Leg 44 - Schouten Passage to Eddystone Point

After a bouncy night on anchor and little sleep it was time to get up at stupid-o'clock to get cracking on this long stretch. Arriving after dark was unthinkable. We motored out of the anchorage at 05:00 and it was black. No moon and no sun yet. We steamed through Schouten Passage for the third and final time but this time in darkness. I did think to myself that it was fortunate that we'd transited the Passage in daylight a couple of days prior. Apart from some bruises we did have some photos at least!

And here are some we made earlier!

   

Dramatic rock formations covered with the fabulous russet lichens that are so typical along the Tasmanian coastline. 

Our day lasted 14 hours and covered 90nm. Sometimes we had wind and sometimes none at all. Unless we were doing 5knots we had to motor or motor sail. We rounded up 4 times when we had unexpected bullets that, although not strong, seemed to come from above - some weird effect coming off the mountains. The Bloke can't wait to get away from the mountains and all their tricks.

Ever mindful of the progress we needed to make, sailing along 3knots was not OK so we kicked in with the motor but a vibration almost lifted the cockpit table off the deck. What the hell? Surely not seaweed again! A process of stopping and starting the prop, reversing and then going forward did spit out shredded seaweed from under the transom but the shuddering persisted. Oh no... nothing for it, the Bloke had to jump in and clear the mess! A fender attached to a long rope was thrown out as a precaution.

   

The Bloke removing some weed we picked up popping through Schouten Passage days earlier.

Notice calm water and full wetsuit.

Mum, DO NOT READ!

Seaweed removal practice only a few days earlier had the Bloke's technique quite well polished for the real life daring-deed required 3.5nm off shore. He was properly motivated to be as quick as he could. Racing to get it sorted out while it was calm (and the reason we wanted to motor) he skipped the wetsuit and all the associated wriggling to get into it and jumped in with only a rash vest and jocks on - plus the mask, flippers and gloves of course. He was so quick, that his hair was still full of air when he clambered back aboard. Anyone might have thought I'd yelled SHARK. All sorted, no sharks and best of all, no weed!

Mum, you can resume reading.

We had long interludes of great pleasure with multiple escorting pods of dolphins and at one point early on, some seals were involved in a dolphin pod's feeding frenzy. The birds were out in force too with shearwaters, and sooty terns gliding about the swells before resting in groups.

We made it to the northern anchorage at Eddystone Point with the last blinks of sunlight and were delighted that it was easy anchorage with 7m of water with a sandy bottom, space and best of all, those good omens - 2 commercial fishermen. Golden!

A tough day at the office, this. For the Bloke, a 3 Coca Cola day.* We'd been up early, winched a lot all day and had rather more excitement than we'd hoped for. Luckily I'd prepared some lasagna in foil trays which we heated on the approach to the anchorage. We gobbled it down and put the empty trays in the bin and had only 2 forks to wash up. A weary and welcome sleep beckoned ahead of Leg 45 - Going through Banks Strait to Flinders Island.

* We carry small cans of Coke for emergency energy when the going gets tough.

Beachcombing at Bryan's Corner, Coles Bay

With a calm-as-can-be morning to usher in the day a beach walk at Bryan's Corner showed up many items of interest, not least of which was how hard the sand was along the waters edge. It was so hard that I was glad to have brought my shoes as it was making my feet sore. Thought to self: 'that's what our anchor is sitting on. What a good job we really yanked it in a couple of times when we anchored the afternoon before'.

 Gone fishing! Why not?

From the boat it's hard to get a perspective on the length of the beach but by the time we'd walked to a rocky outcrop towards the end of the beach the dinghy was a small speck. Along the way we found a pair of thongs. Not one of two pairs, but an actual pair. A group of 10 people had come ashore earlier from a large ketch that had anchored further up the beach. We recognised the boat as one we'd seen in Wirrina, SA, being renovated for the charter market in Tasmania. How funny to see it again. We thought it had dragged anchor a bit and perhaps the thongs got left on the beach in the haste to get back to the ketch before it got into trouble. The cruising guide did say that the holding was poor at the eastern end of the beach.

From the natural world we found a good assortment of intact shells, a very disguised crab and a few hermit crabs.

   

   

Gorgeous colours and textures too!

Mindful of the ketch dragging and my observation of the sand, we dropped out an extra 10m of chain before going to bed which proved a good idea. Our travel companions Easy Rider, dragged in the wind switch and had to re-anchor in the night. The wind swung from NW to the WSW and freshened, delivering an uncomfortable fetch and a poor night of sleep ahead of our run up the coast.

Mmmm? That sky whispers... "put out more chain, put out more chain".

Leg 43 - Prosser Bay to Bryan's Corner

A rolly night on the mooring in Prosser Bay thanks to the NE swell sneaking into the bay and our bow banging against the mooring buoy had the Bloke properly annoyed and thinking to get out immediately. Seeing as we had already counted on the need to motor to Wineglass Bay the next day in very light conditions, we thought that we'd take the glassy ride unexpectedly on offer.

