Heron Express

We left Musgrave at 6.50 this morning with 10-15kn SSE winds forecast for most of the day. As we're weren't allowed to land on any of the islands in between, it was a long crossing of 75km, but for the first time we had mostly following conditions.

The first couple of hours were hectic, with a freshly developed sea giving us a series of screaming surf rides all the way out past the Hoskyn Islands, within sight of the awesome Fitzroy Reef. You can see why the pioneer sailors were so fearful of these coral cays, the surf hitting the exposed edge was incredibly powerful, & we could hear it before we could see it.

Chris having breather in the lee of Fitzroy Reef. 43km down, 32km to go

Rounding the lee side we considered hopping into the chest high water for a stretch, but a series of visits from some big toothy friends earlier meant we did our stretching in the boats.

The 35km run from Fitzroy Reef to Heron was like something from the Molokai Classic, with long linked runs, regular bursts above 14kmh, and plenty of hoots & hollers as we blasted through the clear blue water.

About 10km off Heron a big pod of 6-8 Humpback Whales crossed our path, so we spent a few minutes enjoying their play at close quarters.

None of us had been in the water with such a large number of whales and the noise was something to behold, something we won't forget in a hurry.

Heron hove onto view shortly afterwards & we bisected the gap in the reef & cruised onto the beach after 8hrs 20mins, at an average speed of 9.2kmh. Quite a ride.

Rob in the Heron Lagoon, 75km later at pace....

Tim Harvey from the research station, the proud owner of an original 1975 Nordkapp was in the welcome party, & we've just enjoyed a nice dinner & some of Tim's incredible stories of living & working on the reef. You wanna know how to crash tackle a Dugong? Tim's your man....

Made it...

We're aiming for North Reef tomorrow, & then trying to work out a weather assisted line, 130km back to the mainland. 

Once again we've all pulled up brilliantly well & look forward to finishing the trip in style.

Mark, Chris & Rob.