Try try again

 

It was a grey cool morning, and Gerard and I set off once again to try our luck sailing over from Werribbee River to Little River. The forecast was for north and north Easterlies swinging round to South South Westerlies after lunch. 

We motored out of the river mouth, only to find that the winds were light to non existent, and already from the south west. The best angle we could lay was taking us to Portarlington about 8 miles away. We kept going but only managed to get about 2 nautical miles in an hour.  Gerard saw a seal, I tried to photograph some of the splendid plump gannets bobbing contentedly on the water.

 I suspect the fishing is good for gannets over that way. We tacked and the wind shifted a bit more, so we were heading back much the way we had come. Gerard wasn't feeling great, so we decided to cut our losses and head back in.

It isn't that far to Little River from Werribbee River mouth, about 6 miles. I am determined to get there!

Rolling down the river

 

I got round to downloading the video from the Werribee River expedition. 

I must remember to a) wipe the camera lens and b) take some footage in the second half of such outings. It is typically more exciting, ie conditions more challenging, with less time to think about recording, and I am more tired and thinking about other things, like not capsizing. But it does leave the narrative unbalanced.

To the edge of the world

 

The day before our sail up the Werribee, my friend Kate and I rode our trikes to Point Cook coastal park, via back roads and bike path.  

To the Island

 

We hoped to sail from Werribbee River to Little River, but the conditions were more boisterous than expected, with lots of whitecaps out in the bay and returning fishermen undermining the expedition members morale with reports of rough swell out there. Jamie in his Mirror headed off first, had a few close encounters with fishing boats in the channel and with the pier, so decided an up river trip in order. 

I had a bit of a rocky start, Ozzie tried to jump ship onto the pier, fell in and had to be rescued, dripping wet. Still, once we got going it was a lovely run up the river. Some beautiful stretches along there.

We had lunch on the Island, then tacked our way back. The core sound is a good boat for river tacking, no sheets to mess with. But the pointing angle not fantastic. My gps track tells me we did 90 tacks!

We got back without serious incident. Jamie lost screws from lower rudder pintle, and we were worried for Gerard but he eventually turned up, just as I was thinking of relaunching to go look for him. 

It was  a good day, but I am disappointed not to have got to Little River. And I think I have had enough Werribee river for a while.

Argonaut

 

I got out for the first sail of 2021 today. The wind was all over the place, one minute we would be hiking out and easing sail for dear life, next it would be almost dead calm. There were two Mirrors and three Sabres, a nice little flotilla. 

As I was sloshing through the revolting seaweed swamp in front of the AYC clubhouse to launch, I  spotted an Argonaut shell, embedded in the muck. It is the third I have found in my lifetime, and the second I have found in the Bay. It is amazing that such a fragile object can have traveled so far intact, probably from somewhere in Bass Strait, through the Heads, dodging stink boats and jet skis, all the way to wash up there where I would happen upon it.

It reminded me of the childrens radio program we used to listen to, back in the fifties, the Argonauts Club. It was all announcers with plummy bbc accents and hearty songs that were largely meaningless to my young brain - "Argonauts Row Row Row!", but I can remember wanting that badge desparately. Somehow it never happened. I hope finding the shell is a good omen for adventuring to yet uncharted shores.