Plans in the sand

"Plans are best written in the sand at low tide". This is true, as evidenced by the many changes we have made to the cruising plans for the South Australian west coast. We started by intending to visit several ports, such as Venus Bay and Coffin Bay, and now we will avoid these and instead visit other bays and islands.

Time to get ready to go

Today we finish our provisioning for the next month of cruising. We plan a short hop to Scaele Bay tomorrow, then on to Flinders Island,  Point Sir Isaac,  Point Avoid and  Thistle Island. The time we spend at each location will be governed by the weather because we have come to realise that this coast is very similar to Western Australian west coast. At this time of the year the day commences with light east to south east winds. These trend to the south east during the morning and then strengthen to 20 to 25 knots by mid afternoon. This is similar to the Western Australian pattern of light easterly winds giving way to a "Sea Breeze" in the afternoon. This type of pattern lends it self to early starts and finishes with short well planned passages from one good anchorage to another.

The success of the anchorage depends on wind strength and direction. If the wind contains any northerly component then, if you are heading south, you take the bus as far as it will carry you. The next bus may not come for some time and when it does, it may be short lived.

Good times at Streaky Bay but there is more to see!

So today we get ready to sail again and we can truly say we are excited. Sitting in a safe anchorage sipping coffee is great, especially after crossing 'The Great Australian Bight', but we want to see things, sail and enjoy what this coast has to offer.