Saturday and Sunday
The best laid plans fall to the wayside when you are at the mercy of the weather. As Deny King (a pioneer from the rugged south west Coast of Tassie) commented we are no longer governed by calendars and time, but by weather and tide, how true!
The weather forecast had changed so we made the decision to delay our departure from Pilot Bay for two days. There was a strong easterly of 25-35 knots forecast for the north coast of Tasmania. Jac and Steve from S/V IONA had left a number of days before us and had gone across to King Island. We received word from them that they got hammered and it was not an enjoyable trip. Our dilemma was that whilst it was easterly and we were on the west coast we were protected but when it eventually turned west again we would be exposed. We needed to time our arrival at the Hunter Group (north west corner of Tassie) with the change in wind direction, it was all about timing and patience.
Whilst in Pilot Bay we found out what the local lads do for entertainment on a Saturday night – they buzz yachts in their tinnies, waving in a friendly manner with their boom boxes blasting , it was very entertaining!
We went ashore for a walk along the beach with a bit of rock hopping along the channel breakwater. Mark found a track that led to the surf beach in the next bay, while walking along the sandy track we saw two small whip snakes which had Mark and Georgie walking on air!
Once over in the next bay we found three dead pilot whales on the beach. In 2020 there were more than 450 long-finned pilot whales caught on sandbanks and beaches inside Macquarie Harbour. About 380 pilot whales were confirmed dead. This stranding was reported to be the largest in Tasmania’s history.
Monday
We pulled up anchor at 0615 and set off, hoping that we had made the right choice as once we’d got to Sandy Cape there was no turning back. The wind was 10 knots and there was a 2-2.5 metre swell that was 8 seconds apart, this made for very comfortable motor sailing averaging 6 knots with the staysail and the main.
As we passed the wind turbines located at Conical Rocks the wind gusts increased to 25-35 knots, and the sea on top of the swell increased to 3 metres. As we neared Sandy Cape we spotted two cray fishing boats from Strahan anchored on the south side of Sandy Cape which made us a bit uneasy about the reliability of anchoring in the bay at Sandy Cape. Once we had navigated through the cray pot buoys and got into the bay, we were relieved to find a place that we could anchor without the danger of being on a lee shore as the wind was blowing from the north east at 30+ knots. In 9 metres of water we put out 70 metres of chain, Mark set the anchor alarm and we settled in for the evening. Neither Mark nor I slept well, more so Mark who slept with one eye open watching the chart plotter.
Sandy Cape would rival Point Hicks in Victoria with the size of the sand dunes. It would be awesome to snow board down the dunes, walking up again not so much fun.
Tuesday
Georgie has been travelling well this trip with regards to her sea sickness. We believe being in Pilot Bay with a slight swell prior to leaving helped her. Lucy is becoming less stressed with each voyage as we fine tune our procedure for going to sea. In the early days we may have, on the odd occasion forgotten to lock a draw which would fly open when the boat rolled in the swell. The sudden noise would scare poor Lucy and put her on edge, she is now starting to relax and not be so stressed as soon as we start up the engine to leave.
Lately when we arrive at each destination the weather has prevented us from going ashore or the beach break would capsize our dinghy, so we stay onboard. To pass the time after school work has been completed we play card games, scrabble, read, soccer with Lucy. Georgie will often cook some cupcakes or a cake. Georgie is turning into a little entrepreneur charging Mark and I $5.00 for a 15 minute neck/shoulder massage.
At 0800 we departed Sandy Cape for Ann Bay. On arrival at Ann Bay the winds were due east at 30 to 35 knots so we anchored as close as we dared to the beach. Even less sleep was to be had……
Wednesday – Thursday
The wind had swung from the east to the south east by the morning gusting between 20-30 knots. We pulled up anchor at 0750 and departed Ann Bay. We sailed past numerous wind farms consisting of 30+ turbines.
As we arrived at the southern end of the Hunter Group the sea was protected by the islands but the currents were strong at 3-4 knots. Our first choice was to continue on to Stanley but this meant punching into 2.5 – 3 metre seas for 5 hours so we headed for a small bay on the west side of Thee Hummock Island. This turned out to be no good either as the easterly swell was wrapping around the island with waves breaking across the bay. We decided to anchor in Shepherds Bay on the east side of Hunter Island. The swell made the anchorage a bit ordinary for a few hours until the westerly change eventually came through at midnight. The forecast for Thursday was not good so we stayed in Shepherds Bay for another night with the plan to depart for the Tamar River at 0330 on Friday morning.
Friday
At 0330 we pulled up anchor in the dark and departed for the Tamar River. I was hoping that we might see some bioluminescence in the water, but it was not to be. I remembered when Greg, Murray and Mark came over to Tassie to bring back Greg and Tan’s boat Shadie, they had an amazing experience of dolphins swimming at the bow with the bioluminescence highlighting the dolphins shape as they darted through the waves.
As we crossed Bass Strait towards the Tamar River we averaged 7 knots in 10-15 knots of wind with a following sea. We reached the Tamar at 1700 hours and tied up at a public jetty at the Low Head pilot station. We were all looking forward to a good night’s sleep.
I thought you had the snowboards packed with the bikes in the stern compartment?
Was relieved to see you appear on Marine Traffic again, headed for Low Head. The weather looked very tricky over the last few days, bet you need a good rest at Low Head.