Day 7 - Deal Island to Flinders Island (the big one!!!)

After another lay day forced due to bad weather we were excited to get back on the water and paddle 65kms to Flinders Island. This was the longest crossing to date and would mark the halfway point of our journey. The forecast was for increasing NW tailwinds up to 20knts, deteriorating in the afternoon  to 30knot westerlies. Not wanting to get blown into the Pacific ocean we decided to hit the water early again and paddle out of Deal Island in the dark. It was another surreal morning, and we were treated to a spectacular Bass straight sunrise and our first glimpse of Flinders island.  Winds were a little lighter than predicted in the early hours but quickly increased, whipping up some nice wind swell for us to ride.

After eight and a half hours of paddling, 16 muesli bars, 9 cliff bars, 2.2 kgs of carob/lolly/nut mix, 6 litres of electrolyte, 2 litres of protein drink, 8 litres of water, 42 vita-wheets with happy cow cheese and vegemite/peanut butter, and more than a little confusion about which bay we were headed to, we paddled into Killacrankie, to be met by our wonderful support crew/publicity manager/social media director/logistic analyst Danni Morley. This was definitely the hardest day out on the water, and with the wind whipping up to 15-20 knots it was a relief to be off the water and to have completed the trickiest section of the journey. It was also nice to be a little closer to civilisation (albeit a little scarce here on Flinders). We set up camp at the local campground, has our first shower in a week and headed up the road to tuck into a hearty feed cooked up by local cafe owner Charlie- washed down with a couple of bottles of Tassies finest.