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.

Great Keppel Island to Cleveland

Sunday, 26 October to Friday, 14 November 2014
We spent 5 days at GKI including 4 days at beautiful Long Beach with over 20 other cruisers.

We had strong northerlies and we elected to wait for them to ease before heading out to the Bunker Group. It was our first stay at Long Beach and we loved the clear water and white sand. Walks and swims filled in the day as well as a bit of baking.

Finally on Wednesday, 29 October we sailed east to North West Island in a 15-20 northwesterly. While it sounds like it should, unfortunately NW island did not have a good anchorage in this breeze so we sailed on to nearby Tryon Island. After motoring around for over an hour looking for a sandy patch amongst the reef to drop the anchor we gave up and sailed back to Pancake Creek, arriving at 2300 after 108nm. On Thursday, we motorsailed back to Lady Musgrave Island where we spent 2 nights.

Morning calm at Lady Musgrave Island

There were not as many cruisers here as we expected and no tourist boats on a Friday. We saw several lots of tracks in the sand made by turtles coming ashore to lay their eggs.

Snorkelling was good as can be seen in a short video I made with footage from here and other spots we visited this trip.

On Saturday, 1 November we left Lady Musgrave at 0600 in a 15 knot northerly. We set the spinnaker and carried it until just before dark - Warren glad we had the new spinnaker made with heavier cloth so we could keep it up as the wind strengthened in the afternoon to 20 knots. Half an hour after dropping the spinnaker the wind was even stronger and we put the first reef in. We anchored behind Bookar Island in the Sandy Straits at 2300 after 120nm and reaching a top speed of 14.8knots!

We had 4 days in the Sandy Straits including lunch at Kingfisher Bay Resort for Melbourne Cup. On Thursday we sailed to Mooloolaba where we spent a week in the marina enjoying walks on the beach, surfs and fresh seafood.

Dawn reflections in the Mooloola River

On Friday, 14 November we sailed the last leg to Raby Bay after 114 days away. Mum was of course there to greet us and Warren blew the airhorn to signify the end of the trip.

Crystal Clear Keppels

Monday, 20 October to Saturday, 25 October 2014
With the wind predicted to ease we headed out on Monday with 2 other yachts into a 20 knot SE and a very confused sea. We started with a reef in the main that we shook out after lunch (although with the confused seas I wasn't taking any chances and eating too much). The wind eventually went to the east and made for a more comfortable and faster sail into Keppel Bay Marina. The wind was back up again Tuesday so we stayed 3 nights in the marina before heading across to North Keppel for 2 nights. Most of the other yachts who left on Thursday headed south while we decided to wait a few more days for the predicted northerlies.

Cabbage Palm groves

The anchorage in Considine Bay, North Keppel was good - clear water, nice beaches and lots of well signed walking tracks. We walked across to Mazie Bay and up to the lookout over Great Keppel.

GKI in the distance

With a good forecast for the next week, we are now at Great Keppel Island. Tomorrow we are planning to head to North West Island and then through the Bunker Group, so no internet for a while.

South to Port Clinton

Saturday, 11 October to Sunday, 19 October, 2014
First off, thank you everyone for your comments about the Phase2 sailing video - very encouraging and I am working on more but they do take a bit of time!

We left Cid Harbour early to take advantage of the incoming tide down Whitsunday Passage. It ran at 2.5 knots at times which gave us a speed over the ground of 10 knots on a nice reach with main and genoa. We were at Goldsmith Island by lunchtime and when choosing where to drop the anchor, TV reception became as important as depth and protection from the wind. (Bathurst 1000 motor race was on Sunday).

Checking TV reception on the Chartplotter

In the end, with a change in the breeze Sunday morning and loss of recption, we sailed the short distance to Western Bay on Brampton Island which had perfect reception and a nice anchorage also.

On Monday we headed further south to Middle Percy Island in a light NE breeze breeze that didn't strengthen until 1700. We got to the anchorage in Whites Bay just on dark after covering 76nm and anchored with 6 other boats. Tuesday on to Island Head Creek where 20 boats were anchored. Attacked by bugs again (Just like 2008) so we moved closer to the mouth for the second night. The breeze was now in the SE so we sailed the short distance to Pearl Bay for a change of scenery. Also here was Avalon Spirit which is the first Vietnamese built Seawind 1160.

With the SE due to increase, on Friday we sailed around to the more protected Port Clinton where we currently sit. Only 5 other boats here waiting for the winds to ease enough for the 40 miles to Rosslyn Bay. We may head out tomorrow as it is predicted to ease for the day. If it is still too windy it will be the end of the week before we can leave. Plenty of time for reading, jigsaws and editing videos. Luckily we have lots of power thanks to the wind generator.

