The "Un-Abel" Tasman

Ah, the Abel Tasman National Park. A place of beauty, peace, and tranquility. Where days are spent enjoying the nature that surrounds you while calming paddling down the big blue open highway that is the sea. Well, that was day one anyways.

Our three day kayak tour of the Abel Tasman started out great. We (Mark, myself and our friend Dan) started our trip with a briefing where we learned all the important skills of planning our trip, packing up our gear, paddling, and of course, safety and rescue skills. Not that anyone capsizes very often, but just in case.

We took a water taxi up to the top of the park for our first launch. All was well as we paddled to our port of call for the day. Mark celebrated his birthday by catching a crab, boiling it and eating it on the beach. We all went to bed feeling pretty good about the day.

The marine forecast for day two was not as pleasant - larger swell and more wind. We seemed to be doing fine though as we set off and paddled out to a lagoon just down the coast. We had to enter the lagoon through a narrow gap that only exists during high tide. I was nervous, but we managed without any trouble. The waves carried us in. We paddled around Sandfly Lagoon and talked about how lucky we were to be on this adventure and how beautiful the place was.

Now came time to leave the lagoon. Unfortunately for us, it was now low tide which meant the waves coming in were fighting a tidal river going out. Dan went first in his single kayak - he managed to make it most of the way out and so Mark and I followed with speed. Paddling like mad, we hit the waves and definitely got some air in between the swells - I just focused on paddling. Speed is stability, or so I learned during the briefing.

We made it out to sea just in time to turn back to see that Dan had experienced a change of luck and was getting washed back to the beach. He managed to get up on shore without capsizing, but his boat was full of water. We waited while he tried to launch himself back out, but alas, it was not meant to be. At one point, we observed his boat floating away from him back out in the waves and decided he needed our aid*.

We headed back to the gap to get into the lagoon as the beach break was not safe to land on. We paddled the same as before, but the outgoing tide and the incoming waves were a bad combo. We managed to ride a few waves sideways before the eventual capsize. I WAS TERRIFIED! Let's be honest, we all know I can't really swim.* But mostly, I hate waves. They put me totally out of control. So, here we are, capsized in the waves that were fairly large, being pushed out to sea by a river of outgoing tide.

Now is the time to remember our rescue training:

First step, determine if your fellow kayaker is ok. Check.

Second step, after deciding you can't get the kayak to the beach (even though it is like 5 feet away) flip it. Check.

Third step, front person swim around the front and stabilize the kayak while the back person gets in. Get capsized again by a wave before you get there. Back to step one.

Repeat step one and two. Get capsized by a wave again.

No time now for any rescue steps. Hang onto the kayak for dear life while multiple waves crash on top of it. Tell Mark that you are scared and think you need to try to swim for the beach. Have a mini panic attack. Try to swim for the beach and realize that you can't get anywhere against the tide. Back to the boat. Notice that your insect repellent and your sandals are floating away. Shoot.

Manage to get back to step one and two and three. Attempt the whole process twice and get capsized twice by a wave.

Finally, as adrenaline kicks in, complete all three steps plus get into the boat yourself (additional steps include pumping water out of your hull and praising the Lord that you are still alive, etc.).

Self rescue complete.

Being down to only one paddle (I abandoned mine during the chaos which is not recommended during safety training) Mark managed to paddle us over to the beach where Dan was busy trying to save his water bottle. Thanks a lot, Dan*. We all made it onto dry land, pulled the kayak up and then I laid there re-evaluating my life while Mark went to search for our lost paddle. Luckily, he found it.

We eventually launched back off the beach after waiting for the swell and the tide to go down. The sight of our near death was now a lovely beach. Go figure. Being paranoid, Dan took off paddling so fast to our next port of call that we had no choice but to follow him and head straight in. I didn't mind though. Day two over.

Day three had some big swells as well, but we were ok. We made it into a nice calm bay and managed to enjoy ourselves again for a while before ending our trip - slightly worse for the wear.

So, would I say it was a good experience? Mostly. But I think I'll stick to kayaking on lakes and very calm seas from now on. I don't think anyone will blame me.

*I was happy to leave Dan on the beach until the tide had calmed down, but Mark insisted we go to his rescue. Sorry, Dan.

*Some of you may be thinking to yourself that a three day kayak trip on open sea is pretty stupid if you can't really swim. You are probably right.

*To be fair, Dan couldn't see us from where he was and had no idea of our peril. He was busy dealing with his own. Please refer to sinceileftyeg.wordpress.com for Dan's version of the story.