I have learnt a few things over the last couple of days. Firstly, when bending down under the canopy cover, make sure you are looking so your head does not have close encounters with the winch. Inevitably it is going to hurt....a lot! Secondly, that the spinnaker is designed to push us along when we are going downwind and the wind is coming from directly behind us. This was the case yesterday. Now to those of you who don't know - the spinnaker is an absolutely massive sail and requires a little skill and perhaps more luck to get it up and down without a spinnaker sock, which we do not currently have. As it is so big and it is attached to the two sides of the boat and then at the top of the mast, the movement of pulling it up and down needs to happen quickly so it does not end up in the water. So after we left Garry's Anchorage yesterday morning, we were headed downwind and after some umming and aahing as to whether or not to put it up without a sock, Jon decided that we should put it and "see how it goes"!!! Well, I am pleased to say it went very well and it was amazing to see it up as the sheer size and colour is quite impressive. Even lying on my back on the deck, I could not get the entirety of the sail within the camera lens. As soon it was up, you could feel the woosh as we were pushed along. It was really great! The only thing is, you need to make sure that the spinnaker is always full of air otherwise it flaps about....a lot and is unbelievably noisy when it does! That didn't happen too much! The best part (and had I known perhaps I would have recorded it on video!) was watching Jon pull it in. As it all happens very quickly, you have to move quickly and as soon as the wind was out of the sail, Jon's arms were moving like an Olympic freestyler in the pool, pulling the sail in as quickly as he could without it landing in the water. It all came in with ease but it was followed by the comment of needing a spinnaker sock which makes it easier to put up and pull down!

Anyway....it was a great day and we ended up at Kingfisher Bay Resort - which is a pretty amazing looking resort. I had the brilliant idea of going ashore in the afternoon at dead low tide. Not my best idea I admit after having to walk in that black oozy disgusting mud that ended up to my knees and dragging the dinghy all the way up to the beach which was about 100 metres in total. Not a great distance, I understand, but when you are sloshing about in mud and trying to drag a dinghy, it is not fun on anyone's scale. So needless to say...there was no way we were going to drag it all the way back out so we had an awesome shower at the facilities available, wandered around the resort and checked everything out, watched the sunset, had dinner and waited till high tide at about 7pm before we headed back home! It was not a bad way to spend an afternoon!

So this morning, we are headed north again on this beautiful sunny morning towards Pelican Bay in search of whales. We are told there have been numerous sightings so the plan is to hang around for the next couple of days or so in the hope of seeing some whales passing by!

Have a great Sunday and I hope your week is just as wonderful!

Love

Claris

"Sailors, with their built in sense of order, service and discipline, should really be running the world."   Nicholas Monsarrat