After spending 2 summers in New Zealand, Rusalka was keen to re-explore home waters. We were keen to have a “cruisy” trip rather than an “expedition”, so our sights were set no further than going up the east coast of Tasmania, maybe as far as Flinders Island.
We organised a house and garden sitter for a month, loaded up provisions and set off from Kettering… all the way to a mooring in Barnes Bay, 30 min across the D’Entrecasteaux Channel. An easy first day to allow us to settle in, get our minds set on being “cruisy”, and to be ready to set off the next morning.
We set off on a cool, overcast morning, past the ever-stunning Iron Pot lighthouse, spotting the new Incat electric ferry doing sea trials (the largest fully electric ferry ever built, here in Tasmania, destined for the Argentina to Equador run).
We had an excellent sail all the way from the channel to Lime Bay in 15-24kt S winds, went through the Denison Canal and finished up at Shoal Bay on Maria Island in time for a late dinner.
The next day we walked over the isthmus to beautiful Riedle Bay and had a long walk on the beach.
The next day we sailed up to Triabunna to sit out a couple of days of ENE, then on to Schouten Island where we reacquainted ourselves with the historical huts and I caught the only seafood meal of the trip (one big fat squid!)
We had a delightful moment in the dinghy when 3 dolphins swam around Rusalka and the dinghy (sadly no pictures!).
After a night on the other side of Schouten Passage (Bryan’s Corner) we went to Coles Bay and managed to pick up a MAST mooring. There was another Hallberg Rassy on the other mooring – Austral, an older HR42. The owners were visiting from northern Australia, so it was good to meet up.
After a lunch ashore and top up of provisions, we went back to Schouten passage, to be ready for an early start for a long passage day ahead. There was a forecast wind shift from NE to SW. About six boats were anchored in Crocketts Bay with us. The wind shifted just after dark and came up to 15-20kts. One boat dragged quickly out of the bay and another boat had to relocate. Our anchor reset quickly, maybe within 10m of where it was originally. I love our Ultra anchor!
We left around 6am to head north. It should have been a good sail, with 15-20kt SW pushing us along. Unfortunately, it turned out differently, with flukey winds from 5 kts to 30+kt squalls.
Not much rest for Alex, constantly adjusting sails. The plan was to get to Binalong Bay around 5pm, rest for 6hrs or so, then set off at midnight to go through Banks Strait on the 4am tide. We were very tired by the time we got to Binalong Bay and were a bit concerned that the forecast was uncertain, so we decided to stay for the night and go into St Helens in the morning.
As we were approaching Binalong Bay we heard on the VHF radio that St Helens Marine Rescue were involved in a rescue – reports of a boat on fire and drifting. They asked us to keep a watch for debris on our approach south of St Helens while they searched north. By the time we anchored they had found the boat near Eddystone with help from the police helicopter and rescued 2 crew. Quite a feat for a group of volunteers!
The next morning, we met the Marine Rescue outside the entrance to the bar and were very professionally escorted across the bar and through the narrow channel into Georges Bay. We made our way to the town dock and the volunteers directed us to a spot on the wharf and caught our lines. What a great service!
It was our first time sailing into St Helens and so we enjoyed a few days exploring the town, fish & chips on the dock, and relaxing onboard.
We followed our track back to the barway at high tide and had an uneventful passage back to Schouten Passage. We arrived in the dark to find there were more than 8 boats in Crocketts Bay, so we dropped anchor in Moreys Bay, hoping that we had found a weed-free area. The anchor held for the night, not surprising when we raised the anchor to find we’d brought up a 1.5m piece of wrecked wooden hull (a dinghy maybe?) covered in kelp. Sorry, I forgot to take a photo!
We spent the next week or so cruising between Coles Bay, Cook’s Beach (had a wonderful swim in crystal clear water), Passage Beach, Orford, Triabunna, and Maria Island. All very relaxed.
We decided to do something different for our remaining trip and headed to Port Arthur around the outside of Tasman Peninsula. It was a windless day until we rounded the corner and approached the gap between Tasman Island and the peninsula. The wind picked up to 15-20kt on the nose with a confused swell to 3m. There were overfalls and waves bouncing back off the cliffs. We got through ok, passing Quo Vadis II just outside the gap.
We spent a couple of nights on our friend’s mooring in Stewarts Bay (spoiled only by loud music emanating from a large motor boat) and visited the Port Arthur Historic Site.
Our next “new thing” was to sail from Port Arthur, across lower Storm Bay, to Recherche Bay. I saw The Friars rocks off Bruny Island for the first time. Alex enjoyed some decent wind for sailing.
We spent a couple of days in Recherche Bay along with several boats that were returning from Port Davey. We slowly made our way back up the d’Entrecasteaux Channel over the next few days, dodging strong, gusty winds.
Simpson Point, windy, then calm...
We spent our last night on the CYCT mooring in Barnes Bay and enjoyed sundowners with Lew, Chris, and Chris from Minerva. We returned to our berth the next morning, 4 weeks exactly from departure.
To open a picture