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| Taipan in Constitution Dock |
Saturday 2nd April
Salamanca Markets and a heavy dose of art and craft. Some excellent exhibitions on as “10 Days on the Island” festival is on now. A very arty and cultural event in Tasmania every year.
Sunday 3rd April
More culture. Off to more galleries and Antique shops. Exhibiting excellent control. Purchases… nil.
Monday 4th April.
Haircut first priority. Tuesday Wednesday Thursday. Boat jobs. Joyce and her sisters Margaret, Judith, and Heather and sister in law Sally visited the boat. We have arranged to have lunch tomorrow at Peppermint Bay south of Hobart.
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| Margaret, Joyce, Heather Sally Judith |
Friday 8th April
Its another lovely day. Our New ceramic heater is absolutely wonderful. It will run off the genset as well. David has gone to pick up a rental bomb. Off to Kettering to pick up our new craypot. Now down further south to Peppermint Bay. Well written up in the eating magazines but we are a little disappointed in the food. Great fun company though with all Johns family. Off to Franklin to see the wooden boat building school but it doesn’t look very impressive and at $13 for us to get in, we decide to leave it. There are only 15 minutes left of the opening time anyway. Stunning country. Its still raining but with all the autumn color, quite lovely.
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| Oast houses. Tasmaina Hops were dried and processed here. |
Saturday 9th April
Driving to Queenstown. Rolling grazing country on the upper Derwent river. Rows and rows of yellow poplars throwing color into the wind. Claret Ash with green petticoats, topped with deep burgundy lace. Oaste houses, strangely shaped buildings, usually predominantly weatherboard, and all grey and weathered. Mysterious interiors unrevealed. Used in the past as hop drying sheds. Inviting new use as something? These buildings are often beautifully sited. Often on a river flat with lovely old trees around. Further up the Derwent, its all a bit wild and properties look increasingly poverty-stricken except “Cleveland” appears to be a huge property with sheep and cattle both sides of the road from miles High country now.
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| High plains |
Big patches of button grass interspersed with stands of snow gum and scrub. Derwent Bridge. The Wall Gallery. Amazing panels of Huon pine 3m x 1m and carved with a history of the area. Must see. Defies description. Queenstown. It's nearly dark but possible to see that the degradation caused by sulfur gas released during the copper mining process in the early days is beginning to recover. There is a notable amount of vegetation over most of the hillsides now. Mt Lyle Motor Hotel. Not fancy but cheap. The best scallops in Tasmania.
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| Queenstown |
Sunday 10th April.
Simons birthday. Queenstown by daylight and I have never seen so many dreadful looking houses. So derelict and still inhabited The mines are now owned by an Indian Company and are reputedly pouring almost pure acid down the river. Either that or they will close the mine and 800 jobs will go. Disgraceful. The mine and jobs would be no loss The unemployed would probably to move into something habitable somewhere else, and Queenstown could get on with rebuilding as a great tourist venue. The ABC Rack and Pinion Railway would be a good start. We will have to come back one day and do that. For now, its time to return to Taipan. the windscreen wipers are all in a tangle and its raining. Lake St Clair and a look for platypus. Nothing doing. Onward to Hobart. Late back. Too far in one day.
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| King River. View from the Railway Rack and Pinion line. We didn't go. |
Monday 11th April
Washing day but cant dry it aboard here in the center of Hobart. Instead, there is a great laundry in Salamanca Place with a cafe. Done and done. Decision made. We leave Hobart tomorrow for Kettering to refuel. Its only $ 1.18 per ltr,
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| Another photo of the King River. We missed. |
Tuesday 12th April
Finally on our way to Kettering. About 2 hours south. It’s midday so the breeze is in and on the nose and cold. Although its a beautiful sunny day. Seal. Great lazy lump laying on top having a sunbath. We sneak up on him and he gets such a fright! No fish for the new craypot. Fuel at Kettering marina. Nice old guy there. Now of to Barnes Bay on Beautiful Bruney Island. So peaceful, and I think warmer than the rest fo Tasmania. Superb horse country. Tea on Taipan. Celebrating a reunion with Magic.
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| Tasmanian Craypots |
Wednesday 13th April
Another superb day. Bit of northerly in the breeze so heading north for the 1st hour is a beat but soon well go straight to Port Arthur. About 40nm. Well very good decision. Great breeze on the beam 15 to 20 knots so clipping along at a good pace and in comfort. The scenery, as we approach Cape Raoul, is magnificent. Huge columns of basalt reach vertically from the deep. Sunlight strikes great color and shadows. As we round the Cape we catch a good size coota. Bait! for the cray pot. Which by the way is quite a work of art in itself? Made by steaming or soaking sticks up to 1 inch thick and then weaving them together with galvanized rod. The base is made from twisted galvanized wire rope. Heavy, but not as heavy as WA pots. The sun is setting as we beat up into Port Arthur. An altogether great sail. Anchor in, and the ruins of the penal establishment lit by huge floodlights creating a great backdrop.
