Back to Rosita's embrace

Caramor - sailing around the world
Franco Ferrero / Kath Mcnulty
Wed 17 Feb 2016 00:45

54:00.7S 37:26.6W

Our final day sail in South Georgia was splendid. By mid-morning the sun was shining and the gale moderating. From Blue Whale Harbour we enjoyed a most pleasant sail to Rosita Harbour. Our first tack took us offshore of the south-east end of the Bay of Isles. Unlike last time we were here, the visibility was excellent and the sea flat. We tacked towards Sea Leopard Fjord and followed the coast past the Lucas Glacier and the Grace Glacier at Salisbury Plain where there is a large colony of king penguins along the beach. A cruise ship was anchored off Prion Island, a perfect day to visit the nesting albatrosses.

We tacked again to miss Tern Island and to head more directly towards Rosita. Clouds were building over Cape Buller. Our course took us towards Koppervik which looked inviting and peaceful, nothing like the devil's cauldron it had been on the day we arrived.

Another tack and the wind died so we motored the last few hundred metres to the shelter of Rosita Harbour where we dropped anchor in a large clear area in the middle of the kelp.

Rosita, who was she? Wife, fiancée, sweetheart or daughter? We don't know but he must have loved her to name this sheltered place after her.

Franco had just finished clearing up on deck when it started to rain. Overnight we listened as an easterly near gale rampaged outside, it is the direction least protected but Caramor didn't budge an inch. The Easterly went off in a huff and a north westerly full gale arrived and buffeted Caramor around all day and night. We watched the snow through the window and Caramor's track on the GPS. Still she didn't stray.

The forecast is looking good for Wednesday. The plan is to head north to start with to get out of the iceberg zone and then make west or the best course to windward, towards Stanley.