It is 1 February and I am sitting here covered in a fleece down below, enjoying a day off. We are in Alexander Bay, Bruny Island sheltering from a cold southerly.
After we left Hobart on 27th of January we ended up sheltering in Alexander Bay. The wether forecast was pretty ugly for the following day which was good luck for Torea as we gave her a good clean. It was a good opportunity for me to get to know her better - I am again and again amazed, how much storage room she has and I'm doing my hardest to fill it. (In this context I was able to persuade Steve to give me a third plastic container for my belongings! Now I don't have to mix my warm clothes and my computer cables etc anymore - woohoo!)
On Sunday morning we left early and headed to Port Arthur. As I mentioned before, "letting go" is the lesson I am taught over and over again here on Torea. Today's let go was the idea that I would not be seasick anymore... Because of that illusion, my friend the bucket, was still stored away and undisturbed in its place - the remains of my breakfast ended up on the deck. Once Steve had finished cleaning it up I once again deposited what was left on the same spot. And again, Steve cleaned it up stoically. No need to say, how thankful I was that he cared for me so kindly.
We arrived in Port Arthur in the afternoon - although I had the feeling it had done me good to feel "terra firma" under my feet, the weather did not allow us to set foot on the ground of the World Heritage place.
The following day the weather decided to be all over the place. The consequence was, that Steve dropped me off at the jetty and remained on Torea, while I explored the historical site. Port Arthur, founded in 1830 as a penal station became a model prison in those days. In the beginning of course it was an ordinary prison and the convicts had to do hard labour. But then, inspired by a prison in Pennsylvania, they reformed the prison. In my opinion not exactly to the good - but here I am, almost 200 years later... The idea was, that the convicts should be isolated to give them time to think about their crimes. Additional reading of the Bible should also make them better people. Consequently, the convicts were imprisoned in tiny cells where they could be observed 24/7. The were allowed to leave the cell one hour a day - but only completely covered. Like a burqa... They were not allowed to talk - and also the guards were forbidden to talk; they used sign language to communicate! Good luck for the Brits, that there was no amnesty international these days...
It was a very interesting excursion - not only to see the abysses of our species, but also, that there is always someone good. And it is good to know, that we have learnt a bit since then. Nevertheless I have to acknowledge, that the governor and the guards acted in the conviction, that it was for the good of the prisoners.
Steve had brought Torea to Stewarts Bay and our communication went a bit wrong - I ended up walking back and forth quite a few times. Consequently I took the handheld radio when I left Torea for the afternoon's excursion.
Yesterday, 31 January we returned to Barnes Bay, Alexanders Bay - to be more precise. It was a good sail and I was not seasick, although we had a good swell making the boat roll. I admired Cape Raoul - what a beautiful yet harsh scenery.
Steve just moaned that we'd had a hard day as once more he had to explain another chapter in the book "The Complete Dayskipper". The charts, tides and all that is not new to me - but always seen from the terra firma perspective, which is in this case quite superficial. And when Steve asks me the vocabulary, I come up with some fine inventions of words - or just mix them up. So the "mainsheet traveler" become a "mainsheet traffic" - and confused by all the words and abbreviations, I called an Amel a "cat" instead of a "ketch". More than once we laugh until at least I was in tears.
It is now exactly 6 weeks since my arrival in Sydney - and I have been thankful for every day.

(photo: a short summary of the story of one of the convicts.)