We had a lovely night sail
with the genoa, winds about 14 knots and seas not too big, clear skies and a
small bright moon. We were all on
the look-out for a meteorite Stefan had heard about but we never saw it. Fortunately Per sat up with me on my 9-12pm watch as we had an Italian
cruise ship Atlantica head straight for us and Per had to call them on the
radio to make sure they were aware of us.
Italian cruise ship captains do not have a good reputation. There was quite a bit of shipping about
but only the cruise ship caused any concern. We had an odd light we thought might be a mast light but it
turned out to be a distant shore light….everything is so clear in
daylight!
Dawn broke as we approached the breakwater; plenty of ships anchored
waiting for permission to enter, it would have been daunting to arrive in the
dark. As we approached the
breakwater, motor-sailing, a large red container ship, Cap Domingo, headed our
way and we came through together, Ayama dwarfed by the cargo ship. As we turned to starboard to head to Shelter
Bay the Cap Domingo called us up on the radio to say how lovely Ayama looked.
We tied up in the
marina at 8.20 am. Stefan went off
to do all the formalities and we had a refreshing shower which helped wash the
salt off Ayama. Stefan returned
with good and bad news. We
couldn’t haul out until midday tomorrow but we could today. So we hauled out and Stefan and Per
spent a hot afternoon changing the bearing. The bearing was damaged so Stefan had made the correct
diagnosis. Being on the hard we
caught more wind so it was very refreshing and had a view over the wilderness
at the back of the marina. Anna
booked into the hotel and the rest of us spent the night on Ayama. It felt a bit strange as the wind made
the mast vibrate, we still had our sea legs so being on land we have the
sensation of movement, especially when one sits on the loo. We were woken by a dawn chorus of
birdsong. We are now back on
the marina. Stefan has been up the
mast to sort out the tricolour light .
Per and Stefan are now taking down the solar panels in preparation for
the canal transit on the 1st Feb.