KI Crossing to Antechamber Bay — 14-15 December 2024
WOW what a weekend paddle to Antechamber Bay on Kangaroo Island we had. It gave us a bit of everything sea kayaking has to offer.
Preparations
The weather forecast looked very good for the crossing. Saturday was going to be a bit of a bash into the wind and waves but quite achievable and Sunday was just perfect. The group assembled at 7.30am on Saturday morning to beautiful blue skies and very calm conditions in close to Cape Jervis. Further out the whitecaps were building. The pre-launch briefing mentioned several topics such as a check that the group was carrying all of the mandated equipment to go this far from the shore, on water group “rules”, etc. But the main message was to expect the conditions in the middle to be wet and wild. Prepare for waves to wash over the deck!
The leg to KI
And so it was…and for a short time conditions were above the forecast 12Knts, probably up to 15 with even some 18Knt gusts. These conditions challenged some of the group and progress was at times quite slow with Ryan suitably tested as leader in keeping the group together. As Backstairs Passage is a commercial shipping lane, kayakers need to stay in a tight grouping and less than 50m apart. This also applied to the mandated equipment the group required for such a paddle. We were in “unprotected waters” where for every 5 paddlers an EPIRB, flares, VHF and other equipment was required and the group must be within 50m of each other and such equipment.
I was particularly interested in the effect of the tide on our course. The weekend was selected as it was a spring tide with plenty of water on the move. I expected to get some assistance from the easterly ebb tide. The GPS track does show evidence of easterly drift on each stop we had but it really did not feel we were being assisted. I think it would have been a much greater slog into the wind if the tide was not giving considerable assistance. The two balanced each other out.
Chapman River Campground
On arriving at the landing site, the mouth of the Chapman River, little surf was encountered and a hassle free landing was made. The crossing took just under four hours. A portage over the sand bar to re-launch into the river made for an easy paddle up to the campsite. In there the group busied themselves setting up tents and scoffing down some lunch. I spent the afternoon resting and chatting about the events of the day and just how good it was to have such amazing places to camp and explore. Others explored by foot as the area is spectacular.
Back to Cape Jervis
Next morning provided a beautiful sunrise and the promise of perfect paddling conditions. We weren’t disappointed! The plan was to launch at 930am to travel along the north coast making for Cuttlefish Bay. From here I wanted to try a navigation technique called “splitting the tide” where we would paddle for half the crossing in the ebb tide and the other in the flood tide. The net result would be a straight path to Cape Jervis. I was first introduced to this idea by the Tasmanians as a good way to cross the notorious Banks Strait- the last challenge in getting to Tassie when doing Bass Strait from Victoria .
We definitely felt the tide pushing us to the east in the first part of the crossing and had a significant boost in the latter parts when heading to Cape Jervis. Close to Lands End we were achieving 12km/hr with little effort!
On the way across we split into two smaller groups. This decision was based on the fact that we had a diversity of sea kayaks in the group. Some very quick and others just quick. I believe all paddlers would have been working their bodies just as hard. It was just a fact that some of the kayaks travelled at a higher speed due to design. At the other side there was only about a 30minute difference in the time to complete the crossing.
Carb Replacement Therapy
It was a quick pack up with most of the group wanting to head for the bakery and some yummy lunch and carb replacement therapy! The Cape Jervis ramp was the busiest I have ever experienced. Lots of water craft getting out there to escape the heat. On the water it was pleasant but when getting out of the car at Yankallila it was like stepping into a blast furnace. This summer is forecast to be a hot one so sea kayaking might just be the best place to be except for being in front of the air conditioner. Sea kayaking will however be better for the body and have less of an impact on global warming!
Overall statistics (Links point to GPX track files)
That afternoon we had a short paddle down Katarapto Creek to check out the regulator at the bottom of The Splash, which, to our alarm, was closed. This would mean a nasty portage in the coming days. We all retreated back to the campsite to discuss options around the campfire with a glass of wine.
After a much dragging of kayaks over, under and around logs, we eventually got to clear water where the creek widened out into a horseshoe lake, which abounded with pelicans and other birds.
Sunday morning we headed off in the other direction, down Katarapko creek. Everyone had fun running the short white-water section over the weir, and we let the current take us down to the massive regulator at the end of The Splash. This is normally open to paddle through, but the Parks Board had closed it off to create an artificial flooding event upstream. This meant a strenuous portage over the weir, luckily everyone was still fresh and the kayaks were unladen. The regulators are good for the river, but I wish they would consider the kayakers and give us some good access points.
The trip was listed as a leisurely paddle and that’s what we did. Anne, Simon, Peter C, Peter D, Phil, Abelardo and Mark set off from the Garden Island boat ramp around 10am to paddle around Torrens Island. The tide was suitable to paddle through the shallow cutting at the northern end of the island. Conditions were nearly perfect, and they improved as we paddled.
B, Abelardo, Mark L and Warwick joined Anne and Simon for a paddle. We launched at Myponga Beach and headied south towards Carrickalinga. The sea conditions were perfect – clear water to observe the variety of sea weeds, virtually no wind and flat seas. We had a casual paddle along the rocky cliffs with Charlie leading some rock gardening along the way. There were a few new scratches seen on his boat as he loaded it back onto his car. That must have been from the time he was left high and dry as the very slight swell retreated. Conditions were so calm that we all ventured into caves. Some big enough to turn around in and others very tight, narrow and funnelling the swell to surge your kayak in or out of the gap.
We had lunch on a small beach just north of Carrickalinga before returning to Myponga Beach.
Michael, Pavel, Terry and Warwick joined Anne for some rolling and rescue training at West Lakes. After some introductory exercises to limber up on the grass we took to the water armed with paddle floats and lots of courage. Starting in the small white-water kayak it wasn’t long before the paddle floats were removed and a real roll was happening. Then the challenge – repeating the roll in their larger sea kayaks.
Next day we carried on down Toupnein Creek, enjoying the peace and serenity, until it joined the Murray again. Helped by the current again, we sped down the Murray to the exit of the Lindsay River. The day turned out longer than planned. As we bypassed the previous trips campsite to look for a better one, which didn’t turn up for another 6 kms, by which time everyone was more than ready to stop. Total distance for the day was 31 kms.
This year’s Nagambie Canoe Polo Summer Series competition, held at the Nagambie Lakes Regatta Centre, attracted players from Adelaide Canoe Club as well as players from other S.A. clubs, Victoria, Queensland, New South Wales and the ACT. There were five teams in the Social division, in which the SA Masters team competed, four teams in the Women’s and six teams in the Open division. The Masters, Women’s and Bulldogs teams from SA finished first in their divisions and the second SA Open team, the Redbacks, finished fourth. Cole Polley from ACC was 5th highest goal scorer at the event.
