VIC - Snake Island April overnighter.

[mingle]

C'mon Pete... The trip is a doddle. I'm no long-distance kayaker and I found it very easy.

You follow the tide out and the 12km trip to the campsite takes a few hours at a fairly leisurely pace.

This is what it usually looks like:

Once you're there, the views and the area are breathtaking.

Cheers,

Mike.

[eric]

And once Chris gets going there's always plenty of ready to eat native poultry.

[kayakone]

Thanks but nope. I recognise that I'm not a good enough kayaker for that trip so I'll play it safe.

Good to see an honest and wise assessment. From the sound of it the lads were 'on the limit', and if anything had gone wrong it was possibly each man to himself.

I'm not judging at all....I've done a lot of 'on the limit' paddles myself, and by myself, and often worried about the consequences of getting it wrong. Being off your kayak in conditions like that would not be pretty.

So understanding the lure of high adventure, I think Pete's call is probably a good one, and a sobering call for anyone else tempted by terrific tales such as this one.

Trevor

[eric]

We've fished the area for years, by land, boat and yak. We've done a few trips to this island and others in the Corner Inlet system and we discuss these places with other fishermen that know it even better than we do. We all have extensive hiking and camping experience, mostly in cold wet places like the Victorian highlands where hypothermia is one poor clothing choice away. We all have Level 2 First Aid, can swim, have practiced re-entry in rough water or a surf zone and have covered this and longer distances before and seen conditions as bad. We all carry VHF radios and test them before, during and after. We have an EPiRB, PFD's and clothing to suit the conditions. Our camping gear is excellent and we packed excess clothes and food in case we had to stay a few days. We pulled over to re-assess our plans and made collective decisions as to what we going to do. No one operated out of their comfort zone.

We also had a very comprehensive plan at home with a centralised contact who had everyone's next of kin, kayak description, phone number and route right there in front of them. We also rang in at pre-arranged check points and advised changes to the plan and there were redundancies built in in case all manner of crazy things happened. We also stopped a pair of kayakers coming out, simply because we didn't know their skill level.

Yes, we saw some exciting water. Yes, it was an annoying night listening to the wind. But it's nothing we hadn't expected. We can do this shit.

[kayakone]

Eric

No offense intended. I had no intention of bringing your skills into question. Bad wording, sorry.

It's your thread, and a good one on a very exciting crossing (right up my alley actually...love it when it gets serious). I felt it might have been influencing some people to try it when they weren't up to it.

Maybe I should have sent that last post to you as a PM?

I apologise unreservedly for the interpretion.

Trevor

[mingle]

Eric just didn't want you to scare off Pete, who's yet to be initiated into the Snake Island bacon-lube & Mr. Happy club!

But seriously, they're the best organised group you can imagine and certainly wouldn't take unnecessary risks (just my $0.02)...

I only wimped out, coz I hate the wind and getting a wet-arse...

Cheers,

Mike.

[FazerPete]

It's fine. Each to their own but I know that I'm not fit enough or exprerienced enough in handling the kayak if something went wrong. I also have reservations about camping on an island because you're forced to paddle back even if the weather blows in unexpectedly overnight. I did blue water sailing for years and it's amazing how many times I've raced in 40kts when 20 was predicted so I know it happens and I know what happens to water when it does.

You guys have been into kayaking for a lot longer for me and I know you took a lot of precautions up front so that impressed me but I don't trust that I would be in a position to help myself or anyone else if it turned to crap and I certainly couldn't live with myself if anything happened to somebody near me but I wasn't good enough to save them.

I don't want to bring a downer on what was obviously a memorable trip but I just think everyone should be 100% aware of what they're getting into before they contemplate the next one. No judgement on anyone involved; just my 2c worth.

[koich]

That's lumpier than a fat chick in yoga pants.

[RedPhoenix]

Spectacular scenery based on the pics & video. (nice synchronising TFM!)

The sort of place where the fishing part is just a bloody good excuse to get out & experience it.

Red.

[eric]

It's the largest sand island in Victoria.

So it has something in common with Fraser Island......

[Kenza]

No luck fishing out at seaspray but it was fairly relaxing.until my friend decided to go too close to the channel and the change of tide and current nearly sucked us out to see from merriman creek...

It is important to gauge the safety and speed of your vessel and match it with your own ability when deciding to go out in an adventurous condition. Also the fact that it was new territory to us was probably the biggest deterrent. Because port welshpool is soo close t o where i live, i am iching to go there again on a good weather.

Was really really good to be able to read such an in depth report + vid .

[Zed]

Sometimes you eat the bar and sometimes the bar eats you.

I'm sure there's no regrets, now, but at the time you were probably wondering WTF?
Always a good read, anyway guys. Thanks.

[Kenza]

I have to say the video with the hobie adventure island makes it look soo easy..........................sail power is really awesome....