When the West Harbour WInter Series scheduled race was abandoned due to forecast strong winds we went dolphin watching. Our intention was to have a relaxed cup of tea on board Passion and then go for a sail around the islands with our heavy wind rig which was still set up from the windy Wednesday race. We did just that and had a most enjoyable afternoon taking turns to take Passion to windward up the Hunters Hill shore as well as venturing as far as Gladesville Bridge. The No 3 genoa and a double reefed mainsail was the ideal rig for a leisurely afternoon. Just enough sail area to be challenging but not so much as to be dangerous.
I do not recall a gust over 25 knots all afternoon but we did see plenty of dolphins.
The pod may have been as many as a dozen and that means there were more dolphins around Cockatoo Island than there were yachts.
While we missed the opportunity to get a good result in conditions that really suit Passion we did have a great afternoon and back on the mooring I was able to attended to some maintenance.