Position: 32 08.05 S 133 39.57 E
At anchor Murat Bay
Wind: N, F3-4
Sea: slight Swell: nil
Weather: sunny, hot
Day's run: 48 nm

We ended up enjoying an excellent sail yesterday. The wind picked up from the SW a little earlier than forecast and by 1300 we were bowling along at a steady five to six knots.

My initial plan was to take the main shipping channel into Ceduna but as we were making such good time I decided to take the passage through Waterwitch Channel instead. This route, while navigationally more constrained, would provide better shelter from the seas and swell, take ten miles off the distance allowing us to arrive around sunset, as well as looking a bit more interesting.

At 1700 we rounded Goalen Rocks to starboard and a short while later were behind the shelter of the shoals surrounding Little Eyre Island. We reached to the NE into Smoky Bay rounding the port hand beacon marking the shoals to the north of Waterwitch channel, turning to the north and then NW. From there we ran square, wing on wing, for another eight miles where we had to do a dog leg through the narrow channel between Cape Vivonne and St Peter Island. Once through this little passage we could once more bear away to the NW. Two large merchant ships berthed alongside the Thevenard Wharf clearly marked the next headland we needed to round, which we duly did at 2000, coming to anchor in the SE corner of Murat Bay at 2032.

Murat Bay is reportedly not a great anchorage for N'ly winds which were forecast for today; however, the overnight forecast was for SE winds and consequently I thought the SE corner of the bay would provide the best shelter, especially as it is marked on the chart as the recommended anchorage area and is also mentioned by Scarce as providing good holding. Additionally, the forecast N'lies were only for 15 knots and the wind was forecast to return to the SE later in the afternoon, and I figured if necessary we could always move to the northern part of the bay.

As it turned out the move was necessary. Shortly after sunrise the wind freshened from the NNE, blowing significantly stronger than forecast, at 20 to 25 knots. By 0830 it was clear we were dragging anchor. Initially I let out more chain but regrettably this did not help.

Now, the main reason I have made for Ceduna so soon after leaving the civilisation of Smokey Bay is that I had two phone appointments to keep today and I wanted to make sure I was within reliable phone coverage. The first phone appointment was for 1000 and I found it ironic that I had gone to the trouble of getting here only to find that I was going to be fully occupied with moving Sylph at the same time as the call. Not to worry, the safety of ship and crew come first so I made preparations to weigh anchor. First, start the engine - but the engine control panel was dead. This was not good - dragging onto a lee shore and no motor. But, as "The Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy" tells us, the first rule in these situations is "DON'T PANIC!"

With the strong wind and the consequent load on the anchor chain, there was no way I was going to be able to get the cable in before we were aground. I needed to start the engine and I had no time to go messing about trying to trouble shoot the fault with the control panel. Okay, lift the engine box and start the engine by shorting out the starter motor. When I lifted the box I remembered the separate start switch I had installed inside the engine bay to turn the engine over for fault finding. It took only a moment to connect this switch and press the button. The engine fired immediately. Hooray!

From there it was merely a matter of motoring into the wind, then making my way quickly (and calmly) to the bow to crank in as much chain as I could before the wind and waves took charge of Sylph's bow again, then back to cockpit to engage the motor, repeating the process until all the cable was in. It took close to an hour but eventually the anchor was stowed and we then motored to the NE end of Murat Bay where, at 1041, I let go the anchor in three meters of water. I am pleased to say that the anchor immediately dug in and we have not moved since.

And as luck would have it I did not miss my phone appointment because it was three and half hours late! The second phone call on the other hand came through at the appointed time of precisely 1400. So my mission for Ceduna has been accomplished. However, it would of course be churlish not to go ashore to have a quick look around before heading out to explore Nuyts Archipelago and beyond.

My goal for this short voyage is to get to the head of the Great Australian Bight if safe to do so, but if this proves unachievable within my time constraints then we will aim to make it as far west as the weather conditions allow.

The wind is now light but it is very hot, currently 44 degrees outside. The wind is forecast to go back into the E and SE this evening and into the NE tomorrow morning. With the above in mind my plan is to move Sylph closer to the jetty later this afternoon then go ashore for a leg stretch in the evening when the air temperature will hopefully be a bit cooler. Tomorrow morning I will aim to get underway early, while it is still relatively cool and before the NE wind freshens too much, and start heading further west.

All is well.