Sunday, December 21, 2025 — Given how shallow the northern Shroud anchorage was, we could only move at high tide. The wind was forecast to shift tomorrow, so we had been planning to move tomorrow morning at high tide. Much to our dismay, we woke up to find that the wind shift had already begun… and it was already high tide. We had to either move right then or stay for another day while the anchorage became increasingly uncomfortable. In good news, it looked like southern Shroud would provide good protection, so we didn’t need to move far. The purple dot was where we anchored on northern Shroud, the blue dot where we anchored in southern Shroud, and the red dot was The Washing Machine.

The rest of the flotilla also moved to southern Shroud. Since it was such as short ride in protected waters, we towed the dinghy, which was something we rarely did.

Looking north from our new spot.

And looking south.

As soon as we anchored, one of the families, Zimovia, picked up Keith and took him to The Washing Machine in their fast dinghy, so they arrived while it was still high tide. Eric and Christi got Kosmos situated, then quickly got ready to go to The Washing Machine, too. Between the adverse current and longer ride from this location, it took almost an hour for them to get there. It was a peaceful ride.

Since we came up from the south river this time, there was a different view of the mouth as we peeked around the corner.

Once around the corner, Eric and Christi could see the kids playing as they approached the mouth.

The Washing Machine was the most fun at high and low tides, when the strong current really pushed you into the sand bars. By the time Christi and Eric had arrived, the fast flow was already over. Eric still went in, but since it was cool outside, Christi stayed out of the water. Even when jumping off the small cliff wasn’t as fun, the kids found other ways to keep themselves entertained in the water. Less families had come this time, and with the smaller group, all the kids played together. They had a blast!

On the way back, the current was adverse for part of the way and with us part of the way. It took us 50-minutes. Keith was so exhausted from all the running around that he fell asleep in the dinghy.

Here was the view of the southern anchorage as we exited the river, passing the rocks that divided the Shroud anchorage in half.

And the view of the anchorage after we came around the rocks. As we were coming around, a dinghy coming from the north tried to cut through the water between the rocks. They got their dinghy stuck on the sand bar just under the waterline between the rocks (which was visible at low tide, but wasn’t visible at that moment). They managed to get themselves unstuck and all was fine, but it was a good reminder that we did the right thing by not trying to cut the corner.

By the time we finally arrived back at Kosmos, we were down to only 3% battery. In good news, Eric did have a spare battery in the dinghy with us, so we wouldn’t have been stranded if the battery had died. But it was a relief to have made it back without having to change the battery. 

We had lunch as soon as we returned. After lunch, Zimovia pulled Keith and some of the other kids on a tube for a while. In the early evening, a charter boat came in and anchored dangerously close to us. They also didn’t put out enough chain to hold them in the big winds that were predicted for tomorrow. 

After dinner, Keith and some of the other kids went over to Zimovia to hang out. Eric went to the beach to hang out with the other parents onshore. Worried about bug bites, Eric made sure to cover up his whole body except for hands and face — and he got several bites on his hands. Christi stayed onboard Kosmos to work on her land life project.

Here was the dusk.