Eden and the Story of Old Tom

Participating in the Twofold Bay Eden Shuffle is what you do when the wind switches to the north or south.  The decision was unanimous among the skippers at 5ers. Sans Souci, Phase 2 and Bad Cat were all planning to shift across to the other side of Twofold Bay and so would we. The next morning we began in the usual way with The Bloke removing the anchor snubber and then giving me a hurry along. Retrieving 40m of chain can take a while and when the anchor did finally surface, the rope from the anchor buoy was wrapped around the anchor flukes. It happens sometimes. What has never happened before though, is finding a passenger on the anchor. Reaching forward to untangle the rope I was startled to find suckers and tentacles. I gasped so sharply it rattled my tonsils. Happily for me, the octopus dropped off back into the water. Eeeeew!

Once across the other side of the bay at the Port of Eden we anchored in Snug Cove but needlessly far out beyond the moorings. In reality we could have anchored a bit closer near the boat yard or closer inshore near the family beach. The catamaran crews anchored closer to the family beach. Phase 2 and Sans Souci had visited before on their way down to Tasmania, so had already got an idea of where to be. In fact they'd been trapped in Twofold Bay while sitting out an East Cast Low and were well acquainted with the shuffle. The northerlies, such that they were, turned out to be quite light and we never even pulled back on the anchor for the 3 days we were at Eden.

Eden is still very much a fishing port and even has cruise boats visit on a regular basis. It's a busy spot. Luckily we didn't have any reason to tie up on one of the jetties as it was evident that there is a fair amount of surge. We didn't need any fuel or water and weren't slightly tempted even on the 'Take it while it's going' rule.

The Bloke gave me a leave pass to explore on my own giving me a chance to visit whatever sights and museums took my fancy. A rare treat. Seeing as Matthew Flinders and George Bass had visited Twofold Bay in 1798, there was sure to be information that would feed my fascination for things historical. The Bloke returned to Zofia under the pretext of an anchor watch and glad to have dodged a bullet.

 Commemorative plaque near the wharf.

The Killer Whale Museum

The jewel in the crown of tourist delights at Eden is The Killer Whale Museum. It highlights the story of the Twofold Bay Killer Whales (Orca) and particularly one one known as Old Tom.  Old Tom and his pod acted cooperatively with whaler men from one single family across 3 generations, both alerting them to the presence of Baleen whales for them to hunt and then participating in their capture.  In return, Old Tom and his pod would have the lips and tongues of the prey to cement the deal. Reputedly Old Tom would even drag a whaling boat by its painter to where it was needed. A truly remarkable story that is explained further in the link. Old Tom is reckoned to have been aged between 70-80 when he died and his skeleton is on display in the Museum.

The museum perimeter has fantastic mosaics depicting the industries of the district.