Barrenjoey

After our mortgage-worthy lunch Nick and I decided we would go in for a swim. The depth was now registering as 60 cm under the boat...which is shallow...really shallow...and low tide was still 2 hours off. We didn't know where the depth was being measured from underneath the boat...so we thought a physical investigation was worthwhile in the clear-ish, albeit cold, water.


Nick went in, and to the bottom of the keel, and measured the clearance above the sand and weeds...


We then yelled up to Emily to see what depth was registering on the bridge. For future reference...the instruments were showing as 0.6 m, while Nick measured 1.3 m with the stick...so we have about 70 cm more than the instruments say!

By this time the instruments on the deck were starting to sound low water alarms...and showing 0.5 - 0.4 m depth...UGH...but Nick wanted to clean some of the barnacles off the keel...he was sure they were slowing us down...SIGH...



(Emily watching the hull cleaning progress through the trampoline)


Finally, he said we could go, and we pulled out with readings of 0.2 m (but really 90 cm) depth, and every alarm imaginable going off...really ANNOYING noises too...I was contemplating turning all the instruments off....I could see the darn bottom myself, and I didn't need them beeping at me!

We cranked up the engines on the way back , and easily got another knot of speed due to the partial bottom cleaning (7.1 kts at 2000 rpm)...Nick was very pleased.


We've come back to America Bay...and if the winds swing to the NE later tomorrow, as forecast, we will make the trip back to Sydney Harbour. In the meantime, we have spent the afternoon making, decorating and devouring gingerbread men...YUMMY...




(and decorating Oscar our Burmese cat with seashells while the gingerbread men were cooking).

...the final product...


:-)
Sam.