Departed Eden
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14.30 Position: 36 55.7 S 149 58.8 E Regrettably, I cannot say that our stay in Twofold Bay was very restful. Come Monday morning we experienced strong north east winds (the reason why we had pulled in there) and for some unknown reason Sylph’s anchor did not want to hold the bottom. There were several other boats that had anchored nearby and none of them seemed to have had a problem so why Sylph’s anchor would not hold is a mystery. I had to reset the anchor about six times (I lost count) before I was reasonably satisfied that Sylph was secure. Fortunately, an old cruising friend, Wayne from SV Ambler, had anchored nearby and when he saw the trouble I was having he came over to lend me a hand, which made a big difference as I was then able to haul in the anchor by hand while he motored Sylph up to it. Once Sylph was secured, which was not until about 14.00, I went ashore to purchase some supplies and in the evening enjoyed Wayne and his partner, Kathy’s hospitality aboard Ambler. While aboard Ambler I would frequently look out one of the scuttles to keep an eye on Sylph. I was dismayed to see that she was still dragging but fortunately only very slowly. I was grateful that by the time I rowed back on board the wind had eased to a light air and she was dragging no further. This morning we got under way at 11.00 so as to take maximum advantage of the southerly change that was due to come through in the early afternoon. Once clear of Snug Cove we found ourselves pitching into a short swell with no wind. There was little I could do but to keep motoring as Sylph’s bow plunged over each steep crest. The southerly change arrived pretty much on time but I am disappointed that it has a lot less wind in it than I was hoping for. The forecast was for about 20 knots but at the moment we would be lucky to have 12 knots and as the wind is forecast to go lighter this evening, I expect progress is going to be a lot slower than I had planned on. Also, the light wind is doing little to counteract the north easterly swell, so what would normally be a very comfortable point of sail, running wing on wing downwind, it is in fact rather uncomfortable, with Sylph continuing to pitch into each passing swell. The big question is will I make it to Greenwell Point in time to get a slice of Kate’s gluten free Christmas cake. Oh well, at least for now … All is well. |