back to the mouth of the river. So strong was the combination of currents and wind that he was washed several kilometres from the river mouth. His wife spotted him and realised he was in trouble, but was unable to raise him on his phone.

Luckily, she spotted some people who had come to Cossack for a visit and just happened to have a dinghy on the roof of their vehicle. These good Samaritans went to the assistance of our paddler and towed him back to safety. I reckon they should get a couple of cartons for their efforts.

The lesson is there for us all.....take heed of the forecast. The strong winds (which can whip up a boiling sea when combined with big tides) were forecast and the forecast is rarely wrong these days. As well as that, try to plan your trip so that you do as much paddling "with" the tide as you can. During Spring Tides the water in the river can be flowing at several knots and it is difficult to make sustained headway against that sort of current.