The anchorage on the south side of the Collins Inlet proved to be very good as it protected us perfectly from the 10 to 12 mph southwest wind. We were able to open a forward hatch, the center window on the lower windshield and the aft salon door for good flow through ventilation. We ran the generator only for some cooking and some battery charging so it was a peaceful two nights and one full day at the anchorage. The photo at the right shows a peaceful pre-sunrise view from the anchorage. The Admiral and Lucky made a early trip to shore for Lucky. As it turned out, kayaks and trips to shore for Lucky were to provide most of the exercise (and entertainment) for today.
We checked the weather reports, and they pretty much confirmed what we had tentatively decided last evening that it would be better to stay put for another day. The wind was supposed to shift around to the west and northwest in the afternoon and increase to 16 to 18 mph with some rain and possible thunderstorms. Not a horrible forecast at worst, but we had this sheltered, beautiful anchorage so we were happy to hunker down.
The day became one of a series of unanticipated events when landing on shore. The photo at left shows the Admiral trying to hold on to Lucky with one hand and beach the kayak with the other.
Of course, I got my turn at the shore trip. The shore was either bare rock or swamp so we chose to find rocks that sloped more gently up from the shore. This also meant the Lucky has only scattered areas of spongy moss where she could do her business, but she did not seem to mind. The photo at the right shows my "technique for getting the kayak partly under the swim platform so the Lucky can jump off hopefully not dumping the kayak. The only trick is to keep her from jumping too early... Actually, that should read to "try" to keep her from jumping too early.
As the afternoon began, we started to get some rain, and I was appointed to take Lucky for to trip to shore in the rain. The photo is lousy, but I wanted to show the world how I suffered at the hands of the Admiral. As you may remember, the captain is in charge when the ship is underway, but otherwise the Admiral is in charge so I got the unpleasant duty...
In the middle of the afternoon we did pull up the anchor and try to move across the inlet to find a more protected anchorage since when the winds shifted to the northwest we were more exposed. We tried several times to anchor, but the weeds on the bottom were too thick for the anchor to dig through them and sink into the muddy bottom. we then headed back to our original anchorage, and as luck would have it, the wind had begun to die down by the time we had finished this exercise. Go figure!
The photo at the right shows another part of the anchorage colorfully lit be the late evening sun. The near vertical cliff that rise up out the water have taken on a distinctive orangish color. Like I said earlier, it really was a pretty anchorage, and the views changed with different sun angles.
All was not kayaks today. We ate well, napped, read and even talked... We could have tried to use the satellite, but instead we chose to have a more quiet, non-electronic day. Imagine that?
Well, today's post ends as it started with a sunset photo from the anchorage...
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