More photos of Port Arthur
a mass
a mass
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| Taipan at Port Arthur |
Thursday 14th April
Dawn and the SW change has just hit. We have just met Bob and Jackie of Isle Rue. From Fremantle. They are off to Fortescue Bay. Can't say I envy them in this weather. We move the anchor in closer and now have much better protection. The genset has overheated and stopped so a quick investigation reveals away of ribbon weed in the skimmer box. The weather is improving and we are off ashore to join the thronging thousands, climbing all over the Port Arthurs ruins. The monument to the victims of The Port Arthur Massacre in April 96 is very moving and rather unexpected amidst the highly commercialized ruins. Unfortunately, the light isn’t great today so what appears, photographic is quite hard to capture. The separate prison and chapel are pretty awesome. Restorations and displays in the old homes, very instructive. We have spent about 6 hours roaming about and its been pleasant in spite of the thousands. Magic doing dinner. Lamb roast!
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| Port Arthur Hospital Ruin |
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| Life in the separation cells. |
Friday 15th April
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| Coota |
Approaching Tasman Island, SE corner of Tasmania. impressive sandstone and basalt. Gentle breeze. have bagged another coota. The cray pot didn’t produce but I guess its still fairly green. Photo Shoot. Magic has waited on the other side to get shots of us. Coota on the line. Seal!! Seals got the coota!!! More photos we take shots of them and they take shots of us. (Most of the photos of Taipan are taken by them!) Calm, currents, sunny, spectacular, Tasman Island has a lighthouse and is manned by volunteers. It would be quite fun to do it for a few months. There seems to be some sort of cable arrangement to facilitate landing of stores people etc. and to get them to the top of the enormous hill. I suspect most of that is done by helicopter now. No breeze now and Fortescue Bay is just around the next headland. What a top spot. Right in behind an old barge scuttled here in 1953 as a breakwater for fishing fleet moorings. Now gone. The wreck is all riveted iron, rust weed and wildlife. Great walk for a couple of hours, round to the beach and back. On our walk to Fortescue Bay beach, we passed through a penguin rookery. Easily identified by the smell and the numerous burrows. They must be tenacious critters, because it was a steep climb through bush and fallen logs to their burrows. There were quite a number of bodies on the beach. hard to know what causes such a high mortality rate. No crayfish again. Tea on Taipan. Oysters Kilpatrick Davids Specialty.
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| Taipan in Fortescue Bay |
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| Cape Raoul |
Saturday 16th April
Another glorious day. Ten miles to Dootown and Eagle Hawk Neck. This is a strip of land 100m wide which joins Tasman Peninsular to Tasmania and the site of the infamous Dog Line. Here a line of fierce large dogs were tethered under lamps to alert guards if any Port Arthur escapees tried to flee. The old guard barracks is the oldest timber military installation in Australia. (Pretty run down too). Its a long walk from Dootown along the beach to the historic site but its too rough to land the dingy any nearer. 3 hours later …we are back. Up anchor and into the teeth of the wind, on our way to Maria Island Another Penal Colony. We may stay a couple of days because the forecast is for strong N to NW wind. Maria Island. Its dark. Chinaman Bay easy to get into. Anchored. A beautiful night. Wind has dropped
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| Taipan off Tasman island |
Sunday 17th April.
Wind is building. Islay Rua is in the anchorage too. Walk this afternoon. The ruins are about 1 hour. Over to Frenches farm, now abandoned, or resumed by wildlife and parks sometime ago, by the look of it. Long walk. David has left me on the beach while he walks back to the dingy… now, where is he …. The ruins of the convict cells are in a very exposed and lonely position. It must have been pretty miserable. Wind howling. No protection, a lot of country as been cleared and all the stone heaped up. The remains of a path edged by stones and paved with stone, only exist in a few places, as vehicles damage has destroyed most of it. The big grey kangaroos are everywhere as are their many bones. Plenty of Bennett's Wallaby too.
