03/29/2012, Wombat cove, Bathurst Channel
We started to gain an appreciation of just how magnificent this place is from the top (almost in Lesley's case) of Mount Misery, the destination of our morning walk. There are no words to describe the feeling of looking out over the start of the Bathurst Channel which connects Port Davey to Bathurst Harbour, and the pictures can't capture it either. This whole area is all national park, and the only way to get here is to sail, walk, or take a light plane. There are no facilities, no shops, no power, and no phone or Internet reception. It would have to be one of the most peaceful places either of us has ever been. There was one island that I could see from our vantage point that was completely covered with green trees right down to the short rocky foreshore. In between the edge of the vegetation and the brown rocks is a line of limestone or marble all the way around the island, so it looks like someone has drawn a white line around it. Amazing. After lunch, we motored a bit further down the channel to Casilda Cove, an enchanting anchorage nestled in a small cove with trees right down to the water line. It turned out that we were sharing the cove with Jeremy Firth and his wife Penny on their boat Rosinante). Jeremy was responsible for writing much of the Tasmanian Anchorage Guide, which is one of the books that we have been making good use of. We hosted Penny and Jeremy for afternoon tea (David and Jenny - we cracked open uour lovely fruit cake for this occasion) and got some further inside information about good anchorages in Bathurst Harbour and Macquarie Harbour (further north). We went for a short row, and discovered a little brook up with we were able to guide the dinghy to the foot of a small waterfall. The brook at this point was only just wider than the dinghy so we were nestled in there. No doubt this place is just full of these little nooks waiting to be discovered. A perfect start to our Davey/Bathurst Harbour stay.
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03/29/2012, Wombat Cove, Bathurst Channel
It has been a long gap between Internet availability, so here we are in Strahan after having spent two weeks in Bathurst Harbour. We wrote our blogs every day- you will see that the weather was not very conducive to being out and about- so I will gradually upload them over the next couple of days.
With another early morning start (3.30am), we slid out of Recherché Bay and were on our way around the bottom of Tassie to Port Davey and Bathurst Harbour. We have had a few of these "night" sails on this trip. it is a lovely time of the day to be out there sailing in the right wind. It usually means that we are on our way to a new place and there is anticipation about what the next destination holds. The air is clear, stars are out , and if you are lucky there is some moonlight also. The water is dark around the boat and the phosphorescent creatures sparkle in the water. With a GPS the navigation is relatively easy, especially if you save the track that you took in to an anchorage, as you can follow the track knowing that, as long as you take tide into account, it is a safe route out. At 5.30am, we rounded South East Cape and we could just see some mist around the land. By 11am, there was sufficient wind to put the sails up -finally. By lunchtime we rounded South West Cape, and what a magnificent scene that was. Rugged rocky cape, a 3 metre swell (not as bad as it sounds), loads of birds calling,circling and diving, and a single fishing boat laying and picking up crayfish pots. Unfortunately, the only fish that Phil managed to catch were more barracoutta. He did have what was probably a tuna on the line at one point but all that we got out of that was bent hooks on the lure, and a tear in Phil's gloves where the line burnt through in his attempt to land the fish before the line ran out and snapped. We made our way up the west coast, realising that we were now facing north towards home. This particular section of the west coast is just spectacular - very rocky with lots of rocky islands scattered all over the place. The entry into Port Davey was quite easy, with the swell and wind dying down the further in we went. Before too much longer we were anchored in Wombat Cove, and having lovely warm showers before dinner.
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03/13/2012, Recherche Bay
Today started with a beautiful morning and continued in that vein. We had a gentle down wind sail to Recherché Bay under sunny skies, arriving just before lunch, to find a really beautiful bay. This is a relatively major camping area but with limited facilities - water and toilet only - and so we are sharing the area with a number of campers. Cockle Creek is just delightful - a sandy bottom creek with lovely clear pale green water. There is a sign just near Cockle Creek that claims the road in as the southernmost street in Australia. We went on a very interesting walk this afternoon to Fisher's Point which took us along the beach, over some rocks and through a mossy cool forest. Time now for a shower, and preparation for tomorrow when we will leave here at 4am for the 70 nautical mile trip "around the corner" to Port Davey. At some point tomorrow we will turn our faces north towards home, although we have a lot more holiday to go. We are very much looking forward to the two west coast destinations and hope that the promise of all the crushing guides holds true. No more photos until I can get the laptop charged up again which will be at least 5 days away.
