Arrived Adelaide

Where Next?
Bob Williams
Wed 18 Dec 2024 01:03

Position: 34 46.49 S 138 29.40 E
Alongside RSAYS, Outer Harbor, Adelaide
Wind: SE, F2 - slight breeze
Sea: calm Swell: nil
Weather: sunny, warm
Day's run: 66 nm

We enjoyed a good run up the Gulf of St Vincent, initially with full sail set, wing-on-wing before a gentle S'ly breeze. Later in the afternoon the wind freshened and we continued to run with a reef in the main. We gybed at 1600 as the wind backed into the SE. and later in the evening, as we got closer to our destination of Outer Harbor, we altered course to the NE, dropped the pole and broad reached the remaining five miles, furling the jib and starting the motor just before gaining the shelter of the breakwaters.

While the entrance to Outer Harbor is very well marked, I confess, despite having entered the harbour on numerous occasions, I find the approach quite disorienting at night, mainly because of the numerous bright lights of the container terminal which tends to make many of the navigation marks hard to pick out. No doubt the view is very different from the elevated bridge of a large ship where one is looking down on all the marks, but from a small vessel the navigation marks are all higher than the observer and tend to get lost in the bright background lights more easily, not to mention the bright lights destroying one's night vision.

So, we approached the breakwaters cautiously, keeping a close eye out for their black rocky contours and with one eye regularly glancing down at the GPS plotter to make sure all was where it was supposed to be. Needless to say we got in safely, then made our way to the swing basin where we had plenty of room to turn Sylph into the wind, hand the mainsail and set up lines and fenders before entering the the narrow channel of the Royal South Australian Yacht Squadron basin. Once inside the basin we motored around for a bit trying to identify the right berth in the dark, which I eventually worked out with the aid of a map downloaded onto my tablet - technology!

At 2257 we came alongside berth K15, kindly loaned to us by Rob and Leslie while Rob is sailing their boat Inukshuk in this year's Sydney to Hobart. Thank you Rob and Leslie and good luck with the race. When all was secured, including the storm boards so Oli couldn't go exploring in the middle of the night, I turned in for a full night's sleep (apart from the regular plaints of Oli wanting to go for a nocturnal prowl).

All is well.