Day 33 34

In spite of our enthusiastic enjoyment of the previous night's festivities we woke early and were cheered to be greeted by a marvellous rainbow.
We tore ourselves away from the search for the "pot o gold" to sail up channel to Cygnet to explore the artisan village with it's gallery town hall and multiple coffee shops and cafes.
Cygnet tried to outdo Dover in the hospitality stakes with great food, drink and welcoming atmosphere. They have a much more modern spacious facility overall including bathrooms with multiple shower stalls and a bigger bar and kitchen area but comparisons are a little odious and the hospitality from both clubs were among the high points of the cruise.
Some of the late evening was spent in luxurious hospitality aboard "Adagio"- a 75 ft Expedition motor cruiser. Such a fine capable craft it is.
Our day 34 had us making an early start out of Cygnet and passing the "Iron Pot" to officially finish our circumnavigation of Tasmania around midday.
An uneventful passage had us safely back in "Fargo's" pen at the RYCT by around 2 pm.
It was good to be back in home port and after a few days of clean up we had "Fargo" back in shape.
Jeremy's book launch was a great evening and I commend "Round the world with Rosinante" as a great read.

I was soon to be flying back across the Bass Strait in the dawn watching a colourful dual moonrise and sunrise. Thanks for reading. Maybe you will come along on our next adventure wherever that may be.

Day 32

After a breezy start to Friday it was a very calm start to our Saturday in Recherche Bay but that allowed a smooth quick dry dinghy run to the beach to help Tony catch his lift to Hobart.
I had a good chance for a phone catchup with my dear wife in a patch of good reception sitting in the dinghy in the middle of the bay.
After breakfast a plan was laid to head up the D'entrecasteaux Channel past Southport to Dover.
We saw a few gusts belting across the treetops but didn't pay too much attention. Perhaps we should have been more attentive as shortly after we fully hoisted mainsail we were slammed with gusts to 40 knots making Fargo dangerously overpowered.
Some of the heavier gusts shook the mainsail so heavily we lost a batten or two and had "Fargo" rounding up to windward and taking us on a heading towards some of the nearby reefs in these confined inshore waters.
Skipper did a great job at the helm in spite of his inexperienced foredeck crew(myself) making a basic error or two. We dropped the mainsail completely and sailed on under headsail alone at a brisk 8 knots for nearly 2 hours before the wind died completely.
The rest of the run up to Dover had us motor-sailing past some big fish farms in benign conditions.
The Port Esperance Sailing Club was a very popular venue as boats off-loaded 10 days of refuse into nearby skips and took patient turns in the solitary but very hot and welcome shower. Some fleet topped up water and fuel at the newly refurbished jetty. This activity had the crews engaged in some verbal jousting with feisty and somewhat officious locals over who could tie up alongside and for how long.
A timely and eloquent tribute was paid to the ladies of the VDLC fleet so a group photo was called for. The club put on a fantastic BBQ dinner in their basic but cosy pavilion overlooking the bay. The fireplace was popular focus second only to the bar. A great time was had by all but some of our number may have hazy memories of the latter part of the evening.
Perhaps it was the heavy overnight rain that helped us sleep so well and not the generous helpings of food and wine.

Day 31

"Fargo" made an early start today in the grey pre-dawn light heading south across the mouth of Port Davey to the west of Big Caroline and down to Southwest Cape. We had a moment of fishing excitement in passing Stephen's Bay when the water all round us erupted with feeding tuna but by the time I put a lure in the water we were well past the action.

Weather looks ominous but conditions make for quite fair sailing.

The fleet was fairly tightly bunched as we rounded South West Cape with most skippers taking advantage of this fair weather window to make the run around to Recherche.
The cloud was high for most of the day and the wind around 20 -25 knots swinging from W - SW - NW then later in the day and dropping out altogether as we passed South Cape Bay and Whale Head nearing the shelter of Recherche Bay.

The morning turned quite social as we sailed past Maatsuyker Island when the radio crackled into life. Tony Kjar's niece had just arrived by helicopter to Maatsuyker in her role as head of the Island Conservation group. Spotting the fleet in tight formation a call was put out to "Fargo" to have a radio chat with Uncle Tony while we had morning coffee. The geography of the steep sided island precludes a more proximate get together.
We passed large flocks of shearwaters near the Maatsuyker group of islands but no Prions this time. There was a pod of dolphins near Maatsuyker and a young seal gave us a fright by chasing our trolled lure in dramatic porpoising fashion but no fish took a significant interest in our lures in spite of the time spent changing from one lure to another and regularly making sure they were free of floating seaweed.
The days travel was relatively free of excitement as we made good time in the favourable sailing conditions moderate in both wind and wave. We dropped anchor on the clean white sands of sheltered Cockle Bay in warm mid afternoon sunshine and I was soon in the water for a brief but refreshing dip. Tony went ashore to make transport arrangements for an early return to Hobart and with that done we made the short trip over to the chosen anchorage at Coalbins. The local dolphin pod gave us a personal escort all the way.

