Our Travels
Still in St. Helens…
Dad came to visit the other day, and it was very nice to see him. He drove three hours up the coast to see us and drop off our collected mail. Lachie was very happy to see the first three of the Inheritance Cycle books we ordered, calling it the “Best day so far”. Dad … Continue reading
St. Helens
We have arrived in St. Helens after an eight hour and twenty minute passage from Waubs Bay, Bicheno. We set up a watch system for this trip; I took the first three hours, Larissa the second three, and then we were both on deck for the bar crossing. The watch system worked well. Lachie came … Continue reading
Waubs Bay
After looking at the updated forecast, a north easterly was on the menu for the afternoon we had planned to make our crossing of the St. Helen’s bar. Thinking that might not be so good, we decided to put to sea and make for Waubs Bay at Bicheno, then set off for St. Helen’s early … Continue reading
Wineglass Bay, Freycinet Peninsula.
We set off from Chinaman’s at 0500 with mizzen and staysail and beat our way south in a heavy rain squall against a 20kt sou’westerly. It was cold, dark and miserable. We made our way southwest to clear the off lying hazard south of Long Point and got ourselves into Mercury Passage before turning west … Continue reading
Chinaman’s Bay, Maria Island
We set off on the high tide out of Blackmans Bay and followed a fishing boat out through the narrows. We had a minor heart-in-mouth moment once, as we grounded. It was only brief however, and we were clear and back in good depth before my hand could reach the throttle. The 2 hour sail … Continue reading
Endings and beginnings
Larissa had finished painting the shipping container, and what with the cold galvanization treatment and the welding up of and few rust spot and holes, we hope it’s going to be good for another five years. With that major effort complete, she was keen to be back on board and continue our cruise. I am … Continue reading
Nan’s 90th was huge
Nanna Hogg’s 90th birthday went off with a bang today, up at Hogg Hut. It’s a four wheel drive trip to get up there, the road runs out to a dairy farm at the top of the cleared section of the valley. From there a dozen four wheel drives ferried about 90 people up to … Continue reading
Some lessons learnt
I have been thinking today of the lessons learnt from our trip, and thought I should write them down. Where better than the blog? Lesson 1. Keep it fun. Obvious if you have kids, but just as important for us grown-up’s too. If it isn’t fun, or if you can’t look back on the trip … Continue reading
End of the leg
We left Fortescue at 5am, with the setting moon. It was cold but refreshing to be underway early. I really like an early start. We needed to maintain 5 knots to cover the distance and arrive at the Marion Narrows by high tide, or just before. 9:44am was high tide along this part of the … Continue reading
The washing machine
We left Port Arthur on Wednesday morning with a storm force wind warning in place for SE coastal waters, and 45 knot winds blowing off Matsuyker Island with 7m swell running. The idea was to scurry around the corner before those conditions reached the Tasman Island area, with the front forecast to pass through around … Continue reading