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RGYC Members participated in the 2009 Circumnavigation of Tasmania cruise. Rochelle Lynch has kindly allowed us to present her story of the voyage. Enjoy!
Rochelle's Blog.
Day 1: (Wed 25 Feb 2009)
Bundaberg left RGYC at 0730 hrs on 25 Feb 2009. Crew: John Kint, Michael Colley, Barb Prussner, Rochelle Lynch
The trip to Queenscliff was smooth and apart from the remote to the Auto Pilot hiccupping for 10 minutes, it was very enjoyable motor. It gave the four on board time to take stock of the boat – with JK checking the electronic systems, MC kicking back but always looking, Barb cleaning as usual and I was organizing and reorganizing the cupboards, fridge and my most un-favourite past time – arguing with Telstra! Yep, trying to rip us off again.
Arriving at Queenscliff we were welcomed by the City Limits Crew. Very nice! Last night’s party at the QYC must have come to a point of boredom! They had a sweep to guess the time Bundaberg would arrive, and I think Dave (Lady Bay) had the most confidence in us by guessing pretty close to the goal of 1115 hours. Julie (Maatsuyker) had the least confidence with us not arriving at all, but going straight through the heads at 0300 hours tomorrow (Thursday) morning! Shame on you Julie.
Hearing the stories over at the QYC at happy hour today was great. Ses’ pop corn was a real winner. Not sure how much alcohol was consumed but the stories were that kangaroos joined the BBQ, a possum was found on a bed (thank goodness he had good toilet habits) – yes on the boat.
Jake Newman joined the crew at Queenscliff.
We are looking forward to an early start in the morning. 0330 hours to catch the tide in the heads… Tassie, here we come.
Day 2: (Thurs 26 Feb 2009) Crew: JK RL BP MC and Jake
As planned we moved out of Queenscliff at 0330 hours. The night was black with only the lights of the seven boats in the area along with all the lights of the shore. Perfect conditions for a quiet, leisurely sail/motor through the heads…
The trip from Queenscliff to the heads was great. Maatsuyker (Bill Newman) in constant contact with Coast Radio Melbourne, guiding our flotilla of boats out through the rip. The shipping traffic at that time of the morning was interesting – five big boys coming towards our flotilla in pitch dark! Three to four times the CRM instructed our fleet to stay to the extreme right of the channel to give the incoming traffic room. Did they really have to tell us twice? Who was going to argue with the size of container ships and the Spirit of Tasmania?
Once out through the heads a couple of the crew hit the bunks again, leaving three trusty members taking on the early sailing. The sunrise on the 26 Feb 2009 was magnificent! A sight not to be missed.
The sail across was exhilarating to say the least! With the wish-wash of the waves, some of the crew were pulling the tram strap to stop and get off! Jake was fantastic, doing the majority of the helming. The others taking turns to hit the bunks, and for some reason I could not lay my head down, I figured that was thanks to the NZ bombs. It was a looong voyage!!
We finally hit Coulomb Bay at 2030 hours. Down went the pick, with 25-30 knots with ‘Huey’ over-doin’ his stuff, the boat was really rocking and rolling. We were approximately 200m from shore, and a similar distance from City Limits and Lady Bay. The anchor chain started making funny noises but looked extremely safe on the GPS. It was only a couple of hours later that the experts on the GPS system realized that they had turned the system off and they had a static screen! Sea sickness does funny things to minds; well that’s what they kept telling us… As the night went on Huey didn’t want to give us a break and felt happy pelting us with 30-35 knots. At 0200 hrs everyone was up and a little concerned, but the guys assured us that things were all OK. The anchor had actually dragged approximately 70-80m but to no harm whatsoever.
Day 3: (Fri 27 Feb 2009)
Our day started rather slowly after the rough ride yesterday. Although the wind maintained speeds of 25-30k we were quite comfortable on anchor.
Lunch consisted of the yummy fresh fish, which was delivered to us on arrival last night by Bruce and Graeme, the retired fishermen from Wynyard. Delicious!!
Just after lunch we saw a familiar boat bearing down on us. Yes, Maatsuyker, motoring around from the next bay to say hello! What a boat and what a crew!! They were tucked in last night at 0200hours after a rugged day’s crossing, but still did the warm RGYC Cruising Mainland Commodore welcome. Maatsuyker tied off at the back of Bundy and Bill and Julie climbed aboard. From then on it became a party with the City Limits crew who motored over in their tender; they then became the Taxi for Lady Bay who accepted our invitation for a ‘cup of tea’. On the way over to Lady Bay the Taxi went via the fishermen’s boat to extend an invitation to them also. It was lovely to have everyone aboard! The ‘tea’ wasn’t bad either!
Young Jake was anxious to go diving, so Bill and Jake ‘took the taxi’ to the rocks to see what they could find. They had a great time coming home with some xzxz!#^@! They were ecstatic with their find. We are looking forward to breakfast.
Dinner was Chicken Masala – Thanks Lynne! The chef got a 10.