Easy Rider's mooring buoy was being pushed under their trampoline by the swell in Prosser Bay because of the absence of wind. They'd had a bad night too and left just 30 minutes after us but had the wisdom to stop at Bryan's Corner.

Our plan was OK and good progress made. We knew it might be a bit 'willing' on the seaward side of Schouten Passage but considered that only 8 nm in a headwind wouldn't be too bad.  

Think again!

It was a great relief when the Bloke said we were turning around. In a matter of moments the slamming was over and within an hour we'd been whisked back through Schouten Passage with the flood tide. By 2pm we were somewhere fantastic. A lovely long white sandy beach, clear, clear water - not unlike our beloved Quindalup. Best of all it was 'Goodbye NE wind'.

 Easy Rider at rest in Bryan's Corner.

View across to Schouten Island

 

Sunset - A Thunderstorm at Triabunna (near Prosser Bay) delivered 10mm of rain.

A good job we left!

We love to share an anchorage with fishing boats - local knowledge is very affirming. This will do us nicely until it's time to go further up the coast. Our Wineglass is full, thanks very much, no pressing need to re-visit Wineglass Bay. We'll stay a couple of days.

Waiting for Weather to Pass is Time to Explore

Some boats were making a bolt for Flinders Island to make the most of the presenting High Pressure system. The Bloke thought the window too narrow and didn't want to put us in a hiding-at-Flinders-Island situation, besides, with 2 cyclones approaching the north of Australia from the West and the East he reckoned that the gloves were off when it came to forecasting. It did look like there was a big fat High Pressure system of 1030+ hPa which was forming in the Southern Indian Ocean. Fingers crossed, it might be our bus out of here. At last a pattern that we could recognise!

Arriving an hour or so after us and taking the other MAST mooring was Easy Rider. Goody - play friends! 5ers were convened aboard to get acquainted with Henma and Rob, who'd spent the last 12 months in Tassie, and shore time activities were arranged for the next day.

After dark it was quite apparent that the township of Orford is quite big and spread around Prosser Bay. Although almost impossible to discern from our position at the head of the bay, a small River has created this attractive bay and boats (although not keel boats) can get in via a gully and across a bar at high tide. Our googling indicated a nice coffee shop, IGA and possibly an ATM were to be found. The ATM had been subject to an arson attack a few years before. We didn't need any cash but had it been repaired we wondered? So many fires in Tassie! We roared laughing recalling the Port Arthur General Store which had burned down despite being situated right next to the Fire Brigade shed. Not a laughing matter of course but it was a bit quirky. This added to a series of fires we'd come across - the Velvet Lounge Coffee shop in Cygnet and more sadly the Pharmacy, news agency and coffee shop building in Currie, King Island where we'd visited 5 months ago - all burned down!

Navigating the gutter exiting the Prosser River.

The Bloke and Rob took the dinghies to Orford after dropping we girls ashore so we could have a walk. The Glenmorgan Spring Bay Council has constructed an attractive walkway along the beach and we found ourselves at Orford and the Tasman Highway road bridge across Prosser River rather quickly. The boys on the other hand, still in the dinghies, found the tide out and had to drag the dinghies across the sandbar. No thoughts of leaving them and walking in without. This of course generated an appetite in the Bloke which was fortunately rewarded with one last chance to sample a Tasmanian sausage roll.

This one was advertised as an Angus Beef sausage roll.

Standby by for a verdict to be declared on next Sausage Roll table of fame.

Zofia with Easy Rider - not to be confused with Easy Tiger!

With another day to cool our heels we went ashore again and walked up Shelley Beach in the direction of Spring Beach around the headland.

 

Lovely patterns in the rocks on the shore.

MAST has a jetty too but this is another built with a mix of rocks and timber.

 

Boat ownership levels must be high around here

judging from the jetties, moorings, sheds and ramps.

Thanks for posing Henma!

A glimpse of a view from the walking track.

Surely this smooth rock face had to be a quarry at some stage.

View to Maria I. from Spring Beach.

Lucky locals to have direct access down to this private beach.

We girls went further afield leaving 2 grumpy blokes to return to our boats alone when the wind got up. Our late return back to the beach for collection was punished by a drenching dinghy ride back to the boat because by now the wind was truly piping. Sometimes its a lucky thing to be on a mooring.

Saying Goodbye

A lot is written about the cruising life - the exotic and exciting locations with spectacular geography and fantastic anchorages; the passage making with its sleepless nights and sometimes great sailing. Then there are the countless descriptions of the people and the joys to be had in sharing the cruising experience. No one however, has written about the pain of saying goodbye.

There is the obvious regret at having to leave a place that you are enjoying. This is born out of the loss of the comfort or protection a place might offer. It is difficult to throw off the lines from a yacht club or marina where you have been embraced and pampered with showers, washing machines, limitless power and water. This however, is only regret. I am writing here about the pain of leaving people whom you have come to know and with whom you have shared experiences, joys and excitements.

