Friday, March 11, 2011

Goodbye Hogan

Well after 2 (and a bit) fantastic days on Hogan Is we plan to leave this beautiful island and paddle over to the Kent Group tomorrow. Today was sunny but a little windy in contrast to yesterday which was almost dead calm but misty/drizzly. The island has plenty of wildlife, hawks, cape barren geese (saw a group of 32 today)other sea birds including sea eagles, lots and lots of really, really noisy penguins and rats galore :) along with a few cows. It is lush and green and everybody has thoroughly enjoyed their stay here. It was interesting to look across to Deal this afternoon as the tide hit full ebb and battled against the NE wind creating large breaking waves. We will sneak past the sleeping giant tomorrow and give those waves a miss.
Once again we planned our passage using Tidetech to determine how far we aim off (20 degrees) and Karel Vissel's excellent forecasts which have been very accurate.

Hogan Island hut
Hogan Island campsite
Cattle yard
Plenty of these noisy little fellows!
Logbook entries






Another local, the Australian Swamp Rat. At least he is a native :-)
Tent under a dark sky

Kent Group in the distance
Cape Barren Geese

4 comments:

  1. G'day Geoff, just be aware about Winter Cove on Deal, in westerly or winter weather it is a peaceful refuge, but in moderate to strong easterly weather the surf can kick up and trap you till it abates. Erith has good easily accessible camping sites, a hut with water and no caretakers to bother you, though it also has some rats. Deal has the dreaded overly friendly, muesli munching wallaby's, and caretaker restrictions - depends on who the caretakers are as to how welcoming it proves. Cheers Tony

    ReplyDelete
  2. Good to hear you're enjoying yourselves and glad it's going well...thinking of you all Good luck tomorrow!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thanks Tony. Rob Mercer also told me that there is a rock placed right in the middle of the best spot for a surf landing. Something else to watch out for.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Not sure why the Winter Cove message was posted with regards to Easterly's.? Winter Cove faces east so one would not seek refuge there in those conditions. West Cove on Erith is by far the best all round anchorage. Yes there are rats and penguins during the night at the hut, but nothing out of the ordinary, in fact the penguins make the racket, haven't had issues with the rats. The Caretakers will vary every 3 months however this has never been an issue for me.
    Enjoy, Dean

    ReplyDelete