Monday 4th January 2010,we set sail from Robe at 6.30am and reached Rivoli Bay (South End) at 1.30pm, after a few hours rest we then set sail again at 6.30pm for the long overnight sail to Portland. This was my Brother Bob’s first night sail. When we arrived in Portland we were met by the local customs officers who wanted to check that we were an Australian Registered Vessel (which we are) and then were advised by the local council that we couldn’t stay tied up to the town jetty as it wasn’t designed to take vessels our length or weight. We spent 3 nights anchored in the harbour at Portland before departing on Friday 8th Jan for Port Fairy.
The sail from Portland to Port Fairy took us approx 5 ½ hours sailing past Lady Julia Percy Island which has a seal colony and then up the river to the delightful town of Port Fairy. We stayed for 6 days tied up to the wharf on the ocean side of the town. We caught up with Rodger Haldane whom we first met in Port Lincoln, he owns the Shaw River Buffalo Cheese Factory and we sampled some of his products. This town is a well kept secret and one we will visit again one day.
We departed Port Fairy Thursday 14th Jan at 4.15am and arrived in Apollo Bay at 3.30pm a long day but a pleasantly smooth Southern Ocean at a 10-15 knot southerly wind, so we truly motor sailed. Whilst we were waiting for “the right weather” to cross Bass Strait Bob & Ron serviced the anchor winch and small Barlow #15 winch, did general engine maintenance, refuelled and generally got Finesse ship shape for the crossing.
We found Apollo Bay an expensive tourist town. We managed to visit the old cable station museum which we found quite interesting. Bob even had a round of golf on a course that overlooks the ocean.
After spending a week at Apollo Bay we departed on Thursday 21st January for New Year Island at 5.20am and arrived there at 3.00pm after a great run across Bass Strait or should we say “Bass Lake”. New Year Island is a small island on the North West side of King Island and is adjacent to Christmas Island and a beautifully protected anchorage. This crossing was approximately 55 nm so a great introduction to Bass Strait. We dropped anchor and the boys proceeded to go fishing and managed to catch 4 fish which we then cooked for dinner. We found this a great anchorage and were joined that night by 4 fishing boats seeking shelter for the night.
Friday 22nd January we departed at 7.30am for the motor sail around the top of King Island our destination being Grassy Harbour on the East side of the island. . At about 2.30pm after an extremely pleasant motor sail in very light winds the water pump on the main engine stopped pumping water. We were about 7 nm from Grassy when this happened and with a tide running against us we were down to a boat speed of 2kts. Whilst time was not so much a factor the fact that our low speed and the tide were pushing Finesse closer towards the land (a lee shore). Peta tried to raise the Tamar Coast Guard and the police vessel Van Diemen from Hobart who was cruising around King Island and other islands on a 6 day mission, answered our call and within 45 minutes arrived and took us in tow. (This vessel only comes this way twice a year) so how lucky were we.
They suggested taking us back up the coast to Naracoopa (about 10nm north of Grassy) as it was a better safe anchorage and when we arrived in Grassy we knew why they had made that decision. Peta managed to contact a marine diesel mechanic at 4.45pm on a Friday afternoon and he agreed to send one of his boy’s over from Currie which is about 26kms on the other side of the island. He arrived at 6pm and it was all fixed by 7.30pm.
We decided to set sail early next morning as strong winds were forecast later but turned back after an hour as we were heading into southerly 20+ kts gusting to 30kts winds and heavy seas. So we spent the day back at Naracoopa.
We departed Naracoopa t 6.30am the next morning and motored to Grassy Harbour on a reasonably calm sea arriving at 9.00am. The harbour master advised us which mooring to pick up as you can’t anchor due to the large turning circle needed for the once a week supply vessel to the island. We all agreed that the very rough seas the previous day would have made it very dangerous to enter this very tight harbour.
On our dinghy ride to shore we met a local yachty who offered to drive us the 26k’s into Currie and then took us to the King Island Cheese Factory We were able to purchase a good selection of cheeses.
Monday 25th Jan we departed King Island at 5.30am for Hunter Island and Three Hummock Island. We anchored in Shepherds Bay arriving at 2.00pm. We found Shepherds Bay a safe anchorage with a sandy bottom for good holding from the strong southerly winds but no fish..
We departed the next day at 7.30am for our final Bass Strait crossing heading to Stanley (The Nut) on the Tasmanian mainland. Again a fantastic motor sail arriving in 30 knot winds into an extremely small harbour with a very narrow (hairy) entrance around 2.30pm. We spent 2 nights in this harbour before departing on Thursday 28th Jan for Devonport.
This was a long day sail leaving Stanley at 8.00am and arriving into Devonport at 6.15pm. Friday morning we saw Bob depart on the Spirit of Tasmania ferry back to Melbourne for his connecting flight home to Perth.
I am sure Bob has enjoyed his month with us and we thank him sincerely for his contribution to shipboard life during that time and for assisting us to cross Bass Strait.
We have been in Devonport now for 5 days awaiting the replacement of our domestic battery which is not holding its charge. We will then depart and head up the Tamar River and hopefully to Launceston all being well.
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