Monday
It was time to leave mainland Tassie, so after another night of getting up at 0200 hours to tie a rope from the floating jetty to the shore to stop us hitting the walkway again, we were pleased to be moving on.
We cast off at 0630, after motoring outside the Tamar channel, Mark put up the main and genoa and we joined 10 other yachts heading in the same direction, it was a mass exodus! Eleven hours later we anchored at Prime Seal Island in the Furneaux Group.
Tuesday
After a good night’s sleep and with an excellent forecast for the next two days (Mark estimated a 34 hour voyage) we pulled up anchor at 0615, put up the main sail and genoa, weaved in and out of the small islands surrounding Flinders and then pointed the bow in a north easterly direction towards Gabo Island. Mark and I completed a 3 hour-shift at the helm which worked really well and gave Mark a chance to rest. When we do the shorter voyages, Mark tends to do the majority of time at the helm and along with constantly checking weather and anchorages etc. he is exhausted by the time we reach our destination.
Georgie was travelling reasonably well, a few spells of not feeling great, but overall, she was doing great. Lucy was anxious, but soon relaxed with our regular voyage regime.
Once we got passed the Sister Islands (north of Flinders Island) we had sweet nothing to look at other than ocean for the next 24 hours. Although we did see a lot of Albatross that would do laps around the boat, with their long wing spans they were very graceful, gliding just above the waves. Our only other companions were the dolphins who would accompany us intermittently during the voyage.
Later in the afternoon the depth sounder stopped working as we passed over the edge of the continental shelf into 2000+ metres. It was mind boggling as the deepest water we had encountered to date was 250 metres.
It was a lovely night with the moon shining, Mark does not fuss but I like it when I can see what waves are coming when I am on watch…just in case, not that I would be able to do anything in time! We passed two cargo ships steaming in the opposite direction during the night. One was within 7 nautical miles and over 340+ metres in length, it looked like a Christmas tree on the water.
Wednesday
At 0800 we passed Gabo Island and then shortly after Green Cape.
Just after lunch we anchored in Snug Bay, Eden. Mark and I were feeling a little weary but not too bad because of the shared shifts. We spent the afternoon doing the laundry and picking up mail that had been sent to the Eden Post Office. The walk into town up the hill from the wharf was a good challenge after being boat bound for the last 3 days.
Thursday
We had to get a few jobs done including laundry and wiring in exhaust and gearbox temperature sensors. We ran the water maker and Georgie finished off her school-work for the term. Lucy had the job of getting through a bone on the front deck. After lunch we headed to the beach to enjoy the beautiful sunshine.
Friday
The Easter weekend weather forecast was looking good with temperatures in the mid-twenties. We pulled up anchor at 0615 and motor sailed out of Eden towards Bermagui. With calm seas making the water look like cellulite we were able to sit out on the forward deck and enjoy the sunshine and view. It felt so good to have warmer weather, with Georgie getting excited about going for a swim without needing a wetsuit.
As we got closer to Bermagui Peter & Sal from S/V Music Maker (who had sailed to Bermagui from Lakes Entrance two days earlier), came out to meet us in their dinghy.
Saturday
Bermagui is a lovely small port where we were able to berth at the Fisherman’s Co-op jetty. Our berth was alongside a motorboat from Melbourne named “Sassy”. Sassy made Escapade look like a dinghy. Even though we felt totally out of our league, when it cost them $4,500 to fill the fuel tank’s we were very thankful that we have a sailboat. That same amount of fuel for Escapade would be enough for us to circumnavigate Australia. We spent the morning cleaning down the decks and topsides and making Escapade look presentable again.
After lunch we all went for a swim (with no wetsuits), YAY!! Georgie also managed to track down a very nice gelati bar, although not quite as good as the Tasmanian Valhalla ice cream.
Sunday
Another beautiful day, making the most of it we went for a walk to the lookout to check out the Blue Pool. Bermagui has a surf beach which is patrolled by the surf club, a pool with a shark net that is adjacent to the main channel to the marina and the blue pool around in the next bay.
Our berth was opposite the boat ramp which provided great entertainment – watching people launch and retrieve their boats. Bermagui is popular for game fishing so seeing boats of all shapes and sizes was interesting.
Oh the Blue Pool at Bermagui. My parents and Uncle Arthur used to go to Bermagui every year. I have swum in the Blue Pool. Your photos bring back childhood memories. Noel & I took our two there when young too.