These people can be club members that invite you into their lives, introduce you to their friends and show aspects of their location that you do not see as a passer bye. They make you feel at home, comfortable and welcome. To leave these people is painful and you often ask why am I going? Why not stay, these are great people and we are having a great time.

Then there are the people that you meet and sail with. With these people you share a different bond. A bond born out of shared experience, often exiting, sometimes dangerous but always character changing. These people stay with you after the pain of leaving has subsided and you take joy in the fact that you meet them and hope that that you will see them again.

Some of these people you will never see again. This is the way life is. You move off and your paths never cross again. Some of these people will pass away and thus you can never see them again. You will never sail with them again or share a beer at the bar. They will stay with you forever though because having met them you will never be the same again.

Ian Collett, 1953 - 2015 Rest in Peace

Leg 42 - Maria Island to Prosser Bay

A southerly change meant that staying in Chinaman's Bay, Maria Island was not a good idea. A shame really, as it might have been nice to go ashore with some historical interest from the convict era. We missed our chance as we relaxed a little during the morning, it had after all, been a little chaotic over the last 4-5 days and the previous day had been a long one.

Too gloomy to stay but a lovely anchorage with things to see on shore on a good day.

We set off  at midday hoping that it would not be long before the expected southerly change would give us a hand. It did come, but not until we'd picked up one of the 2 MAST mooring at Shelley Beach in Prosser Bay. A few fishing boats like Pamela found pushing into the northerly a bit exciting too. It took 3 hours to make 10nm thanks to the noserlies!

When we zoomed in on the photo, we found that the Skipper had 

Dad tucked well under the cover and hanging on!

Leg 41 - Hobart to Shoal Bay, Maria Island via Denison Cannal

We really didn't want to start our outbound journey from Hobart on a Friday: a sailor superstition. We in particular wanted to avoid Friday 13th! With so many tasks to complete, we simply couldn't get everything done by Wednesday afternoon for a Thursday 12th departure. Once again we visited Sonia at the office to plead another day but surely we wouldn't need 2. We talked ourselves out of the Friday 13th superstition on the basis that the cruisers calendar really looks like this:

Sat  Sat  Sat  Sat  Sat Sat Sun

Sat  Sat  Sat  Sat  Sat Sat Sun

Sat  Sat  Sat  Sat  Sat Sat Sun

Sat  Sat  Sat  Sat  Sat Sat Sun
Sat  Sat  Sat                           

That looked a lot better, we would leave on a 'Saturday' the 13th and we'd be ready and more importantly we wouldn't miss a juicy weather window.

A 'stupid o'clock' start ..... oh NO, not those again!

 We threw off the lines at first light to enable us to arrive at the Denison Canal at slack water.

The Tasman Bridge was still lit up and a huge cruise liner was in port
having diverted to escape from the Cyclone heading for Vanuatu.

The Iron Pot at the end of the Derwent River lit up by a break in the clouds.

A call to the Denison Canal on Channel 16 indicated that we would need to bide our time and present ourselves an hour and a half later. We thought we'd followed the cruising guide notes but early is better than late. Anchoring in Lime Bay was recommended so we did just that, ate lunch and had a snooze. When we called again from in front of the markers, we were informed that another boat had called just ahead of us so we'd need to wait. Darn. Twitchy time for the Bloke who could see nothing but shallow water to the left and right.

Approaching the Denison Canal from the Dunalley end.

Here comes the boat that held us up.

They seemed quite fine with cutting across us instead of passing to port!

 

 We barely needed the depth markers to tell us it was shallow

... but thanks anyway!

 

Red light                                     Green light

 

 

Time to go through but hang to port!

The traffic waiting for us: must be annoying for the trucks.

 

Breath in. Not much space.
A bit of acceleration needed to keep the heading in the current!

Bridge closed behind us.

 

 Almost an irrigation channel.

Almost there.

Just when we thought the worst was behind us we then needed to traverse a complicated series of markers showing, the channel through Blackman Bay. This very much reminded us of our transit through to Coffin Bay exactly 12 months before.

 

 

This 'Castle' is a very prominent landmark and sits on Boomer Island.
It is profoundly ugly and the tree planting will sadly, never manage to obscure it.

Being passed by a powerboat probably rushing to get to the Canal before closing time.

The transit from the Denison Canal to the Marion Narrows was a white knuckle ride and once we'd blasted out into Marion Bay, what did we get but, lashings of 'noserlies' to impede us to our destination.

Southern end of Maria Island.

It took us 11 1/2 hours including our lunch break, at Lime Bay to get from Hobart to Chinaman's Bay on the West side of Maria Island where we anchored among many boats of different styles for the night. Good oh, we've made the break..... a little late, but let's have 5ers to celebrate!