Tuesday 17 April 2012
Exploring the wilderness
We are currently out of internet range, exploring the South West Tasmanian wilderness of Port Davey and Bathurst Harbour. We will be back online in May!
D'Entrecasteux Channel
D’Entrecasteaux Channel, in the lee of Bruny
Island, is a sailor’s paradise. Since leaving Hobart we have had a
fantastic time getting a taste of these beautiful, protected waters.
People say that these are the best cruising waters in Australia - we now
understand what all the fuss is about!
After spending Easter hiding out from a couple of strong cold fronts in Stringers Cove at Port Esperance, we ducked around to an anchorage near Rabbit Island and then explored the cute little town of Dover.
Next we sailed over to South Bruny Island and explored a couple of fabulous anchorages, the best one being on a small island in the South Bruny National Park called Partridge Island. Here we met Jim and John, two brothers from Hobart who have been cruising these waters for decades in their twin boats Sea Slug and Sea Lion. Their knowledge of the history of the place was immense, and they took us on a fantastic walk across the island to find the hidden ruins of a 1800’s homestead and orchard where we stocked up on local apples. The apple crumble was delicious - how's that for low food-miles?! Jim and John gave us so much great advice about the local anchorages and about our plans to head around to Port Davey. We had a great time chatting and drinking beer with them by the campfire on Saturday night, and they've offered us a mooring at their anchorage in Hobart on our way back!
Speaking of Port Davey, this will be our last post for a while. The weather is looking perfect over the next few days to scoot around the South coast to Bathurst where we will stay at least 2 weeks – it could be three or more if we have to wait for the weather to come back. There are no roads, no phones, no internet – true Tasmanian wilderness!
Bass Voyager is filled to the brim with food, water, fuel and lots of warm clothes! We are so excited about this next adventure – we’ll take lots of photos and update when we get back in a few weeks!
Seals - a familiar sight in The Channel
Spider crab - would have preferred a flathead...
Creepy. Kitty agreed.
Beautiful Partridge Island
Michael caught three fat Australian Salmon
Exploring the island with Jim and John
Apple orchard near ruins of the old homestead
Wall to pen in livestock
Humpy built by locals
John and Jim had so many great stories to share about the area
As you can see, Kitty is pretty happy with this Channel sailing business!
After spending Easter hiding out from a couple of strong cold fronts in Stringers Cove at Port Esperance, we ducked around to an anchorage near Rabbit Island and then explored the cute little town of Dover.
Next we sailed over to South Bruny Island and explored a couple of fabulous anchorages, the best one being on a small island in the South Bruny National Park called Partridge Island. Here we met Jim and John, two brothers from Hobart who have been cruising these waters for decades in their twin boats Sea Slug and Sea Lion. Their knowledge of the history of the place was immense, and they took us on a fantastic walk across the island to find the hidden ruins of a 1800’s homestead and orchard where we stocked up on local apples. The apple crumble was delicious - how's that for low food-miles?! Jim and John gave us so much great advice about the local anchorages and about our plans to head around to Port Davey. We had a great time chatting and drinking beer with them by the campfire on Saturday night, and they've offered us a mooring at their anchorage in Hobart on our way back!
Speaking of Port Davey, this will be our last post for a while. The weather is looking perfect over the next few days to scoot around the South coast to Bathurst where we will stay at least 2 weeks – it could be three or more if we have to wait for the weather to come back. There are no roads, no phones, no internet – true Tasmanian wilderness!
Bass Voyager is filled to the brim with food, water, fuel and lots of warm clothes! We are so excited about this next adventure – we’ll take lots of photos and update when we get back in a few weeks!
Seals - a familiar sight in The Channel
Spider crab - would have preferred a flathead...
Creepy. Kitty agreed.
Beautiful Partridge Island
Michael caught three fat Australian Salmon
Exploring the island with Jim and John
Apple orchard near ruins of the old homestead
Wall to pen in livestock
Humpy built by locals
John and Jim had so many great stories to share about the area
As you can see, Kitty is pretty happy with this Channel sailing business!
Sunday 8 April 2012
Hobart - Port Esperance
Happy Easter!
