Tasmania Circumnavigation

 I arrived in Wirinna. on Friday morning to get some last minute jobs done, the 3^rd reef hook, cockpit bimini, replacing the wind displays, as the crew (except for Pete, my brother in law, who came with me) was scheduled to arrive at Saturday lunch and I wanted to get them done without too many bodies aboard.

The LCD numerals of existing wind displays were malfunctioning, in that they were only providing a partial, confusing readout. Navico, the new Navman agents, agreed to replace them under warranty, with only a weeks notice and without the normal procedures in view of our impending trip. It was great they agreed to do this as I would have hated to go into the Tassie weather with confusing displays. I intend to write up the instrumentation, the way set up for this trip, separately.

The cockpit bimini, which I almost didn’t proceed with this season, seeing the ‘heat’ was due to be finished, proved invaluable as we departed towards the end of a record heatwave in Adelaide (12 days over 35 dC) . The bimini detail is also to be covered elsewhere.

Saturday 15/3/08 - 17/3, Wirrina > Portland

We had fueled up and were sitting around, getting hot, had listened to the current weather schedule, when Brian F suggested that we should be getting going in lieu of leaving it to the morning. We all agreed it was a far better option than sitting around in the marina and getting cooked overnight.

We cast off at 18.45 and headed of towards Backstairs Passage, motor sailing with 1 engine as there was not enough wind to do 3 knots. Motor sailing, with 1 engine @ 2200 rpm, we achieved 6.5 knots, not bad for 2.5 lt./hour.

 

Once we were underway I started up the laptop with SOB (Software on Board) and switched on the GPS and AIS receivers and activated our route. This route was planned 2 days earlier on the basis of the then available Grib forecast.(Note - If you click the looking glass cursor after the image has been enlarged it enlarges some more and is much better focussed)

 

In accordance with the forecast I’d planned a route straight to Macquarie Harbor in Tasmania on SOB and then used the User Card (which I had to format using the chart plotter) to transfer route to the Navman Trackfish 6600 chart plotter

The Route Data form (F11)  shows all the details of the turn marks.

Getting the ‘Plan’ criteria to where you want them without a lot of trial and error is a skill I’m yet to master, the ETA being in UTC is also an annoying feature (Post trip note- It seems to work better if all selection boxes are un clicked, the data filled in and then the speed locked in first)

It would also be nice to have progressive distance and an interrupt journey feature

 

 We got our first AIS signals on thru the Passage and it was great to see the detail it provides, heading, speed, collision potential and intersection/passing data.

 

Despite the power draw we ran the computer during the night because it was very comforting to know what is out there and where it is heading. On battery power the laptop switches itself into sleep mode and it reactivates once you move the mouse or on/off switch. I found one does have to check that the receivers are still active as they can switch off as well (receiver status is found on the NMEA screen). (Post trip note - On the return trip we learned to hibernate the computer once we'd satisfied ourselves with the situation, on powering up 1/2 to 1 hour later it would immediately update the situation without us having to reactivate the inputs. Also this reduced the power draw considerably compared to the sleep mode or leaving it on until it shuts down itself)

This scenario was, while we were crossing Bass Strait when we passed an Australian survey vessel Australian Explorer which was proceeding at 4.4 knots dragging a survey array 800 meters long. We’d identified him and knew we were going to pass him comfortably as we were doing 8+ knots when he called us on the radio. He had seen us on his radar and was pleased to hear we were aware of him. For me it was nice to know we had a radar signature.

We’d organised the shifts, in 2 people on / off at 4 hourly intervals with the “on” crew, arranging the detail to suit themselves. Brian and Peter had the 10 pm > 2 am, with David and myself doing the 2am > 6 am shift. At the first change at 2 am conditions improved and we were able to turn the motor off and sail @ 40 d apparent in the low teens and were doing 6 – 9 knots, things were looking up.

By morning, the wind became fluky (couldn’t make up its mind where it was coming from and dropping to 4 > 7 true, we were getting close to Robe and decided to continue along the coast and see whether the weather would change in our favour.

