Year One
Date: 29/1/2008 16.00
Weather: overcast
Location: Off Tasmanian coast around St Helens - Tasmania 41'28S 148'26E
Author: Peter

We woke up with the group on Sunday morning and made our way to the Denison canal as we were to go through together as a large group so that the bridge did not have to open multiple times.

The canal itself was quite narrow but deeper than the entrances at both sides. The bridge itself was a swing bridge and as we approached out came a bucket on a long stick into which Kylie deposited two beers. The canal operator was quite skilled at this as he hit each boat in turn as they motored through at about six knots.

Nirvana depositing into the bucket

It took us another hour before we cleared through the narrows on the other side out into Marion Bay and the open sea at which point we could finally set some sail. Due to the weather forecast we could no go to the allocated overnight venue and as a result the fleet split into two and we set off with half the group to Riedle Bay, Maria Island. What a beautiful location. If you saw it on a postcard you would have thought it was some tropical island, not down in Tasmania. Just before entering the bay I got to see my first sun fish. Really really big.
Nigel from Nirvana

John from Nirvana

That afternoon we went ashore with Nigel and John off Nirvana and walked the narrow spit over to the far side to see Chinamans Bay. Just as we arrived back to the boat the forecast change blew through and Nigel and John found themselves rescuing a frightened and upset girl on another yacht that had started to drag anchor.



Check out our top speed!!!!!! yes, minor malfunction with speedo

We left Reidle bay the next morning again with a changed destination from that of the program due to weather expecting a two sail reach to Wine Glass Bay.

It started out perfect with clear blue skies and hundreds of dolphins in a feeding frenzy leaping high out of the water into the air. Can't wait to load the photo's on when we next get the chance. You have to see it to believe it.
Ok, here are those photos as promised







About halfway there the wind turned onto the nose and increased to 25+knots. Because of some local effect the sea became quite short and steep and it was dreadful bashing and tacking our way up through it. Everyone else that headed for Wine Glass Bay motor sailed for most of it so got in just before the change in breeze.

Once there, we were relieved to say the least and it was just as stunning as everyone makes out however we thought it would be larger than it was.

Due to the following days forecast we knew we only had the night here as the fleet would all use the southerly to head up the coast the following morning. We had dinner that night on our boat with John and Nigel and Kylie made John a Birthday cake using all our very ripe cherry's. mmmmmmmmm.

We are now on our way up the coast scooting along in a 20 knot southerly. We are planning on heading to Spike Bay on Clark Island in Bass Strait along with a couple of other boats. We expect to arrive at 02.00 tomorrow morning where it appears to have good shelter from any expected wind direction. We will then have the morning to ourselves while the other boats catch back up to us.

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Year One
Date: 26/1/2008 10.00pm
Weather: still and beautiful tonight
Location: Slopen Main - Tasmania 42'58S 147'40E
Author: Kylie and Peter

This is the first night of our cruise in company to Flinders Island. We have just returned to the boat after a bbq on the beach with the other 10 or so boats anchored at Slopen Main. We were a little unorganised this morning and left about an hour after the majority of the group but as it was only a short sail arrived with plenty of wind and sunlight this afternoon. The sand on the beach is very white (like Jervis Bay white) apparently it gets nicer the further north we go!

Tomorrow we will go through the Dennison Canal, where apparently the going rate is a bottle of bear with $5 taped to it. Tell you more about that tomorrow.

Going back in time, on Thursday we went to the Cadbury factory for breakfast...the only tour time available was 8.00 or 8.30 even though we booked at the beginning of the week! We watched cherry ripes, caramels and turkish delights being made, the smell was sickly- I think you could have even been put off chocolate if you worked there. They used to give you sample chocolate as you walked around the factory but because of modern health and safety regulations they are no longer available to do this. We didn't miss out on chocolate altogether, they gave out a favourites box to everyone at the end.

Thursday afternoon we picked up Darren and had a very relaxing lunch and afternoon at the quaint Georgian village of Richmond. The historic Richmond bridge is the oldest bridge in Australia.