We are having a lazy Chocolate Day staying warm and dry out of the drizzly rain so it seems like a good opportunity to bring our blog totally up to date - finally!
As Michael said in the last post we arrived in Hobart just before dark on the 22nd March, and just before a pretty strong cold front passed over the city. In fact the next day we were astonished to look up at Mt Wellington and see snow dusting the peak! (it only lasted an hour or two before melting, but hey... snow!! South Australians get very excited about these things!)
As anyone who has visited knows, Hobart is really, really pretty. IMO it definitely rivals Sydney as the most attractive harbor in Australia. It's also much less busy, although it has an incredibly active sailing and boating community for a city its size. This made our arrival at dusk during twilight racing club night ... well, interesting! Entering a new marina + 25 kt winds + jet skis + racing boats + kayakers + kite surfers + sunset = a few narky comments back and forth between Caitlin and Michael. But as always, the moment we are safely docked all the stress is forgotten and a big hug is in order before cracking out the "victory beers"! (We live by the motto "what happens at sea, stays at sea" and it seems to work for us!)
After my quick trip back to Adelaide to celebrate with my sister and soon-to-be-brother-in-law Imogen and Michael, we were keen to get off the boat and explore the new city. Over the next week we wandered the CBD, drove to Mt Wellington, visited the Salamanca Markets and went to the amazing Museum of Old and New Art.
Wow, MONA was so incredible. Such a strange, beautiful and eclectic collection of artworks - some of which were so gross I couldn't bring myself to take photos - machines that mimic the human digestive system, anyone? Wow that smelled bad...
Anyway, after getting our fill of city life we decided to head South into the D'Entrecasteaux Channel. We had two days of truly perfect sailing down the channel, stopping at "The Duckpond" on Bruny Island before tucking into a tiny cove in Port Esperance. We decided to hide away here for Easter and avoid the strong winds which have caused havoc for other boats in the Three Peaks Sailing Race, and tragically cost the life of another sailor who was lost not far from here. So sad. We are very grateful we played it safe and found an all-weather anchorage in time :-(
While we wait for the weather to settle we will visit some of the anchorages near here and on South Bruny Island, before heading to Recherche Bay. From there we can hopefully make a dash around to Port Davey and Bathurst Harbour. We will touch base before then though, as once we head around the South Coast we will be out of phone and internet range for at least a couple of weeks.
Here are some photos from the last two weeks...
Twilight sailing out the front of our temporary home - the Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania at Sandy Bay
Views of Hobart and the Derwent River from Mt Wellington - we had a perfect day to visit: no wind and sunny skies
Michael swears the tower wasnt bendy and its just a trick of the camera lens...
Salamanca Market - now in my top three markets along with the Vic Markets in Melbourne (the food hall, not the touristy bit!) and the best fresh food market EVER - the Adelaide Central Market!
Random snapshots from the incredible MONA
Yes, underneath all that blubber is a Porsche 911...
Blacksmithery
Sea Shepherd boat the Bob Barker, and dock-mate the Young Endeavour, near Constitution Dock, Hobart
Farewell to beautiful Hobart, for now...
Smoke haze over the D'Entrecasteaux Channel
We are having a lazy Chocolate Day staying warm and dry out of the drizzly rain so it seems like a good opportunity to bring our blog totally up to date - finally!
As Michael said in the last post we arrived in Hobart just before dark on the 22nd March, and just before a pretty strong cold front passed over the city. In fact the next day we were astonished to look up at Mt Wellington and see snow dusting the peak! (it only lasted an hour or two before melting, but hey... snow!! South Australians get very excited about these things!)
As anyone who has visited knows, Hobart is really, really pretty. IMO it definitely rivals Sydney as the most attractive harbor in Australia. It's also much less busy, although it has an incredibly active sailing and boating community for a city its size. This made our arrival at dusk during twilight racing club night ... well, interesting! Entering a new marina + 25 kt winds + jet skis + racing boats + kayakers + kite surfers + sunset = a few narky comments back and forth between Caitlin and Michael. But as always, the moment we are safely docked all the stress is forgotten and a big hug is in order before cracking out the "victory beers"! (We live by the motto "what happens at sea, stays at sea" and it seems to work for us!)