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| Dog Line at Eagle Hawk Neck |
Monday 18th April
A big thunderstorm in the night. Not a lot fo wind and rain but spectacular lightning. Anchors Aweigh! Of to Triabunna. Very small fishing/farming town on the main island, Just 2 hours north. Wombat is parked here. Its called Derwent Express
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| Cells on Maria Island from Chinamans Bay |
Tuesday 19th April
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| Derwent Explorer |
Catching the wombat to Maria Island. This Island served as a convict prison island in the early part to 1800 Then it was turned into a vineyard by one entrepreneurial Italian, Bernicci. This failed but he manages to get quite a sum of money from the government before going belly up! The amazing. Separate apartments, all brick, were pulled down for materials to build six row cottages and various housing for vineyard workers. Lots of great walks and plenty to see. The Department of CALM manages the island now as it is a National Park. Their procedures are pretty strange. Money spending on obscure things as usual. Pub at Spring Bay Triabunna for dinner. Sensational steak. Think they rounded the beast onto the plate then felled him. Met a really interesting local farmer / heavy machinery business, and pilot and his son. John Salmon and son Sam. John was a fish spotter pilot for about 18 years but now flies only occasionally. Son Sam also flies. Got his license at 16yrs. He’s 27 now They’re planning a run to WA this year.
More photos of Maria Island
More photos of Maria Island
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| Maria Island Old engine house. |
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| Main Settlement at Maria Island |
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| The beautiful setting. Maria Island |
Wednesday 20th April
Stunning day. Bright and sunny. Light breeze from S - SW Should be good for a run north to Hen and Chicken Bay. About 22 miles. Just waiting for the tide to come in. $10 per night here on the town jetty, fair smack in the center of uptown Triabunna. Triabunna has a wood chip plant and loading facility, farming, sheep, and cattle. Scallop and muscle processing and a few old buildings from the convict's era. Soldier accommodation and stables etc. Very hospitable place. Yesterday off the northern tip of Maria Island we saw a killer whale. Maybe we will see it again today. Sailing NE towards Hen and Chicken. Breeze is cool and on the nose because we left too late. However it's really pretty. Beautiful rolling farmland generously treed and reaching right to the water's edge. Just bagged a fresh coota for cray bait. Hen and Chicken Anchorage. Nearly dark VERY tiny. Lucky there are no other boats here. Anchor skidding about on the rocky bottom. We are finally hooked in 5m of water but the wind had better not change or we will run aground. Only room to lay lengthways in this gutter.
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| Hen and Chicken Bay |
Thursday 21st April
No sleep. Very weary this morning. Penguins cackling all night. Rolling, waves splashing about, it's like a bathtub in here. Very pretty though. Large granite boulders painted in green and red lichen Clear blue aqua water. Fantastic coral and grass gardens. Pity its too cold to take closer look Photos from the head of the bay, now back aboard and off in Magic wake. Destination the fabulous and famously photographed Wineglass Bay 17 miles north. Wind north but light. Great rocks of Schouten Island and again off Freycinet Peninsular. White beaches red lichen covered, pink granite boulders, all dripping with a lovely shade of sage green lichen. Photos just cannot capture this beautiful place Captain David is making an underwater viewing bucket to facilitate the placement of wombat That great big fat hairy heavy craypot. (Yet to earn its passage in a very prominent and somewhat inconvenient position on the deck) We are anchored but rolling badly, so will have to re-anchor and deploy our stern anchor, to keep us into the swell. Midnight Sun. Ketch. Is here too. Haven’t met them before. Craypot in, with some input from the blokes on Midnight Sun. Sundowner on the beautiful beach. Clear blue sky with a good moon rising. A stunning meal of scallops, bacon and capsicum kababs on Thai salad. Al la Taipan.