Friday was all boat work and preparations for the cruise...won't bore you with that.

see ya

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Year One
Date: 24/1/2008 Midday
Weather: 22 degrees but sunny
Location: Hobart, Tasmania - The Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania
Author: Peter

We woke up Sunday morning to discover it was race day so moved over to the otherside of the river to Lindisfarne Sailing Club to say g'day to some old friends and to relax and watch the race. This did not quite go to plan however as as soon as the boats left the shore they started turning around and coming back as the forecast front was coming through and the wind strength was gradually building over 25knots.

The hospitality of Tasmanians is amazing, as we were soon offered the lend of three different cars and invited to dinner over the next two nights.

That night we went to the Royal Yacht Club Tasmania for our cruise briefing and a chance to meet some of our cruising partners. 14 boats in all are expected to make their way to Flinders Island. Ranging from 34ft to around 50ft motor cruisers.

We set Monday aside to chase up parts to complete the installation of the watermaker, and pick up/or order missing parts for the boat. We also dropped in our mainsail for some minor repairs and chafe protection. During the morning we also moved Jura around to the Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania. Jura's first ever stay at a marina!


We spent Monday evening having a lovely meal with the Eggins family. Their new house is beautiful and the only flat block we have visited in Tasmania. Once again local Tasmanian produce has exceeded anything we can purchase back at home. Of special note was the free range bbq chicken and the fresh berries. mmmmmm berries with icecream. Darren and Helen also a lent us a car for Monday and Tuesday for which we are extremely grateful.

Tuesday, the weather finally starts to clear and we have taken off the beanies and gloves. We decided to make the most of the weather and head up to Mount Wellington. We couldn't have picked a better day, as the skies were clear and we could see to the horizon in each direction. We ate a picnic lunch on the deck of one of the lookouts. I also bumped into my ex-deputy principal at the top of Mount Wellington showing what a small place Australia is!




That evening we went to Peter and Karen Davis for dinner. Karen is an architect and we were both jealous of their beautiful modern house overlooking Hobart city from above. Once again the food was fabulous. We would be twice the size if we ate like this all the time! we would like to thank Peter and Karen as they lent us their car for the rest of the week.

We woke up early Wednesday morning and headed south through the Huon Valley to Hastings Caves. This was Kylie's first time in a cave.



On the way home we stopped off at roadside stalls for some local cherries. 1/2kg for $4. We should have got 1kg cause we have eaten them all already. They are the best tasty cherries we have ever had.

Spoilt, that’s what we are…Sarah has posted us 2 huge bags of goodies to be opeed at various times such as when the package arrived, Australia Day, April Fools etc.

There were however some rules: We had to take a pic of the gifts and then a pic each time we open one so she knows we aren’t cheating and post the pics on this blog site. So here you are
The gifts she sent

The first package

yummy

Year One
Date: 24/1/2008
Weather: 22 degrees but sunny
Location: Hobart, Tasmania - The Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania
Author: Kylie

Hi everyone, sorry for not writing in ages. Yes we are safe and have arrived in Hobart! Actually we got in on Saturday night but have been busy being tourists the last few days. More about that later...

East Boyd Bay

We left Eden last Thursday morning along with quite a number of other yachts who had also been waiting for a weather period to head to East Coast Tassie, West Coast Tassie, Melbourne or Lakes Entrance. We were the second boat to leave Two Fold Bay and hoisted our sails once clear of the shipping wall. The wind settled in from the SE at around 10-15 knots shortly after we passed Ben Boyd Tower. As we tacked down the coast the other southward bound yachts all clearly with much larger budgets then ours began one-by-one to motor sail past us and over the horizon. We worked the whole way to Gabo Island at which point the wind swung east and we entered Bass Strait on a two sail reach. Although the seas in Bass Strait were not large they were very confused coming from at least three different directions at once.

