In Eden
Hi All,
This blog update got lost in the ether, so I am having to re-type it.
We hoisted the sails and upped the anchor on Sunday morning, leaving at 0800. There were some other boats there and they had a lousy night with a lot of rolling. Fortunately, we have our own proprietary "rocker stoppers" and had a perfect night's sleep.
As we went up Murray Pass, we notice about 150 fairy penguins sitting on a huge rock at the water's edge. A very pleasant sight to send us on our way.
The wind was light and all over the place with occasional squalls and light rain showers, but nothing nasty. We had a very slow trip of 43 hours arriving in Eden at 0230 on Tuesday morning. At the moment, we seem destined to arrive everywhere in the pitch black of moonless nights. Along the way, we saw a giant leatherback turtle, seals, albatrosses and huge numbers of dolphins which frequently came to say "hello". We saw two or three different varieties.
Although the low wind strength was a bit frustrating, the positive side was that we had benign conditions for Bass Strait. In front of us was a continuous row of thunderstorms and for once, we were chasing them rather than the other way around. The last 19 hrs was much faster than the first 24hrs during which we covered less than half the total distance. A slow-speed record for Pastime.
Here in Eden, we have done some minor re-provisioning. We carted about 11 days of washing up the hill to the laundromat only to find that it has shut down since our last visit. So, yesterday and today we festooned the lifelines with clothing. They were probably a topic of conversation from the tourist ferry that comes quite close. Today, we went ashore for hot showers and then headed South for Boydtown and East Boyd Bay. Boydtown was a disappointment but the bay here is beautiful. It has become a little full with other boats hoping to shelter from the Southerly front coming through this evening. We will head off for Broulee in the morning. This Southerly interlude will only last about 30hrs, so we will enjoy a few days exploring Broulee and Broulee Island. Then it will be off to Jervis Bay early next week.
All the best,
Dave & Penny
