Port Fairy

Port Fairy is one of the oldest fishing ports in Australia, and still has an active fleet of fisherman that use the town's river-front wharf as their base. It is also one of the prettiest and welcoming little villages Ive ever been to. Seriously, its almost too cute! It reminds me bit of Sorrento on the Mornington Peninsula - all coffee shops and designer gift shops/boutiques - except even cuter and more family-oriented with colourful riverside holiday homes and kids running around everywhere taking surfing lessons and riding their bikes.

Port Fairy Wharf

We secured our lines to the wharf on January 2nd, and would you believe it, stumbled right into the town's annual Moyneyana festival! 6 weeks of community based events all over town. This has meant a plethora of free and cheap activities, live music, a nightly carnival, fairs and markets... the list goes on. We even took ukulele lessons!

We've really loved our stay here, and as far as facilities for sailors go, it really cant be beaten except that it costs to moor at the wharf - there are no free anchorages. For your $26 per night you get a prime position in easy walk from the centre of town and free electricity, water, a fully equipped (free!) laundry, shower and kitchen facilities. Certainly a small price to pay if you're just passing by for a night or two. Its getting a bit pricey now that we've been here over a week, but there is not much choice given the weather out in Bass Strait right now. And we're forgiving the expense by making the most of the free facilities and activities around town including the unbelievably evil Scottish Malt Bread from the local bakery (so full of golden syrup that they cant use the bakery bread slicer to cut it for you!) We also took a day trip by bus into Warrnambool, which didn't have the same appeal but did give us the opportunity to buy a few things we'd been looking out for - good quality headphones so we can listen to music on night-watch without waking the other person etc...

Bass Voyager dock-side, surrounded by fishing and charter boats

Beautiful Moyne River at sunset

Markets in the park adjacent the wharf

Being right in the centre of town definitely has its advantages, but it does mean very little privacy - we are constantly on display to the hundreds of tourists that walk past each day.  Kitty has become the star attraction - particularly for little kids... "Daddy! Look - there's a cat on that boat!!"
The other morning Michael and I could hardly contain our giggles as we awoke to a lady squealing "ooooh! look at the pretty little kitty!!!!" People don't seem to make the connection that if there is a cat on the boat, there are quite possibly people on it too!

Kitty in her regular spot

Its been fun meeting people and the location is great, but we're definitely in need of a more secluded anchorage. Its time to leave. We would have left this past weekend, except that there are some ferocious winds and swell and waves in the Strait at the moment - up to 14 metres at the extreme! I can't even imagine that... we had 30+ kt winds this morning and it's impact on the seas in the bay was dramatic.

South Beach Port Fairy

 

Thankfully the winds have already dropped, and the swell will follow of over the next few days which will give us the perfect opportunity for an overnight sail across to King Island, and then Tassie. This wasn't our original plan, but it was hard to resist when we realised that it was less than half the distance that we've already travelled, and the winds will be easier to sail (touch wood!) Less traffic and oil rigs down this end of the Strait too.

So today and tomorrow we are preparing the boat, consoling Kitty (who was convinced we had finally decided to stay somewhere forever!) and checking the charts in readiness for an AM Friday departure. I'll keep you posted!

KI to Port Fairy, Victoria

Hi everyone
Happy 2012!
Sorry it's taken so long to post our progress - so much has happened in the last 10 days that every time I think "I should update our blog" I think "ah, its too hard - there is just so much to say!" Yes, I am very lazy...
Hopefully no one thought we were lost at sea, given our last post was at Christmas Cove on Kangaroo Island! I'll do my best to catch you up now, and hopefully you'll forgive the very long posting!

So where were we... ah yes...

At dawn on New Years Eve we motored out of Christmas Cove in Penneshaw. As expected it was glassy-calm, no wind, warm and gorgeous. The nervous excitement was enormous as we headed into our first offshore passage.

