Our next potential stopping place was Wynyard but on close analysis of the tide charts we realised if we put in to that port we would be stuck there for 48 hrs or more due to impending changes in the weather and lack of daylight high tides to allow us to clear the shallow entry.
We motor sailed on past Table Cape with a variable breeze and very little seabird activity.
Sunset found us close to Stanley but not able to see the iconic "Nut" due to the sea fog. Having trolled all day with no takers to our two lures we pulled them in on dusk and made our way into the snug fishing port of Stanley.
On Monday morning after a sweet nights sleep in the quiet but brightly lit marina a heavy band of morning rain saw us scurry to put up the blue boom tent but it soon cleared to the east leaving us in warm sunshine.
Exploring the marina in search of an extra fender board I found this interesting little business which is a combination of Fishing Charters, wooden boat restoration, tackle shop , marine museum and marina manager.
This restored couta boat is soon to find a new home in Sydney with a family promising to cherish her Huon pine hull and celery top pine decks dating back to 1920.
Next door to the Marine Centre the cray processors have the fresh crays housed ready for live export.
The wharf was very busy for a time with a barge load of King Island beef unloaded on to lorries on their way to nearby processing.
With the warm sunshine Barrie Mark B and I took the opportunity to walk to the top of the Nut and continue on to do the 2 km circuit around the summit with the above view showing Highfield in the distance and the aboriginal fish traps in the lower right. A lot of walking back and forth to the village thru the day saw me enjoying coffee and cake at the Brown Dog Cafe with some of the crew from Great Sandy. A late decision was made to take an evening booking at the popular Stanley Pub for dinner giving the cook Duncan a break from his galley chores.
This view from the Nut shows the snug fishing port with it's narrow entrance and tall piers allowing for 4 metres or more of tidal variation. On the right the above picture shows the tour boat for the local seal colony and lower down the frame is the seaquarium with a display of small local marine life.The pub dinner was great with a variety of meals available including mains of local Scallops or Cape Grim Beef being the most popular. The Beef was my choice with my scotch fillet amongst the best steaks I have ever had.
Following the early risers our morning breeze of 10-15 knots soon freshened to a consistent 20-25 knots with occasional gusts of 35 that kept the helmsman attentive to his task as these gusts were intent on making Fargo round up into the wind and away from our intended course. The fresh breeze gave us good boat speed of 7-9 knots through most of the day bringing us through the Tamar breakwater at Low Head shortly after 5 pm. The runout tide slowed our progress a little but we were able to sail almost all the way into the Beauty Point Marina of the Tamar Yacht Club and were safely berthed by 6 pm. Duncan again astounded us with a Rogan Josh Curry with fruit and nut aromatic rice accompanied by a lentil dahl and coriander yoghurt. The bright clean ablution facilities with their copious hot water showers were very welcome as was the opportunity to step off the stern and chat to other sailors around the marina. Berthed 2 doors down from us was Pretty Woman from Port Lincoln with crew of Jim and Jim. Through course of conversation I was surprised to find we have mutual friends in Hervey Bay “Tis a small world “.
Day 10 our second Friday on the cruise was a day of domestic and maintenance chores . After getting laundry under way at the nearby "Phil’s Laundrette" we busied our selves with rubbish detail and some cleaning until Reuben(Skipper's son) turned up to take us to Launceston for a grocery shop and repair trip to a rigger and an obligatory visit to a chandlery and fishing tackle store. We bought some new terminal tackle to replace lost items and found a small gaff suitable to our needs should we be fortunate to hook another tuna. A beautiful lime green abalone tool was also added to the gear locker to prevent further self inflicted injuries. Our new implement has a blunt chisel end rather than a knife blade.
The rigger had our repair effected in a trice and we were soon on our way back to Beauty Point to refit the repaired item and fine tune how it was rigged hopefully to prevent any recurrence of the damage.
The evening was finished off nicely with an impromptu BBQ at the yacht club preceded by an entree of our remaining abalone.
Day 11 dawned still and calm.
After breakfast we were joined on the aft deck for morning coffee by local resident Craig my friend and sometime hiking partner . Reuben and Sam (Barrie’s son and grandson) arrived soon after with Reuben intent to help finish off the rigging adjustments whilst Sam was as ever keen to explore the Fargo as any adventurous 8 year old would be aboard his grandad’s boat.
Sailing lessons soon called and 3 generations of Wells “boys” were soon making preparations with a bunch of others for a morning afloat on the Tamar.
The crew of the Aurora kindly invited me to join them aboard their tender for a quick trip across to Georgetown on the eastern shore at the river mouth. There we found the delightful and informative “ Bass and Flinders “ Museum and the charming “Belle’s Tea Rooms”.
