Well we eventually set off at 0230 on Monday 10th December. We missed our initial deadline by a week or so as a friend advised that I should install the wind vane steering I have, had built before setting off to Tasmania. This was so that any problems could be sorted out before I left. This was good council as the equipment had been incorrectly designed for my boat. It didn't take long to remedy by the manufacturer but would have been much more difficult from Tasmania. For the uninitiated a wind vane steering system is a mechanical device that sits on the transom (back end) of the boat and automatically steers, it does not use any power which is the main advantage. The electrical autopilot I have on board uses a reasonable amount of battery power and is not ideal for longer sea crossings. While I was waiting for the vane to be modified I fitted the HF radio which had just arrived from the US. A HF radio set allows me to get automatic weather fax sent to my laptop, have email capability (when I register) and also long range voice communications with other HF users (thousands of miles in the right conditions).

The crossing to Tassie was fairly uneventful, I suffered seasickness for a few hours but eventually got over it ( I will definitely take the pills next time we go). The first 12 hrs or so were a little uncomfortable as the sea was still rough after the front which had gone through earlier on Sunday. When travelling over night one of us has to be on "watch" at all times, we shared this in 2 hr shifts which seems to work fine for us. When you are away from land and artificial lights the stars are brilliant especially on a moonless night like the one we encountered, the Milky Way stands out like a white band encircling the sky, we saw shooting stars and satellites. Jean was on the dawn watch and was escorted along by a pod of dolphins for about half and hour. The dolphins play in the bow wave of the boat and look up at you whilst they are swimming

While half way across Bass Strait we encountered a cable laying vessel that was trailing cables for 6 miles behind him, our course could have taken us close to the cables had it not been for the look out vessel that called us on the VHF radio and advised us of this situation. We arrived at our destination (the Tamar) at about 1300 Tuesday and moored near the entrance overnight waiting for the tide the next morning to help us up the river to Beauty Point where we currently are. We intend to stay in the Tamar till after new year.