Dillon Bay to Cheyne Island

 

A good forecast for NE winds and we were up early, raring to go. We were poled out and doing 7 knots right out of the shoot. Man, we were flying … for nearly an hour or so. Then the wind died and we might as well have been hove-to, we moved at just over a knot, bobbing in the swell. We had breakfast and waited for the wind to return. An albatross paddled along beside us, obviously amused at our slow speed as evidenced by the smug look on its face.

Back came the wind and we were ready. The jib was poled out again and we were tooling along at 7 knots … for at least another 15 minutes and the wind died. In came the jib and we toddled along and had a cuppa. On came the engine. Evidently the wind god was off on holiday and didn't tell the weather forecasters of his plans. A shearwater landed beside us this time, very close to the boat, obviously not worried about any sudden movements on our part. He eyed us for awhile and determined we had little to offer in the way of food or entertainment and took off.

The next closest anchorage moving west was Cheyne Island which would afford us some protection from the SW swell and the light northeast winds. It was only ~35 miles away and seemed a reasonable place to spend the night. We really didn't feature motoring all the way to Albany. Perhaps the winds would be true to forecast tomorrow.

Cheyne Island provided a good sandy anchorage and, anchored on the southwest side, it provided some protection from the NE winds. Cape Ritchie protected us from the SW swell. We were good. Except the winds switched to the SE, not the NE. Where the heck did that come from? You just can't trust the weather forecasts … you can't!

Cheyne Island is noted for a population of black rabbits. The little beach didn't look very inviting. We saw no black bunnies hanging around on the shore, but we did hear the whistles of penguins just after dark. Tomorrow, maybe the the wind will return?