The volunteer staffed museum presents a complete collection of memorabilia, dioramas and a virtual flotilla of original and replica sailing and oar powered vessels from the time of the original circumnavigation to the immediate post WW2 era.
The building was previously a large movie picture theatre and as such is large enough to house this large collection of fully rigged craft including the replica of the “Norfolk” which was the vessel Bass and Flinders used for their circumnavigation voyage. In a state of information overload we made our way back to the marina with a new found admiration for the navigation skills of these pioneer seamen.
During the afternoon I took an inflatable kayak for a trial paddle on the waters of the marina and was pleasantly surprised how well it paddled. I returned just in time to welcome Tony aboard as our 5 th crew member .
The evening dinner was a resounding success with 150 people treated to a roast dinner and dessert in the Tamar Yacht Club. A late evening by our standards made a highlight with new friends met and acquaintances refreshed from last VDLC.
After a quick breakfast we were prompted to get underway by the freshening breeze and we soon hoisted sail and set a course out through Mercury Passage past the “Isle des Fogues” Seal island with its seemingly healthy population of fur seals and on to Crockets Bay on Schouten Island.
Here we found “ La Vida “ with our “package” of a new chip for the chart plotter.
Mark B and I took a brief walk ashore to Cooks Hut on Moreys Beach where the Tasmanian Parks service has an interpretive centre manned by camp hosts only too keen to chat about the wildlife and the splendid natural features this island has to offer.
Back on board for dinner Duncan had prepared a superb meal of spaghetti bolognaise which we washed down with a lovely shiraz.
Our mooring was blessedly quiet with clear skies and we went to bed with plans for a walk to Bear Hill overlooking Crockets Bay on Tuesday morning.
Sadly our 7th day plans for a walk were abandoned when we woke to light rain and very heavy low cloud. Weighing anchor brought up huge quantities of soft fibrous bright green sea weed cloying to the chain as well as the anchor itself. Mark B. aka “anchor wench” spent a tedious few minutes picking the weed off the chain as we winched it aboard.
We motored out through Schouten Passage towards Cape Tourville and Wineglass Bay in light rain and low cloud mostly obscuring the land even though we were only one to two kms to the east. Fairy Prions and Black Browed Albatross kept us company while great flocks of Shearwaters were streaming south. A little breeze came up allowing us to hoist sail then Duncan served a lunch of soup and corned beef and chutney sandwiches in the cockpit. Sadly a piece of equipment failed causing a break at the deck end of the boom prop . Skipper was able to reattach the topping lift as a jury rig and plans were hastily made to get repairs done in Launceston. Not a major problem but annoying none the less. We have not had as much dolphin company on this cruise as we had on VDLC2013 but at dusk as we passed St Helens we had several for company in the fading light. 
Sunset off Binalong Bay was a pretty sight. Duncan was not phased by preparing the evening meal whilst underway and fed us a hearty meal of chorizo sausage and macaroni cheese.
Our 10.00 pm anchorage at the northern side of Eddystone Point showed us that the new plotter chart was as accurate as we hoped it would be leading us in the dark past some treacherous boulders to the safety of the sheltered but slightly swell affected northern bay.
We needed to be up at first light on our 8th day making our way north through the rocky inshore waters past George Rocks to beat the tide race through the Banks Strait and around the corner to our lunchtime destination of Foster Inlet.
Albatross came begging for a meal but we had neither fish nor bait to offer them nor the inclination to do so.
The early morning glass off gave way to to a mid morning sailing breeze and we made clear passage to Foster Inlet by around 12 noon.
Through the calm of the morning Duncan had prepared a hearty leek and potato soup for lunch which we all enjoyed at anchor before I set off with trusty dinghy boy Mark B in search of abalone.
Having dived here on our previous voyage I was hoping to find a tasty snack for the crew. With my Abalone and Crayfish licence recently updated I was pleased to find the abalone in plentiful supply and within half an hour I had bagged my daily possession limit (10) of mostly green lip abalone with a solitary black lip making up our allowance.
Mark and I cleaned our catch ashore shucking the flesh from the shell , slicing thinly and then tenderising with a spiked mallet.
Earlier in the day before the strong Easterly sprang up cruise commodore had invited all on the anchorage to social drinks on the beach at 5.00 pm. The spray over the bow of the dinghy made for a wet ride to the beach for all but the tiller man (myself). Once ashore we were joined by the crews of NIRVANA 1 , ANOTHER DIMENSION , SANS SOUCI for a very pleasant hour or so for drinks and nibbles.
Upon returning to the Fargo we enjoyed an entree of abalone pan fried in garlic butter followed by a main of Duncan’s Chicken Pie washed down with a gorgeous 2004 Maclaren Vale Shiraz we found lurking in the wine locker.