After my quick trip back to Adelaide to celebrate with my sister and soon-to-be-brother-in-law Imogen and Michael, we were keen to get off the boat and explore the new city. Over the next week we wandered the CBD, drove to Mt Wellington, visited the Salamanca Markets and went to the amazing Museum of Old and New Art.
Wow, MONA was so incredible. Such a strange, beautiful and eclectic collection of artworks - some of which were so gross I couldn't bring myself to take photos - machines that mimic the human digestive system, anyone? Wow that smelled bad...
Anyway, after getting our fill of city life we decided to head South into the D'Entrecasteaux Channel. We had two days of truly perfect sailing down the channel, stopping at "The Duckpond" on Bruny Island before tucking into a tiny cove in Port Esperance. We decided to hide away here for Easter and avoid the strong winds which have caused havoc for other boats in the Three Peaks Sailing Race, and tragically cost the life of another sailor who was lost not far from here. So sad. We are very grateful we played it safe and found an all-weather anchorage in time :-(
While we wait for the weather to settle we will visit some of the anchorages near here and on South Bruny Island, before heading to Recherche Bay. From there we can hopefully make a dash around to Port Davey and Bathurst Harbour. We will touch base before then though, as once we head around the South Coast we will be out of phone and internet range for at least a couple of weeks.
Here are some photos from the last two weeks...
Twilight sailing out the front of our temporary home - the Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania at Sandy Bay
Views of Hobart and the Derwent River from Mt Wellington - we had a perfect day to visit: no wind and sunny skies
Michael swears the tower wasnt bendy and its just a trick of the camera lens...
Salamanca Market - now in my top three markets along with the Vic Markets in Melbourne (the food hall, not the touristy bit!) and the best fresh food market EVER - the Adelaide Central Market!
Random snapshots from the incredible MONA
Yes, underneath all that blubber is a Porsche 911...
Blacksmithery
Sea Shepherd boat the Bob Barker, and dock-mate the Young Endeavour, near Constitution Dock, Hobart
Farewell to beautiful Hobart, for now...
Smoke haze over the D'Entrecasteaux Channel
Thursday 5 April 2012
Launceston - Hobart
We left George Town on the 12th of March to start our passage to Hobart. The weather forecast was for 10-15 knots of wind in a direction that was quite suitable. The morning was quite good but by the afternoon we had 20 -25 knots of an Easterly which very quickly raised the waves and was completely on the nose. We had to abandon plans of anchoring at Waterhouse Island for the night and chose a more suitable anchorage called Croppies Point.
The next day was a lot better. We had to time our passage of the notorious Banks Straight to coincide with slack water - right after high tide so as to have no current working against us as it can get up to 5 knots. The high tide was at about 2:00PM so this meant sailing through the night to get to a safe harbour. We originally intended to make it to Wineglass Bay but the weather conditions would have meant an uncomfortable night at anchor as there was a good 2 - 3m North Easterly swell rolling straight into the bay. We pushed on to the much more sheltered waters of Schouten Island and an anchorage called Crockett's Bay - a choice we were very happy with after a comfortable night sleep.
The next day there were strong winds forecast - about 30 knots from the North which wasn't suitable for our anchorage so we shifted to a nearby spot called Bryan's Corner. We prepared the boat for strong winds and we got them. We recorded winds of up to 42 knots over the night and got little sleep. Happy to report that the anchor didn't slip at all. The next day we went back to Crockett's Bay for the night.
On the 17th of March we set sail for Maria Island and had a great day sailing in the sheltered waters of the Schouten Passage. We arrived at Shoal Bay and found a spot called Deep Hole to drop the anchor. A lovely spot but decided to keep moving while the weather was good. The next day we made for Fortesque Bay and a lovely spot anchored behind the wreck of an old barge in Canoe Bay. We had hoped to spend a couple of days relaxing there while some stronger weather passed and then head around past Tasman Island and onto Port Arthur. The weather didn't agree with that plan.
