Year One
Date: 16/1/2008 11.30am
Weather: Southerly front just come through
Location:Eden - East Boyd Bay
Author: Peter

We have a had some fantastic days down in Twofold Bay. We spent some time catching up with our friends Pete and Jess and have had some wonderful food thanks to Jess and her passion for cooking. We would also like to say a big thanks to them for driving us around and helping us with some repairs.

Yesterday they joined us for a morning sail and the first trial of our Para-anchor outside the heads of Twofold Bay in a little over twenty knots of breeze. What a wonderful piece of equipment the Para-anchor is, simple to use and stopped the boat down to the speed of the current which was 0.4 of a knot. On our way back in we also had the pleasure of being joined by a pod of about 10 dolphins that stayed with us for a short while.

During our stay here we had the pleasure of spending a few nights in East Boyd Bay. A pretty little bay with clear water and a beautiful old cottage surrounded by manicured lawns overlooking white sand beaches. We spent time exploring the beach and surrounding area as well as having time to snorkel around the rocks and into a small little cave.

Just around the corner we motored the duck into Kiah Inlet and the remains of the old Davison Whaling Station. A gruesome reminder of our not so distant past.

East Boyd Bay is also the site of a wood chip mill which is a sight to behold and during part of our stay we got to watch the loading of a container ship. The loading wall for the ship helps to shelter the bay which is a great place to shelter from any southerlies as we did along with a few returning Sydney to Hobart boats and some other boats awaiting a weather window to cross bass strait such as ourselves.

Last night we had the pleasure of catching up with the Brewer family on their way home from Melbourne enjoying a peaceful evening barbecue on the boat and later on tasting some more of lovely Jess's cooking as she had left us a small gift. Later that night we tested the sleeping capacity of the boat having a total of six people aboard for the night.

We were hoping to leave Twofold Bay on Tuesday but the weather window was not quite large enough as we sit here today in the predicted southerly. We do however appear to have a few days of good weather coming up so are hoping to try to cross Bass Strait tomorrow. We are going to double check the forecasts again later on today and if all is still good hope to get away early tomorrow morning (Kylie wont like that one as she really is starting to enjoy her sleep-ins. It used to be me that took the pleasure in the sleep in but roles seem to be reversing as we settle into this more relaxed life style.)

Once again thanks to Pete and jess for all your help and hospitality.

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