Sailing to Flinders Island

Flinders Passage

To Flinders Island

Saturday 1^st March 2014

once again we sail out as the sun rises

hand winching is no fun

How appropriate to be start a new leg of our journey on the first of the month! We were heading for Flinders Island it was to be an overnight sail. As much as I love to be doing day sailing the NE part of the Tasmanian coast lends itself to either north anchorages or south anchorages and nothing in between or allowing for any changes in the weather. MrJ and I could not risk the chance of being caught out in one of these anchorages so we decided to sail right through.

morning light on the cliff faces

we had wonderful dolphin moments

we didn't seen nearly as many sea birds - they must have all stayed back at the Tasman Peninsular

AR had been sailing along quite fine till a NE wind change kicked after lunch on the first day. Slamming into the wind and the wind waves is not my favourite pastime. It was an uncomfortable and tedious part of our passage as we watched the NE coast slip by very slowly.

only the sea birds like this kinda sea

with the sloppy seas come the end of our first day at sea

the sun was setting across the land, something we had not seen in a long time

with nightfall came the end of my watch

Night fell and Nancy went to bed!

Sunday: 2nd March 2014

Midnight: I had taken over the watch, my graveyard shift as I like to call it, just after Eddystone Point. I had AR motor sailing with sails reefed and one engine going on a course following the coast about 2n/m out. I was heading for between Salamander and Eucalyptus Rocks which lie just off Cape Naturaliste, then to head NNW making a rum line for the western side of Clark Island near Lookout Point. This was a guide to get us across Banks Strait without any hic-ups. Sometimes on watch when there is nothing much happening I manager to do a bit of reading in between check around and checking sails. This night all I did was watch for fishing boat lights. I’m sure that the whole fishing fleet was out!

So slow going, making not much better than 4.5knts and only getting as far as off Swan Island at the end of my watch and MrJ could take over again. MrJ crossed Banks Strait reaching Clark Island just after daybreak. By this time I’d had a short nap and was up and about to see a rather dull start to the day. It was not long before we were rounding the western side of Cape Barron Island to enter Franklin Sound between Pig Head Point on Flinders Island and the Little Anderson Island.

Approaching Flinders Island

small islands near the entrance to the Franklin Sound

We were motoring; the wind had dropped out the sea was dead flat, a glassed out sea which gave us a special treat of seeing several groups of Fairy Penguins frolicking about on the sea surface. When AR came closer the penguins would dive below to resurface some distance away.

entering Franklin Sound

fairy penguins

MrJ and I were heading for the Port of Lady Baron, on the southern side of Flinders Island.

there is an anchorage on the other side of Billy Goat Reef in Adelaide Bay

I had given the Harbour Master a courtesy phone call to be able to go alongside at the jetty. This gave us plenty of time to organize our fender and fender boards that we need for the old wooden pile type wharf. And wouldn't you know it, as luck would have it or not; a strong sea breeze kicked in just as we were approaching the wharf. I need not have worried as MrJ used his fabulous expertise as skipper to bring AR alongside the wharf without hitting any other boats. Yeah!