On a clear, calm day at sea level the horizon is only 7 or 8 nautical miles away, which is about 13 kilometres.  By late morning we were completely out of sight of land. We had resigned ourselves to motor-sailing if necessary, and unsurprisingly the winds were dead South-East and on the nose. Not to worry, the winds were light and the swell was long and very comfortable. We had many visits from dolphins along the whole route, but none so wonderful as on that first morning when we were joined by at least 20 (that I counted) as we were motoring along. We could hear them chattering and squeaking to each other, calling their mates over to hitch a ride along with this crazy little boat out in the middle of nowhere. Here is some video...

Around midday the wind picked up, still on the nose, and unfortunately in the opposite direction to the swell which made for more uncomfortable conditions that stayed that way for most of the rest of the trip.

Around 6pm I made the mistake of going below to cook dinner, which I didn't end up eating because I got really seasick! After the perfect conditions earlier in the day I had made the mistake of of not taking additional seasickness tablets. Big mistake! Michael tells me dinner was delicious though. Good boy ;o)

We settled into our 4-hours-on/4-hours-off watch routine which worked really well for us. It was enough time to get a decent amount of sleep, but not too long that the person on watch gets too tired or bored. Despite feeling ill, I did manage to snap a photo of the beautiful final sunset of 2011. I swear the conditions were rougher than the photo makes out! ;o) 

Sunset on 2011, about 25 nautical miles offshore of SA

I was asleep at midnight so there wasn't much of a NYE celebration, but Michael woke me for my second watch at 2am and we marvelled at the dramatic amounts of phosphorescent algae igniting in the boat's wake and washing down the decks as each wave crashed over the bow. Our own private fireworks display. We saw phosphorescence the second night too, but not nearly as bright or in such large amounts! If I hadn't been feeling so seasick I would have taken photos - next time I promise.

Michael went off to bed and I took up my graveyard shift. Stupidly I didn't take seasickness tablets again, and was sick on and off for the whole night. The hilarious thing was at one point I was leaning over the side of the boat being - a-hem - sick, while at the same moment admiring the glowing algae as it swept by in a luminescent streams along the deck in front of me. It was like: "blech! ooohh pretty! blech!" 

I think this is becoming quite a good analogy for our new life - 9 parts beauty and relaxation, 1 part extreme discomfort and terror!

hehehe... a good trade??

A few ships appeared on our AIS (Automatic Identification System), but none even came within radar range. Michael was particularly impressed when our AIS picked up a container ship 125 nautical miles away! We had chosen to go well offshore, and this certainly made things a lot less nerveracking at night when its harder to see and judge distances, particulalry of lights. In fact whenever I felt a bit nervous I just coached myself by saying "its OK, you are in the safest place you could be - there are no reefs, land or ships anywhere near you. The boat is strong, the equipment is showing exactly where you are, and the weather is only going to improve."

So we survived our first night at sea, and I learned my lesson and took a sea sickness tablet at the beginning of each watch from then on. Day two we continued our four hour watch pattern. The seas had not let up, but it was stubbornly consistent, so we were able to settle into the pattern and get comfortable. Kitty was definitely not enjoying the rougher conditions - we had waves of up to 3 metres because the wind was coming from the opposite direction to the swell -  but she was actually really good, just wanting the occasional cuddle and even eating a few mouthfuls of cat food. We made sure she had plenty of water (it was really hot out there!) by tipping a few drops on her paws so she would be forced to lap it up.

It was a good day. At one point we even had dolphins jumping alongside the boat under rainbows formed as waves crashed over the bow ... aaaawwwww!

When Michael woke me for my watch on the second night he said "you have to stick your head outside!" It was so balmy, the stars were so clear and bright, and there was phosphorescence sparkling in our wake. It made for a lovely night-shift and I didn't feel sick at all so I could read and even go online (amazing that we had phone and internet coverage for such a lot of the trip!)

When Michael woke me at around 10am the seas had dropped to a gentle swell and we were only a few hours from our destination at Port Fairy. As we rounded into the bay I snapped the photo below. Its not a great one (I was pretty tired!) but it is worthy of inclusion as a record of our first landfall outside SA. We motored into the pretty Moyne River, pulled up at the wharf in the middle of town, and stepped off the boat into the 42 degree Port Fairy day.

