Windy Elliston

Where Next?
Bob Williams
Mon 13 Feb 2023 08:03

Position: At anchor Waterloo Bay
Wind: S F 5-6
Sea: slight Swell: NW 0.5 m
Weather: sunny, mild

Thus far I have had an enjoyable stay in Elliston but it has not been without some dramas, fortunately none of which relate to Sylph (at least so far, touch wood).

On Saturday evening I enjoyed dinner at John and Siv's along with Kelly from Dollface and Dave of Lady Jean fame. John and Siv are both artists and I found Siv's landscape paintings of a unique style and quite impressive.

Yesterday was relatively quiet. In the afternoon I visited Dave's boat, Lady Jean, an Alan Payne Koonya which Dave and John have sailed to Vanuatu and back. Unfortunately, several years ago she dragged her mooring and ended up spending a night bashing against a cliff. The story of the town community coming together to save the boat and then Dave's incredible determination in repairing her is inspiring. The story is also a testament to the toughness of well-built steel boat. Dave is hoping to have Lady Jean back in the water within the next few months.

It has to be said that Waterloo Bay is probably not the best place to moor a boat, especially over the winter months. In addition to the drama that Dave experienced with Lady Jean, as mentioned, John's little Bluebird yacht dragged her anchor some time ago and ended up on the beach. She survived this ordeal but dragged her anchor again last night and has again ended up back on the beach. Fortunately it would seem Dave and John now have some experience in refloating boats that drag ashore here, and looking over the far side of the bay through my binoculars it appears they have got the little Bluebird floating again.

Meanwhile, Kelly continues to have some anchoring problems with Dollface. Last night her anchor rode chafed through again. He has now lost his second anchor and this morning was riding to his third and last anchor, which is definitely on the small size and has no chain attached. This afternoon, Dave, John, and myself helped Kelly set a large CQR anchor borrowed from Dave, though it has no chain attached to it either, only a long nylon rode. Once Dollface was secured to the big CQR, Kelly and I then reset his third anchor just as insurance in case the nylon rode chafes through again, which, given Kelly's experience so far, seems quite likely. Kelly has also put a marker buoy on the CQR so if the rode does sever we should at least be able to recover the anchor with minimal problems finding it. Tomorrow Kelly plans to employ a local diver to look for his two lost anchors. Hopefully they will be found reasonably quickly.

Thus far Sylph rides to her large Rocna anchor with all chain rode relatively comfortable and has not budged. Hopefully that will continue to be the case as long as we remain here. As for plans, I am thinking of continuing north tomorrow but I have yet to look at that in detail and I am also inclined to remain here until Kelly has his anchor gear sorted, just to provide moral support if nothing else. So we shall see what the morrow brings.

All is well.

Lady Jean salvaged:

 
And repaired:
 
 
One of Siv's landscapes: