I didn’t want to let that deter me though and in our formation I stayed on the bottom, Ian the middle and Luke the top, confidently sailing inches away from the shallowest sections of reef each flyby we made – surely that would make the best photos?
I have amazing respect for helicopter pilots. It was a fascinating experience to be hurtling at 70 km/h downwind, your fin the only thing gripping you to the water, memorizing the route around the reefs so you can turn your head behind you and smile up at the camera, a helicopter buzzing less than 30m from your leech, only meters from the water and travelling ‘sideways’, to give JC the best shot out of the side-doors.
As the chopper perilously closed in on us, you could increasingly feel the water dispersing out from your equipment, the leech starting to flutter with the downdraft coming against the wind direction and the extreme noise of the rotors. At times the rig felt like it would tear out of your hands and sheer to pieces, the rotor noise made it impossible to yell to Luke and Foxy that we were too close or not giving me enough room to avoid the reef!