If medals were awarded for car packing my Boxing Day 2021 effort might well have qualified. I succeeded in squeezing in a three week supply of food and beverages into the back of my Pajero while leaving enough room for four passengers. By 09:00 we were on the road to Marina St Vincent (Wirrina Cove). Ignoring pleas to stop for coffee en route, we were at the marina by 10:15 and loading supplies aboard Arriba. This included a heavy tub of rich soil growing my favorite herbs; coriander, basil, and mint. Dubbed the ‘boat garden’, this is the first time I’ve attempted on-board cultivation. Two hours later Meredith, Vela and I were underway headed for Kangaroo Island while Cathie was driving back to Adelaide. The south-easterly winds and seas continued to build throughout the afternoon with Backstairs Passage punishing us with 35 knot gusts on the nose. I should have reefed the mainsail sooner as the strain on it caused the bottom batten holder to crack in two resulting in the luff violently separating from the mast track. The plastic part was clearly fatigued and would no doubt have failed eventually and it meant we would be sailing reefed until it could be repaired. More annoyingly, two of the mast trucks also ripped out of the mast which was entirely avoidable and I cursed myself for not checking their condition earlier. We motor-sailed to keep our boat speed above five knots and 7½ hours later we limped into Antechamber Bay on the island’s north-east coast. The wide sandy bay located between Cape Coutts and Cape St Albans can be approached safely in all conditions. We anchored in the south-eastern corner, known as Redhouse Bay, which is the best spot in southeast winds. Even so, a strong swell was wrapping around the cape that slammed our beam all night. A monohull would have responded by rolling but Arriba shuddered and wobbled. I awoke before six the next morning and while my crew slumbered I replaced the broken mast trucks but the batten holder repair would have to wait. The south-easterly had
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strengthened overnight and our destination, Robe, lay 115 nautical miles directly upwind. Continuing as planned would require a very long day and night (or more) of bumpy sailing. Instead, I decided to sail for Victor Harbor, about 32 nautical miles away. Weighing anchor at 07:34 we slogged away barely managing five knots motor sailing but it was all worthwhile when 6½ hours later we anchored in the lee (north) of Granite Island. While the water was flat, Granite Island was not large enough to completely block the strongest gusts which wrapped around the rocky island and assaulted us from time to time. Eventually a particularly strong blast dislodged our hold on the weedy bottom and set us adrift. For peace of mind I resolved to move to a mooring for the night. We hooked onto an excellent candidate near the jetty but appearances can be deceptive. Shortly before midnight the anchor alarm started shrieking. Perhaps the wind had shifted direction causing us to spin around the mooring as often happens at anchor. I went up to the bow and tugged on the mooring’s buoy and it came loose. The mooring had failed. I fired up both engines and re-anchored about 200 metres east of the causeway this time letting out 30 metres of chain in only four metres of depth.
The next day we enjoyed a leisurely day at anchor and a beach walk towards Port Elliot. Late afternoon we were joined by our fourth crew member, Liam, and over dinner we discussed our options. By sailing to Victor Harbor we were now actually ten miles further from Robe which was upwind 125 nautical miles to the south-southeast. Conditions were forecast to start to subside overnight so we decided to get a head start and sail through the night. Weighing anchor at 20:42 we enjoyed half an hour of twilight before settling into three hour watches through the night. I took the watch from 12:00 to 03:00 then Liam relieved me till 06:00. The autopilot, which had been operating fine at the start of the trip, was now misbehaving so we hand-steered. Fortunately, the stars were out and guided us without the need for technology as we sailed under mainsail and gennaker (screecher) in 20 knot winds.
