The scenery and bird life was spectacular during the strong winds with crystal clear blue skies around Flinders, Babel and Cat Island.
Shearwaters at Babel Island
A massive flock of sea birds was swarming over huge schools of fish in an amazing aerobatic display keeping us entertained for the afternoon. The SW wind abated as forecast early on Good Friday so we reluctantly said goodbye to this beautiful and desolate place.
Dolphins in pursuit
When the wind finally kicked in at around 0500 we were too tired to get the mainsail up so I just unfurled the headsail, which gave us some lift in the 10/15 knot easterly. Bass Strait is a long haul for two-up sailors, even with a stop-over on Flinders. It is good to time the crossing with a full moon. Even in stormy conditions, the moonlight sheds some very welcome light on this potentially treacherous expanse of water. We anchored in Snug Cove at Eden at 1100 on Saturday 22nd after a 27 hour passage from Flinders/Babel Island.
Bermagui
On Sunday we had an early start to make Bermagui (42 miles) for refuelling and provisioning. As for our previous visit while heading south, we found Bermagui a friendly and accessible port and spoilt ourselves to an excellent anniversary dinner at Morrison's on Lamont (just about everything in Bermagui is on Lamont!). The BOM had been threatening all sorts of storm and tempest to emerge from the "complex low" that was forming between two consecutive highs so we opted to head further north to avoid the worst.
Brulee in the afternoon
We got as far as Broulee, just south of Batemans Bay and decided to stop and try to catch up the sleep debt that had accumulated. This was a good move as Broulee turned out to be a very peaceful and protected anchorage (off Tomakin in northerly winds and off Broulee Island in southerlies).
Sultry South Coast
The BOM's threatened weather fizzled out (surprise!) and we had two days of forced rest in the rain. Revived at last, we made the final legs to JB, Jibbon and Pittwater arriving on Friday 28th exactly 6 weeks after our departure.
Jibbon Beach sunset
The trip log read 1777.7 miles; engine run-time was 218 hours, fuel consumed was 710 litres (3.26 litres/hour), motoring approximately 80% of the time! I had naively hoped for about 50% sailing for the trip.
Chris and Suzanne Daly on Reliance
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