Badger

Badger

Iron Bark II

Iron Bark II

About Me

My photo
I first crossed the Atlantic in 1975 on 'Stormalong', a 28ft Wharram-designed catamaran. Back in the UK, Pete and I bought an ex 6-metre racing yacht, 'Sheila', living on her for 4 years. Wanting to do more and go further, we built 'Badger' - the best boat in the world - sailing her 110,000 miles, to the Arctic and the Antarctic, around the Atlantic North and South and into the Baltic. She had junk rig - the only rig I will ever now cruise with. Pete wanted to build a 38 ft junk-rigged catamaran, 'China Moon' - which he designed. But before the project was finished, we went our separate ways. A year later I joined Trevor Robertson aboard his 35ft 'Iron Bark'. We explored the Canadian Maritimes, crossed the Atlantic twice, wintered in Greenland and crossed the Pacific to Australia and New Zealand. I fell in love with NZ and jumping ship, bought my own boat while Trevor carried on voyaging. I put a junk rig onto ‘Fantail’ and, having decided that N Island offered better cruising opportunities than S Island, sailed up there in 2012. Looking for a boat to see me out, I built the 26ft 'FanShi' and now live on board her, pottering about, generally around the Bay of Islands.

Tuesday, 23 July 2024

COOPER BAY

 

54o46'S 35o49'W

Chart 3597, South Georgia


Two good anchorages are available within the bay.


THE LAGOON


To the E of the entrance to the inner bay, is a small lagoon formed by the shore and a ring of rocks. The entrance is between the most W rock and the shoreline. There is kelp in this narrow channel, but it is at its thinnest near to the rock. We found a minimum of an estimated 1.8m at low water.


The lagoon itself offers complete protection from the sea, but it is very small, and a yacht must be moored if it is to stay in the centre of the lagoon, where the depth is 2.7m.  At the E side, there is a drying rock, off which are several underwater rocks with less than 1.3m over them.


There is a Macaroni penguin colony around the headland to the E of the lagoon.  Ashore are a lot of Fur seals, but it appears to be a non-breeding beach.




THE LAGOON, LOOKING SW TOWARDS COOPER SOUND





INNER BAY, LOOKING SE TOWARDS COOPER ISLAND



INNER BAY


At the NW head of the Bay is an inner bay, offering good protection from the sea from all directions, with the exception of SE. Although large amounts of kelp grow along the edges of the bay, there is a relatively clear patch in the middle.


Anchor in about 5m.





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