Progress Report 11/21/07 Wednesday - updated by Freya 24.11.07

Weather update from Karel Vissel:
http://www.kayakweather.blogspot.com/
Wednesday morning: nw 3to4bft noon nw 3bft aft w 4 to5bft seas 1.10to 0.70mtr frm s to sw

Thursday morning: nw 4bft noon sw 1 to2bft aft ne 1 to 2bft seas 0.90to 1.50 mtr frm sw

Satellite Text Messages Received from Freya:
46.39 168.54 Lake Brunton 4hrs headwind fight then watched plenty of huge fat sealions at Waipapa Point. Hope for windbreak tomorrow for Bluff.

My tent - my castle and sand and sand-fly free zone...almost :)
Important piece of gear: earplugs to keep the roaring surf off my dreams...

4 weeks, 20 paddling days, 8 weather days, 1035 km, 51.75 km daily average, ca.1250 km left, 17 tent nights, 3 Pavlovas! :))

Update by Freya 24.11.07:

The day's forecast were some headwinds, but low seas, and I hoped to make still good enough progress for Bluff. In case I won't nmake it the low swell didn't scare me too much to land at the open Brunton Beach then somewhere, right before the crossing of Toetoes's Bay. next day's forecast showed a wind gap to finish off to Bluu then.

And it came as I didn't hope: the headwinds were fun to paddle against for a while, but after two hours of battling I took already a short break at a lovely sheltered beach right before Black Point. I should have gone at least to that one yesterday! But who knew at that time...

Another two hours of headwind play, and i was looking for a reasonable spot to stop at Brunton Beach.

Where the site of lake Brunton was, the dunes were low enough for a probably good campsite, and the surf wasn't too much at that corner, too. Still enough for a wet brace into the last dumper...

It was 11 am only, and I couldn't tell I was in the mood for stopping already, despite of the slow hard working progress into the headwinds...but for what's it worth, tomorrow seemed to be a wind break, long enought to make it to Bluff.

After tomorrow, the weather was supposed to change for the worse anyway for longer, so I *had* to make the rest tomorrow, if I wouldn't want to be stuck in the bushes for longer time rather than being safe and dry in civilization...and to update blog, food and kit for the next remote leg into Fjordland.

I relaxed laying against my boat for a while, still not willing to put up camp and to take off the drysuit, and fell into a quick nap...I awoke from being sandblasted by the increasing wind...a look on the water showed it was time to make camp.

Wandering along the lakesite showed a good shelter way down there, but I was too lazy to carry all the gear down...I put up tent right behind the first dune shelter on the lakesite, still a bit in the wind, good against sandflies...

A first afternoon walk took me east again, and climbing up a high, steep sanddune I was surprised to see it was occupied already - a fat sea lion already preferred the shelter way up there, too! He didn't notice me, and I took lots of pictures. Little did I know that there were many more to picture down the beach...

After a quick lunch I walked up the beach the other way, towards Waiapap Point. And one fat blubber pile of sea lion after the other was resting in the afternoon sun on the beach, lazy enough to stay where they were, even when they started to open their eyes and noticed me. I think I took good pitures!

At Waipapa Point, the big long reef was easy visible at low tide, and the compulsary bunch of tourist vans, too...just stay wide tomorrow, I thought, and you won't end up like the ship wreck 100 years ago...