We had to be Hobart by the night of Friday the 23rd as Caitlin had a flight to catch to go to Adelaide for her sisters engagement party. The weather was looking horrible - the best forecast was for 3 -5m seas on Thursday heading around Tasman Island. We made the decision to head back the other way to the Dennison Canal which was more than twice the distance but should have better conditions. We woke at first light and set off expecting the worst. It was much better than forecast - for a change - and we got out of the larger seas within a hour or two. We had planned to pass through the passage and just anchor for the night heading to Hobart on Friday but the forecast over night was not good and Friday looked worse. We decided to push on all the way to Hobart even if it meant arriving just as it got dark.
We were lucky and a got a boost in speed from the current. Half way we met friends on the catamaran Captain Silver heading in the opposite direction and had a spontaneous chat in the middle of the bay - it was great to see them for the first time since Stanley on the North Coast - they went West, we went East! We made it to the Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania at Sandy Bay just before dark. It was a long day but we made it safe and sound with a day to spare.
Anchorage at Schouten Island
Flathead fishing was awesome. Kitty agreed.
Passage to Fortesque Bay...
These are called "The Sisters". Caitlin liked that!
The four sisters from the other angle
Entrance to Fortesque Bay
View from our anchorage in Canoe Bay
Finally at Hobart
Caitlin will write more about our time in Hobart soon!
The next day was a lot better. We had to time our passage of the notorious Banks Straight to coincide with slack water - right after high tide so as to have no current working against us as it can get up to 5 knots. The high tide was at about 2:00PM so this meant sailing through the night to get to a safe harbour. We originally intended to make it to Wineglass Bay but the weather conditions would have meant an uncomfortable night at anchor as there was a good 2 - 3m North Easterly swell rolling straight into the bay. We pushed on to the much more sheltered waters of Schouten Island and an anchorage called Crockett's Bay - a choice we were very happy with after a comfortable night sleep.
The next day there were strong winds forecast - about 30 knots from the North which wasn't suitable for our anchorage so we shifted to a nearby spot called Bryan's Corner. We prepared the boat for strong winds and we got them. We recorded winds of up to 42 knots over the night and got little sleep. Happy to report that the anchor didn't slip at all. The next day we went back to Crockett's Bay for the night.
On the 17th of March we set sail for Maria Island and had a great day sailing in the sheltered waters of the Schouten Passage. We arrived at Shoal Bay and found a spot called Deep Hole to drop the anchor. A lovely spot but decided to keep moving while the weather was good. The next day we made for Fortesque Bay and a lovely spot anchored behind the wreck of an old barge in Canoe Bay. We had hoped to spend a couple of days relaxing there while some stronger weather passed and then head around past Tasman Island and onto Port Arthur. The weather didn't agree with that plan.
We had to be Hobart by the night of Friday the 23rd as Caitlin had a flight to catch to go to Adelaide for her sisters engagement party. The weather was looking horrible - the best forecast was for 3 -5m seas on Thursday heading around Tasman Island. We made the decision to head back the other way to the Dennison Canal which was more than twice the distance but should have better conditions. We woke at first light and set off expecting the worst. It was much better than forecast - for a change - and we got out of the larger seas within a hour or two. We had planned to pass through the passage and just anchor for the night heading to Hobart on Friday but the forecast over night was not good and Friday looked worse. We decided to push on all the way to Hobart even if it meant arriving just as it got dark.
We were lucky and a got a boost in speed from the current. Half way we met friends on the catamaran Captain Silver heading in the opposite direction and had a spontaneous chat in the middle of the bay - it was great to see them for the first time since Stanley on the North Coast - they went West, we went East! We made it to the Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania at Sandy Bay just before dark. It was a long day but we made it safe and sound with a day to spare.
Anchorage at Schouten Island
Flathead fishing was awesome. Kitty agreed.
Passage to Fortesque Bay...
These are called "The Sisters". Caitlin liked that!
The four sisters from the other angle
Entrance to Fortesque Bay
View from our anchorage in Canoe Bay
Finally at Hobart
Caitlin will write more about our time in Hobart soon!
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