Port Fairy
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Position: 38 23.18 S 142 14.47 E The front, such as it was, came through at 1700. The wind shifted from north west to south west and freshened requiring a couple of reefs in the mainsail and a reduced jib but, if anything, I was being over-cautious and could have left a bit more sail up. The wind shift was not the usual dramatic burst of a typical Bass Strait front, consequently I thought it might have just been a precursor to a more severe increase. However, as it turned out the wind eased off to a gentle breeze and a mere thirty minutes later I relaxed and shook out one reef and unrolled the full jib. By 2200 we were drifting in a calm then, at midnight, the wind returned again and we were soon sailing under full sail, close hauled on the port tack just making our lay line for Port Fairy. At 0520, as the grey light of dawn was bringing the shadow of land into relief, we came under the lee of Griffith Island. It was good timing. I started Sylph’s engine, handed sail and motored into the narrow entrance of the Moyne River. I had obtained directions from Terry, the harbour master, the previous day and I now followed his directions to tie up alongside the visiting yachts’ dock. At 0550 we were alongside, I shut down the engine, had a quick tidy up and once more retired below to catch up on some sleep. All is well. |