Log Entry 5th May 2008 (Labour Day Sail)

Arrived at the harbour around 10:30am this morning to find Lara bobbing alongside the landing as arranged. Yolande's Mum and Dad were with us as they had expressed a desire to see the boat. Whilst they did not wish to actually sail, we persuaded them to at least go for slow spin around Manly boat harbour which was a lot of fun in itself. The myriad of moored watercraft are very interesting and much more visibly accessible from the water.

Dropping them off back at the landing, we waved good-bye, and motored out into a a gentle 5-10 knot north-easterly beating towards St Helena Island for a shell collecting expedition that we had previously promised the girls, (but weren't able to undertake), on our trip to Peel Island.

We anchored on the southern side of the island near the jetty, as this area offered the least shallow water. Despite this we still had to moor Lara about 25 metres offshore to maintain half a metre of water under her, and due to a dropping tide, I constantly readjusted the anchor, pushing Lara out another couple of metres every quarter of an hour or so so that she wouldn't ground. The ladder proved to be a very worthwhile investment and there were no problems boarding or climbing down from Lara's transom.

Re-boarding and moving Lara into deeper water off the island, we consumed a late lunch consisting of sausages and onions on fresh bread rolls, coffee, and a very nice caramel swirl pull-apart bun, which I had bought from the bakery earlier in the morning.

Whilst eating, a Hobie Cat with brightly coloured sails breezed past our stern. Hoisting our own sails, we ran slowly back to Manly in a very gentle sea. The oldest and youngest girls snoozed on the vee-berth while daughter number two sat on the bow and wrote about the day's adventure in her journal. Johanna really enjoys writing as I do and loves to conjure up short stories.

Yolande did a very good job at the tiller to bring us up to the channel beacons where we turned to join the long queue of boats returning home. Tied up at the landing around 5:30pm after which we put on the sail covers, tidied up Lara and headed home.