Up to that point VMR (Volunteer Marine Radio) Kangaroo Island had been keeping watch over us, but we were getting out of range and should have switched to Robe VMR, who we were advised were having some trouble with their repeater antenna. We were not able to contact them and were out of radio contact for the whole of the second day, this was quite disturbing and we even speculated there might be something wrong with the radio.

By 6 pm we finally picked up some transmission from Portland coast guard and knew there were no problems. After 49 hours at sea we anchored out from the yacht club at Portland

Tuesday 18/03/08, Portland > Port Fairy

The following day we departed for Pt Fairy and inspected a sheep transport ship up close whilst still in Portland harbour, they’re big.

We had a nice following wind and managed to crack 10 knots for the first time this trip. We also experienced just how quickly a squall can hit and were glad we’d reefed when we suspected the weather might change. This was the first time I reefed with a load in the sail and the Ronstan roller bearing batcars worked flawlessly. During a subsequent jibe, just before we got to Pt Fairy, we found the unloaded traveler sheet had not had the slack taken up and the car hit the end stop with quite a bang, demolishing it.

 

19/03/08 - 21/3 Pt Fairy

At 3.30 pm we entered the channel to Pt Fairy an were assigned a berth along the walkway by the harbour master. Pt Fairy is well set up for the cruising yachtie and has a lot to offer in amenities.

Initially we had expected to depart the following day, with reasonably strong winds, 15 > 20 Knts, but when we woke the next day looked at the sea, spoke to the fishermen and listened to the updated weather forecasts, we decided that caution was the better choice and remained in Pt Fairy for the next 3 days.

We’d arrived in Pt Fairy just before Easter and it also coincided with the Queenscliff to Pt Fairy yacht race. Some of the local participants departed for Queenscliff the night we’d arrived in quite challenging conditions

We spend the next few days socialising with relatives of one of the crew, David and Melanie the owners of a huon pine decommissioned fishing vessel, that they’d bought in Pt Lincoln and were taking back Lakes Entrance in Victoria. Their restoration project will be an interesting one to follow.

 

The boardwalk / jetty in Port Fairy provides for a good interaction with the passers by and we had a very relaxing enjoyable stay. Provisioning / eating out was reasonably priced and the most enjoyable meal had at the fish and chip shop at the commercial wharf.

 

 

22/3/08 - 24/3, Pt Fairy > Maquarie Harbour (Tasmania)

A suitable weather window, providing North, NE winds, arrived on Saturday the 22nd and was predicted to be with us for 3 days, so we departed at 7.30 am and set course for Macquarie Harbour by passing King Island to make up a bit of time and maximise the use of the weather.

No sooner had we raised the mainsail when we discovered that the uncontrolled jibe had also damaged the car and it had jammed itself in the central position. Whilst it looked like it would hold, everybody felt much more relaxed after Dave came up with the idea to restrain the boom with 2 mooring lines around it tied back thru the spinnaker blocks to the winches. We even found we could adjust the sail trim to a limited extend with this arrangement.

Before nightfall I thought I’d top up the batteries and went to start the SB engine. It was difficult to start and would only run at 800 rpm despite full throttle. By that time we’d reduced to 1^st reef and conditions were quite noisy and boisterous so I gave starting the SB engine and used the Port engine to charge the batteries. Not nice being down to 1 engine.

By mid night we were level with the northern end of King Island and dawn saw us level with the southern end. We’d had beautiful sailing during the night under a full moon. The AIS system maintained it record by logging and identifying all the shipping long before we sighted it.

By lunchtime we sighted Tasmania and as a welcome the wind dropped to where we had to motor sail along the coast.

By late afternoon we didn’t have enough wind to maintain pressure in the headsail so we furled it. Subsequently it picked up a little and the headsail wouldn’t unfurl, the halyard was wrapping itself around the sail. I guessed it was my adjustment a few weeks earlier that caused the problem so with a bit of jiggling / releasing halyard tension we managed to get the sail to unfurl, finally something went right.

