Last week we left you at Storm Reef, the start of the Swain network. In all we had five days of calm easterly weather which we used to explore several more reefs. Let’s go for a foray into the central-west part of the Swain Reefs.

Here is our track:

We were on a mission to explore rather than linger at nice spots so kept moving each day.

Perfect Lagoon

From Storm Reef, we had Perfect Lagoon on our target list, a 35nm motor around the choppy and fast running waters at the bottom of the T Bar then east. True to its name, this is a very nice anchorage, perfect in all aspects: easy access, safe anchoring in 12m over clear sand, good protection from all wind conditions and plenty of space since the lagoon itself is 3.5km long and 0.8km wide on average. The ring of the reef is broad, cutting out the chop too.

Chris snorkeled the bommies you see next to the boat. The reef was in quite good shape with big colourful plate coral, as well as smaller branching species along the walls. A few nice finds included a dull looking oyster with a vibrant orange frilly mantle, an epaulette shark, a toby posing for the camera.

We had the most brilliant sunset.

Mystery Reef

Next hop was to Mystery Reef, a 15nm motor straight into headwind, so not the most pleasant passage, but once there it was a lovely anchorage. This reef is supposed to have a cay, but it’s a mystery where that’s gone! This is another beautiful spot with several shallower anchoring options for different wind conditions as you can see from the aerials.

During her snorkel right around a large bommie, Chris discovered she is a little more unnerved by sea snakes than reef sharks, especially when they come close to check you out. They are inquisitive critters but not aggressive unless provoked or cornered, and their fangs will not penetrate through a wetsuit… two good things to remember when they wind themselves around your legs! The key is to stay calm and move away without thrashing about!

The dive was worthwhile with a healthy mix of hard and soft coral and a multitude of fish that would have occupied our hunter gatherer: Redthroat Emperors, Coral Trout, Spotted Sweetlips, Stripey Snappers.

Mystery Reef was as far north and east as we were prepared to go given the time available in fair weather. From there we started going south and were able to sail!

Return Reef

A short 12nm hop south, we chose Return Reef as our next anchorage. This kidney shaped reef was not as spacious as the previous ones but offered protection from several wind directions. Access to all inlets required gliding over a shallow reef pavement and the seafloor in the anchorage was a little more ‘speckled’… more rocks to catch your chain in but in 3m depth at low tide it is easy to clear by free diving if needed.

As usual here are the aerial views, first the panoramic of the whole reef, then a closer view of the anchorage:

This reef was damaged, with low coral cover (about 20%) but Chris still had some fun snorkeling the western side of the entrance passage where the fish life was plentiful with schools of Sweetlips and Stripey Snappers patrolling the area and beautiful angelfish playing hide and seek. Some of the shallows had patches of interesting and healthier corals particularly those porite mounds harbouring anemonefish and damsels. Here are a few nice finds:

Big Sandy Reef

Our last Swain stop was Big Sandy Reef, 17nm further southeast. Again we sailed there! Big Sandy Reef is a large triangular reef with several inlets into its protected sandy centre. It looks magnificent as you get in with its aqua patches accessible by deeper channels. You could find a hidey spot here from just about any wind direction. Here is what this spectacular place looks like from the air:

Chris managed a snorkel around the nearby pinnacle to the left of the boat in the above aerial. The coral was more damaged than at the previous reefs, but you could still find pockets of life and colour here and there, and even discover an uncommon but conspicuous stony coral, the Pavona duerdeni.

It is fair to say that the further south we went, the more damaged the coral was. But what was most off putting at Big Sandy Reef though was the amount of filamentous algae drifting by. The slimy strands wrapped themselves around your mask, your camera, your chest… horrible. A few girly screams were uttered! So in the end, the dive lasted less than an hour. You can actually see on the first aerial where all that algae is congregating! It then drifts down to the nearby bommies with the tide, but turtles enjoy feeding on that. I would have included a picture but it was blurry.

After a full day of activity fitted into half a day, we left Big Sandy at about 1.30pm headed for the Lady Musgrave Lagoon on an overnight sail of 130nm. We needed to shelter there from a blow and hide for a few days. It was the roughest passage we have ever had in all our years of cruising. With a beam sea and the easterly wind stronger than forecast – mostly 18 to 20 knots instead of 10 to 15 – we had apparent winds of 25 to 27 knots over the deck! We bashed into the elements under double reefed main and jib for 18 hours. It was the pits, but had we left a day later it would have been even worse! Poor Anui took some beating and so did the crew. However that is what the pioneering spirit is all about: you are willing to endure a bit of hard stuff in order to explore new places.

Although our Swain Reefs Foray was brief, we are pleased we made the effort. We got to experience more of this remote region of the Great Barrier Reef and fed our addiction for wild places.

We hope you enjoyed this escapade to these remote reefs. Do let us know!