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   JANUARY , 2009
NEW ZEALAND BOUND


December 20 - 27, 2008

The weather forecast looked good for our Bass Strait crossing to Tasmania.  The distance would be approximately 320 miles and we were hoping that we could do it in 40 hours. 

We left Eden at 0500h on Sunday, December 20, on the back of a slow moving high-pressure system, which would provide us with two full days of northerlies.  We could see, on the weather map, that there was a moderate low approaching after the passing of the high.  This low would bring an unfavorable southerly change but not for at least 48 hours hopefully.  The forecast was for 15 to 25 knots out of the north, however, in the end the wind was quite a bit stronger, averaging 25 to 35 with gusts of up to 40 knots.  Now this sounds like too much wind, but it was directly behind us the entire way and our boat sails very well with the wind up the bum like that.  The seas did build to 3 metres with the occasional 4-metre wave, but again the boat handles this wonderfully and we were not bashing into anything.  The hardest part was that once in a while we would surf down the face of a wave and reach speeds of anywhere from 12 to 19 knots.  A little too much!!!   So, we added another reef in the mainsail to slow the boat down.   Most of the time we were using a triple reef and a bit of the jib furled.  Our passage was fast and we felt that it was certainly a good experience for our future crossing to New Zealand from this far south.

We arrived in Wineglass Bay in Tasmania at midnight on December 23rd (43 hours after we left Eden, with an average speed of 8 knots) and were in bed by 0030h and slept well until about 0530h.  It was so dark when we came in that we ended up anchoring at the beach that our guidebook states is always troubled by ocean swell.  There was indeed a lot of swell but we were so exhausted that we didn't notice it until we got up in the morning.  We moved further in, and to the south, immediately and were delighted to find an absolutely beautiful anchorage out of the ocean swell.  When we rounded a point of land and Mary saw where we were heading she said aloud "Oh my God, I have died and gone to heaven!"


We had this beautiful place to ourselves for a few days over Christmas.  Wineglass Bay is ringed by rugged mountains, and has what is rated as “one of the world’s top ten beaches”.  There are several vigorous walking trails in this huge national park with many campsites for the backpackers from all over the world who come to see this marvelous view and climb the mountains.
Another view of a mountain in Wineglass Bay, this time on a cloudy and rainy day.  The days were warm if the sun was shining but cold and damp otherwise and there was always lots of wind.  The Tasmanian natives say that they can sometimes experience all four seasons in one day.


We had a quiet Christmas Day.  We were still tired from our Bass Strait crossing and welcomed the relaxation.  We enjoyed watching the numerous hikers on the beach.  The pedestrian traffic never stopped.  Three times during the day, a young man from Ireland swam out to Bella Via to chat.  He told us at one point that his buddies were back at their camp preparing their Christmas dinner of mussels that he had collected from the rocks that morning.  Mary donated a cream cheese and herb and garlic swirl and some gourmet crackers for their feast.   At around five in the afternoon, Paul went ashore with a bottle of scotch to share some Christmas cheer.   Needless to say, with 6 others to share it with, he returned with an empty bottle in under one hour.

The next day, on Boxing Day (also known as Mary’s birthday), we went on a long hike and almost made it to a lookout station at the top of one of the mountain peaks.  We only turned back because of the mosquitoes.  We had not brought along any bug spray and the higher we climbed, the thicker were the mosquitoes.  We did not relish taking chances with acquiring Dengue Fever or Ross River Virus or any other mosquito-borne diseases so decided to turn back.
Mary’s birthday lunch was a picnic on the beach after the hike.  There were several wallabies around and humans obviously did not alarm them as this one came closer and closer.


December 28, 2008

We had to tear ourselves away from Wineglass Bay to continue on our way south to Hobart.  Our next stop was Maria Island (pronounced Mariah), a distance of about 40 miles.  We anchored in Shoal Bay on the western side of the island.

The whole of Maria Island is a national park with a historic site – the ruins of one of the early convict penitentiaries.  Paul is seen standing at the entrance to one of the cells.  Each cell was a mere 6 feet wide and 8 feet long.  The walls were about 8 inches thick.


December 31, 2008

It was time to move on and we spent New Year’s Eve day travelling to the Tasman Peninsula, to a large bay called Fortescue.  We motored in as deep as we could go to a delightful spot called Canoe Bay.  The forecast was calling for strong winds out of the south for the next few days and we were very sheltered in this spot. 
Here is Bella Via at rest in the peaceful anchorage of Canoe Bay.  Outside of the bay, the wind was howling at over 30 knots and the sea and swell combined totaled over 6 metres.

For three days we shared this small bay with two crayfishing boats.  The boats went out into the open water every morning at dawn and returned about four hours later and then again at 1500h for about four hours.  They were checking their crayfish pots.  We have learned that commercial fishermen in Australia are very friendly and generous with foreign boats.  Three times in our first week in Tasmania we were given crayfish for our dinner and enjoyed them very much. 

On our last day in Canoe Bay, Paul asked one of the fishermen if he could go along when they did the afternoon check of their pots.  They set off at 1500h and returned at 1900h.  Paul looked a little green when he arrived back at Bella Via.  We had not considered the sea state for this expedition and, although Paul enjoyed the experience, he did not enjoy the big swells.  The swell was so bad that they could not check the last 7 or 8 pots, as they could not find them.

