Kangaroo Island to Adelaide - Part Two

[Kyle]We left Marina St. Vincent in the last of the darkness. This time, we didn't even bother to remove the mainsail cover. That's because I was hoping to do the whole thing with just the spinnaker.

It worked out great. Apart from a few slightly scary gusts at the beginning, we had a nice, downwind sail all of the way to Adelaide. It was a little cool and cloudy, but what a relief it was to be going with the wind.

Flying the spinnaker at last!

An early start, and the odd dolphin came to join us on the way

We hadn't used the spinnaker in months and we were a little rusty at remembering the various steps in just the right order. By the time we doused it just outside the Cruising Yacht Club of South Australia's marina (CYCSA), we were back to being old hands.

Once we were tied up, we went to visit Traci and Matt on their boat, Vellamo. Traci was the one who had organized our slip for our stay. They had bought their boat in Queensland and had recently finished the delivery here to their home. They were now preparing for the big race weekend over at Port Lincoln. They still squeezed in time for us, though, and invited us to dinner at their house only a few steps away.

Matt has been working as a marine technician and rigger for a few years. Traci has done lots of long cruises on other people's boats after retiring from a career in television. Matt is also well travelled with his sailboat racing. Between the two, they have been lots of places, including a few the same as us. Sometimes, we had practically just missed each other.

The dinner was both delicious and generous and it was also no bad thing that we could get home by walking. Between our full bellies, plenty of wine and an extra-early start, we had no trouble sleeping that first night at CYCSA.

Maryanne: Planning on visiting this area by boat? The officials, and members of the CYCSA gave us an amazing welcome, and unbeatable offer cost wise. The showers were new, hot and with an amazing blast (I was overdue!). The train into Adelaide is just a 25min walk away, and so regular there is no need to care about the timetable. We were offered rides to/from the grocery store (by the rail station) and a host of other kindnesses by the CYCSA members. The restauarant/bar is well priced and active, and has a nice range of food too! While we spent much of our days visiting the city and wineries in the hills, we were bombarded with happy faces whenever we were at the marina and its facilities. If you are headed that way, do give them a call!