Bass Strait Crossing

Eden to Flinders Island, 27-28 January 2015

Warning for the non-sailors reading: All sailing, not much scenery!

At 0605 on Tuesday we started the motors, checked we still had 2 propellors and motored out of East Boyd Bay in company with Kailani to start the 220nm passage to Flinders Island off the NE coast of Tasmania. Our weather window was for 18 hours of light winds before the winds from the SE slowly increased on Wednesday to 20 to 25 knots. We knew it would take about 34 hours to cover the distance as we anticipated quite a bit of motoring. The main reason we decided to leave with this forecast was that the seas were small and the swell was in the right direction.

We had a light SW early that allowed us to sail with pods of dolphins often enjoying our company. At 1100 it was on with a motor in the very light northerlies to keep our miles ticking over. We motorsailed until 2000 when the breeze went to the south and very light. At this point the sea was like glass and I was thinking we were missing the full Bass Strait experience.

Bass Strait

We dropped the main and started the second engine to keep our average speed up. At 2320 we raised the main with a double reef and motorsailed until 0700 when we finally got to silence the motors.

Dawn and seas still slight

We had motorsailed east of the course rhumbline so we were well positioned when the breeze filled in as expected from the SE. By now the seas had built with the wind to 2-3 meters and 25 knots. We were getting the full experience after all. At 0800 on Wednesday we put in the third reef and retreated to the warmth of the saloon as we sped towards out first land sighting of Outer Sister Island. We had the occasional bigger swell give the windows and saloon roof a good wash but overall it was fairly comfortable. Once we approached the Sister Islands we enjoyed a favourable current that helped us cover the last 26nm in 3 hours.

In the lee of Flinders Island, the seas finally flattened and we were happy to complete our first Bass Strait crossing with the anchor down in Killiecrankie Bay at 1610. We took 34 hours for the 220nm at an average of 6.5 knots.

The bay here is beautiful, towering granite hills, white sandy beach and good holding for the strong winds predicted for the next 2 days. We now have a week to get to Hobart, still 250nm away, but it is coastal day hops from here.

Kailani in Killiecrankie

Bass Strait - Take 2

Eden to ....Eden, 20-26 January, 2015

We left Eden as planned on Wednesday morning. There was not much wind but a very sloppy sea as we motored out with just the mainsail set. About an hour out of Eden we had an issue with a batten popping out of the main as the sail was "slatting" in the swell. (Technical term meaning not setting but banging back on the sidestays). At this stage it was raining but we fixed the problem and Warren tightened the other battens to try to prevent it happening again. Then 2 other battens popped out, so we decided to motor to a small anchorage abeam of us called Bittangabee Creek to sort it out.

Warren asked that I swap to the starboard motor which I did only to discover we weren't going anywhere. Eventually discovered we had no propellor on the starboard motor. We decided we didn't want to continue with one motor given we were so close to Eden which we knew had a slipway that could haul out the boat.

Greg at Eden Slipway Services  managed to lift us out on Thursday, order a new prop and have us all fixed and back on the water by Saturday morning. A great effort by Greg and his team. Unfortunately we had missed the weather window that had taken our friends San Souci and Aurora 3 to Tasmania.

Path into town just for Warren apparently

While on the slip we visited the Killer Whale Museum which was excellent. Killer whale "Old Tom" and his mates used to herd whales into Twofold Bay, then Old Tom used to race to the whaling station, breach outside until he got the whalers attention, then lead them back to the trapped whale. This was a symbiotic relationship as the killer whales had first go at the dead whale and used to eat the tongue and lips which are killer whale delicacies apparently. The whaling industry in Eden ended soon after Old Tom died in 1931.

Old Tom has been on display in Eden since 1932

So we are back in East Boyd Bay with Joule, Matilda and Kailani waiting for the weather. Today we had a good walk to Boyd's Tower, a large building which Ben Boyd had hoped to make a lighthouse but eventually used as a tower for spotting whales.

Built in 1846 of Pyrmont sandstone

The weather has eased today and the seas from the lookout seemed slight, so tomorrow we are heading off again to cross Bass Strait in company with Kailani, a Seawind 1250. There is not a big weather window but we should be able to get to Flinders Island before the southeasterlies build again. We will then make our way down the western side of Flinders.

View from South Head

Our first albatross and seal!

Port Hacking to Eden, 13-19 January, 2015

We left Cronulla marina at 1100 on Tuesday in light winds and motored until 1315 when we finally had enough wind to get the spinnaker up.  By 1500 the north-easter was up around 15 knots and we were making good time towards Jervis Bay. The breeze continued to build so at 1845 we dropped the spinnaker and by 1930 we had a double reef in the main and were rocketing towards Jervis Bay.

Well named Point Perpendicular guards Jervis Bay

We got hit by some 30 knot gusts going into the bay past Point Perpendicular and set a new Phase2 speed record of 17.8 knots!  We motored up to Hare Bay and dropped anchor at 2230 in what we discovered next morning to be a pretty bay with a white sandy beach.

We had an early start to get to Batemans Bay at high tide over the bar, and up the river under the opening bridge.

We anchored off Budd Island where there was much less tide than further downstream. This was a great 2 sail reach in a strong NW that eased by luchtime. We spent the Thursday night off Snapper Island in Batemans Bay as we wanted an early start to cover the 91nm to Eden.

