24 May 2010
In Scots speak it means soaked to the skin and we fitted the bill perfectly. A humdinger of a rain squall heralded the beginning of our last night at sea. The sky went black. It was like a curtain being drawn across a stage. Unfortunately for us we were the actors, not the audience! Visibility was reduced to a few yards. The surface of the sea was flattened as the heavens opened and rain like "stair rods" hit the surrounding water like gunshot. I had to reach for my rain jacket a rare occurrence on this boat. Voyageur had fully poled out genoa and mizzen and for half an hour we before it reaching speeds up to 9knots though not in the right direction.
Desert Island Risks!
We entered the pass just before high water. Ciao and Asolare were already at anchor and Thor V1 arrived shortly after us. What an adventure to come here, what a treat. My ultimate dream of a desert island and obviously Tom Neale thought so too. A New Zealander, he lived the life of a hermit here on Anchorage Island for 25 years where we are now quietly anchored and wrote a book on his experience, "An Island to Oneself". The pass did require great attention but was by no means the worst one we have come through. I took up my usual position standing up at the bow and with the sun behind us it was a perfect time to clearly see the pale turquoise of the shallow water. We had been sailing parallel with a French yacht, not a rally yacht, and as we drew closer on a converging course it was anyone's guess which one of us might enter the pass first, but it became clear that we were to be the guinea pigs, he wanted to follow us! I suppose the principal being that as you are the bigger yacht drawing more under the keel and if you get stuck then they know not to follow. We do try never to follow anyone ourselves and rely on our own navigational skills. How do you know they can be trusted? I trust David however and he guided Voyageur expertly in.
Susan Mackay