Mulvany Adventures: A Paddle across the Foveaux Strait

A few days ago David Maynard suggested to me that we kayak across the Foveaux Strait. Initially I had suggested a paddle on Lake Hauroko or a climb of Mitre Peak, though I was keen to invite Ceri Hurchinson along for the latter mission. The marine forecast was very good for several days, so on the basis of that we decided on the Foveaux crossing. I rang Meri Leask at Bluff Fishermen’s radio and she confirmed the settled conditions and said she would keep an ear out for us on the radio.

David then suggested we leave from Oreti Beach and head straight across to Saddle Point and climb Mt Anglem. I thought about this and agreed we’d give it a go. Low tide at Bluff was at 6.15am so we wanted to be on the water at 6.00am latest. The flood tide in the strait moves from SW to NE and I prefer to have the flood when I’m crossing the strait. Before we left I emailed a trip itinerary to Meri Leask.

Last Thursday I left home at 4.30am and drove over to Oreti Beach. It was obsidian black as I left my car on the beach and walked into the gloom to see how far out the tide was . . .it was a long way out and I could hear surf crashing out there in the dark. I pondered this fact and my instincts told me it was not a good plan so I headed around to David’s place for the pickup and suggested we revert to the Bluff option.

At Bluff it was calm and much more inviting. We geared up on the beach just past the Oil tanks on Marine Parade. Then I drove the car around to the car park opposite Real Journeys. By 7.00am, as false dawn was appearing, we were pushing off as some fishing boats were leaving the harbour. I pulled out my strobe light and we left on the right side of the harbour entrance.

Once clear of Bluff we struck out for the left side of Rakiura, Stewart Island. It’s about 40 kilometres across and even though I’d done this 4 times previously, I am always a bit apprehensive at big crossings. The sea had a roll of maybe 1 metre and there was a chop on top but generally it was a smooth crossing in light airs. Way off in the distance a large bulk carrier appeared from the west and anchored in the middle of the strait, I presume to await high tide. First we passed Dog Island to the east and then Ruapuke Island further on. Once past half way, I called up Meri on my VHF and told her our position. Ahead we could see the first of the Titi islands, North Island.

Closer to it, we noticed a drift to the east in the tidal stream. Then we turned westwards towards North island but the tide picked up speed and it was too exhausting to get there. After a while when we seemed not to be getting anywhere fast, we peeled off to the east and headed east of Women’s Island. This scenic island has high cliffs and no easy place to land. Surprisingly, the sea was quite wavy here and oddly enough the current now seemed to be moving west so we changed course again and went with it though a narrow gap between it and North Island. On the other side once we cleared the jobbly currents on the point, we approached Edward Island. We were rather hoping to land on the north side and then the east side but all the beaches were of large boulders with quite a surge upon them.

Continuing around the SE corner of Edwards we kayaked cross to a better rocky beach on Jacky lee island and landed with no real difficulty. By now the sun was out and sea pretty flat. I could hardly stand as my left thigh was aching from the cramped position we were in over the previous 6 hours. But it was great to rest there for half an hour and partake of some nourishment. A blue penguin paid us a visit, as did some curious seals.

Launching was straightforward and once south of the island we cut straight across the bay to half Moon Bay, which we reached at 3.30pm. This looked idyllic with no wind and the sun beating down. After changing into some dry clothes we were walking back to the kayaks when 2 people stopped and stared at me. Then Peter exclaimed "its Stanley Mulvany. We saw you kayaking out there and I said to Jane, that must be Stanley Mulvany. No one else would be mad enough to paddle across the strait". Yes -Peter and Jane Corbett had dropped into HMB on their yacht. which they were sailing around NZ. We spent half an hour yacking. They had come from Preservation Sound where they had met another friend of mine, Henriette Beikirch at Kisbee Lodge, who was paddling around Fiordland by herself. The Corbetts left Southand maybe 20 years ago and used to be my climbing partners in the alpine club. Peter has assisted in my evacuation following a climb accident back in 1996.

Then Peter and Jane were off up the east coast while David and I boarded the Stewart Island ferry for the easy way home.