At 5.30 am we arrived in Pilot Bay next to the entrance of Macquarie Harbor. The tide station indicated we’d arrived at low tide so we decided to wait 2 hours prior to moving into the harbour through Hell’s Gates.

24/3/08-27/3, Strahan

We lifted anchor at 8.15 and when we arrived at the entrance channel there was still a 2.5 > 3 knot current against us. With the 1 motor we can do 6.5 knots comfortably so I decided to proceed.(Post script-A fishermen subsequently explained that the tidal current was influenced more by atmospheric pressure that tidal state and that he'd given up trying to predict it)

Once through the Gates looking back you could clearly see the power of the current even at 3 knots. Imagine trying to do it at the maximum 7 knots.

Once the channel opened up and the current abated I switched the fuel supply from the Port day tank, as we were getting low in that tank, to the main tank without checking the status of the fuel. 5 minutes later the Port engine stopped. I knew the symptoms, water in the fuel and the cure. So we dropped anchor and I cleaned the supply lines / engine, after that we proceeded to Strahan without further incidents.

The harbour master had assigned us a spot at the end of the wharf and it was fantastic to tie up, dry up and relax.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The following day we got on with the repairs and I ordered the traveler parts from Harken in Sydney. The SB engine malfunction, which had been a major worry turned out to be some water in the air intake, the filter was saturated and obstructing air flow, took all of 10 minutes to diagnose and fix, by Kerry a local mechanic. All the repair jobs, bar the traveler, were completed , plus we did our laundry and dried ourselves out, it was good to be alive, again and we even had some sunshine to dry the washing.

The next morning, back to normal, at 6 am the boat was being blown against the jetty piles and no matter how we tried we couldn’t keep the fenders in place. So after getting saturated we decided to leave the jetty, despite the untested performance of the SB engine, in almost gale conditions and find shelter in Mill Bay around the corner.

The next day we woke to a beautiful morning and returned to Strahan, replenished our provisions, collected the spare parts for the traveller and departed to explore Macquarie Harbor and the Gordon River.

27/3/08, Strahan > Farm Cove (Maquarie Harbour)

As there was little wind we motored to Farm Cove. The harbor scenery is dominated by Mt Sorell and the weather is reflected by the many moods of the mountain

Farm Cove is a beautiful anchorage and we did quite a bit of exploring of the foreshore with the dingy. As the vegetation is very dense we did not find any places to land and walk around.

 

During the trip the cockpit sun shade covers, which I almost deferred until next summer, thinking the hot weather was over, proved invaluable. It was not because of sun, but shelter it provides against the rain. It was nice to be able to stand in the cockpit without getting saturated. Somehow it also seems to increase the space of the cockpit.

28/3/08, Kelly Basin (Maquarie Harbour)

From Farm Cove we went around the corner to Kelly Basin and anchored in a bay near West Pillinger. The tourist info advised there was a pathway between East and West Pillinger and we set out to find it. The first attempt, a sandy little beach part of the way, led to us clambering around the undergrowth unable to get out and meet up with the path.

Our second attempt was to land at the jetty at West Pillinger from where we walked along old embankment until we reached a river where the original bridge had disintegrated to where we thought it prudent not to continue. Our walk did illustrate the dense nature of the bush and the meaning of wilderness.

As we left Farm Cove on our way to the Gordon River, MT Sorell provided us with a memorable vista.

 

 

29/3/08 - 30/3, Gordon River

We entered the Gordon River at midday and all of us were struck by the remote wildness of the surroundings. Looking carefully one can still see where some of the monumental Huon pines were felled in the past and cut a swathe through the vegetation down the hillsides.

Dave and Brian took the dinghy to explore Boot Camp and found a delightful area with a very comfortable hut that provides accommodation to travelers. There are even extensive stores provided on an honor system to replace / refund what you use. They’d spend quite a bit of time there and then had trouble catching us back up as we’d continued to travel up river at 2-3 knots.

 

They took this photo whilst trying to catch up and it captures the landscape in a rare moment of “nice” weather.

