Boxing day 2007 was spent in provisioning 'Ocean Blue' and making last minute checks of gear as  we were determined to make up for the failure to complete the trip early in the year due to the broken mast.

    The conventional way of travelling is in a clockwise direction  as there is no shortage of SE and SW winds when approaching Hell’s Gate at Strahan which see the entrance protected by Cape Sorrel.   However to approach from the south means going via the east coast and being seduced  by the many beautiful places and so running out of time.

Going in an anti clockwise direction meant running the risk of attempting the passage of Hell’s Gate with a strong NW which will see the bar breaking strongly making entry there impossible.    Despite the difficulties it seemed possible to find a forecast weather window and it was decided to go to Grassy on King Island and wait for Easterlies.   Although further away from our start than sheltered places like Three  Hummocks Is.it has the advantage that there are fewer dangers and it is possible to leave at any time of the day or night.  

 

We set out for Grassy and had to motor the whole way in oily calm conditions.     A day later the weather was right for the leg to Strahan and it was a rollicking sail overnight in a NE.    About midnight off Sandy Cape the brand new steering gear gave up.   We had to hand steer until the repaired unit was collected in Hobart some weeks later.    The passage through Hell’s Gate into Macquarie Harbour was easy, we had only to buck the 2 knot current and keep in close to the stone training wall and away from the shoals to port that cover a large part of the harbour.

 

We went first to Strahan and picked up a mooring in Mill Bay away from the bustle of the main wharf and the taxiing sea planes.   Here we could leave the dinghy in the rushes and walk into town for provisions.

We let some dirty weather blow through and then proceeded to spend three days going up the Gordon River for 18 miles  then using the rubber dinghy to go further up the rapids.   The flow of the water stopped us just short of where the Franklin River joins the Gordon.   All along the river the most pristine forest down to the water’s edge as the river winds through a series of delightful gorges.   Fine, sunny, swimming weather made it all the more enjoyable.

 

After a short wait a weather window opened and we snuck out of the Harbour through Hell’s Gate just before dark  and anchored in Pilot Cove outside the training wall setting the alarm for 4 am.   In the first rays of the piccaninny dawn we set off under power for Port Davey.

 

BY midday a stiff southerly hard on the nose caused a wicked chop to develop.   It proved too hard and we sailed into recognised fishernab’s hidey hole behind Hibb’s Pyramid and stayed the night.     Next day in no wind we were compelled to motor all the way to Port Davey.     Tasmanian fishing regulations proscribe it as a “no take zone” so we stayed outside and anchored in a small cove under Lourah Island  to find some abalone.  

 

As night came on the wind rose to a shriek in the rigging and was lifting the top off the water by the very topsides of boat.  The force of the wind on the bare mast was heeling the boat to 45 degrees.  We ran the motor through the worst of it in case the anchor dragged, but it held.  In the morning the gale had gone but another was forecast and we retreated inside Port Davey to Schooner Cove. The next night we received another thrashing, similar to the night before, but this time the winds coming down the different gullies caused the gusts to come in from differing directions.  The anchor dragged 100 metres during the hours of darkness but then again dug in.  While the wind was stronger in our new position it was more constant in direction and we waited until morning to move inshore again.

Over the next few days we had a good look around the whole system of channels and inlets, staying at a different place each night. One day we took the rubber boat up to Melaluca Inlet and filled the tanks and washed at Clayton's. (a shack where a fisherman Husband and wife team lived in seclusion for most of their lives.)  Generally the scenery is tall marble bluff hills up to 500ft and chest high scrub.  Trees only grow in the clefts in the hills protected from the SW gales.  This is perhaps caused by fire or by poor soil.  Perhaps the tree line is at sea level, so cold is the place.  Morning and evening we listen on HF to the forecast from Charlieville.  After about a week we got break along the south coast and motored the whole way to Cockle Creek.  The Capes along the south are pure rock blasted by the weather to look like rhino hides.  There are a couple of hidy holes that the fishermen use.  The best one at Louisa Bay attracted me but while the weather was good we kept going for Cockle Creek.

We lay about in the d'Entrecasteaux Channel for a week which must be the most agreeable cruising territory anywhere.  Each night we stayed in some little cove and dined on the local shellfish and flathead.

On arrival in Hobart the replacement self steering gear had not arrived.  We spent a happy week in Constitution Dock awaiting the postage of this gear.

 

Route taken and anchorages.   Click photo to enlarge.

                                                                                                          

The trip home was a joy and we stayed at Nubeena overnight and 3 days in Port Arthur with friends.  Thence we sailed to Oyster Bay on the inside of Maria Island where we walked across the isthmus to Riedle Bay.  We weathered a very windy night on the north of Schouten Island and the next day, under a double reefed main only, we surfed to Wineglass Bay.  These are all places of such exquisite beauty that to rush through like we did was a sacrilege.  Rob had pressing family things at home left undone and we took every opportunity to go with a breeze that went our way..

 

At St Helens  we tried an entry across the bar but it was breaking right across with the leftover NW swell from three days before.  Rob had used the entrance several times and was sure  the boat lined up correctly but it was impossible to see any sweet spot in the breakers that corresponded with the marks.  To make matters worse the prop was fouled with fishing line and was noticeably less efficient.  Darkness was near and we retreated to Skeleton Bay a little to the north and spent a safe but uncomfortable night with the anchor snagged in the rocks and sending grunting noises up the anchor line into the hull.

 

We ran all the way from St Helens along the rock strewn shore between Eddystone and Mussleroe Bay and through the gap south of Swan Island and on to Clarke Island.  Once before Rob had attempted to get free of the worst of Bank Strait by clearing inside Swan Island before attempting to head north.  This time the sea between the Island was not big but steep and nasty (going our way) and we surfed off the waves with the GPS reporting 8+ knots.  The homestead bay on the north of Clarke Is. is agreeable.

 

I celebrated my Birthday every day for 3 days in Lady Barron while we waited for the wind to decide to go with us.

 

We set out for Kilicrankie Bay but only got as far as Roydon Island on the west coast of FI.  The anchorage is sand and good holding but very shallow.    A couple of calculations indicated that we had anchored in just sufficient water but the tide was 2.5 metres not the 2 metres in my calculations, and we touched bottom for the 30 minutes between 2200 and 2230.  The Tas tide tables predicted 45 minutes before Davenport and they were spot on for time.  The low was predicted for 2215.

 

We got a magic run from there to Deal where we overnighted and then came home from there in one sitting.

 

The boat had performed well and nothing was broken.   Thje $200 Sangean Radio proved it’s worth getting the weather from Charlieville morning and evening.    The weather forecasts were accurate except for variable forecasts  when the were sometimes a little out with the likely prevalent wind direction.

 

        Click on photos to enlarge