Day 30

A hearty bacon and eggs breakfast is always a good way to start the day and so it was we were suitably fueled and primed as we made our way down the channel past Mount Rugby out of Bathurst Harbour heading for the outer reaches of Port Davey.
Our plan was a little vague in the early parts of the day and was going to be as in all things yachting very weather dependant. Spain Bay was interesting option with its walk across the headland to Stephens Beach, a ramble we did as a crew in 2013. Schooner Cove was a simple but crowded option with many of the fleet already at anchor there as we motored past.Schooner Cove had few attractions for exploration ashore.
We had heard in previous days of a group of 4 historic graves near Bramble Cove which would prove an interest and a variety to our previous exploration of this part of the Port.
“Fargo” made steady progress under power into a brisk headwind down the channel to Bramble Cove on the north side of the entrance. With such a stiff breeze blowing we elected to stay in the sheltered waters of the cove and explore there rather than chance our arm in the more exposed run across the port to Spain Bay. In the fickle weather one of the frequent squalls caught us mid exercise in lashing the dinghy to the deck and several of us got a thorough freshwater soaking.
We anchored with no other yachts for company snug under the protection of Milner’s Hill just in time for a mid morning coffee.

With the weather clearing intermittently 4 of us elected to go for a walk up Milner’s Hill with a plan to briefly explore for the aforementioned graves. Barrie chose to stay on board and do some engine checks before our planned run to Recherché. Our departure timing was captive to the anticipated weather change.

View south across Breaksea Island Spain Bay towards SW Cape.
The walk up the hill was a curious mix of warm sunshine, cool shadows, steep incline and strenuous scramble with the strong chill wind quickly cooling us after our exertions. We walked prepared for bad weather and we were blessed with four seasons in a few hours.

The view from the top was really worth the effort with our outlook to the northwest showing us our planned anchorage at Whale Cove.
Returning to the “Fargo” for lunch of Duncan’s legendary soups I found I was alone in my interest to further explore the cove for the graves as described previously and apparently marked by Berne Cuthbertson on one of his expeditions.

Heading out in the dinghy to the shore I found a very established camp apparently used by the kayaking fraternity complete with running water camp tables and separate latrine areas.

Returning to Fargo mid afternoon we were soon underway to Whale Bay on the Northern side of Port Davey ready for the morning escape. Whale Bay was a safe but somewhat unsettled anchorage given to feeling the surge of the great southern ocean swell.

Day 29

At anchor we had a calm night until about 4.00 am when the boom tent was threatening to sail away. Barrie and Tony rallied in the predawn to roll it up and stow it safely on the foredeck before retiring for a little more shuteye.
We had a late breakfast after a sleep in til 8.00am.
We had no impetus to rise early as the weather was predicted to deteriorate with winds to 25-30 knots and squally showers.
Sarah from "Aurora 3" brightened our day when on her return from her morning kayak paddle she invited us to join she and Rob for scones and coffee aboard"Aurora 3".
So a great social morning commenced with crews from Pretty Woman,Mojo,Fargo all met aboard Aurora 3 sharing lively conversation and sheltiing from blustery winds to 35 knots.Topics of conversation were varied between yachting, history of the local area, birdlife, climbing, bushwalking and swimming.
The afternoon was spent attending to to some domestic chores of washing ,reading and waiting out the weather with rain hail and wind gusting to 36 knots.

The afternoon cleared a little to treat us to a colourful sunset.

Day 28

After a quiet night at Casilda Cove we slipped our moorings early and motored upstream.
We passed many other coves and bays and inlets on the way including the intriguing Iola Bay and Frogs Hollow in the shadow of Mount Rugby.
A White Bellied Sea Eagle kept us company on patrol around the bays.
On a previous VDLC the climb had attracted the crew's attention but today with heavy rain threatening and low cloud obvious we left that challenge to others and opted for a sheltered anchorage in Clayton's Corner and the less ambitious Mt.Beattie which none of us had walked before.

At 276 m Mt Beattie provides spectacular views all over Bathurst Harbour to the north and east as well as south past Melaleuca, Cox's Bight and to the offshore islands including Maatsuyker De Witt and Flat Witch Island.
Whilst at the top of Beattie the peak of Rugby to the northwest was briefly exposed through a gap in the cloud for 15 minutes or so. Whilst very wet underfoot in places the rain stayed away for most of our climb. Our return to the forest had us enjoying some wild flowers and calling Yellow Tail Black Cockatoos as well as a multitude of small brown birds too quick and quiet for me to identify.

Taking "Fargo" upstream to Melaleuca we visited Denny King's home and the Bird Hide for the Orange Bellied Parrot. We chatted to a wildlife volunteer form Florida and an ambitious Canadian pair of hikers planning to walk all round the south coast from Strahan to Cockle Creek.
The weather was far cooler than our visit here in 2013 and the forecast had the weather closing in so we beat a hasty retreat to Kings Point to the north of Clayton's Corner and anchored up in a secure position near to "Aurora 3".

Day 27

It was a quiet morning in Schooner Cove with a final tally of 18 craft at anchor in the moonlight overnight aiming to shelter and rest after the run down from Macquarie Harbour.
Skipper wanted to attend to some minor mechanical and rigging issues that had become evident on the previous days run.

With these minor issues attended to we shifted anchorage Cassilda Cove in company with 4 others. Having previously(2013) anchored here skipper knew to tuck right into the corner and after dropping anchor in the appropriate spot we put out a stern-line to "the obvious tree".

With a break in the weather we took the short walk up Balmoral Hill on the eastern side of the cove.
The exposed heathland over the top of the hill provides little protection from the weather but fortunately the conditions did not deteriorate too badly and we enjoyed a brisk walk and to take in the sights and orientate ourselves in the Bathurst Harbour.
This landscape did not provide a lot of habitat for the local birdlife and indeed it was a quiet day for birdlife with only a few Silver Gulls Currawongs and Cormorants.
Duncan provided us with a tasty dinner of Beef Pie and veges.