BV sailed beautifully - we had pretty gentle conditions until midday when the wind swung round SE and up to 25kts so we tried out our staysail for the first time. We had set up this baby sail in preparation for the stonger winds - something we'll do regulalry from here on in. The sail is in practically new condition and made our arrival in American River soooo much more comfortable. It makes me feel much more confident to sail in stronger winds - less heeling, but more control and similar speeds. We love our stays'l so much we are already talking about putting her on a roller furler all of her own so we dont need to go on deck to hoist.
Oh, and Kitty did amazingly well in the pleasant conditions! No seasickness, in fact she spent the whole day with us in the cockpit alternating between catnaps and gazing out the window at the waves wooshing past. Very promising - we'll make a boat-cat of her yet.... now if I could only become a boat-human....
Anyway, we've spent the last day and a half at AR enjoying the anchorage which is calm and protected, even in the high winds and strong river current.
Today we explored Pelican Lagoon, scared the pelicans, and bought fresh oysters, freshwater crayfish and mussels from the store in town. A beach walk followed by a BBQ sums up our very difficult and challenging mid-week afternoon! ;o)
Tomorrow the weather is looking lovely so we will make the short 14 nautical mile hop around to Kingscote where I hope to do our laundry, buy some fresh veggies and celebrate our 1 week anniversary of being on the water! After that we'll wait for good weather and then head West to visit some of the gorgeous and isolated bays that pepper the north coast of KI. Not sure what the internet and phone reception will be like down there, so dont worry if we dont check in next week - I will get in touch as soon as we're able!
A few photos from AR:
As you can see, Kitty had a very stressful passage from Wirrina to KI...
M is not impressed that she has secondered his Captain's chair...
Tough conditons... I actually fell asleep on deck. No, not in the cockpit - on deck!
Kitty scoffs at Neptune's wrath....
First night in American River. Not a great picture (sorry Mikey) but worthy of a mention because he caught 20 - yes 20! - tommie ruffs and 7 garfish in the space of just an hour or two.
Pelican lagoon. No idea why they call it that......
Visitors....
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