At anchor Rapid Bay
Wind: SSE, F5 strong breeze
Sea state: 2 - wavelets   Swell: negligible
Weather: partly cloudy, mild

Instead of sitting in the marina back in Adelaide endlessly poring over weather maps, I am sitting at anchor in Rapid Bay, a mere 45 miles south of Adelaide, endlessly poring over weather maps. Nonetheless, I find myself content, happy to be more a part of the boat and its environment, popping on deck at regular intervals, surveying the scene, checking the anchor cable and attending to odd jobs, as well as just relaxing reading, watching a movie, and listening to the odd podcast.

The forecast has the wind remaining strong from the S to SE until Monday when it is expected to ease a bit and back into the ESE, before freshening again and returning to the SE, though not as strong as the previous couple of day. On Tuesday the wind is forecast to be light and variable and on Wednesday returning S, light to moderate, then remaining light to moderate from the S to SE for the next several days. So Monday or Tuesday looks like an opportunity to break out of Backstairs Passage, most likely early Tuesday morning.

In the meantime, I have contemplated moving to either Emu Bay or Eastern Cove on Kangaroo Island, but from the perspective of heading through Backstairs Passage there is no real advantage to doing so, apart from a change of scenery. I was tempted to do so this morning with a lull in the wind, but the lull did not last long and the wind is once more whistling through the rigging at around 20 knots, which, admittedly, is a lot better than the 25 to 30 knots we have been experiencing over the last two days. 

Consequently, I figure we may as well stay at anchor here in Rapid Bay until the weather abates sufficiently to make a break out possible.

All is well.