Reliance returning from Tasmania

There has been a constant succession of cold fronts with very short weather windows between each front. If you want to passage anywhere, you have to be prepared to make a dash when you can, but once you leave Schouten Passage to head north, there are very few - none actually - all weather bolt holes.

Schouten Passage

From Hobart we sailed to Port Arthur, anchoring in Stewarts Bay, which is quite sheltered. During the day, the hot NW wind (34 deg C) switched to a cold S wind within 3 minutes, but dissipated soon after. We then headed for Triabunna for a last fuel and provisioning stop. Triabunna is a quiet, small fishing town, with a distant view down to a wood-chip loading terminal, but has proven to be a very useful and accessible port. 

A wave from the beach at Schouten Passage

Next stop was Schouten Passage. We were lucky enough to have a nice hot summer's day in this beautiful passage and found a warm rock pool at the eastern end of Bryans Beach for a swim. The next day we did a short leg to Wineglass Bay expecting another cold front and had an uncomfortable night in what is usually a real haven, due to the strong NE that refused to swing NW.

The next passage was Wineglass Bay to Binalong to beat a southerly front due on Tuesday night.  We were soon greeted by a pre-frontal southerly that reached 38knots, fortunately behind us - good surfing conditions! This abated early and did not flatten the established NE swell, so yet again we found ourselves in Binalong Bay waiting for the onshore swell to abate. "Boat Harbour" in Binalong Bay is more of a virtual boat harbour, but did provide a tenuous anchorage until the swell abated around midnight.

 

Sail past Barren island

Then it was off at 0600 for Babel Island to wait out the next gale. We had a perfect offshore sailing day with a 10-15 knot reaching breeze and a knot of current behind us, giving us a late afternoon arrival at the southern anchorage on Babel Island - BUT, guess what; the wind had only just shifted to the NE so there was still some ESE swell running, which would have made this an uncomfortable anchorage, and with NE to NW winds, the north side of Babel was untenable. Fortunately there is a small, alternative anchorage on nearby Cat Island that offers better shelter from the ESE swell and good shelter from NE/NW winds.

Babel Island

We shared our anchorage with Cape Barren Geese, Gannets and various other birds (no mosquitoes!) and slept well. Today (Thursday) we had to relocate to Sellars point just 3 miles west of Babel to ride out the latest cold front which is currently blowing from the SW at 25-35 knots. On the way across from Cat Island to Sellars Point (3 miles), we saw patches of weed and next thing our propeller was fouled. The water off Flinders Island is a beautiful light green/blue in the sunshine, with shallow (20m) sandy bottom. Fortunately the water temp was almost 20 deg, so after a quick swim, our prop was cleared and we continued to our anchorage. Our new Rocna anchor has proven itself on many occasions in Tassie - it has never budged.

 Driftwood sculpture at Schouten Passage

The forecast is looking good for crossing Bass Strait after the front has past early tomorrow morning (Friday 21st). Then its just an easy ride up the NSW coast :))

In spite of the difficult and challenging weather conditions we have thoroughly enjoyed our cruise in Tasmania and we are already discussing our route plans for our next cruise in Tasmania.

Chris and Suzanne Daly on Reliance