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| Schouten Island |
Friday 22nd April
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| My first rope mat |
Absolutely glorious day. Too clear by half. Silky blue sky, blindingly white beach, stretching away behind us. Towering pink granite mountains. The Hazards. Much industry. Captain Dave has gone to pull the pot I am making a rope mat for the deck. Red. Magic are catching flathead for lunch No crayfish. Again. Walk 3 hours down the beach and across the Zeta to Promise Bay on the inside of Oyster Bay. A very pleasant walk. Heaps of birds. There's an interesting geological formation as there is only sand joining two mountains. In this case, there is a lagoon, dry at present formed. Flat and very pretty. Beautiful beaches both sides. nearly as nice as Albany and colder. Magics for lunch, now they are off to Launceston. Another deadline. More craypot attention, and David is back. Yippee!! No, not crayfish. Abalone. He met a nice abalone fisherman who gave him 4 lovely big abalone. Mats done. Damn fine it is too. My printers box is steadily filling up. We are re-anchoring our stern line to stop rolling. More room. We are the only boat here now. Crumbed abalone steaks for dinner Delicious Recipe courtesy Ruby Boxall
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| Wine Glass Bay and Posers!! |
Saturday 23rd April
Raining softly. No wind. Calm. Very restful. However, we will move because the forecast is for 25 to 30 kn N-NW and we will be exposed here. No crayfish and no abalone fishermen. No F1 11s either!! They have been appearing without warning, very low and very fast. 2 overnight when we were at Hen and Chicken and one while were walking along the beach. They gave us a dreadful fright. So noisy.!! Off to Coles Bay. Golly but not much wind so motoring. Anchored a few flathead about but we only catch one yellowtail. David has found a fish trap. He made an underwater viewing bucket and finds all sorts of things. No anode left on the prop shaft either!! Maybe he will need to do a swim tomorrow and replace it. It was over a year old anyway. A trimaran has come in and anchored nearby. Cant read its name. Magics are at LowHead. Their motor is going a lot better. I am making another rope mat. They use about 15 m of rope and take 3 to 4 hours. I think they will last forever though. The knot is called a Prolong knot. We just love Tassie. All you yachties should get sailing and get here! Caught 2 coota today in about 10 minutes, just as we left Wineglass Bay. Do we have plenty of craybait. Pity about the crays.
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| Lagoon behing Wine Glass Bay beach |
Sunday 24th April
Another beautiful day. We are going for a walk to Cooks Corner, a beach around the headland to our north. Great walking track. About an hour each way and so good you could easily ride a bike. It's getting windier as we walk and the large gums are looking pretty threatening with their limbs shipping about. We learned the tragic news of Michelle Parsons fatal road accident last night, so its a very quiet and reflective mood, in which we walk.
The hut is called Shotgun and is near the beach on Cooks Corner, nestled among a stand of bull oak. There are numerous small campsites scattered amongst the trees, but its pleasing to note, there is no rubbish. The hut is built from local stone and has had a lean too built onto the back, made out of bush time and clad in vertical boards The inside walls are papered over with newspaper dating to 1958 The hut is very clean and used by bushwalkers. The wind is increasing as we walk back. The trimaran is called SHANGHAIED. Will and Trish. Another yacht, INDECISION, Robert, and Cate, has arrived in the anchorage at Bryans Bay. David is cooking up afternoon tea and has invited them all over to pikelets and Late. David and Will gone diving. What a breakthrough All that lovely underwater wear getting wet. No crayfish again. That useless hairy thing is not worth a whisker. The hunter-gatherers return. You beauty! Abalone. They are nice little gastropods. If you let it sit on your hand it gets all friendly and snuggles in. Sad to have to eat it. Visitors have arrived and left. Robert has fixed up the weather fax thing so we can now receive weather fax direct to the computer. Free. All very nice people with interesting stories to tell.
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| NE Tasmania Flinder and Deal |
The hut is called Shotgun and is near the beach on Cooks Corner, nestled among a stand of bull oak. There are numerous small campsites scattered amongst the trees, but its pleasing to note, there is no rubbish. The hut is built from local stone and has had a lean too built onto the back, made out of bush time and clad in vertical boards The inside walls are papered over with newspaper dating to 1958 The hut is very clean and used by bushwalkers. The wind is increasing as we walk back. The trimaran is called SHANGHAIED. Will and Trish. Another yacht, INDECISION, Robert, and Cate, has arrived in the anchorage at Bryans Bay. David is cooking up afternoon tea and has invited them all over to pikelets and Late. David and Will gone diving. What a breakthrough All that lovely underwater wear getting wet. No crayfish again. That useless hairy thing is not worth a whisker. The hunter-gatherers return. You beauty! Abalone. They are nice little gastropods. If you let it sit on your hand it gets all friendly and snuggles in. Sad to have to eat it. Visitors have arrived and left. Robert has fixed up the weather fax thing so we can now receive weather fax direct to the computer. Free. All very nice people with interesting stories to tell.
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| The amazing Red Lichen on the rocks |
Monday 25th April
ANZAC DAY. The forecast S — SW wind hasn’t arrived during the night so we are off to St Helens We are first out. Must be a record. Pleasant day again. The overcast and red sky clear. Sunshine and dolphins. Hundreds of tiny dolphins passing by. Penguins pop their funny little heads out and the ever-present seals make you laugh with their antics. Dark and the anchor is in at the entrance to St Helen's. There is a fierce and notorious bar here so the plan is to get a guide through tomorrow at high tide. Will and Trish on Shanghaid are anchored nearby so I have made dinner for us all.
