Remarkability

Today was remarkable. It started by sleeping in. Then breakfast. We were off to a good start. No sloth though: we had to wait for slack in Chatham Narrows.  We got going earlier than we needed to, more out of impatience than anything else.  We killed time at the entrance to the narrows by sailing in wind and sunshine.

At the documented time for slack, Petar helmed us through, nimbly avoiding patches of kelp. The kelp is plentiful in late summer.  Once through, we retraced our steps out to Johnstone Strait and set sails in 15-25 knot winds. For once the wind was blowing in the right direction and we plowed our way down the passage going full speed ahead for over three hours. I even deployed the new Hydrovane self steering unit for most of it. The gear performed well. It steers the boat, keeping it at a constant angle to the wind with an auxiliary rudder. In sailing as in life, it's always good to have rudder redundancy. (What does that even mean?)

Owing to the late departure and long day, we arrived at the anchorage rather late. The current outside the cove was turbulent and running fast. It slewed the boat around as we made our approach, but once in the cove all was as quiet and placid as an alpine lake. The water was still and there wasn't a breath of wind. It was a one boat anchorage with birds and seals playing nearby. 

Kay cooked a terrific stuffed green pepper dinner and we closed out the day by watching the sunset with a glass of wine.  

Remarkable.