The sea state was very rolly/polly. There was an uneasy feeling onboard, John got out of bed to check the positioning. Then at 2300 hours the decision was made to move. Within minutes the anchor was up and we were off. The night was pitch black; Bundy lead four other boats out of Coulomb Bay, thank goodness for the GPS!!!! A steady as you go way in to Spiers Nook, saw us tucked up and sleeping by 1200 midnight.
Day 4: (Sat 28 Feb 2009)
We left Spiers Nook at 1130 hrs and arrived in Mermaid Bay a little after 1200. Jake was very keen to explore, so Barb and I took the opportunity for a interesting tour by Jake and the walk on the beach was great to stretch the legs.
Another time for beach walking and Jake and Bill Newman had a ball diving. Again picked up some zxzxzx#@! Jake was in heaven! The snorkeling and diving was pristine and at 1815 we had to drag him out.
The high-light of the day was when the CruiseMainland Commodore (Bill Newman) was heading into the beach in his tinny not far in front of the Bundy Crew heading in for a spear fish, when there was a HUGE rouge shore break, which swamped and capsized him. At leaping to his feet from under his dinghy looking around to see if the incident had been witnessed, he then frantically gathered up all his floating items, which consisted of two Cray pots, and a drop net and one kitchen knife. Meanwhile, unfortunately the incident was witnessed by the three intrepid sailors from Bundaberg. Two of whom, one being his son nearly fell out of their dinghy from laughter. Then having contained themselves, beached their dinghy in style, managing to navigate the huge shore break and with seriousness and no mirth offered sincere assistance.
The rest of the day passed un-eventfully except for Jake having grown web feet. Having nearly run out of fuel in the Bundy Duck (affectionately called Coke), finding one of Mick’s famous knots having let go, intrepid Skipper being blown back to Victoria and in a mild state of panic on seeing the Vic coast line, starting said rubber duck, and re-secured to the mother ship. We proceeded to take on supplies and the female crew for the beach BBQ, only to find that the shear pin in the propeller had sheared. With the motor making lots of noise, no forward movement was detected. Having diagnosed the problem said intrepid crew unloaded from the duck, the duck being placed back on the mother ship to remedy the problem. Ten minutes later, shear pin ‘modified’ and all on board heading for the beach BBQ.
The organized BBQ on the beach was attended by the crews of the eight boats tucked in this beautiful little bay. A good laugh, a “howdy do” to new acquaintances and a quiet drink with a barbie – what more could you ask for? Comments were being made that it may have been a long time since this beach had seen people; perhaps it is because the island has a reputation of having heaps of Tiger Snakes!
Quiet evening was had with a snigger here and there from the boys thinking of the Cruise Mainland Commodore’s little incident…
Day 5: (Sunday 1 Mar 2009)
A bit of a sleep in to find most of the boats still moored in Three Gullies Bay. One boat had left – who? No other than Maatsuyker. We soon found out why? The Cruise Mainland Commodore had motored around to the next bay to check the sea state. We soon got the call to say that it was much better than where we were. Up came the anchor and within the hour we happily anchored in Mermaid Bay, eating breakfast.
Maatsuyker then came alongside and rafted up for a cuppa, and a reenactment of yesterday’s activities – including ‘the incident’. Bill has taken the jokes with good (??) humour!
At lunch time we left for Cuvier Bay, which was lovely. Jake wanting to go swimming again, but decided to stay aboard and enjoy dinner. The trip to Cuvier Bay was very rough, with Barb on the back rail feeling miserable. The effort proved to be worth it, with the bay totally flat. We sat and had dinner, waiting until 2200 hours for the window to leave.
We left in convoy with Maatsuyker leaving first, Lady Bay hot on its tail. A little while later City Limits, Le Maris and Bundaberg pulled out for the long haul to the Gordon River.
A long haul it was! The boys did a great job, with a little help from Rupert (Auto-pilot) of guiding Bundaberg down the coast. Half of the crew felt pretty ordinary. About 1200 noon the spirits lifted quickly, with excitement when the skipping choose a route close to the coast the wind swung from SW, 120 degrees to ENE at Sandy Cape and our illustrious leader came out to play, making Rupert redundant until Pinnacle Harbor. The ride was terrific for about three hours, with other boats coming into view. Always a good sight after looking at water, water and more water, although the rugged west coast of Tasmania was in view in the distance off the port side.
Approximately 1900 hours we sailed into the mouth of Macquarie Harbor on a flooding tide. A magnificent ride through Hell’s Gates with no evidence of its notoriety, or reputation of being a dangerous waterway.
The ride into Kellies Basin was serene after the West Coast ride. Entering the basin in the dark was interesting, but didn’t take long to have the anchor down. An hour later City Limits arrived with Le Maris not long after. Maatsuyker arriving around 0300 hours, followed by the intrepid Radio Relay vessel Rosinante.
Our industrious Mainland Cruise Commodore adding another page to his long list of war stories. On successfully navigating Hell’s Gates, where he decided throwing a line into the fish farm would be too tedious he tried to put the boat in the farm instead.
To Be Continued .........Watch this space for more reports and pictures.
2011 sees the opportunity for the next Circumnavigation of Tasmania cruise. Go to www.ryct.org.au Cruising section for details.
Circumnavigation of Tasmania
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