 

About 11 kms from the mouth of the river was Heritage Landing, a jetty visited by the commercial tour catamarans operating out of Strahan. They visit as the Parks and Wildlife Service of Tasmania has developed a boardwalk through the forest with the original highlight a 2000 year old Huon Pine.

 

 

The Huon pine has fallen down and provides an interesting story on how the forest regenerates.

 

The walk illustrates the many facets of Tasmania’s temperate rain forest, the different moss’s and fungi, ferns and trees creating an ever changing environment.

We spend the night on the jetty and spend some time with a trailer sailor, Paul, from Adelaide exchanging experiences.

Here’s some of the river views we came across on our way up the river to our next stop, Sir John Falls

 

 

 

 

At St John’s Falls there was another boardwalk, provided by Parks & Wildlife as well as a river edge walkway to a shelter (Original Tas. Hydro workmen lower camp).

We could have spend a lot of extra time there absorbing the atmosphere, but the weather was not getting any better, so we headed back down the river, into the harbor and then around the corner, to some shelter in Birchs Inlet.

 

 

 

 

 

 

31/3/08, Birch Inlet > Strahan

In Birch Inlet we discovered that the Stockless anchor, fantastic in sand and weed (SA conditions) is no good in mud, we dragged approx. 200 m during the night. As we’d had plenty of clearance al around no harm was done, but we did change the anchor back to the CQR plough I’d originally fitted to the boat.

I was concerned by the deterioration of the weather and decided that we should head towards Strahan as I'd be able to get the weather GRIB's via the mobile phone data connection, halfway across.

Once back into mobile phone coverage we learned there was a real blow coming in, with 40+ knot winds predicted outside the harbour, so it was decided to head back to Strahan and retreat to the mooring in Mill Bay.

1/4/08 - 3/4, Mill Bay, Strahan

Even though we were only on the edge of it, I was glad to be on a fishing boat mooring with 40 mm dia rope securing us to the bottom, especially during the night when it felt like we were flying at times. None of us got much sleep due to the noise of the storm and apprehension of what may happen if something went wrong. Seeing the conditions inside one didn't want to imagine what it would have been like outside in the ocean. We learned later the wave recorder outside the harbour had recorded 17 meter high waves as an average.

 

 

4/4/08 - 5/4, Strahan > Double Cove > Pilot Bay

After 3 nights in Mill Bay we were glad to out and we sailed across to Double Cove. It is a delightful spot with a little jetty that gives access to some walking paths and a camping spot. Unfortunately the anchorage proved to be a bit sloppy as the wind turned Northerly overnight and we had an interrupted nights sleep.

On Saturday April 5 we started heading out off Macquarie Harbor and anchored in Pilot Bay in order to set of the Bathurst Harbor early the next morning.

The was very little wind and with the tide currents, the boat could not decide which way to sit of the bridle, occasionally riding forward over it causing loud scraping noises (bridle arms against bow pole cables) inside the hull, also it was very sloppy so none of us were getting any sleep.

6/4/08, Pilot Bay > Bathurst Harbour

By 1.30 am I’d had enough and suggested that we should set off, to which the crew agreed readily. There was little wind but the forecast swell, 5.3 meters, especially in the dark, caused us some anxiety. As it turned out the boat handled the swell with ease.

The one hour shifts however weren’t fun as it was cold and drizzling most of the night.

By day break it had cleared mostly and we were picking up a nice breeze and doing 6-8 knots on a broad reach. The sun came out a bit later but unfortunately the breeze died and we had to motorsail the 40 miles of the trip making it

We approached Bathurst Habor at approximately 6.30 pm and the scenery is totally different from Macquarie Harbor, far more rugged, not forested , a lot of bare rock and very steep terrain.

We found a nice anchorage in Bramble Cove and lay in perfectly calm waters in the company of another cat, that arrived after dark. We slept like logs, but had to get up early the next morning, 6 am for the next leg.

 

 

7/4/08, Bathurst Harbour > Recherche Bay

There was again virtually no wind, and the little there was, was in an opposite direction to the out of date, GRIB forecast I had due to lack of mobile coverage in this remote area.

