A Tale form the Island of Stu

FORECAST: *** GALE WARNING IN FORCE *** NORTHWEST 35 KNOTS TURNING SOUTHWEST THIS EVENING. EASING TO WESTERLY 25 KNOTS IN THE MORNING, THEN RISING TO NORTHWEST 70 KNOTS THURSDAY NIGHT. VERY ROUGH SEA EASING FOR A TIME. SOUTHWEST SWELL RISING TO 6 METRES FOR A TIME. POOR VISIBILITY IN SQUALLY SHOWERS.

Given I am the Adventure Columnist for the magazine I figured it was time to report on something a little more adventurous. Going on sporting holidays to Abu Dhabi, staying in hotels and coming home with $10K in the back pocket hardly warrants a true blue adventure. It was time to step things up. Sea kayaking has been a passion of mine for many years, I worked as a sea kayak guide, owned a sea kayak company, have worked internationally as a sea kayaking consultant, hold the highest sea kayaking instructor qualifications in NZ and I've done a good amount of exposed ocean trips here and overseas. What I'm saying is, when it comes to sea kayaking, I feel like I've done my apprenticeship, well I thought I had anyway.

The Holy Grail of NZ sea kayaking is Stewart Island. Moored out from Bluff separated by Foveaux Strait. To kayak around the island it's about 250km and the coastline is a wonderland. I tried to kayak around it in 1994 but when we got to Oban the weather was so bad we spent 8-days paddling in Paterson Inlet instead. Ever since, I always planned to return. For the past 5-years a paddling companion of mine Tony Bateup and I have been planning a Stewart Island circumnavigation, but for genuine reasons each year, the trip has been postponed. This year we pencilled the trip for March, which is at the end of the 3-month summer down there and typically settled weather in those latitudes.

A ship in harbour is safe But that is not what ships are built for.

It's difficult to find out much about the kayaking history but it appears there has been about 20-successful kayaking trips around the island from what I can gather. Paul Caffyn and Max Reynolds first did it in 1979 and since then a few more parties have rounded the island. Some trips have had calm seas and little or no wind, making it a relaxing and pleasurable trip, but the stories that are etched into history are the ones where people get nailed. Storms and wild seas do all they can to impede progress or force paddlers to shore. We'd heard of 2-different attempts getting stuck in a cove for 3-weeks. At the time, it was hard to imagine.

The weather down there was prefect the week before we left but I couldn't go because I was helping run an event as a school fundraiser on March 7th. On the 8th we drove to Bluff and on 9th caught the ferry over and started paddling by lunchtime. We knew a low was coming so we figured we had one day before we'd get stuck for a day or two. Because of a big high below the island, extremely rare, it created an easterly so we paddled the entire northern coast that afternoon, some 60km, surfing the whole way, tail wind. That was 100 x awesome. We dropped down West Coast, which is the crux of the island and stopped at Ruggedy Beach by 6pm. We stopped because there is a hut and we were sure the bad weather was about to arrive. Turns out the low didn't arrive so the next day we paddled as far as we could and got about 80km down the West Coast when the storm hit. It hit fast and furiously and we had about 3km of fairly challenging conditions until the shelter of Easy Harbour. There were smiles and high fives on arrival in the harbour.

We set up camp knowing we'd be there for 1-2 days while the low passed over. The next day we tried to get out but the wind was too strong and seas high. (Meaning winds between 30-70 knots and seas 3-5 metres over the time we were there - from Metservice.) The low passed over but then a big ridge of high pressure moved north over the north island and gave us the wickedest westerly winds I've seen. They blew, and blew and blew and we were grounded for 6-nights in Easy Harbour! Each day we tried to escape but declared the conditions out of our ability.

If anyone thinks 5-metre swells are fine for kayaking then I don't think they've sat in a trough and looked 5-metres up the face of a wave! If they get kicks from it, I'm not worthy. Actually, what really makes the waves tricky is not the so much the size but more the interval. I have kayaked in 6-metre waves with 20-second intervals and they are fun. A 6-metre wave with 5-second intervals is hellish.

WHAT DID WE DO FOR 6-DAYS?

Kept the fire burning, cleaned up beaches, made superb lunches, sat in caves drinking coffee and scoffing chocolate, talked shit, saw kiwi, deer, penguins and seals whilst complaining about the weather ... and redesigned the perfect sea kayak. Easy Harbour has 2-amazing beaches, fresh water and magic views of iconic peaks Magog and Gog so we were thankful for that.

Finally we got a window and bailed, less than perfect conditions we paddled 15km to the Muttonbird Islands, hoping to find people and weather information (our VHF did not work that far south). It was a hard paddle there in testing conditions and we couldn't quite reach the main cove where the map depicts a small village. We retreated and ended up on a very small island, Putaweka. We had to climb out of our kayaks up rocks using a hanging rope then haul our boats up and tie them off. We found an open batch on the island and made ourselves welcome. Fire, beds, radio – luxury. We left a note for the owner informing them of our squatting and our contact details should they wish to give us an invoice someday. Unbeknown to us, the Muttonbird season had started but the weather had stopped anyone coming in. The next morning we woke early to hear some fishing boats and soon after helicopters. The season was on!

We quickly packed up and paddled into Murderers Cove – this itself was freaky, as the southerly had dumped gigantic swell and the strong tides created what to me at the time felt like a sea kayakers nightmare, high heart rate thrilling stuff. Once in shelter we spoke to a few of the skippers of the boats who generally told us the conditions should improve, later that day or the following day. We went for a walk on the island then decided to attempt the South Cape. Once around this cape the coastline starts to ease but given the Southerly swell we knew we had at least 20km of job on before we could relax in Port Pegasus.

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STORY BY + NATHAN FA’AVAE
PHOTOS COURTESY +