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| Shotgun Hut lean-too. |
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| Shotgun Hut Cooks Corner. |
Tuesday 26th April
Weather still looking good, so we’ve decided to go on to the Flinders Group. It's about a 45nm run and wind is light and variable. St Helens will have to wait until our next trip. Clear blue skies again. There is a pod of very big dolphins on the bow and they seem very friendly. I have been whistling to dolphin for a while now, and sometimes they whistle back, but these ones are very chatty and they stay and whistle for a long while. 10 minutes or so. Great fun. Now seals! There is a large commercial fishing boat ahead and I think these seals are probably a real menace to him. We never tire of them. The coastline here is flattening out. The rocky, steep Freycinet Peninsular, has given way to long white sandy beaches, interspersed with spectacularly striated pink granite boulders again. Binalong Bay, Bay of Fires is falling away behind us. Its farming country right tothe water's edgee. Lovely blue mountains, Ben Lomond in the distance. Evening nigh. Wind on the nose and 3knots of current against us. Moriarty Bay on Clerke Island looms slowly through the gloaming. Overfalls, eddies, and whirlpool are the order of the evening. Cold. Not a soul in sight. Anchored. Nice spot. Farmland, grazing ashore but its too late for a look as the light is fading fast. It's dark around 6pm now.
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| Great white abalone hunter. |
Wednesday 27th April
Late start, we are off to Lady Barron on Flinders Island. The weatherman, Lionel, at Mersey Radio tells us that it is looking pretty OFF for the next couple of days so Lady Barron looks the logical choice. Slight drama last night the HF Radio died. Missed the schedule while we tried to sort the problem. Even the electronics spray wouldn’t fix it!!. Launceston was looking like our next stop if we couldn’t fix it. Ah haa!. Captain Dave has spotted the problem. Faulty connection to the HF Radio Battery. All fixed, drama over. Yum! Abalone for dinner again.
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| Cape Baron Island |
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| Lady Barron. Flinders Island. Calm before the storm! |
Friday 29th April
The wind is howling and shrieking, The rigging whistling and Taipan lunging and bucking on her mooring. Its blowing 30 to 40 kn and gusting up to 50. Quite a chop coming through from the south-west. Sitting tight aboard. Plenty to do. Photos to sort out, New post card to build. David is reading King Of the Wilderness. We have to rescue the bridle because it has worn through the gelcoat and is cutting into the glass on the bow. We’ll do away with the bridle arrangement and drag the huge rope around the anchor winch and tie it to to a couple of cleats.
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| Flinders Island Lookout SW |
Saturday 30th April
The wind has dropped somewhat and the night was quite reasonable. I painted our old dodger top with acrylic paint yesterday. It will be interesting to see whether it is any more waterproof. It was leaking like a sieve. Its going to rain soon. Black sky above. Photo manipulation, postcards printed, more work on “the box”. Dodger still leaks a little. David is cleaning up the sides on the companionway. Someone had painted them at some stage, and they looked terrible. Wind not so bad as yesterday but not possible to leave Taipan.
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| Trouser point. |
Sunday 1st May
The Splash leaves Fremantle today. Heres hoping they get a better run to Geraldton than we got in 2002! Last night was pretty horrible. I actually got seasick in my sleep. Woke around 200pm feeling yuk. I don’t think the wind was a lot worse, but we are tied down at the bow, quite tightly, so it's quite a sharp jerky motion. What with that noise.. is it a new one? Amongst all the other shrieking, clanging, clattering, squeaking, banging, thumping, and whistling… Yes! Its the anchor chain being inexorably sucked out of the locker by the 3-inch mooring line working on the winch. Up we get, Wind, rain …who would go sailing… this is an anchorage.?? The engine on, winch on and bring in the anchor and chain. Thankfully not caught on the mooring. Back to bed. Still feeling ill. Blessed sleep, eventually. Phone ringing, quarter to 10. Must have really gone to sleep. Now a few more boat jobs. Still too rough to leave. Brass work to take off, polish etc. David persevering with the aluminum in the companionway. Looking good.