Initially we motor sailed with just the jib up to South West Cape which we rounded at 10.45 am. It was hard to imagine that four days previously 17 meter waves and 90 + knot winds had been recorded here.

Progress along the South Coast, the route plan was 66 Nm, was slow as there was only a light southerly breeze (forecast 7 Kn Northerly) and we motorsailed the entire way.

The photo of Pinders Peak illustrates the rugged beauty of the coastline and the calm conditions we had to admire it.

 

 

At 4.15 we rounded South West Cape. Just before we’d encountered a fishing net strung out at 90 d from the cape for a few hundred meters, with only some flagged buoy's demarking it. If we had crossed at night we would have got enmeshed for sure

That night we overnight in Recherché Bay and were glad the “long hauls” were over and that we were now in the protected waters of the East Coast of Tasmania.

 

8/4/08, Recherché Bay > Brunie Island

The next day we entered the D’EntreCasteau channel which is very scenic with lots of evidence of habitation, it reminded me a little of Switzerland.

The winds were cooperating better and we were starting to enjoy some nice sailing conditions

The night before Hobart we anchored off Brunie Island in a bay behind Snake Island. It was a beautiful last night for the departing crew, Dave and Brian F.

 

 

9/4/08, Brunie Island > Hobart

The following day we entered the Derwent River and followed the path of the Sydney Hobart fleet tacking up the river in reaches doing 12 knots.

I managed to get hold of the harbor master by mobile phone and arrange for a berth in Constitution Dock. An ominous question put to me was "the width of Alcatraz", and a ‘She’ll be right mate”

 

We arrived outside the dock at 1 pm and were given instruction on how to proceed into the dock, including waiting for a drawbridge to be opened. The width through the opening was 8.4 meters, 0.7m to spare either side, plus about 0.8m between the bridge and the mast. I’d earned my drink when we got tied up. We celebrated with a “fish & chips” lunch at Mures, a dockside restaurant / shop.

We stayed in Hobart for 2 days, waiting for the replacement depth-sounder transponder to arrive, re stocking and some sightseeing, including a night in Peter’s residence in Richmond.

11/4/08, Hobart > Wedge Bay

We left on Friday, 8th April after the transponder again failed to arrive and successfully cleared the drawbridge a second time and proceeded to an anchorage in Wedge Bay, in the Tasman Peninsula. The anchorage's in Tasmania certainly compete for the scenic stakes.

 

12/4/08, Wedge Bay > Forticue Bay

On Saturday we rounded Cape Raoul at mid morning and decided to visit Port Arthur, halfway along that day’s route as we had the time to spare having got up reasonably early that day.

Port Arthur, despite it’s sad history, penal and mass murder a few years ago, is a picturesque location and well worth the visit. I didn’t get to see much as I had to bleed one of the engines as it ran out off diesel on the way in. The air vent / return fuel combo pipe to the tanks, we discovered leads to un reliable readings of the fuel level in the day tanks. Another item on the to do list for when I get home.

 

 

13/4/08, Forticue Bay > Cole Bay

After we'd overnight in Fortescue Bay we sailed along the coast to Coles Bay.

 

14/4/08, Cole Bay > Wine Glass Bay

Here we obtained fuel on Monday morning and a passenger, for the trip to Wine Glass Bay. The passenger was a passer-by we'd met in Hobart who is looking into buying a cat himself.

We cut through the passage between the Freycinet Peninsula and Schouten Island, rounded Cape Degerando

 

 

The coastline along the peninsula is quite spectacular and were able to give Michael, our passenger, some appreciation of what to look for in the boats he is about to look into. We entered Wine Glass bay while doing 10+ knots on a 40 deg reach.

 

 

Wine Glass Bay provides very good anchorage's with little swell on the Southern end. As we arrived at lunch time we were able to claim the prime position in the nook of the bay. Subsequently 3 other boats arrived, 2 after nightfall. (and left before we did at 6.30 am, and cruising is supposed to be relaxing??)

Apart from some walk in campers we had the beach to ourselves and took advantage of this by going for a walk to the look out (Brian L), stroll along the beach / creek, me and be lazy and read a book, Pete.

