Friday 25th September 2015
The wind settled down last night and there
was little boat motion, a much better night for getting some sleep without the
worry of depth at low tide since we moved.
The forecast for tomorrow looks good, 10 to
15 knots unfortunately from the SE, so it was touch and go whether we would
motor or sail. We left at 7 am to try and capitalize on the South running ebb
tide, even though we would have to suffer a bit of adverse current until the
tide changed at just after 8 am.
The early motor out was against an knot of
current, but when we had cleared all of the shoals and could pick a straight
course in the direction of Island Head Creek, it was clear we could sail,
albeit with a bit of tacking.
We sailed pretty much all of the way, in
very lumpy conditions once the tide changed to give us some extra boost with
the unfortunate consequence that the wind picked up over 15 knots and we were
in a wind against tide situation. Steep short waves appear and bashing into
them isn’t a lot of fun, but running across them is a lot easier. We had a
combination of both, and were glad to arrive at Island Head Creek, despite
making good speed all day sailing, it was mostly at 30 degrees apparent wind. Unfortunately on arrival it was low tide, a
very low tide.
Approaching the entrance to Island Head creek
Having not been in here before, we were
wary of the shallow entrance, but have the benefit of a rising tide should we
get grounded. Smithy had zero depth under him at the lowest point, and we
gingerly worked our way in until we were in more than adequate depths. We had
received some advice from a passing yachtie who overheard us conversing on
the VHF and said there was adequate depth if you stuck to the centre of the
channel. We talked to him after we were in, and found out he had a catamaran.
The old adage of keel boats never following catamarans still holds.
Following Wilparina in through the very shallow entrance
Once the depth drama was over we noticed
something missing from our mast, it was our radar. We lost it overboard somewhere on the trip and
are astounded we didn’t see or hear it fall, even though there were plenty of
distracting noises.
All that is left is part of the radar mount and the cable
We motored down the creek to look for some
shelter from the breeze, which was now close to 20 knots. There is not a lot of
relief from the wind, but at least the water is flat and there is no swell or
surge.
When putting the sail away, I noticed it
had oil sprayed all over the top section, adjacent to the radar mount, which
was self leveling with hydraulic damping. It now appears that the hydraulics may
have blown up and the radar would have been swinging uncontrollably, and
somehow let go.
Hydraulic oil on the sail
I will get a rigger to have a look at it
and take it up with the insurance
company at the next port.
We went over to Wilparina for sundowners
and discuss tactics for the next few days. The forecast for today, that seemed
so suitable, turned out to be anything but. Tomorrow we will poke our nose out
and possibly just do a short transit to Port Clinton (only 13 nm) and see what
the conditions are like, if the forecast is suitable. The big seas may not have
abated.
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