Another 11 hour day with not too many miles to show for it. The wind was against us but thankfully was less than forecast but we had almost a knot of current pushing us backwards all day.

The swell was up with a few 2- 3 metre waves rolling through. We paddled half a mile offshore to avoid being caught by a rogue breaker but the constant grinding sound of pounding water onto sand and the white spray shot violently into the air on impact was a bit intimidating. The small rocky headland that we had purposely camped besides offered some protection and we both managed to time our launches so we didn’t get our hair wet. I pushed Sarah off so she could stay as dry as possible with her broken dry suit zip. She wore her storm cag over the dry suit and sat on it to try to prevent water going down her zip. It had mixed success and she ended the day damp rather than soaking.

We had hoped to find a relatively surf free landing just round the corner from the big surf bay but we had to paddle a mile and a half out to sea to get around some big breakers at the headland. We decided it was worth pushing on to a better protected landing even though we knew it would be a very late night with the current against us. So 11 hours later, without getting out of the kayak once, we landed at 10.30pm.

The easterly winds are due to continue for at least 2 more days. We’re planning a lie and and a later start tomorrow.