Running Before the Wind

As a rule, running before the wind is a nautical term referring to sailing with the wind behind you, often as a means of reducing the apparent wind when the wind is strong. We have adapted this concept.

We spent a couple of nights in Barnes Bay feeling well pleased to have evaded the stronger and more miserable weather further down the D'Entrecasteaux Channel. Getting to Southport was not to be and we have resigned ourselves to this. Our morning trawl of the weather situation was very affirming of our earlier decision but also made apparent that anchoring out would not be pleasant. I dropped my lip and thought that shore power would be a comfort when the wind would be howling 30 something knots and the temperature forecast to struggle to 13 or 14C...what the? The Bloke agreed. When to go; morning or afternoon? The Bloke thought the morning best when conditions were still mild.

The BOM Met-eye site displaying wind direction and strength.

The orange denotes 30+knots lashing the SW corner of Tassie.

It was lucky that we decided to take an easy ride across to Kettering while it was going. By the time we got there, not only was the Westerly fresh enough to blow us off the collector jetty, but there was only 1 space left! So here we will sit until the 3rd or is it the 4th front this week, crosses over and this is only the 5th day of autumn!

A few things have changed since we were last here hiding from the worst of the January bad weather. Jerry's roses have started to bloom outside the Marina office for one thing.

January, 2015

March, 2015

The Swan family have prospered too.

We took comfort in a pub dinner at the Oyster Cove Pub and met the crew from Southern Belle. We'd waived at one another previously but not been able to actually get together. Gail and George had just returned from Port Davey and were clearly pleased to have got back ahead of the forecasts. As it was they'd had 60knots across their bow whilst on anchor in Bathurst Harbour. The Bloke nodded knowingly at this news and felt vindicated in never having Port Davey on his wish list.

Gail from Southern Belle.

Being tied up alongside is not all bad. The Bloke is getting ahead on his projects. In anticipation of future times he's installed a 12v fan in our cabin today. 

Not only have we run to safety ahead of the big winds arriving we'll be able to create a bit of wind inside too but at our own discretion. And now to wait and see if it really does snow on Mt Wellington tomorrow....it's actually predicted. Make no mistake, we are looking forward to heading north!

Summer is Officially Over

We hardly needed to look at the calendar to know that summer was over. We gave it one last day to show itself, but NO, it failed.

Once Onora and then Marvelous Miles left we turned our minds to 'northward' thoughts. Today's plan, written in the sand at low tide, is to depart Hobart on 12th March. We've booked a pen for our last 3 days in Hobart so we can get our provisioning, fueling and goodbyes done. In fact we've already said some goodbyes this week in Cygnet. We drew up a list of Bays that we might still visit before we head out of the D'Entrecasteaux Channel but I think we'll mostly be re-visiting favourites rather than sampling new ones.

 

A Cygnet morning

Sunset from Sand Rock Bay

We had intended to visit Southport and take a predicted northerly to get there. We left our very comfortable and favourite Sand Rock Bay where the game is to speculate just how many trips around the anchor you'd achieve in a single day. We were passing the southern end of Port Esperance with another 8nm to go when we decided against it and turned back. Why would you travel to worse weather we wondered? We already had our wet weather pants on plus sleeveless jackets over fleeces! It was raining and visibility was about 1/2 nm! Tomorrow's front to mark the start of autumn was predicted to be followed by another 2 by Thursday. So much for the weather being 'settled' at the end of summer and going into autumn. Should have been here last year?

 Mid-day off Port Esperance 28th Feb, 2015.

 And then came the rain!

Even the birds have changed at Quarantine Bay

The Swans have left and been replaced by these guys

 A parting shot with Pam and David - the Bloke with 'Team Sheokee'

David could almost be Brownie's twin!

The Bloke has become very invigorated by a date to focus on. He's reading the cruising guides with a vengeance and plotting possible anchorages as we head north across Bass Strait; this time via Flinders and Deal Islands. I'm similarly on a mission to complete some half done projects that have been interrupted by a social life.

 BBQ cover now completed

Time to leave 'Cold Front Central'; it's been lovely, but our Bow will be pointed north very soon in search of -40S!

Battery Point Sculpture Trail

The Bloke and I walked a section of this curated walk within the first week of our arrival but missed some parts. This was remedied when Jeanie and I made a couple of trips into Central Hobart in a effort to walk off some 'hospitality'.

The trail serves to give a guided visit to some early Hobart landmarks and their significance. It begins at the Southern end of Salamanca Place and finishes at Errol Flynn Reserve in Sandy Bay. In case you weren't aware, Errol was a son of Tasmania and gave his name to the Aussie phrase "In like Flynn" : a reference to his reputation as a 'ladies man'.

One of the early stops was an octagonal hut housing a line used to measure the Hobart tides through a hole in the rock. We immediately felt a connection in view of our time on the water and our interest in the spectacular tides of Bass Strait.

 

Each of the landmarks came with their own explanation but we spotted some additional things on the way too.

Jean was drawn, for example, to this bronze of Roald Amundsen.

 The distance of the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race. The finish line is along the trail.

This actual 'sculpture' depicting a propeller, was near the race finish line.

