September 13 – Effingham Island is the largest island in the outermost cluster of islands in the Broken Group, and the Effingham Bay anchorage is a great base from which to explore the many surrounding rocky islets, sea caves, and driftwood-strewn beaches by dinghy.
We’d crossed paths a couple times earlier in the week with friends Alison and Kevin on Red Rover, a Nordhavn 55, and today we finally managed to be in the same place at the same time!
Several of us took dinghies out for some exploring, and headed out around the northeast side of Effingham Island, where we knew there were some dramatic rocky spires and sea caves.
Usually when we visit this cool sea cave/sea tunnel, the swells are pushing through dramatically, but this time it seemed calm enough (and we felt brave enough) to take the dinghies through. What a great ride!!
Sam and Ralph headed through first in Sam’s dinghy, and Laura and Kevin followed in theirs.
This was an incredible amount of fun!! The swells were still there, but only very lightly pushing or pulling us. We went through several times (okay, maybe five). After watching us go through a couple times, Alison and Kevin (and Zoey, their black lab) decided they wanted to go through as well. What a blast!
We’d planned a pizza/pasta/salad night for this evening’s group dinner, and Alison and Kevin invited us all over to Red Rover, so we just brought the dinner to them! Sam and Ralph joined forces for some pasta with red sauce, Sam put together a garlic/roasted potato and rosemary pizza, and Laura made two more…a pesto shrimp and spinach pizza, and a chili/cheese/jalapeño pizza (utilizing leftover chili from a previous meal). The chili pizza was an experiment but turned out great! Pizza dough/crust, chili, cheddar and mozzarella cheese, topped with chopped cilantro and thin slices of fresh jalapeño–a total keeper! We also had a big Caesar salad with homemade caesar dressing and a variety of appetizers, and Laura made macaroons for dessert.
Today’s Route: 9.4 nautical miles, 1 hour 25 minutes underway
Flotilla Total: 608 nautical miles, 94 hours 33 minutes underway
