Van Diemen's Land Circumnavigation (VDLC)

Hobart to Beauty Point, Tamar River
11-20 February 2015

Day 1 of the VDLC began in light winds with most of the 31 boats in the Hobart fleet motorsailing the 46nm to Port Arthur.

Not so stormy Storm Bay

More fun with dolphins, this time half a dozen riding off the stern and one doing tail slaps to get our attention.

We anchored in Ladies Bay which was very protected from the strong southerlies that came in during the evening.

The Port Arthur Historic Site was very interesting. We took a guided walk on the first afternoon to orientate ourselves and then a cruise around the bay the next morning. We also hired iPods for the self guided tour, a good way to learn a lot about the site.

We enjoyed it so much we were the last boat to leave the anchorage at 1300. We went outside Tasman Island which was spectacular but the confused seas and adverse current made for hard going. I can only imagine how intimidating it must be in strong winds and big seas.

Tasman Island

Once on the eastern side of the Tasman Peninsular, the seas abated and we had a good reach up to Maria Island where we anchored in Chinamans Bay at 2120.

Chinaman's Bay

We spent 4 nights in Chinamans as the wind was back in the north and we decided against another slog to windward as there were plenty of walks we could do.

We explored the convict cells with Helen, Lester, Fred and Marie from Joule another RQ yacht in the VDLC.

Riedle Bay on the eastern side of Maria Island

On Monday, a southerly change came through and we had a fast sail up to Morey's Beach. We had to furl our genoa when the wind got up over 25 knots but we practised setting the storm jib which did the job until the breeze eased.

Fleet anchored at Schouten Island

On Tuesday, we left at 0610 in thick fog and light rain. We had another good reach up the eastern coast until 1700 when the breeze died and we motored the last few hours to Great Musselroe Bay. We anchored at 2130 after covering 104nm in the day.

Watching the sun set while eating dinner

Another good night here before we motored through Banks Strait with the current early on Wednesday morning. The tide can run at 6 knots through here so you need to make sure it is working in your favour. We anchored at Foster Inlet to wait for the wind to arrive at lunchtime. We invited the San Souci crew to join us for morning tea to celebrate Julie's birthday. Spinnaker run in the afternoon to Croppies Bay.

Campervan on the hill above Croppies Bay

On Thursday we sailed 38nm under spinnaker to the mouth of the Tamar River, then 5 miles up river to George Town where we rafted up to Joule on the public pontoon for the night. We did our laundry and shopping here before motoring further up the river this morning to the Tamar Yacht Club for 2 nights. Ben flies in tomorrow to join us for a few days including dinner with the fleet here at the yacht club tomorrow night.

Hobart - Wooden Boat Festival and MONA

6 - 10 February 2015

We packed a lot into Friday, our first day in Hobart - a trip to the dentist for Warren, shopping for some more thermals, the wooden boat festival, Mount Wellington and pizza at a "quirky" unit with friends Karen and Maurice.

Parade of sail to start the Wooden Boat Festival

We wandered the show admiring the workmanship of the old and new wooden boats on display including several from RQYS.

Next up was a drive up Mount Wellington where we could see from the D'Entrecasteaux Channel to Maria Island, areas that we will be cruising in the coming days.

On Sunday we joined our friends Karen and Maurice for an 8km bike ride to MONA (Museum of Old and New Art) on a bike path that follows the railway line.

While some of the art was not to my taste, the building is spectacular and well worth the visit.

Monday was the briefing for the Van Diemen's Land Circumnavigation at the Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania where we met some of our fellow sailors and finished the night with dinner with the Joule crew.

Crazy photo for Lester

Roaring Forties

Flinders Island to Hobart - 29 January to 5 February 2015

Coastal day hops from Killiecrankie to Hobart I wrote in my last post. Sounds easy doesn't it! We had 3 nights in Killiecrankie while the wind howled and we waited for a opportunity to head further south. A monohull left one day and returned later that day saying they were only making 1 knot against the wind and current.

Killiecrankie was a nice spot to wait for the weather

Eventually on Saturday the wind had eased and we headed south in a 15-20 knot SSW wind. Tacking initially in moderate seas, at 1400 the log entry for latitude was 40 degrees - we were into the roaring forties! We got some relief from the wind and the swell as we approached Cape Barren Island on a tight reach and anchored in Munro Bay where we had 2 attempts before the anchor set in the weed. We sailed 61nm in 9 hours to progress 40nm south.

On Sunday, we started with a double reef that we shook out after seeing the wind drop to 10-12 knots as we entered Banks Strait. This area has a reputation for big seas that we glimpsed only briefly off Swan Island when the wind had increased again. Back in with the double reef for the final sail to Great Musselroe Bay - another pretty anchorage after 45nm to windward.

Wind generators are visible a long way out to sea

On Monday, we had lighter winds but still from the south so more tacking. We covered another 43nm to Skeleton Bay just north of St Helens, motoring the last few hours when the breeze died. Warren caught a couple of good sized flathead here which were very tasty.

Sailing in company with Kailani

We left before 6 on Tueday as we wanted to get to Schouten Passage if possible. The sun was out, the wind was from the north and we finally got our spinnaker up for most of the day before a nasty 30 knot SW change came through. We motored the last couple of hours to Moreys Bay on Schouten Island. During the day we were visited at one point by at least 100 dolphins - all looking so excited to see us and ride our bow wave.

Moreys Bay, Schouten Island

We went ashore Wednesday morning to look around before heading off at 1000 for Shoal Bay, Maria Island. Wind from the south again so another 61nm to cover the straight line distance of 40nm. Another amazing day with the dolphins!

Thursday we had an early start to get to Denison Canal before high tide. This is a short cut opened in 1905 to shorten the trade route to Hobart from the east coast.

Entering Denison canal

It is 895 meters long and has a swing bridge to allow the boats through. We went in a convey of 6 boats and as we had arrived early there was still a couple of knots of tide against us.

Swing bridge visible on the left

After exiting the canal we had to motor until we reached Iron Pot, at the entry to the Derwent river. The spinnaker went up in a 10-15 knot SE and we enjoyed the final leg of the trip to Hobart. We tied up in the Prince of Wales bay marina having covered 1263nm from Raby Bay.

Iron Pot

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.