I'll post again shortly with some photos and experiences from our 10 days in Port Fairy!

Port Fairy approach, 2 January 2012

Penneshaw, KI

Hi everyone

We are busily preparing the boat for an early morning departure! We moved around to Christmas Cove at Penneshaw yesterday to do some last minute jobs and stock up on fresh food. I love Penneshaw - its such a pretty town (despite the big ferry terminal smack bang in the middle of the bay!), good facilities, and its actually got a bit of hustle and bustle about it at this time of year.

Anyway, back to the matter at hand - our imminent departure. We are as ready as we're ever going to be, and although the winds are not in the perfect direction, the weather is about as good as we can expect at this time of year - low swell is forecast for the next 4 days, winds light to moderate, and the sun will be shining.

Since we left Adelaide in November we have logged a grand total of 310 nautical miles, which is an underwhelming average of about 6 nautical miles per day - but please keep in mind that 3 weeks of it was virtually stationary in American River! Coincidentally, or perhaps spookily, it is also 310 nautical miles to Port Fairy, which is our preferred first landfall in Victoria. At our current rate of 6 miles per day this would take us... oh, 50 DAYS or so! hehe

Don't worry, it will be more like 3 or 4 days. The plan is to leave at dawn tomorrow morning on the rising tide. New Years Eve will be on the sea, which will be very unique - but no drinking for us! Our intention is to arrive in Port Fairy in Victoria sometime on Tuesday, although we have a number of back-up options such as Portland and even Robe or Cape Jaffa.

Carol at VMR American River has been so helpful - she has called ahead to the network of volunteer marine radio operators along the coast to let them know we're coming, and has also sent us a heap of information about radio frequencies and coverage. Its possible there will be a few "black spots" along the way, but we have all the emergency equipment to get help if we need it - so we will be fine.

We are both feeling confident and excited about finally going to sea. Kitty is not impressed however - we put her harness back on her again last night so she could get used to it and she has spent every minute since giving us evil looks.

So here we go - wish us luck! We are as ready as we'll ever be - there's no more putting it off.
After all, they say that if you want to be a sailor, you have to go to sea!

Happy New Year!
Love, Caitlin and Michael

A few pictures from this morning...

Entrance to Christmas Cove

Last minute maintenance and checks...

View from the top...

Merry Christmas x2

Oh, and a Merry Christmas to our Family in Victoria, especially new member Chantilly Lace, and the rest of the farm!

xxx

Merry Christmas from the crew of Bass Voyager

Hello everybody, well we're still in American River KI waiting for the weather. We really didn't expect to be here for Christmas but thats the way things go when you make plans that are largely reliant on the weather. Having said that, apart form the lack of family and friends, we couldn't really ask for a better anchorage to be in. On Wednesday we went for a dive at Kangaroo Head, about one hours sail from AR to look for Crayfish. I found heaps of Crayfish - all very small and very undersized. Great dive none the less with heaps of spider crabs, octopus, cuttlefish and grouper. 

The weather is not looking great for our passage East at this stage with a potential gap opening up late next week - fingers crossed. In the mean time we will have to endure this place of over-friendly locals, fish on tap and beatiful wildlife.

Merry Christmas to all our family at my sister's house tonight for Christmas celebrations. I hope you have a great night.

Merry Christmas to all our family having breakfast at my other sister's place tomorrow morning.

Merry Christmas to all!

Love Michael, Caitlin and Kitty 

xxx

The crew of Bass Voyager.

 A Bass Voyager Christmas.

American River... still

Today is two weeks since we left the mainland, and we are still in American River, waiting for fair winds. A month ago, if I'd been told we would still be in SA for Christmas, I wouldn't have believed it. Its very frustrating, but I'm trying focus on the positives (like the beautiful surroundings, good company, fresh food - gee, its not too bad, eh?) and trying to fight the feeling like we're on some kind of schedule - which is crazy. This is what sailing is all about - being at the mercy of the weather - with all the joys and frustrations that brings.