Dolphins shortley after leaving Eden


We witnessed a beautiful sunset over the water and finally caught the first boat shortly after dark. Whilst crossing Bass Strait it became clear that we would be arriving at our planned destination St Helens at around 3am in complete darkness so we changed our destination, now aiming for Schouten Passage near Freycinet. Peter had little power naps during the night whilst doing horizon and sail checks every 15 minutes. We swapped over at around 4am. Although we were now passing Flinders Island I could not see the coast as the weather was overcast. We sat inside most of the day reading and watching some television, we could get SBS, Win/NBN, Seven and could see another channel but it had no audio.

Our GPS screen and track

Along the coast we were in contact with Bryn at Tamar Sea Rescue, the nicest station we have talked to so far! He gave us a weather forecast and we again changed our plans. Our initial plan had been to stop at St Helens/Schouten Passage and get a good nights sleep then continue onto Hobart so we could arrive in time for a briefing on Sunday evening for the cruise in company we are joining. However there was a 20-30+ knot southerly front predicted for Sunday morning and we decided it would be best if we were in Hobart prior to this so we continued straight on.

Friday night we split the watch more evenly then lazed around all day Saturday watching season two of Greys Anatomy on DVD. The first land we saw was Hippolyte Rock.

At 5.00pm we were met and escorted by a pod of 6 dolphins to Tasman Island. Around 5.30pm we gybed and rounded Tasman Island and then were blasted with 30+ knots. I hand steered as Peter took the mainsail down. At some point here we hit a wind gust of 45.1 knots! We reached across to Storm Bay with half a jib up. As we came up Storm Bay the wind eased enough to sail with a reefed main and full jib. We finally anchored at midnight on Saturday near Lindisfarne.

Trip Statistics
Highest wind speed: 45.1 knots
Total distance travelled: 398nm
Time: 60hours
Average Speed: 6.6knots
Wildlife sighted: Dolphins, Albatross, Petrels

We are now headed to Tasmania across the 240km stretch of Bass Strait.

Year One
Date: 16/1/2008 11.30am
Weather: Southerly front just come through
Location:Eden - East Boyd Bay
Author: Peter

We have a had some fantastic days down in Twofold Bay. We spent some time catching up with our friends Pete and Jess and have had some wonderful food thanks to Jess and her passion for cooking. We would also like to say a big thanks to them for driving us around and helping us with some repairs.

Yesterday they joined us for a morning sail and the first trial of our Para-anchor outside the heads of Twofold Bay in a little over twenty knots of breeze. What a wonderful piece of equipment the Para-anchor is, simple to use and stopped the boat down to the speed of the current which was 0.4 of a knot. On our way back in we also had the pleasure of being joined by a pod of about 10 dolphins that stayed with us for a short while.

During our stay here we had the pleasure of spending a few nights in East Boyd Bay. A pretty little bay with clear water and a beautiful old cottage surrounded by manicured lawns overlooking white sand beaches. We spent time exploring the beach and surrounding area as well as having time to snorkel around the rocks and into a small little cave.

Just around the corner we motored the duck into Kiah Inlet and the remains of the old Davison Whaling Station. A gruesome reminder of our not so distant past.

East Boyd Bay is also the site of a wood chip mill which is a sight to behold and during part of our stay we got to watch the loading of a container ship. The loading wall for the ship helps to shelter the bay which is a great place to shelter from any southerlies as we did along with a few returning Sydney to Hobart boats and some other boats awaiting a weather window to cross bass strait such as ourselves.

Last night we had the pleasure of catching up with the Brewer family on their way home from Melbourne enjoying a peaceful evening barbecue on the boat and later on tasting some more of lovely Jess's cooking as she had left us a small gift. Later that night we tested the sleeping capacity of the boat having a total of six people aboard for the night.

