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

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