Ulladulla Slip

At the second attempt we motored over the Batemans Bay bar at 4:30 in the afternoon. There was a little bit more water and I think we took a better route. Stuart and Richard were rather relieved. The trip to Ulladulla was rather uneventful in that there was no wind, as a consequence we had to motor all the way with the autopilot doing the work. We arrived at 10:30 pm and logged off from the local Coastal Patrol. We then secured Malua along side a yacht which had sailed from Tasmania and were on their way north. Fortunately they had not gone to sleep so they helped us with our lines. After the early mornings start and excitement we all turned in and slept uneventfully through to the next morning.
The crew left in the morning to drive back to Batemans Bay. I cleaned up the boat before Denny arrived to take be back to the house. I arrived the next day to prepare for the evening’s slipping. I measured up the cradle and then made marks on Malua where the cradle should go.
Just before the top of the tide I motored over to the slip and waited for the manager to let the cradle back into the water. I then motored up on to the cradle. It was obvious that I had not made the marks and more water was needed for Malua to sit correctly on the cradle. I secured lines to the cradle and winched them as tight as they would go. Not a slight movement.As the tide was about to go out I for the second time in a few days, I had to back out of being stuck without sufficient water. With the engine in full astern the boat was not moving. I had to take the lines attached to the cradle forward and use the windlass to pull the boat off the cradle. What a relief to be free floating again. What to do next?