We were hoping to leave Twofold Bay on Tuesday but the weather window was not quite large enough as we sit here today in the predicted southerly. We do however appear to have a few days of good weather coming up so are hoping to try to cross Bass Strait tomorrow. We are going to double check the forecasts again later on today and if all is still good hope to get away early tomorrow morning (Kylie wont like that one as she really is starting to enjoy her sleep-ins. It used to be me that took the pleasure in the sleep in but roles seem to be reversing as we settle into this more relaxed life style.)

Once again thanks to Pete and jess for all your help and hospitality.

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We have internet access so here are a few pics...
Casualty 1 - Spinaker pole (Sydney Harbour to Jervis Bay)

Ulladulla Harbour

Casualty 3 - Mainsheet block (Batemans Bay to Eden)

Sunset at east Boyd Bay - 11/1/08
We moved to East Boyd Bay for some protection from a southerly forecast to hit late afternoon. We were happy we did...quite a wind picked up, as well as thunder and lightning. A number of other boats joined us including a few Sydney to Hobart boats on their way back up the coast. It cleared us just before sunset and we were treated to a beatiful sunset.



12/01/08

We had hoped to be leaving Eden tomorrow but have decided to wait, possibly leaving Thursday...just waiting to see Fridays forecast.

Year One
Date: 11/1/2008 4.00pm
Weather: Fine,sunny and windy, SW change expected late today strong wind warning present
Location:Eden - Quarantine Bay - 37 04S 149 52E
Author: Kylie

Hello everyone, Pete and I are now in Eden. We decided not to stop at Bermagui or Tathra Head and instead sailed from Batemans Bay straight through to Eden on Wednesday. We left Batemans Bay at 9am (had to wait for high tide to allow us to get over the bar). There was no wind so we were motoring whilst Peter set up the main. We had the auto pilot on and I ducked downstairs to grab a jacket and smelt the most disgusting smell ever. Not knowing where it was coming from we immediately thought of the motor and switched it off. Peter took the stairs out, took the cover off the motor and started to look around, he then pulled the floor up and soon discovered it wasn't the motor at all (sigh of relief). It was a melted fuse holder. When we were running the motor we were also charging our batteries up but something isn't quite working right and we now have some very melted and smelly plastic so that is casualty number 2 (pole was number 1 but that has been replaced now)

We now have our gps unit giving us not only a distance to our destination but also an estimated time of arrival based on our current speed. It was looking pretty miserable to begin with, telling us that at current speed (around 3knots) it would take another 27hours to get to Eden! Thats not what you want to hear. Luckily the wind increased and we were soon up to around 8-9knots. The estimated time of arrival was quickly dropping and making me feel alot better. We had anticipated an arrival around 3am but with the great speed we managed to hold right through to Eden we made it in at 10.30pm. Unfortunately we had one more casualty just before Eden, the mainsheet block failed. Crappy ronstan product design fault! (We have taken the blocks to be welded with additional strengthening added)

Yesterday we caught up with sailing friends Pete and Jess. We did our laundry at their place and also had a proper shower...what a luxury to not have to turn the water off whilst I'm washing my hair! Jess cooked us a delicious curry dinner and cheesecake. Mum, Dad and Toni were on their way back from Melbourne and met us in Eden, spending the night on the boat. This morning we had a big pancake, bacon and egg breakfast and are just about to move to over to East Boyd Bay for some protection from the southerly change due tonight.

We plan to spend a few days here waiting for a weather period to go across the Bass Strait.

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Year One
Date: 6/1/2008 4.00pm
Weather: Fine and Sunny now, SW change expected late today strong wind warning present
Location:Batemans Bay - Square Head
Author: Kylie and Peter

We write this sitting at square head in Batemans Bay waiting to cross the bar into the river. We left Ulladula this morning with no wind, motoring for the first 40 minutes then the wind gradually increased from the NE reaching around 20 knots as we approached the entrance to the bay. Low tide was at 1pm so we are waiting for the tide to rise enough so we can cross the now breaking bar.
All the beaches in the area are still shut do to large swells, but offshore was smooth and clean.