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We left Cygnet and continued our way south down the D'Entrecasteaux Channel to Southport. A lovely few hours to get here on a beam reach, with very little swell, with warm sunshine, and some music playing. The scenery was lovely. Phil had the fishing line out trawling behind us, and thought he was about to land a very large fish, only to discover that a seal who had been lolling around in the water behind us had chomped onto his lure and chewed the whole thing off his line. The poor seal probably has a bit of a sore mouth, but when we looked back, he was still lolling around not looking too distressed. They are funny to see in the water, lying on their sides waving one flipper in the air, just lounging around. So we are here tonight and then off to the last port of call on the south east coast, Recherche, tomorrow. From there, the plan is to leave early Wednesday morning for Port Davey on the west coast. We don't expect to have internet access there, so there may not be another blog update for about 5-7 days until we get to Strachan.
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After a very peaceful night in Peppermint Bay, we nipped up to have a look at Kettering, a well known fishing village and harbour with lots of permanent moorings. It is also where the Bruny Island ferry terminus is located. It is a busy place and probably not one in which cruisers would particularly enjoy. We did not seem to find much in the way of shops, contrary to the information in our cruising guide. We decided to take a trip up the Huon River, and unfortunately ended up having an uncomfortable afternoon sailing into the wind. We were glad to get to an anchorage in Surges Bay. After a short walk, we got some mussels from the shore for our pre-dinner nibbles. Cooked them up in garlic and chilli. We were surprised though to find little crabs co-existing inside some of the mussels. The next day we sailed to Cygnet, which is up the top of Port Cygnet, still part of the Huon River. It turned out that the sailing club there was holding a regatta which had attracted a large number of competitors from other areas. There were many boats anchored in the Port and here we had our first experience of anchoring in a tight spot, with spectators. We had to have a couple of gos before we got it right but at least we have our hand signals worked out so that there was no yelling from the bow to the helm. After walking into town for some supplies and diesel (and it was a very scenic walk too), we decided that we would talk back into town again and have a meal at the pub. On the way, we dropped into the sailing club for a drink where it was all action as the post regatta BBQ and presentations were on. We got talking to some locals and ended up staying for the BBQ. It was quite enjoyable as the club had a very nice atmosphere. After dinner, there was the usual fund raising raffle and we bought some tickets to support their club. The prize was a cruise for two from Hobart to Peppermint Bay with a meal included. Not much use to us should we win it we thought, but we discussed how great it would be to win it and give to our good friend who lives in Hobart. Imagine our surprise when the raffle was drawn and they called out our name! We rowed back to our boat and with much excitement rang Alison to tell her the good news.
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03/12/2012, D'Entrecasteaux Channel
After restocking, repairing the sail, washing and visiting friends in Hobart, we left to cross Storm Bay and start travelling south down the D'Entrecasteaux Channel. There was very little wind so we had a day of motoring. Our initial intention had been to stop in Barnes Bay which is reputed to be the most delightful sheltered bay in the southern hemisphere. It looked quite nice but we decided to keep going and picked up a public mooring in Peppermint Bay. What a pretty spot it turned out to be. We were very surprised that on the first night of a long week end, were the only cruising boat in the bay. We were lucky enough to be able to see the Marine Discovery Centre which is normally only open to the public on Wednesday's, but the guy on duty had caught a 1 metre gummy shark that afternoon and was keen to show it to someone. It was certainly very active in the tank, and seemed to be almost trying to climb out. We watched the daylight disappear from the cockpit and had a very peaceful night.
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