The bay offers wonderful scenery and some nice photo shoots, like this sea mist drifting in late afternoon, but as a swimming beach it is no good as the beach rises very steeply and where there is swell, northern end, there are some nice “dumpers”.

 

 

15/4/08, Wine Glass Bay > St Helens

The next day came the first of some fairly long “hikes”, 63 Nm to St Helens. During this leg the winds were light but favourable for flying the kite, which we did for the first time this trip. It took us 10 hrs to do this leg, so even with the kite we only averaged 6 Mm/hr. But after all the motoring pre East coast it was nice not to have to use the motors apart from the occasional battery charge.

 

16/4/08, St Helens > Waterhouse Island

From St Helens we rounded the notorious NE corner of Tasmania thru Banks Strait hogging the coast and we managed to avoid the heavy currents that frequent the passage. In fact it could have been described as a “milk pond”. Evidence of the current ( 2 knots) was however still visible on the surface. This section was mostly motored and the 61 Nm took us 12 hours.

 

17/4/08, Waterhouse Island > Beautie Point, Launceston

The final leg to Launceston was only 53 NM’s and the wind was perfect so we arrived at the Tamar river mouth by 1 pm.

The trip up the river was interesting as there was a considerable rip against us despite the tide table advice that we were 2 hours past low tide and that we should have had a following current.

We arranged a berth at the Dalrymple Yacht Club, via mobile phone and spend 2 nights there. It’s here that Pete left the boat and John P joined for the final leg home.

 

19/4/08 - 20/4, Beautie Point > Pt Campbell (Victoria)

Our initial planning was to do the trip to Wirrina, in 6 days with 2 late night arrivals, 1 in Pt Fairy and the other in Wirrina, arriving on Friday night. The weather GRIB'S however indicated we’d need to improve on that in order to avoid the NWwinds (our course) coming in on Thursday and the cold front due on Friday.

Our initial strategy was to go straight to King Island, skipping Stanley, but the route planning predicted we’d arrive there during the night so we by passed Kg Island again and headed straight for Pt Fairy, a 305 NM trip.

The winds were light, around 10 knot of following wind so the ETA on Pt Fairy kept going out and when it was indicating 4.00 am we decided to overnight in a little bay we found on the C-Map, Pt Campbell.

When we arrived there at 5 PM from well out one could see a considerable surf break on a reef running out from the headland, so I headed toward the channel well clear of where they were beginning to break. All of a sudden we were hit by 2 massive waves, think 4 m + about to break on us side on. I was glad I had both motors running and was able to react in time to turn and run with the waves. The anchorage was good for us but can only be regarded as an anchorage in Northerly conditions.(The local fishing boats are put into the water by the crane on the jetty) The swell on the break, in light conditions, can just be seen in the background of this early morning shot.

 

22/4/08-24/8, Pt Campbell > Wirrina

From Pt Campbell to Wirrina, our final leg, is 341 NM, a 2 day 8 hour duration at an estimated speed of 6 knots. (the forecast was for 150 degree aft winds at 10-12 knots average). Starting at 8.00 am this still means 2 nights and we decided on 2 hour shifts, during the daytime and 1 hour spells at night. The nights were getting pretty cold and even an hour took it out on us.

During the night the AIS system came into play again identifying ships and removing the mystery of their destination. It was easy to determine the necessary action to take avoiding action well before any hazard was incurred. In the example we’d veered to Port, which the wind allowed us to do, the approaching vessel must have detected this on radar and veered accordingly.

At dusk on our first night we had a magnificent sunset to greet us back and as a bonus the nights were not as cold as experience near Tasmania.

The Total Trip log for the journey was 1922 NM and it was just short of 6 weeks in duration and it will serve me in good stead in my reflections on the cruising lifestyle and whether it’s what I want to do more of.

I will separately cover the instrumentation, maintenance issues in more detail in a separate chapter in future and feel free to contact me re any queries you may have via the email link on the home page.

Note: The photo's used in this Chapter are a collaborative effort between myself and Brian Foster and I thank him for his contribution.