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| Mt Killerkrankie |
Monday 2nd May
The wind has dropped and David has gone with Shane to Whitemark to hire a car for a couple of days. Afternoon drive around Mt Stryzlekie, through some pretty depressing looking farming areas. Heading north, then down through the central eastern side of the island. Very flat. This country, thousands of acres, was marshy land, drained for soldier settlement farms. Must have been pretty heartbreaking exercise. Sour-looking sandy soil or granite sand. Supports thousands of Cape Barron Geese, turkeys and other birds including pheasants, duck, geese, peacocks, and wallabies galore. Cant imagine a crop of anything having a hope here. Late back
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| A very sad history at Wylabeena Chapel. Flinders Island. |
Tuesday 3rd May
Off in the car again. The Far North of the island and about half of the drive, 70km, is gravel. It doesn’t get any better. Roadsides extensively damaged by fire. The road maintenance teams don’t help, by dumping piles of scrub debris, etc, right on the verge. Roadkill is astounding. Dead bodies everywhere. Mainly wombats. Farms very rundown and stock generally look crappy. No reasons to come to Flinders Island. Car hire at $65 per day for an old Laser Turkish bread $4.95 each. At least the mooring is free. The boys Wayne and Wayne off ALBATROSS ll have given us 4 mutton birds to try. So Magics are having dinner of mutton bird aboard Taipan tonight Traditional Flinders dinner to celebrate their arrival.
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| Before the walk! |
Wednesday 4th May
Aboard, fitting brass strips. It's a beautiful day so a walk up the tower hill is planned Mutton /bird was delicious. Not strong and smelly as we had been told it was. Stuffed and roasted on the BBQ they really hit the spot. They’re babies though so pretty small. 6 or 7 km of steep walking has takeouts toll so afternoon plan fairly quiet. magic left Perth 12 months ago today so I've made them a card to celebrate as we dine with them tonight
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| Off and running. New paint on the dodger! |
Thursday 5th May.
Another walk The wind is back. The S-SW front came through during the night. Not really strong, 15 to 20 kn but not pleasant to head for Babel Island about 25nm North. Not so much the wind but the current would be 2 to 3 knots with the wind against the tide so quite nasty More brass striped polished and sealed. Magics have gone climbing Mt Stryzlekie. Doesn't look great with dense cloud forming on the top. Brass looks good Magics are back safe. dinner at Furneaux Tavern. They do a great seafood basket for $10.50..
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| Shearing shed. Barraks |
Friday 6th May
Wind still blowing from the S-SW so we have abandoned plans to go up the west coast of the island after talking to Chris off RESOLUTION, the charter cat here. So now heading east to the coast. Wind 25+ but the angle OK so good sail with just the staysail The pick is in, off the beach at Cameron Inlet. There isn’t actually an inlet because it's got a closed bar. however its pretty flat and easy to get away if the wind changes. Osprey A, Jim, and Jan, arrived at Lady Barron just as we were leaving. Said HI and Bye.
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| Wayne off Albatross ll |
Saturday 7th May
Roley night. Calm. Off to visit Albatross ll at Babel Island They are fishing for Banded Marwong and Wrass for the Chinese restaurant market. Predominantly Sydney. They are sold live, so it requires a bit of husbandry. They get $26 per kg live and $3 per kg dead. Have caught Wayne and Wayne and given them a fine cappuccino and farewelled. Now on our way to Paloma. A tiny settlement, 3 or 4 houses with moorings in the bay. No sign of life.
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| Deal Island |
Sunday May 8th
Mothers Day. Stunning day. Great slabs of red green grey and pink granite tumble down the slope to the shore. Hillside quite steep and covered in Bull Oak This is the northern shore of Flinders Island. A large island just to the north of us has a sheep station on it. Paloma has several concrete Nissan Huts on the shore They were built during the 2nd WW to house big generators for a radar on the cliff. It was thought that the Japanese were going to try to take over flinders to use as a base to attack the mainland There is also a very large shed which was the army barracks disguised as a shearing shed The whole installation was dismantled before was ever used because the Battle of the Coral Sea changed the course and focus on the threat. Its so calm The Kent Group of islands, our destination today is 30 miles north-west. Deal island has a manned lighthouse and there are apparently several good all-weather anchorages. I've just finished A Voyage For Madmen by Peter Nichols. Good read. Deal Island approach, finally. got some wind just as we enter the anchorage. Very pretty with a white beach and a hut. There are cattle on these islands until about 20 years ago. Anchored in the northern end and set up a stern line.
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| Deal Island Lighthouse Keepers buildings |
Monday 9th May
Pauls birthday. CRASH its dark! It's blowing. Crash! Shit! Rocks!! Running about half naked and frozen, trying to ascertain our predicament. Phew, engine starts first go… as usual. Anchor up. Right, we are off, we were only bumping on the bottom, so no damage was done. Just to my nerves!!! Dressed, re-anchored offshore further. Magic has been re-anchoring most of the morning. They have our huge hairy Lionel tied to a wreck on the beach trying to hold their stern in, but the wind is strong so the anchor not holding very well. Walk.
