Sunset Sail and Night Mooring

Frank Pastor

Wind NE at 5knts, later E then SE at 7knts. Overcast skies, relatively flat with a 1m gentle swell from the west. We planned to sail after nightfall so went with a full main and yankee jib for ease of handling. We hoisted both and sail off the mooring on a port tack through the moorings the after clearing the easterly mark tacked and sailed close hauled for the next hour, tacked and fell off a bit on a reciprocal course on a close reach ad the wind had shifted. We spotted numerous razer bills and some gulls but no dolphins or whales rhis evening. Sara took the helm while I went below and reinstalled the forward cabin door. The sun set and we continued to sail making sure to stay well off the headland , noting that the tide was falling and would tend to bring us into the reefs. It was acdark night and we couldn't make out boats un the moorings until we were within about 100m. Sara spotted our neighbouring boat and we guestimated our mooring position off their stern, spotting it at about 30metres. Still under mainsail with the motor idling in neutral, just in case, we approach on a broad reach and did a sharp turn to windward at one boatlength. Sara picked up the float with its neon yellow floating line and made fast to our mooring pendant. The new LED foredeck light was brilliant for tidying up the fordeck. Another beautiful sail.