Have You Done This Before: Somers To Flinders By Sea Kayak

Doug and I pulled into Flinders Beach right near the jetty where a kayak-fisherman was just coming ashore on his sit aboard. "Where have you come from?" he asked, "Somers" Doug replied and..... "have you done this before?" the kayak-fisherman asked. Of all the questions Doug and I get asked, this one "have you done this before?" always seems the strangest to me. I always answer politely (almost always with a "no") but, what I am eternally thinking is - if I'd done this before, why would I do it again? 

Somers is in Western Port on the south side of Mornington Peninsular. An off-peak only (four scheduled services a day) runs from Flinders back to Crib Point and would provide our transport back at the end of the kayak trip.

The tide was a long way out at Stony Point where we were staying, but we were easily able to launch the kayaks from the beach at the end of South Beach Road in nearby Somers. We spent a good half hour before we left getting chewed up by sandflies and putting our kayak sails together on the beach. We were hoping for favorable winds and a bit of a push along the coast. 

We cruised down to Point Leo along the mostly sandy shoreline getting an occasional lift from the wind, but it was blowing barely 5 knots and very sporadic. At Point Leo, we pulled in for a stretch and a drink, but didn't stay long. The wind was increasing and we had hopes of getting some push for the last stretch to Flinders. Reefs protrude a long way from Point Leo and by the time we had paddled past the small surf breaking on the rocks, the wind had died and conditions were almost glassy. 

No wind!

It seemed more interesting paddling from Point Leo to Flinders as you get a bit of swell creeping past Philip Island and the water is wonderfully clear. Unfortunately, the sum total of marine life seen on this 20 km paddle was one dolphin and a large jelly fish. There are far too many fishermen in Australia (they are mostly men) and the oceans have been quite denuded as a result. The last few kilometres into Flinders was into a light headwind - so much for those sails. 

At Flinders, I walked up the road to the bus stop, found the bus waiting, and, for the exorbitant cost of $1.30 rode all the way back to Somers.