During our third week at the Swain Reefs, we finally hit the jackpot! At all four reefs we visited, we saw better coral.
We were as usual on the knife edge. The reef is always ready to blow your mind or break your heart and that last week, it blew our mind!
The first two: Frog’s Reef, renamed Frog’s Hollow by us was fun and we were delighted to make it to Elusive Reef, the most easterly and remote spot on the Great Barrier Reef. Here are a few aerials from these two reefs.
But the absolute highlight was Hammer Reef, where we enjoyed the very best underwater life: no trace of Crown of Thorn Starfish damage, no trace of bleaching or storm damage, just abundant fish life and beautiful healthy coral as far as the eye could see. It was so good we did not want to leave!
Here is a gallery of underwater shots from these reefs. It illustrates how beautiful the reef is when it is healthy. It also reminds us all of what is at stake. Click on the first image in the gallery to display each photo in full screen.
This was also the week when Chris played with the drone at dawn. Despite the warnings of “not enough light for the vision sensors” it was a satisfying exercise. There is nothing quite like awaiting dawn from the air and capturing the captivating hues during the few magic minutes before sun up with Anui in silhouette.
Unfortunately there had to be an end to our adventure. With several days of strong SE wind in excess of 25 knots offshore, it was time to exit the Swain Reefs. We made our way to the western edge of the mosaic. Our last reef anchorage was at Pops Reef, Herald Prong No2, the longest reef in the Swain network at about 20nm long. We were there on our own, buddy boat Exhale having left a day earlier than us and stopped elsewhere.
From there we exited the reefs in nil wind to South Percy Island before heading closer to the mainland. Although the passage was a tedious all day motor, it was great for whale watching. We saw dozens of humpback whales crossing our path.
We arrived at South Percy in nil wind, anchoring back to the beach.
By the morning the southerly change had arrived. We were on our own, the place felt wild even if no longer at the reef, and we still had no internet coverage – a good way to transition before making our way to civilisation.
We stopped at Digby then Scawfell Islands along the way and are now at the Mackay marina for a few days. We are treating ourselves after a month offshore: catch up with friends, some well-earned body pampering, as well as some boat work before we push on to the next adventure.
We are working through all our photos and putting the finishing touches to our “Swain Reefs Expedition” cruise story. This will come out next Friday.
Sv-Anui 
Great to see some happy Coral
Our quest for healthy coral finally was successful!
Excellent!
Oh my gosh, guys! Your photos above and below the water are always so beautiful! I am glad that you found very healthy reefs on this journey, there is hope! If I am seeing this correctly, it looks like the edge of Frogs Reef drops off incredibly fast, it just dives into the ocean depths! Kind of scary yet very beautiful. I’m sure a bit of time ashore will be welcome. ❤️🇦🇺
Hi John, the channels between reefs varied between 30 and 80m but outside Elusive reef was the edge of the continental shelf… 1000m… does not even register on our depth gauge! Return to shore is good. We need the break!
Enjoy the break! As a kid in Michigan on the lake, I was always afraid of the dropoff and not being able to see the bottom anymore. It just creeped me out! 💀😂
Fantastic description and photos. Will have to live vicariously through you for the moment but dream of the times you are having. Keep it up.
Thanks Alex, we would have loved having Gipsy as our buddy boat. Miss you and Wendy! Hopefully some joint adventures will come in a couple of months before you sail to Indonesia.
Great photos! So jealous!
Thanks Trish!
I do love that Hammer Reef dawn photo Chris! Looking forward to next week’s post.
Thanks Amanda. I should have tried the dawn drone shots earlier… with normal cameras your best time to take photos is dawn and dust! But it is a bit daunting doing this over water from the boat!
I just loved the fan with the blood red veins
Yes they are a favourite!
Beautiful drone photos – you must sometimes feel you are the only humanoids in the world . . . endless space!!!
Hi Eha, We often are on our lonesome and feel very tiny in the vast seascape!
Lovely offshore adventure. Great to get some glorious payback after all the days of boat jobs and preparation.
Yes, quite right Graham. We were very lucky to score three weeks there ! It has been a great adventure.
Hi Chris and Wade,
Enjoyed your précis of your recent adventures, which we have just had a chance to catch up on. We are not that far from you at North Keppel Island, having sailed up from Gladstone in the last week. Getting used to the boat ( SV Antidote). Lovely sail and walk today.
Will be heading back to Rosslyn Bay on Wednesday in preparation for handing over to next owners.
Maybe catch you on our way south in October ( Hammo to Yeppoon).
Hi you two! I think we might have met the other half of Antidote! There are a couple of syndicate boats we have come across…
Would have been nice to see you but as you say, maybe on the way back.
While in the Keppels if you get a chance, there are two seldom visited islands that offer a nice snorkel: Sloping Is, near North Keppel and Barren Is, east of GKI – you need to grab the mooring at both of these… no anchoring.
We are at Mackay for a few more days waiting for our StarLink to arrive and tending to our aching backs…
Thanks for the snorkelling recommendations. We did a little yesterday at GKI -healthy coral, plenty of fish, but generally it’s been a bit cool, despite wetsuits. We might look at Sloping Is tomorrow. We’ve been enjoying the walks in the Keppel, though.
George and Dave will be heading further north in Antidote from next Sunday.
Awesome images, you sure hit the jackpot with those last reefs!
Thanks Elgar. At least we ended on a high, and with a desire to explore more another time.