Start Loc: Delcomyn Bay (22o 26.59’ S, 150o 45.37’ E)
Narrative: Delcomyn Bay has a low area of land protecting it from the north, so while we were not sheltered from the wind we didn’t have swell or seas and it was a secure anchorage. That said, I was up a few times during the night to do an anchor check and make sure we were not dragging. Heather did the same, but was more concerned so she stayed awake and didn’t get much sleep.
The wind was still howling through the rigging as I got up at dawn. I had a brew and spent some time planning for the days to come. We got the latest forecast (winds N/NW 15-20kts, increasing 20-25kts at times) off VMR Thirsty Sound (as we had no mobile coverage) and decided to continue our bash north to a more protected anchorage. We were underway by 9:50am, pulled out of the bay and set a course NW for Island Head.
We were almost dead into the NW wind, which blowing a fairly consistent 20kts, but a little more on occasion. We had a glance at the Pearl Bay anchorage as we went past, and put it on our list of places to visit on the way back south. After clearing all the rocks to the north of Pearl Bay, we came off the wind to port and put out 110% head sail to assist the motor. That put us at almost 45 degrees to the 1.7m seas on top of the 1.5m swell, so after about 10 minutes we decided we were better of motoring and furled the head sail away.
We passed between Black Rock and the mainland with still 20m of water under us, and then navigated our way into Island Head Creek with about an hour to go before low tide. The bar at the head of the creek was pretty rough due to the northerly swell against the ebbing tide. There are close to 30 boats sheltering in the creek, and we anchored just inside the second arm at 12:45pm.
End Loc: Island Head Creek (22o 22.85'S, 150o 38.53'E)
Distance run: 12 nm (cumulative: 533nm)
Engine hours: 3 hr, 01 min (cumulative: 59 hr 23 min)