We returned to Shelly Beach on Sunday and picked up the public mooring for one night of peace of mind.
Friends on Westerly joined us for sundowners and then we had a quiet night. Early Monday morning we shifted to the southwestern end of Prosser Bay, just before the arrival of nine boats in the CYCT fleet. We all settled down and made quick trips ashore before awaiting the storm. I baked bread and rolls. The wind was light, but gradually backed around so that we did a 360 degree turn around our anchor. At 4pm the thunderclouds rolled in and lightning and rain heralded the arrival of the front.
I slept badly that night and kept getting up to check the anchor, although the wind was rarely more than 25kts. It seemed ok, but the track showing our movement looked like we might be slowly moving backward (green track in picture below). At 10am we had a couple of 35kt gusts and it was clear that the anchor wasn’t really holding (blue track in picture below)– even with 55m of chain! It’s possible that the anchor was fouled by the chain when we swung 360 degrees. We decided to re-anchor using 2 anchors in tandem. That was a bit exciting in 15-20kts with a number of boats around to watch us. It took 2 goes, but once done the anchor held very well.
The next day was my birthday. The wind eased a bit and so we took the dinghy into Orford to buy a lovely bit of chocolate mud cake. And just because we hadn’t had enough fun anchoring we decided to lift the double anchor and reset with just our primary anchor. I’m pleased to say it wasn’t a trial and this time it has held very well (black track in picture above). Dinner was a couple of beautiful eye fillet steaks, potatoes and salad accompanied by an awesome 2008 Lindemans Pyrus Cabernet blend. Having received birthday messages from Hobart, the US and Ukraine I was feeling very happy when I went to bed!
Yesterday tragedy struck! It blew 25-35kts all day and so we didn’t leave the boat. We still had more than half the bottle of the Pyrus left and I was looking forward to enjoying it with a bowl of pasta. I left it on the table while I finished up the pasta, but then we got it by a big gust that rocked the boat and, well, you can see what happened…
Waaaaaaahhh!!
Today, when we’d got over our disappointment and loss, we set about cleaning up the mess. We’d already taken up the carpet and rinsed it in the cockpit and picked up all the bits of glass we could see. Today’s effort required lifting the floorboards and removing all the tools from under the settee so that we could get at all the spilled wine.
The wind continues to blow today, so we’ll stay put yet again. Tomorrow we hope to be able to get through the canal at the end of the day and continue our homeward journey.
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