Tassie Cruising
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As we moved up the d’Entrecasteaux Channel
toward the Huon River the weather improved. The shores of the Channel were as
pretty as ever, though somewhat brown and drought-stricken. Since our last
visit the number of fish farms had increased, with the sites taking on an
increasingly industrial aspect. Interestingly, unlike the farms in Canada and
Chile, which are pretty much static, the cages in the Channel are
periodically moved both for the sake of the fish and of the local
environment. Port Cygnet near the mouth of the Huon is
a pretty village with a sheltered anchorage. Here we again met ‘Apache’ and
her owner, Grant, who cruises her engine-less up and down the East coast. |
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Kettering is a hive of wooden boat activity.
With the shortage of mooring space in Hobart and the immediate convenience of
sheltered cruising in the Channel, Kettering has become so popular with
locals that there is little or no space left for visitors. By yet another of those serendipitous
cruising coincidences Vicky happened to meet Ben and Jane Marris, the owners
of ‘Saona ‘ – the very boat in which Vicky’s parents Ken and Leo had cruised
the Channel in 1951. They so enjoyed the cruise and the place that they
determined to pass the name d’Entrecasteaux to their daughter. ‘Saona’ is
still in pristine condition and giving cruising pleasure. |
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Also on a mooring at Kettering was
‘Diomede’, and elder sister of ‘Sunstone’. ‘Diomede’ was built to the lines
of the famous S&S ‘Finisterre’s’, from which ‘Sunstone’ is a more modern
development. The family relationship is obvious despite the differences in
the yawl rig. |
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By mid-March we ready for a spell in the big
city – well, the biggest available – and tied up in Constitution Dock in the
centre of Hobart. Though there were still one or two boats left over from the
Wooden Boat Festival, the Dock was fairly quiet, except when the pubs let out
on a Saturday night. Moored at Elizabeth Street Pier, was ‘Maggie B’, Frank
Blair’s striking modern revisiting of the Grand Banks schooner. While
chatting over drinks in ‘Maggie B’s’ cockpit, Frank and Tom suddenly realised
that they had been at school together, albeit separated by two years in age.
Cruising is a small world. |
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The quiet water of Con Dock and the warm
sun of the early autumn weather were opportunities too good to be missed to
get at least one side of the hull varnished. Our neighbour in the Dock was Blizzard,
whose owners, David and Hannah, have fitted her for high latitudes
chartering. Appropriately they met while doing the Round the World Clipper
Race. Hannah holds the remarkable and daunting record of being the fastest
person to trek solo across Antarctica to the South Pole. Her next venture is
to attempt the same at the North Pole. |
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After ten days or so of replenishment and socialising
under the shelter of Mount Wellington, we headed out to make the most of the
remaining warmer weather, cruising up the East Coast. We made our way past
the Iron Pot and Cape Raoul to take another look at the ruins of the convict
settlement at Port Arthur. |
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A long day’s motor-sailing past Tasman
Island’s organ pipes and the Lanterns got us to Maria Island. On our last
cruise up the coast we had neglected the Island. |
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A
long day’s hike around the Island made up this deficiency and also made us
acquainted with some of the inhabitants, wombats, wallabies and Cape Barren
geese. The rolling landscape of the Island was about right to get us back in
shape for hiking, so that by the time we reached Wineglass Bay, after a brief
stop in Triabunna, we ready for something more challenging. The climb to
Mount Graham was all of that, as well as giving superb views over the Bay,
the Hazards opposite and much of the Freycinet Penninsula. |
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Returning southwards we escaped the Easter
crowds in Wineglass for the sheltered anchorage behind the wreck in Canoe
Bay. |
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From here we could hike round to the trial
which climbs up to the view over the Lanterns. The view of the Needle is
particularly spectacular, though one which Tom was happy to leave to Vicky
eager photographic eye. The previous day a young French Canadian hiker had
lost his camera – happily not his footing – taking the same shot! |
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Vicky couldn’t resist the opportunity for
another brief cruise up the Channel before we settle for the winter at
Hobart. The latter was a decision we made about this time, as we had previously
planned to head north for the winter to Queensland. We liked Tassie so much,
had no particularly fond memories of Queensland and so decided to stay. This
time we approached the Channel from the East, rounding South Bruny Light,
last visited by land in 2001. After stops at Dover and Southport we
decided to explore further up the Huon River. |
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