Leaving Ladysmith behind us to time our arrival at Porlier Passage for slack tide was an abnormally pleasant experience, as we didn't have to hurry up or wake up at unreasonable times.
Often slack times are inconvenient, but for once we had plenty of time to get to the passage in time for 12:36. We even made it a little early, which gave us the choice of having a small remnant of current against us, or wait and lose the same time to have none. In any case, much better than the max current of about 6.3 knots you can get there. Since the weather was beautiful with calm seas, we decided to push on and made our way through the passage easily.
Once out, I thought I was due for a bit of off watch time, so turned around to Di and asked her if she'd take the watch for me. She was keen to do so, so I climbed on the pilot berth in the pilot house, behind the settee and let her take the watch over. Her instructions were simple: Any doubt, call on me.
I closed my eyes and rested, letting my mind drift away, safe in the knowledge Di had this.
A while later, she called me, showing me a large ferry arriving at 19 knots and crossing. I was very proud of her that she'd recognized the situation and had immediately called me. I never doubted, but seeing her exercise good seamanship and judgment in real life -not just with me at her side- was great.
A huge stride for her, and a proud moment for both of us.
She kept the watch for the next hours, calling on me once more when another boat crossed our path, and she adjusted the chart plotter and navigation software, selected her waypoints carefully to get us to the other side.
Arrival at Plumper Bay was uneventful, albeit not surprisingly we found the place rather crowded on a Friday evening. Nevertheless, we were able to find a good anchoring spot in about 50 feet of water and called it a great navigation day when we jumped ashore for Princess' long walk.