Paul was smiling here but for most of the trip his stomach was rebelling from the big seas.  Paul is standing with the young lad who is the crew on this crayfish boat.  The boat goes out from the homeport for about two weeks at a time.  They collect about 50 crayfish on a good day, which they keep live on the boat and then bring them to a co-op to be shipped to China.  The fisherman told Paul that crayfish are sold in Tasmanian shops for $60.00 a kilo.

January 4 – 9, 2009

The wind was diminishing and the sea state improving and we decided to head for Hobart.  We were anxious to catch up with our friends Rob and Cate from Indecision and Sue and John from Aurielle.  Also, as usual, we had lots of town stuff to do!

We had a very pleasant journey to Hobart.  The wind was light and variable with only a bit of swell and the scenery was magnificent.

We are so impressed with the Tasmanian landscape.  The coastline is the most rugged that we have ever seen.


Our friends, Rob and Cate, are members of the Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania and we wanted to anchor near them as they had offered to drive us around for the next few days.  We anchored in deep water for one night and then moved on to a mooring the next afternoon as the price was very reasonable.

We spent the week catching up with our friends and shopping.  We finally met up with John and Sue from Aurielle (who had invited us for Christmas lunch) who were staying at the home of their son and daughter.   We hope to see them again when we get to New Zealand.

On Friday, January 9, we had the pleasure of meeting up with our son’s girlfriend’s (Jenn Sabean) Aunt Nancy and her partner Geoff.  Nancy and Geoff had been on a driving tour of Tasmania with their Australian friends, Robyn and Keith, and were in Hobart for two days.  We had an enjoyable evening aboard Bella Via.

The week in Hobart flew by and most of our town stuff was completed.  We were anxious to get out cruising again.  Our son, Jeremy, and his girlfriend, Jenn, were due to arrive at the boat on Monday, January 19.  That meant that we had about 10 days to enjoy the D’Entrecasteaux Channel. 

January 10 – 18, 2009

We sailed into the channel and stopped at Barnes Bay on Bruny Island.  There are several bays on this large and long island.  Barnes Bay has several smaller bays, which offer a choice of good all-weather anchorages.  We settled in Alexander Bay.

This was one of our views while we were in Alexander Bay.  What we at first thought was a vineyard was in fact a cherry orchard.  During the day the surrounding hills were covered by hundreds of sheep.  We had this tiny bay to ourselves at first but, by late afternoon, there were several other boats here, including our friends Stuart and Lily from Vallela who we had last seen in Eden.

There are two resident black swans at Alexander Bay and they visited Bella Via regularly throughout the day.  Black swans are native to Australia but this is the first time that we have seen this beautiful bird.

On Monday, we had morning tea on Vallela with Stuart and Lily and then, as the wind was now coming out of the northeast and the bay was getting choppy, we both decided to head across to Quarantine Bay.   We had a short motor across and then Stuart and Lily came aboard so that Stuart could help us with our pre-ocean passage rigging inspection.  We can do this with just the two of us but it is easier with a third pair of hands.  Paul went up the mast while Stuart tailed the mainsheet (attached to Paul’s harness) on the electric windlass and Mary tailed the spinnaker halyard (the safety line, also attached to the harness).  It’s a good thing that we didn’t wait until the last minute before our crossing to do the inspection as Paul discovered that the main halyard had chafed a third of the way through.  To correct this, we end-for-ended the main halyard (moved the top end to the bottom and the end to the top) and put in fresh line where the strain would be the most. 

Stuart and Lily left the next morning to continue on south in the channel.  We motored over to the Duck Pond anchorage but it was so protected and a hot day of 31 degrees C (Tasmanians say that they have three hot days every summer and this was one of them) that we decided to go instead to Shelter Cove, which provided more breeze.

The next morning we decided that, as we didn’t need to be back in Hobart until Saturday or Sunday, we would move a bit further south in the channel.  The forecast was calling for 10-15 knots of southwest winds in the morning and then increasing in the afternoon for a couple of days.  A study of our cruising guide revealed what looked like the perfect place to be in a strong southerly – Port Esperance.  We started out on the 25-mile journey only to find that the wind was blowing out of the south (which made it right on the nose as we headed south) and at 25-30 knots.  We tolerated it for a while but when we were only motoring at 3 knots and we could see some choppy water up ahead in the open waters, we decided to turn back to Barnes Bay.  This time we went all the way into Duck Pond and had a pleasant stay for two days.

Our friends, Paul and Judy from Meridian, were on a driving vacation in Tasmania and were anxious to catch up with us before they had to fly back to their boat in Brisbane.  We told them that we would be back in Hobart on Sunday afternoon and moved a bit further north to Snug Cove on the mainland of Tasmania.  It was a very pleasant spot.

On Sunday, January 18, 2009

We headed back to Hobart and met up with Paul and Judy for afternoon tea on Bella Via.  Such is this liveaboard life that we never know when we are going to meet up with cruisers that we have met in the past.  We don ‘t say good-bye
anymore; we say “see you later, somewhere down the road”.

Monday. January 19, 2009

We were so excited to meet up with our son, Jeremy, and his girlfriend Jenn Sabean.  Paul met them at the nearest hotel after there flight from Melbourne and we had a late dinner of garlic prawns and salad and garlic bread.

Here are Jenn Sabean and Jeremy, our son, arriving at Bella Via for a three-month stay.  They are joining us for the passage to New Zealand, plus going off on hiking/camping trips whenever they can.


We are getting ready for our imminent departure to New Zealand, a journey of 1200 nautical miles, so we will stop here and write again when we reach New Zealand.  Needless to say, we are having a great deal of fun with these two young people aboard!
    Journal Page 9
    
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