Here's what we are facing - and have been for the last two weeks... the arrows show the wind direction (i.e pointing up = southerly, pointing left = easterly). As you can see, they are consistently coming from the very direction we need to go - south-east!

A yacht called Bluefin left here on Saturday bound for Port Albert in Victoria - they were determined to get home by Christmas and were happy to motor into headwinds the whole way to get there. Not something we are interested in doing - a bit of motoring is OK, but we are sailors, not powerboaters. An alternative would be to leave on an easterly wind and head south deep into the (gulp) Southern Ocean until the wind (hopefully) swings south and we can head east. The other alternative is to just sit here and wait and hope that Santa sends us winds with north or west in them.

View of Strawbridge Point from our mooring in American River

Strawbridge Point

Its a pretty great spot to be stuck really. Yesterday we took BV out into the bay and anchored for a few hours and caught a beautiful whiting and some big garfish which Michael filleted and I made into a pretty amazing (if I do say so myself!) panko-crumbed dinner. Oh - and Isabella - I said Id catch you a flathead - well, whatever my little sis wants, my little sis gets! Unfortunately he was just a little too small to keep - see photo below. ;o)

Oh, and we've realised something about Kitty - she hates the engine - she has taken to climbing on deck when the conditions are calm to get away from the engine noise! She's obviously a sailor, not a powerboater too!

Just chillin'

So we are trying to fill our spare time with little excursions - tomorrow we are going to go diving nearby and hopefully catch a crayfish for Christmas. We also spent three days last week exploring the island by car, which was great. Here are a few photos from the trip.

We had booked in to the cheapest accommodation we could find down at the Flinders Chase National Park which was a tiny cottage for $65 per night. When we got there they had double-booked us so upgraded us to the comparatively palatial May's Cottage. This place was just gorgeous - simple and rustic, but had everything you could possibly want - including a crab pot - perfect for the marron we bought en route. I definitely recommend it as inexpensive accomodation in that part of the island. Wish we could have stayed a few more days. As you can see from the photos, the locals were very cute.

May's Cottage - Flinders Chase NP

Michael is cute too...

Oh, and please excuse the "food-porn" but here is our amazing candlelit dinner of marron and salad with fried Kangaroo Island sheep-milk haloumi. And a good bottle of SA Riesling. Life's pretty good.

The aptly named Remarkable Rocks

Beautiful Cape de Couedic

The lighthouse at Cape Willoughby on the Eastern coast. I was a bit nervous about going here because it is where we will be sailing past when we (finally!) get away, and I was worried the ocean swell would scare the bejeezus out of me, but it was actually pretty benign. Just shows you have to pick your weather.

Also, we went to an amazing winery which had only just opened its new cellar door 3 weeks earlier - Dudley Wines, 15 mins out of Penneshaw. I am not exaggerating when I say that their new digs have one of the best views on the island - an amazing, grand vista taking in the mainland across Backstairs Passage. The photo doesn't do it justice, of course. Oh, and they had "bucket o' prawns" on the menu and the wine was good too! Make sure you go if you have a chance. Imogen - potential wedding venue!!!! ;o)

OK.
Well, Merry Christmas everyone! We send you lots of love and hope you have a very happy and relaxing day.

Stay in touch!
Love
Caitlin and Michael
xxxx

American River

Hi everyone
After a week and a bit at Wirrina catching up with family and doing a few jobs on the boat we sailed back to American River to wait for the best possible weather to strike out East. The trip over was a bit rolly, but memorable because of our mid-strait rendevous with Michael's Opa and Dad who were catching snapper for Christmas. That was Tuesday, and although the weather is improving towards the end of this week, the winds are forecast to be coming from exactly the direction that we want to go - South-East! Not much good for a sail boat. So, while we wait and cross our fingers and hope for the forecast to change and the winds to swing Northerly or Westerly (or at least Southerly!), we've decided to hire a car for a few days and see a bit more of the island. We'll keep you posted on our progress, or lack thereof!
Love
Caitlin and Michael

A couple of days before leaving Wirrina Cove - thanks for the photo John!