Farewell Arriba

When I worked full time, I used to envy full-time cruisers. Their full-time cruising lifestyle seemed very appealing, but I've come to embrace “commuter sailing”, which is balancing stretches at sea with time back home. After four months of sailing around Western Australia, it was good to be home again.Home does not mean an end to sailing, though. I could hardly wait to sail to Kangaroo Island, my favorite sailing destination. Autumn gave way to winter, with storms more frequent and seas less forgiving. Winter sailing everywhere depends on getting the weather right and few places demand more respect than Backstairs Passage, the narrow passage between Kangaroo Island and the Australian mainland.Finally, two months later in the middle of winter, schedules and winds aligned. A northerly wind of 16~20 knots made for a quick run and we covered the 30 nautical miles in under four hours. Winter northerlies in South Australia are not the warm wispy affairs of summer; they pack a punch and are…