The only down side to another wise fantastic day was yours truly suffering a small injury to the top of his 4th digit on his left hand whilst lifting the last reluctant abalone from his rock on the sea floor. “ tis only a flesh wound” - Nothing that a bandaid and a tincture of time won’t fix.
Saturday was a relatively lazy day on Fargo with the weather holding us on board and below decks for much of the day until mid afternoon when cabin fever got the better of me. Having brought a Tri-suit wetsuit with me I simply blew the cobwebs away with a brief swim across the bay to the shore. After making my way back to the Fargo I found the skipper the only willing participant in a beach walk.
Wind and threats of rain greeted us again Sunday morning but our party of 6 walkers headed out into an increasingly sunny day.
This arrangement of 30 or more small red brick cells with earth floors all in an east west line is a sad testament to former times.
Along our walk we saw Forester Kangaroos and wombats together with Bennett’s Wallabies, Yellow Tail Black Cockatoos, lorikeets and on the beach today for the first time we saw Kelp Gulls as well as the Pacific Gulls.
Mark B was anxious that he had broken some gear when the anchor chain fouled on raising but it was only a minor issue with no damage done except to “the Anchor Wench’s” self confidence.
Taking the dingy ashore after anchoring we walked across the narrow isthmus through a newly cleared section of bracken to Reidel’s Bay on the eastern side.
This wide white sandy beach lapped by a gentle half metre swell of liquid turquoise was home to a wide variety of sea birds including Pied and Sooty oystercatchers, Silver and Pacific gulls together with several groups of the endangered Hooded Plovers each protective of their near to fledging chicks. Overhead a continuous chorus of Yellow Tailed Black Cockatoos announced their presence.
The recently demised Long Finned Pilot Whale on the beach was obviously providing sustenance to birds and Devils alike if the tracks on the beach were anything to go by.
We fossicked along the beach for plastics to clear away and left a midden of flotsam material in the bush above the high tide mark for the rangers to collect later on their rounds.
Leaving the beach behind we headed west into the dunes and scrub with a loose plan to make our way cross country back to Chinamans Bay Beach.
Along the way we encountered a variety of wallabies disturbed from their shelter as well as Forrester Grey roos and even a couple of wombats grazing quietly on the fringes of the lagoon.
We needed to cross the shallow fresh water lagoon in a couple of places and whilst I did not get any pics of the Scarlet Robin or the fire tailed finch that were feeding on the waters edge this Tiger snake was one of several we saw that was not the least bit perturbed by our presence.
After our bush walk and a hearty lunch of soup and corned beef sandwiches a siesta was appropriate to recharge the batteries before joining “the rump of the fleet” in a beach BBQ.
It was great to have time to chat and share the hospitality with crews of the fleet remaining in the bay.
“Adagio” and “Great Sandy” and “Fargo” all have a Noosa connection and crew of “Aurora“ helping make up the Queensland contingent. New South Wales was represented by “Liberty” from Pittwater and “Huntress 3” from Lake Macquarie and a non VDLC ring in of “Alabi” from Adelaide making up a merry band sharing the BBQ plus nibbles washed down with beer and wine.
We were all pleased the rain held off till well after we had left the beach in the failing twilight.
A bright cloudless sky shone on the restless fleet making last minute preparations in the RYCT marina for the VDLC 2015.
Fargo’s crew of your scribe Mark Powell and his Noosa Masters swim coach Mark Besford camped aboard waiting to be joined by the skipper Barrie Wells and Duncan our chef and providor.
With fresh provisions loaded at the last minute and fuel topped up it was with a mixture of excitement and regret that we left Barrie and Duncan’s respective spouses brightly waving their farewells as we motored quietly out of the marina and shortly thereafter hoisted sail heading for the Iron Pot and our first change of course.
Iron Pot the site of the first light house on Storm Bay
We made our way out across Storm Bay under very pleasant conditions with our first night mooring to be Carnarvon Bay near Port Arthur.
Duncan cooked us a lively meal of Chorizo and 5 beans with pasta which we washed down with moderate amounts of local beer and wine. The anchorage was calm in spite of the fresh overnight breezes whistling through the rigging.
Port Arthur
The VDLC Cruise fleet headed out in quick succession making a procession of craft towards Maria Island.
Most boats went through “Hole in the Wall” - this feature being the tempestuous narrow gap between the Tasman Peninsula and Tasman Island while a few proceeded to the seaward side of Tasman Island.
On the northern side of Tasman Island towards Cape Pillar lie the ruins of the old flying fox and tramway system that was used to take stores from small boats in the heaving seas in a narrow gulch at the foot of the cliffs to the light house above.
No photos were taken of the catch but dinner of tuna sashimi followed by tuna and chips was a great way to finish the day in Chinaman’s Bay Maria Island with the rest of the fleet.