Position: 35 47.266 S 137 46.492 E
At anchor American River, Kangaroo Island
Wind: S, F3 - gentle breeze
Sea: rippled Swell: nil
Weather: sunny, warm
Day's run: 5 nm

We were approaching the entrance at 1250, just after low water and earlier than I wanted. I furled the headsail and came up onto the wind to loiter in the vicinity of the entrance to wait for the tide to make. While waiting I called the local volunteer marine rescue for information on the entrance. The operator, Carol - clearly well known and respected among the local boats,based on the traffic I overheard on the VHF radio - was very helpful. She advised that I should stay 15 to 20 meters off the beacons and that the minimum depth would be about three meters at the second entrance beacon.

With this bit of information (my chart was hopelessly out of date) I decided to attempt the entry. I started the motor, handed the mainsail and altered course back towards the first entrance beacon. On gaining the entrance I reduced speed to dead slow and followed Carol's instructions. And I am pleased to report that we had no problems, with a minimum depth of two meters at beacon two and 3.3 meters at beacon eight, over a meter clearance under Sylph's keel with which I was quite comfortable.

We came to anchor 1348 in six meters of water close to the position I had last anchored here in November 2021 when my brother John and I had visited the river. A short while later a local yacht that was entering the river passed by and advised me that there was a wreck just to the north of us and that when we swung to the ebb tide we would likely be over the top of it. Initially I was not too concerned but later, when a second local passing by in a dinghy gave me a second warning, I decided it would be wise to take heed of their advice. I weighed and moved about forty meters to the south. American River, like most popular waterways, is full of moorings which leaves very little room for vessels to anchor. In our new position we were closer to a couple of unoccupied moorings than I would have liked, but I figured it would be better to bump into a mooring ball than to foul a solid wreck.

In the afternoon I caught up with niece Ella (Kaylah had already flown back to Townsville for work) and her boyfriend, Xavier. We enjoyed some local cheese, wine and conversation on the patio of Ella's grandmother's house before I returned to Sylph for the evening.

Today's plan is to take Ella and Xavier for a sail; however, a minor problem is getting them on board. There are two options for picking them up - one is at a pontoon and the other at a rather rough looking wharf. My concern with the pontoon is that there might not be enough water to get alongside, and I am not sure of the depth at the wharf either, though my ancient chart shows there is five meters along the face of the  wharf. Shortly I will row ashore with an improvised lead line (a shackle tied to a length of cord) to sound both locations. Hopefully at least one of these options will prove feasible and we will be able to go for a short sail. Then this evening the plan is to bring in the new year at the local watering hole, The Shed.

All is well.