We always enjoy our time on the Gippsland Lakes but 11 days over Australia day until February 3rd was one of the best. Good steady breezes most of the time meant good sailing. That last weekend my daughter and I took Windsong out on Lake King with a nice steady 7-8 knot sou-easter blowing. Knowing it was going to freshen late afternoon we put a single reef in as we headed across Lake King on a good reach to the Tambo River mouth. With the jib full on and the reef in we averaged 5.4 knots. As we approached the other side the wind started to gust up to 11 knots on the windometer. Instead of navigating around Raymond Island we gybed and came back down Lake King on a downwind leg and goosenecked the sails. The swell increased and we were clipping along at an average of 6 knots and reaching 6.6 on occasions when the 1.5 metre swell was surfing us across the lake. It was the fastest I have ever sailed my boat. It was a bit scary as we approached the Silt Keys but we lowered the engine to increase drag. (Yes I do have a drogue : ! ) but the engine did the trick and we were able to take the whisker pole out and turn upwind towards Fort King. By that time the swell was really building and so we dropped sails and motored home. Nearly 2 hours of pleasure mixed with a little dread and a lot of adrenaline! That evening I took the Admiral out for a sunset cruise to Sperm Whale Head. She only allows '0' heel and minimum breeze!
But we were surrounded by dolphins young and old swimming around the boat as the sun died in the west! The contrast with the afternoon was immense. There is a blue MacM and a white Macm for sale in Paynesville at the moment
Happy Sailing in 2014
Dave