 

 The land at Battery Point was sub-divided in 1923 enabling the development of housing.

The site of boat yards where hundreds of boats were built.

 

We've been along this trail numerous times and it really seems the quickest route to walk into Hobart from the RYCT in Sandy Bay. In like Flynn!

Are we Stalkers?

A part of our morning ritual has been to check the weather. Not just to see of it will rain but really check the weather. An overall picture at first then a breakdown of anticipated changes through the day. Wind, tide, barometric pressure, synoptic situation are all assimilated to give an impression of what to expect. After that, we are free to check on news, emails etc. In reality there haven't been a lot of places we've been where internet has been unavailable.

Ever since we left home we've been curious about who else is out on the water. This is especially so so since arriving in Tasmania at the start of spring. It was still cold, the weather still in a winter pattern and we just seemed to be the only loonies moving about on the ocean. We found ourselves checking Marine Traffic, an AIS site that displays shipping movements. A number of yachts use AIS to share their location; us included. This is not for social reasons, we don't want to be unexpectedly run down by a big container ship or similar! We want to be electronically 'seen'! It does however let  viewers see, in a general sense, which yachts are traveling and where.

We also look at a site called Skipr.net that is used by predominantly cruising yachts, to log their position, record a few words about their passage to that destination and the position is visible collectively on a map. To begin with there were very few little red or green blobs anywhere on the Tasmanian coast. The Queensland coast was illuminated with little blobs. Now, North Queensland looks empty and due to the Van Diemen's Land circumnavigation being in progress as well as a club cruise from the Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club (Pittwater) there are now a couple of dozen blobs all around Tassie. We've watched the boats launching from Eden across Bass Strait headed for the Wooden Boat festival and so on. It doesn't take long to recognise the boat names and there is often a boat profile and a photo. We call it boat porn!

Inevitably, you are going to actually sight some of the yachts. Two early sightings were of cruisers who were here in Tasmania early, like us. We have spent some time subsequently with the crews of Casablanca and Sheokee and we met them because we'd recognised them and their journeys from Skipr.net and then made a point of meeting them. Is this Stalking?

The most recent in this group of 'recognised' and encountered yachts is the American flagged Panta Rhei. We'd 'watched' it on Marine Traffic arrive into Australia via Brisbane after a horrid passage from New Caledonia. We knew it'd sustained some sail damage in bad weather and waited anxiously to see that they made it into harbour. We found their blog and had a sense of where they'd been. After several months they emerged on Skipr.net and had made it to Tasmania. So when we picked up a mooring in Cygnet on Tuesday and observed a handsome navy hulled yacht called Panta Rhei  adjacent to us, of course we had to invite the crew for 5ers. And yes, we did confess; we'd stalked them - as you do!

Here is a photo of Larry and Karen's yacht - Panta Rhei

The Comedy of Errors - Bollywood Style

Don't let it be said that our cultural life is being neglected while we are away. A long time friend of Chris and John who also lives in Hobart has a thespian son. Robbie would be performing in Shakespeare's The Comedy of Errors at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Hobart. Would we like to go? was the question posed at New Years Eve dinner. But of course!

We were hoping for a nice night. All through January we collectively worried when we might find a suitable night. This week we had a chance and we took it.

We took picnics, blankets, wine etc and had a wonderful Theatre-in-the-Round experience. It was a very polished production and the Bollywood theme with bursts of Indian music and dancing greatly complimented the humour of the evening.

 The company was great, as was the food and entertainment.

What Happens When There's a Racer on Board.

Having left the RYCT together with Onora by way of a farewell escort, we broke away to enter the D'Entrecasteaux Channel which is flanked to the East by Bruny Island. After such a busy few days we wanted to show something of these waters to Marvelous Miles and let him chill out a bit before leaving Hobart for Adelaide in preparation for the Adelaide - Lincoln Ocean race. As usual he would be racing on Kym Clarke's boat, Fresh.

Racers are never as happy as when they are tweaking the sails and chasing the 'pressure'; eyes constantly switching from water to sails and back again.

Marvelous Miles multitasking.

Sailing and fielding questions about Lincoln Week.

On the way back to Hobart, Miles saw an opportunity to hoist 'Big Red', our asymmetrical spinnaker. Then he decided he could best that by pulling out the little jib as well. It's never happened on Zofia before, so we had ourselves a small sailing lesson. We learned about barber hauling too. It's never too late to learn new tricks!

Progress on the Sausage Roll Hunt

The Bloke has been pretty keen to share his, so far, all time favourite sausage roll with his accomplices from our sojourn at Port Lincoln. It wasn't long before we were all marched up the, not insignificant hills to visit 'Jackman & McRoss' so the verdict could be confirmed.

How to build an appetite climbing hills to J and M's in Battery Point.

Jim, Jeanie and Marvelous Miles all agreed that this specimen was worthy of the reputation the Bloke was bestowing upon it.

As a farewell gesture to the crew of Onora, Marvelous made a surprise visit to 'Daci & Daci', another Hobart bakery with a colossal reputation. He returned with Pork and Fennel Sausage Rolls AND a Moroccan version for us all to eat while motoring down the Derwent.

Stand by for the verdict when the Bloke includes them in his Table of Fame.