Leg 26 - Penneshaw, Kangaroo Island to Robe

Our journey from Kangaroo Island to Robe would be an overnighter and take us a little over 24 hours. We prepared in the usual way by trying to get some sleep 'in the bank', checking fuel and equipment, balancing the water tanks over the preceding days and of course pre-preparing some easy food for the journey. A lasagna in foil tubs is always a winner as it only entails popping it into the oven with no need for lengthy down-below time. When consumed, it sits like a nice warm brick in the tummy ahead of a cold night and there are no dishes to be done since the foil trays go straight in the bin. I also like to make a zucchini slice which is a bit like a quiche without the pastry. A winning recipe from sister-in-law Jan. It's another minimum-fuss meal that can be eaten hot or cold, also without a plate if necessary. A great standby and what doesn't get finished on a passage, freezes well. Our little esky of water bottles had been topped up and placed topside along with a companion one holding some fresh fruit, nuts, box of cake slice, chocolates plus ginger snap biscuits which seem to be good for my mal de mer. With all the way-points transferred from the iPad to the Raymarine, tides and weather confirmed we were set to go.

We needed to leave Christmas Cove on a high tide plus exit through Backstairs Passage on an ebbing tide. There is a tidal race of 2-3 knots through the Passage inwards from East to West. The restricted channel combined with its relative shallowness causes waves to stand up and make conditions range from uncomfortable to treacherous. We overheard two large commercial vessels converse over the radio a week before. One stood off to allow the other to pass through first. They avoided passing each other in the narrows. We took note!

Prior to departing we made a quick check on an AIS application called 'Marine Traffic'. Our intention was to determine if we were likely to encounter something B I G while negotiating this tricky stretch. The coast was clear from what we could tell but these Apps are really no substitute for our own AIS inside a 32nm range. As it was, we knew we would encounter 10-15 knots on the nose and wind against tide! Why? Yes, indeed a good question. The synoptic situation was quite unusual and we didn't want to return to American River in the event of the next cold front coming quickly. We think that the 'gloves are off' in weather prediction when there are troughs about. They existed west, east and north! The depth in Christmas Cove would not allow for surge associated with a big swell. We needed to leave there while we had options. One thing that did appear clear was that the unseasonal easterly flow would be swatting down the SW swell and getting into Robe on a low swell and under a clear sky in improving conditions was very appealing.

We threw of our lines at 07:00 and lined up on the leads to negotiate the shallow narrow exit from Christmas Cove. We were immediately met with the wrap-around ripples from the sea state that we'd be facing all through Backstairs Passage. A confused sea state with wind against tide, albeit light winds. We motored at between 5-6 knots until we'd passed south of The Pages (rocky islands) and associated shoals. After that the waters open up and we felt we had sufficient sea room to sail. We were under full sail for a couple of hours. We tried a couple of tacks but found that we were laying Victor Harbour to the north instead of Robe and wanted to arrive the next day before noon to benefit from a high tide going in. If we'd kept tacking we'd be out for 36 hours instead of 24. The Bloke wanted to be across and inshore of the shipping lane by nightfall. Not negotiable. We are prepared to sacrifice diesel for distance at this time of the year, so the sails came down and we motored into steadily calmer conditions.

What do we think of Backstairs Passage? In a word - Vile. No amount of ginger snap biscuits could placate my tummy and I was soon leaning over the transom. All the food preparation was a God send and the Bloke was on self serve for a few hours. By nightfall I'd recovered and the lasagna was enjoyed by us both.

As it turned out we needn't have worried about any large commercial shipping. There was none. What we did see was the lights of fishing vessels which of course never fire up their AIS! They don't want to share their fishing spots with their competitors. When lights first appear on the horizon, the senses are very aroused even if moments before, the head might have been nodding a bit. Check the AIS, radar, charts. Double check our position. Are we straying off course towards land? Is it a beacon or a lighthouse? When a clump of lights finally assemble themselves, we strain to see anything red, anything green. Is this coming towards us? Is it stationary? As the lights recede, we can once again settle and relax.

By dawn of the next morning we were on our approach to Robe and it appeared we would arrive earlier than we expected. It is an illusion though, we were actually only 45mins earlier than our estimate of 10:00. A gentle off-shore breeze supported some handsome curling waves on the reefs in front of Robe.

The Robe Obelisk
It had been flashing us for hours

Arriving early is not always a good thing. Although the tide variation was only 0.5m, we'd arrived just ahead of the high tide and we did nudge the keel (1.6m) coming in. The entry into the Robe marina is a little silted up. It's easy to get bogged. The fishermen are concerned. The way in is to stay close to the floating port buoy and then follow the contour of the groyne. The Bloke was following the leads, Doh! Anyway, a cool head and a big prop spun us off on the next little swell surge. We motored in and pulled into our allocated 15m pen - K9. We tried logging off with the local VMR on VHF 82 but there being no reply, we emailed Carol at American River VMR, who we knew would be watching over us. Instruments and radio off. We had arrived.

The Bloke connecting us to shore power. 

The extension cable once again in use.

It was a gorgeous day. Too nice to stay on board and sleep!

This is a very historic town with plenty of examples of colonial architecture.

No beers here. We'd already had a $12 pub lunch at the Cally (Calledonian).

Bust of Nicolas Baudin

Bust of Matthew Flinders alongside

Handsome marble War Memorial to Robe Men

 

Oystercatcher looking for his lunch

Writing postcards in the sunny beer garden of The Cally.

The $12 Fish and Chip pub lunch was soooo good!

Having gone through the previous 24 hours with sleep in snatches, we suddenly hit the wall and sought the comfort of some shut-eye in our bunk. This should be the last overnighter for a while. Here's cheers to that!

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FYI Robe Council runs the Marina and their office is immediately behind the Marina. The Marina gates on the Karatta Jetty need a key to come in and out. Once you've registered at the council offices they will provide keys for the gates plus to the nearby Yacht Club building where there are unisex hot showers. Public WC's are just off the jetty. Casual rates at this time are $40 for the first day and $20 per day after. The 7 day rate is $140. There are no laundry facilities at the time of writing although they are on the drawing board. There is NO laundrobar in town. The Publican at The Cally offered us the use of his coin operated facilities associated with the Pub's holiday units. Very kind!

Michael Wilkin -  Robe Harbour Master
Telephone 08) 8768 2003
Facsimile 08) 8768 2432
Mobile 0429 799 614
Email  michael@robe.sa.gov.au