Yesterdays sail from Jervis Bay to Ulladula was marred by light winds and occasional showers. The trip was incredibly slow, we averaged just 4.7knots and had to motor the final half hour as the wind died completely. Upon entering Ulladula we were directed to raft up to a 35ft sailing vessel tied up at the end of the breakwall. After securing Jura we treated ourselves to hot chips and a movie in town...just to remind us that we haven't removed ourselves completely from civilisation!!
Whilst we looked liked dags there were some that looked like they would fit in as street walkers at Kings Cross.
It was an unpleasant night in the harbour due to the wave surge. We ended up moving Jura to a mooring.

K...Peter has been teaching to dead reckon and do coastal navigation, he is going to have to go through it a few more times cause he interrupted a very important bit of the Harry Potter book I was reading at the time and I might not have been listening as well as I should. I did however manage to take 3 very good compass bearings which marked our position quite accurately.

K...I have also been testing myself for sea sickness (cross fingers, touch wood all good so far) My tummy felt a little yukky as we sailed out of Jervis Bay yesterday morning but I put that down to the slow speed and horrible reflections off the cliffs as a few hours later I was having a hamburger for lunch!

We are planning to spend two nights in Batemans Bay however with the wind forecast we might stay a little longer, we will just wait and see.

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Year One
Date: 4/1/2008 7.00pm
Weather: Fine and Sunny now, rainy and windy this morning
Location:Jervis Bay - Long Beach
Author: Kylie and Peter

We were beginning to think that Jervis Bay was always windy, more precisely always blowing a gale but this afternoon we were finally shown some nice weather. We are anchored by ourselves off Long Beach on the eastern side of Jervis Bay. This afternoon we enjoyed a stroll on the beach in perfect afternoon weather, looking over turquoise water and pristine white sand. The north east corner (Montagu Point) looks fantastic for snorkelling. We are hoping to fit in a snorkel before heading off to Ulladulla tomorrow morning.

It was great to get off the boat, after a few days of less then perfect weather. This morning we managed to just miss the periodical showers that came through whilst we were attempting to do our fresh food shopping up at Callala Bay.

We had heard that it could take some time to relax into the cruising lifestyle but we seem to be fitting in pretty quickly. Kylie has already 3 books, at this rate our entire library will be read in a matter of months...

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Year One
Date: 2/1/2008 10.30pm
Weather: Fine and Sunny
Location:Jervis Bay - Hole in the Wall
Author: Kylie and Peter

Have just woken up after a bumpy night, got in to Jervis Bay at 10.30pm last night. Trip took us 11 hours with an average speed of 7.5knots. Our maximum speed reached was 11.7 knots

Already learning lessons the hard way! NEED to set wind alarms, auto pilot does not tell you when the boat is overloaded. We surfed down a wave at 11knots only to hit the wave in front and broach...resulting in a broken spinaker pole. That burns this months budget!!

Just about to drop the mooring and head over to Callala Bay to pick up Eugene and Marisa. Looking forward to doing some snorkelling and swimming and catching up on missed meals from yesterday.

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Year One
Date: 1/1/2008 1.30pm
Weather: 13knots from the NE, clear sky's, beautiful day, sea is a bit sloppy due to a big low off QLD. Good for the surfers though.
Location:Off the coast of NSW approximately abeam of Port Hacking
Author: Kylie and Peter

We have left!!! We are both extremely excited.
We sailed out of Sydney Heads at around 11.30am heading for Jervis Bay, approximately 80nm south. We are currently reaching under kite and main averaging 8knots. We think we will arrive in Jervis Bay around 11pm tonight.

HAPPY NEW YEAR everyone
We enjoyed fireworks on the harbour from our vantage point near the Zoo but only after a few minor arguments with some late coming boats that like to anchor too close or rip out our neighbors anchor. It was great to spend time with so many friends on our last night.
(pause)
It is a beautiful day and we have just had our first pod of dolphins for this voyage.

This blog update has been sent via our sail mail email. You can email us a text only message which we can receive via our HF radio(email address is on the contact cards we handed out).

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