At Anchor, Westernport (but somewhere slightly different)

Where Next?
Bob Williams
Mon 23 Jul 2012 05:57

Position: 38 28.03 S 145 09.70 E
At anchor off McHallies Point, Phillip Island, Westernport
Wind: calm
Weather: mostly sunny, mild
Day's run: 2 Nm

This morning, after a peaceful night at anchor and a good sleep, I awoke to a light breeze from the north and fog. Given that the tide was flooding and therefore the stream against us I saw no point in hurrying to get underway so, after a leisurely breakfast, we weighed anchor and got underway at a quarter after 10, sounding Sylph's lung operated fog horn at regular intervals, just in case. Despite the flood stream we still made reasonable ground towards the ocean but as we approached McHallies point which is a bit of a bottleneck into Westernport, the stream strengthened and we ceased to make any progress. By this stage the fog had lifted and we were running before a light north-east breeze, albeit going nowhere except stemming the tide. Around 2 pm the breeze started to fade but the current did not, hence we started going back the way we had come, only stern first. Given the calm conditions and a forecast for some wind later this evening, rather then losing the two miles we had taken half the day to win, I started the engine, motored past McHallies Point, closed the shore line and dropped anchor in five meters of water. We will wait here for an hour or so for when the tide turns and hopefully a little breeze will come.

All is well.