We got going early at 7 this morning. We were scheduled to have winds from the south carrying us up the bay at a nice 5-6kts speed in 8-10 kts of wind speed. That is really efficient sailing in such a light breeze! This all started when Ian asked, “Do you fancy hanging the Blue Machine?” This is the asymmetric headsail which acts as spinnaker for us. It is a hassle to get up and flying, but once its up, it is pretty awesome. Not only were we faster than the other sailboats around us, ( Let’s face it whenever there are 2 or more sailboats together it’s a race!) We did look a lot cooler as well.
While we were sailing along, we came across the above yellow “special purpose buoy”. After checking the charts and doing some research we came to find out that this particular buoy signifies the edge of a “Aerial Gunnery Targeting Zone designated for practice. Good to know!
We got into Solomon Island late afternoon. It looks like a great place to hangout if the virus was not an issue. After anchoring as best we could in the mucky bottom that doesn’t hold anchor sets very well (We did get some tips from other sailors on anchoring in the mud, the consensus is just put out more chain. Not very confidence building).
We did visit a few boat yards looking for a place for Yantina to haul put and sit on the hard while Ian returns to the UK. He may use one here in Solomon Island.