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| Driftwood Architecture. |
The hut is very cute. Built in the fifties by a couple who lived in it for 4 years while the built a boat called Mellaluka Inter-island Bass Strait Trader. The hut is tiny. About 8 feet wide, 3 rooms, build in cupboards. Quite sturdy. Built from driftwood and lined with old sails, painted. The island, Erith, has been purchased by the Australian Bush Heritage Group and is being maintained for its unique flora and fauna. There is also a warning written in there about the anchorage. It is only a veneer of sand over rock! No wonder we’ve been dragging all over the bay. Rainy and windy so back to Taipan to re-anchor at the SW end. Away from the hut and close to the rock wall where there is apparently some sand.
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| Hut on Erith Island |
Tuesday 10th May
Wind howling and screeching, Willy wahas leaping like banshees of the cliff tops, clawing and scratching at us all night. Magic is hardly a boat length in front of us Too rough to go ashore Wind whipping the water off the surface in sheets and hurling it in all directions Anchor is holding but nerves are frayed. I think a day of drinking and scrabble will soothe them.
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| Lighthouse hill from the Museum |
Wednesday 11th May.
We are leaving. We are not leaving… Everything neatly packed away for a Bass Strait crossing but now Lionel has just told us that there is a strong wind warning with gusts to 35 knots Sw we are staying put. I just caught Magic with the news so they have gone around to Garden Bay to see if it's any better than here. Screeching Willy whams still leaping at us at great seeped magics called t say its better in Garden Bay so we are joining them there. Its rough out there Glad we decided to stay Anchor finally in after several attempts on a pretty rocky bottom. We are in now though and taking a well overdue walk to the lighthouse keepers cottage. It's about 8km with a good climb thrown in, Great views.
The weather is moderating b bit as forecast. 1840 the lighthouse was built and keepers lived here up till the 60s when the light was turned off in favor of 2 new automatic ones on the N and S of the group Heritage listed now the light and its buildings are maintained and preserved by volunteers. Interesting old buildings There is a whim which was driven by horsed to bring supplies up from the small bay Oxen were used to haul the whale oil up to the lighthouse The Kangaroos are so tame they barely get out of your way. Met the caretaker, Poly and his daughter Edith Mary and son off painting the lighthouse steps Had a cup of tea with them It's nearly dark as we race back to the bay Taipan still where we left her. Wind down more. We will go in the morning so all the packing up has to be done. Tie the dingy on the deck instead of using the davits. Precaution.
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| David in the Whim. |
Thursday 12th May
6.30 am and Daun takes delight in waking us.That was the first good night's sleep for a fair while Off to Eden. Bass Strait 220nm, 15 knots of wing dead astern so we’ve cracked off and polled out the headsail. So in other words, we have one sail set on one side, and the other one on the other side, being held with a pole. And “cracked off” …with the boat going in the wrong direction, so we get better speed.!! Not yet convinced of the logic here. I reckon turn on the motor and go the right way. Darkness and the big striped sail is packed away in its bag. We've made good progress
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| Gabo Island Lighthouse |
Friday 13th May
Black Friday. Dawn. My watch since 1.30am. It's now 24 hours since we left Deal Island, and we’ve covered approximately 155nm. Its been very comfortable, and if night sailing was always this good, you couldn’t complain. The very pretty coastline of far southeastern Victoria is our 1st glimpse of land, as the light penetrates the night sky. Its National Park, so no houses or lights. Gabo Island next. Impressive old lighthouse establishment. Surely must be one of the oldest in Australia. Very tall, appears to be built of brick. High walls surround the houses, of which there are several from different periods of history. High sand hills on the mainland. Midday and we’ve just passed into NSW Cape Howe defines the border. We are roughly 45 km from Eden. Magic is about 6 miles behind. Their motor works well now. No fish and that Tasmanian freeloader, hairy wombat, is still a virgin!! 5.00pm and we are at the anchorage in Eden
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| Boyde Tower Eden |
Saturday 14th May
Washing, shopping, fuel, water. Beautiful day. Osprey A is in town. Where’s their mast?? OOPS!! They were hit by a rogue wave in Bass Strait after leaving Flinders Island on the day we decided not to go from Deal. Mast bent at the cabin roof and 15 hours, Ian with concussion, and the mast wrapped around the boat. Sails, lines, shrouds, furler.. yuk!! Stuff everywhere inside and heaps of damage. Very lucky. Glad we didn’t go on Wednesday. We could see the odd big breakers out there from the top of Deal Island and commented at the time. BBQ on the beach with Magic and Osprey A to cheer them up a little.
