The weather here has been unsettled, with lots of rain being funneled down the east coast from cyclones in Queensland. Today there were large dark storm clouds moving around the landscape, some coming in from the East, some from the North. If you found yourself under one, you would get a good blast of wind, followed by a good down pour of rain.
We didn't go very far before the wind kicked up, and we headed in to anchor in the shallows off Altona Yacht club, working on the basis that if we capsized in 6 inches of water, it would not be life threatening. I got a chance to try out the spray dodger on the boat, which works remarkably well. With the mizzen up, the boat always points to wind, so the wind driven rain sailed over the top of the dodger and we enjoyed lunch in its shelter while the rain pelted down. Ozzie curls up right underneath the combing, keeping well out of the elements. Here is a photo of another Altona YC trailer sailer heading in, which gives an idea of the conditions.
After the storm passed through, we ghosted out past the end of Wise's Reef, in almost complete calm. With surprising speed, a second storm hit us from the North. I followed the recommended Cat Ketch practice of sheeting in the Mizzen and freeing up the main. It certainly stabilizes everything. I glanced at the GPS and saw that the boat was sailing backwards at over 2 knots. It was quite steerable, and I pointed us back towards the red marker till the wind eased a bit, when I could start sailing again properly. I would not want to be too close to a lee shore and have to rely on the heaving to though.
I learned a few things today too - I need to anchor somewhere open to furl and unfurl the sails - I managed to have two minor close encounters with the furniture in the boat harbor thanks to the pressure on the sails and my poor boat handling under motor.
We didn't go that far, but it was a memorable day sail.
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