GoPro video of Phase2 Sailing

Saturday, 4 October to Thursday, 9 October 2014
We spent 2 nights at Happy Bay on Long Island so Warren had good TV reception for the NRL Grand Final. It was good to see the resort was quite busy no doubt due to the school holidays. We enjoyed a walk around the northern headland of the bay and also to Palm Bay resort.

Late on Monday afternoon, we decided to move to Funnel Bay as the wind had increased and with a big tide, boats were going in all directions. We were booked into the marina for Tuesday to get ready for the trip south. Unfortunately, we had to stay another night when Warren discovered a leak in the water pump of the port engine that need to be repaired.

I spent the last week putting together a video of Phase2 sailing - no doubt inspired by Josh's recent visit. I have used a GoPro template again (which Josh thinks is cheating) but it certainly makes it easier. Let me know what you think.

Whitsunday Wanderings

Monday 22, September to Friday, 3 October 2014
We spent 4 nights at Bona Bay where we caught up with RQ and Tasmanian friends.

Big flathead from Bona Bay

On Wednesday, we headed back to Airlie Beach via a night at Olden Island which turned out to be a surprisingly good anchorage in the easterly breeze.

On Friday, Josh and Jo arrived at Hamilton and we motored around to Whitehaven Beach for their first night with us. A morning walk on the beach was followed by a quick trip to Windy Bay for a snorkel and lunch.

We then headed to Betty's Beach to climb to the lookout for the iconic Whitsunday photo of Hill Inlet.

Saturday night was spent in the beautiful Nara Inlet. On Sunday we walked up to the cave with Aboriginal art before heading to Black Island for some more snorkelling.

Sunday afternoon we sailed across to Airlie Beach marina so Josh and Jo could catch their morning flight from Proserpine back to Brissie. With perfect weather we packed a lot into their 3 days with us. Josh and Warren took lots of GoPro footage so keep an eye out for the movie.

Josh's newest toy - a GoPro gyro mount

Since leaving Airlie we have spent our nights at Stonehaven enjoying the sunsets while we snorkelled during the day. Blue Pearl Bay is still a good spot while Maureen's Cove has some good bombies but also a lot of dead coral, no doubt as a consequence of the last cyclone in this area.

We will stay in the Whitsundays until we get some northerlies so we can start to slowly head south.

Townsville and back

Monday, 8 September to Sunday, 21 September 2014
We were pleased when our new spinnaker arrived on Monday in Airlie as promised by John Penfold Sails in Brisbane. We got a great opportunity to see how it looked the next day for most of the 72nm to Cape Upstart.

Big Red is back

On Wednesday we had to motor/motor sail most of the way to Magnetic Island. Thursday was spent fixing the fridge which was losing power intermittently. After finding the switch was not the problem we eventually pulled the whole fridge out (not easy as there was not enough slack in the wiring) and cleaned the power terminals. This seemed to fix the proiblem (I am touching wood as I type this!).

On Saturday, friends Marie and Rob joined us in Townsville for the weekend. We had dinner at the Seaview pub on the Strand (watching the Broncos lose to the Cowboys in the background) and then had a good sail Sunday over to Nelly Bay for lunch. Rob showed that his skills as a pilot could quickly be adapted to sailing.

On Monday after doing the chores we went for a bike ride along the Ross River bikeway. We rode over 20k but this was only about half way so we'll have to save the rest for next time.

Tuesday we headed up to NE Bay on Palm Island after hearing it was worth the visit in the light conditions expected for the next few days. Great advice as we enjoyed the crystal clear water, snorkelling, white sandy beach and only 1 other boat for 2 of the 3 nights we were there.

Its hard to capture the beauty in the perfect conditions we experienced. The last night was a bit rolly as the breeze went to the north and we did hear that the other couple had sighted a large shark amongst the coral so I was glad we had finished our snorkelling.

On Friday with a E - NE breeze forecast we left Palm Island to begin the trek south. Warren caught a 90cm Spanish Mackeral before we had left the bay to top off a great spot.

Our plan to go to Cape Bowling Green was changed once the NE breeze filled in late in the afternoon and we decided to try for Gloucester Island. Unfortunately the 10-15 NE became a 15-20+ E breeze which was very uncomfortable so we altered course for Cape Upstart where we arrived at 2320. It had been a long day which included some great sailing, a marlin jumping out of the water metres away from us, and 2 close encounters with trawlers at night.

Saturday we motorsailed/sailed to Bona Bay on Gloucester Island where we arrived at the same time as a 25 knot easterley. We will stay here until the winds drop early next week before heading back to the Whitsundays to pick up our son Josh and his girlfriend Jo for a few days.