Arniston to Cape Infanta

After three days waiting for strong easterlies to stop, it was finally go time, and I had to slip past the Overberg Weapons Test Centre’s restricted waters before anything untoward happened. The head of security had told me in no uncertain terms my life could be in danger if I proceeded, but agreed to let it go if I called once I was clear, so I arranged for Mark to follow my tracker and tell Warren when to make the call.

I made good time and was well past their special waters before anything happened. Feeling relaxed, I cut straight toward the Cape Infanta headland instead of hugging the coast, ending up about 4km offshore and saving a bit of distance. Today was the first time I got too hot on the water, my wetsuit top doing its job too well, splashing water over my head and inside the top to cool down.

Just before Cape Infanta, Beetle Bailey and Warren arrived in a ski boat with ice-cold cola, just what the doctor ordered by that point. A Nature Conservation boat pulled them over to check they weren’t fishing in the reserve while they filmed me. After rounding the cape there was still 8km to the village, the longest kilometres of the day, but I got there in the end. That evening we stayed on the banks of the Breede River, hosted by Tim and Hillary.