The sea was a bit sloppy initially and we motored until 1000. Slow progress until we got the spinnaker up at 1300. We carried it until 1745 when the wind got above 20 knots again. In half an hour we had a double reef and in another hour we were motoring in no wind! About this time another pod of dolphins joined us and we sighted our first seal and albatross.

We dropped anchor in Snug Cove on the northern shore of Twofold Bay (Eden) on Friday night but moved Saturday morning to East Boyd Bay after a strong southerly came in. Anchoring inside the navy wharf in crystal clear water and white sandy beach, this bay was an unexpected delight.

Today we kayaked around to the historic Davidson Whaling Station which operated from the 1860s to 1929. We were fortunate that the family cottage above the station was also open to visitors. Worth a visit if you are in Eden.

Cave in East Boyd Bay

We are about to head back to Snug Cove (doing the Eden shuffle it is called) as a northerly is expected tonight. At this stage, Wednesday is looking good to head across Bass Strait.

PS Unlike Brisbane it is cold down here and we have the quilt on the bed.

Into New Terrirtory

Port Stephens to Port Hacking, 4-11 January 2015

Having arrived at 0200, we awoke late on Sunday morning to find a beautiful sandy beach that is popular with the locals.

Jimmy's Beach, Port Stephens

We went ashore and walked up to Hawke's Nest village to get fresh bread and the paper before having our first swim (and maybe last) of the trip. I can see why southerners like the Gold Coast as the water temperature here was brisk on first entering.

Confident windsurfer crossing our bow

In the afternoon we sailed around to Fame Cove and managed to get a mooring. We had 2 nights here with a kayak trip each day exploring the creek and nearby North Arm Cove anchorage.

Fame Cove

On Wednesday, we set sail for Broken Bay. We motor sailed until about 1130 when there was finally enough breeze to get the spinnaker up. We then had a great sail in breeze that strengthened to 15-20 knots. As we approached Broken Bay we were joined by about 10 dolphins that rode the bow waves for half an hour. GoPro clip here!

Passing a Salina 48 as we approached Broken Bay

We spent 3 nights in America Bay with between 20 and 40 other boats. We went down to Pittwater on Thursday to pick up a fitting we had ordered and we motored around Lovett Bay - where Susan Duncan wrote about life at Salvation Creek. Below is the house Dorothy MacKellar built and star of Susan's book House at Salvation Creek. I loved the books and was keen to see the bay she had written about.

On Friday we kayaked to Halletts Beach and met some old friends on Adagio. We then made new friends after being invited to sundowners onboard Moor R & R with the Toucanoes crew. I love this cruising life.

Freshwater beach shower

On Saturday, in light winds we motorsailed 44nm to Port Hacking. We had been assured there was plenty of room under the power lines close to the cliff however we made sure we weren't touching any metal as we went under.

Our air draft is 18 metres

We continued further up the river and we picked up a mooring in South West Arm. It started raining last night and we have had steady rain since. It is a lovely peaceful spot now that the rain has deterred the runabouts and jetskis.

Tomorrow we are booked into the Cronulla marina to reprovision and do some washing before heading further south when the next northerlies appear.

Turn Right for Tassie

Raby Bay to Port Stephens
Thursday, 1 January to Saturday, 4 January 2015

This year we have decided to participate in the Van Dieman's Land Circumnavigation run by the Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania in February. We are excited about sailing new waters and facing new challenges including crossing Bass Strait for the first time. This also meant we turned right as we left home instead of the usual left turn to head north.

Warren as usual has Phase2 in excellent order although she is a bit low on the waterline. We departed at 1445 and had a good sail down past Jacobs Well to South Stradbroke.

Sad sight south of Jacob's Well

At 2000 we anchored at Currigee next to Beach House with our friend Kel and son Adam onboard after sighting them on the AIS. We had a few last minute jobs to complete so didn't cross the Seaway until 0800 (daylight saving time) the next morning. Regular readers of our blog will know that I always have a photo of Mum waving good bye to us.

Mum is a bit hard to see in this one as she is at Burleigh but we both waved to keep the tradition going. After passing Point Danger we continued out to sea to a depth of about 100m, where a sea temperature of 28 degerees meant we were in the East Australia Current heading south. This gave us an additional 2-3.5 knots most of the way to Port Stephens.

We had a great reach with genoa all day to average over 9 knots in the first 12 hours in a 15 knot north-easter. At dusk we changed to the self tacking jib and put a double reef in the main as we usually do at night. This slowed us, however the current meant we still made good speed over the ground (SOG).

3.2 knots boatspeed + 3.4 knots current = 6.6 knots 

We elected not to motor even when the windspeed got down to next to nothing as we were still moving south at about 5 knots and the person off watch had a nice quiet boat.  We passed many ships and had to dodge a few storms that we picked up on the radar but overall it was a glorious night in light breeze and very little swell.

Beautiful sunrise off Nambucca Heads

We shook out the reef at dawn and the breeze slowly built until we could raise the spinnaker about 1030. The wind continued to freshen during the day so at 1600 we dropped the spinnaker and then put in the double reef again at dusk of our second day at sea. We entered Port Stephens at 0200 on Saturday after covering 310 nm from the Seaway in 42 hours at an average of 7.4 knots.