Adelaide to American River

29 June 2008

We cast off lines from Pen C29 of the Cruising Yacht Club of SA at 9.30 AM on Saturday 28 June. We hoisted the full main and headed South with a 15 kn wind from the North. Soon after departure we logged our sail with American River VMR, located on Kangaroo Island. The weather prediction at the 5.05 PM transmission was significantly worse than that of the previous day: 45-knot winds on Tuesday and Wednesday. After the weather transmission I reported in to the VMR station a short discussion convinced Arnold and I to play it safe and seek refuge at American River, the only safe anchorage on the north side of Kangaroo Island. By then the wind was at 25 kn and we prepared for the night by dropping the mainsail and rolling out the jib. In the dark I lugged the 45-lb plow anchor to the bow and set it on the roller ready to drop if required. We studied the chart, which showed a narrow channel surrounded by shallow water but took comfort in the operator's assurance that he would talk us into the river.

We were closing in on American River very fast but it seemed that no matter how much sail we reduced the jib we would not drop below 5.5 knots in speed. At the entrance we had to put the engine into reverse to drop below 3 knots. We carefully navigated the channel with the chart plotter and were told by radio that we were doing OK, but unfortunately we were not. Arnold reported a depth of 1.5 meters and we hit the ground. Arnold put the gear into neutral. Running aground with a strong following wind can be a prescription for disaster. I reported this to the VMR station and the operator's wife told me that we must be on the “lump” at the beginning of the channel. Soon Pachuca had bounced its way over the lump and we engaged the engine and made our way to the jetty with assistance via the VMR radio.

The landing on the jetty was difficult. Fortunately there were three or four people who had been thoughtful enough to leave the comfort of their homes to help us tie up. Then we met the VMR operator, Alan, who led the reception party and has turned out to be a very experienced sailor (and bushman and boat builder and fisherman and ...)

This morning we got a visit from Alan who gave us all sorts advice on sailing and has offered his home for Internet access, water for our tanks, etc. Arnold and I then did a short walk around the area and got an impression of simple holiday homes and plenty of wild life. Shortly after we got back to the boat Arnold noticed that the wind charger was not putting out any amps. This was bad news because with so little sun we need that charger to keep our electrical systems supplied with power. Using the multimeter he confirmed that the wind charger was not delivering any current to the regulator. The likely cause was a bad cable join. Unfortunately the cable joins were OK. We took the charger down, took off its blades, brought it inside, and I went off for a shower grumbling about how the unit must have been damaged during our earlier problems with it and I'd have to buy another one. However, we had agreed that we had nothing to lose so we would open the unit up to see if we could find the problem. When I returned from the shower Arnold had the charger on the table with some of the innards exposed. We removed four screws on a small black box on the side of the unit and withdrew what turned out to be the brushes. One brush had spring out but the other was still retracted, stuck and therefore probably not been pressed against the armature.. We freed up the brush lightly sanded the ends of both brushes, cleaned off the armature, put it back together, and in the dark with a rising wind made the cable joins and mounted the unit. I am pleased to say that the charger is now humming along delivering between 2 and 5 amps in the variable wind.

Regarding the boat leaks the report is all negative:
 The deck hatches did not leak
 The access hatch to the anchor well did not leak
 The toilet ceiling did not leak
 The toilet did not overflow
 There was no water down the mast nor the chain plates

As far as we know, no water came into the boat from above the water line. This is a really big deal to us: no damp bedding, spare clothes all dry, no drippy windows while we are trying to sleep, no more bilge water over the floor boards. However, we pumped out a total of approximately three buckets of water during our 12-hour sail, so some water is still coming into the boat, probably from the anchor well. Whatever the source, we'll find it sooner or later. We'll check every possibility inch by inch even if it takes months.

At this point we expect to depart American River on Wednesday and make for Portland, about 250 miles away If when we arrive at Portland the weather is still good and we are in reasonable condition then we will probably push on past Portland to get through Bass Strait while we can.


30 June 2008

We are at the home of Alan and Carol, the couple who run the American River VMR. We've been enjoying the best residential view on the island and have been given access to their internet facility and 20 liters of water. The weather advice that he is giving us is invaluable. At this point it looks like we'll depart on Wednesday morning, riding a High pressure system hopefully past Wilson't Promotory.