Sunday 25th May
Shopping, gas, coffee etc. Engine work in the afternoon. Oil and filter change Batteries etc .Took until dark
Monday 16th may
Late start. its an 80mile run to Batemans Bay. Fine with a nice breeze in the right direction. Weather closing in as the day progresses. Seas building. Darn! Darn! 10.30 and the pick is in. Taipan wallowing about in protest at Magics decision to stop at Bermagui
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| Water spout |
Tuesday 17th May
Most uncomfortable night Very Rolly. Weather not looking too terrific, but Ulladulla is our destination. Ulladulla is a fishing village. swelled by the migration of thousands of retirees. Very well serviced. The harbor is easily accessed and Paul Helmore shipmaster, assured himself of our eternal goodwill, by moving us off the awful wall and onto the side of a trawler. At least a decent nights sleep seems possible.
Wednesday 18th May
Davids Birthday. Anne and Neil Souter have invited us out to their property at Burrill Lake for morning tea. Unfortunately we cant be away from Taipan for too long in case the fishing boat wants to go. Delightful people, and fantastic property surrounded on 3 sides by a lake. Back to Taipan, a bit of shopping and a quiet birthday party for 2. Magics are in Jervois Bay
Thursday 19th May
Jervis Bay, Here we come. Magic have the cake. Well, it had better be a good cake. Wind howling, the furler is jammed and the wretched autopilot has decided to shut up shop. GREAT!! A couple of forays onto the foredeck, each well tied on, and clad in serious wet weather gear. It's really cold. The furler is free again. The line wrapped around the underside of the reel. Its hard for one, in heavy weather, to furl the headsail. Fortunately, its only 12 miles to go. We are wet and cold and the rain won't let up. Very black clouds but insignificant wind 20 to 30knots. The cliffs are running waterfalls, as we are running down the final leg into the shelter of the bay. Oh great! The navy is doing a welcome fly past and throwing a few guys out of an aeroplane. Just to remind us,,, it could be worse. We could be jumping out of an aeroplane into freezing dark water. YUKKY!! Chris and Daun have the party started. Balloons, whistles, cake, candles and much merriment. Islay Rua is in the anchorage also, so dinner aboard Taipan for 6. Party hard till 2.30am. Stuffed.
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| David Kris, Jacky Daun Christo Rob |
Friday 20th May
Slow start. Dishes everywhere. Messy. Autopilot repairs underway. Some very delicate soldering work is straining the concentration of the captain. Especially in the light of the copious quantity of birthday cheer absorbed yesterday. Several attempts later, the circuit board, a bit singed, but the recalcitrant wire doing duty in its rightful position again. Captain’s nerves frayed, and the purchase of a pair of “extra hands” assured. My time consumed with a few minor repairs involving nothing too strenuous. Drill. And then play on the computer. Photos, bookmark, book labels, and put a few more things in the print box. Walk in the beautiful National Park ashore. Huge gums, birds plentiful. Great view from the cliffs. There's a lighthouse ruin hereabouts and the story goes, that it was built in the wrong spot, because the fellow contracted to do the job, decided the rock was easier to get at on a different headland. Nevertheless, it was commissioned and used for many years. Islay Rua, Jacky, and Bob, have invited us to dine with them aboard their very nice Perry 37. Not a large yacht, but very seamanlike. Rob is from Albany and was married to Mum and Dads cleaning lady. Monica! Rob worked on the whale chasers as a lad Jackie, English, not particularly enamored of the sailing life, They did a year in Tasmania. Left Fremantle about 14 months ago.
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| Old Jervis Bay Lighthouse |
Saturday 21st May
Its finally stopped raining and the seas have moderated Wind 10 to 15. Ha! Autopilot fixed. Off we go to Sydney. Magic got in through the heads at 9.30pm yesterday so we should get in tonight sometime too. It's 7.00am as we slip past sleepy Islay Rua and venture off to sea again. Osprey A phoned. They have a jury rig up, using their spinnaker pole and motoring with their storm jib up. At least the seas are much more comfortable. The wind is sufficient for us to sail. Victoria our trusty Volvo is taking a well-earned break and enjoying the gentle slushing of soft seas sliding by. 9.30pm The Heads. Logged off now with Coast Radio and into the harbor on this beautiful evening. Coloured lights in every direction, winking and welcoming. Moon almost full, illuminating the small fishing dinghies scattered around the harbor. Plenty of friendly waves as we glide by. Anchor down in Rose Bay.
The end of this leg. Tasmania is circumcised!!
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