Finesse Fremantle

Photo's from Mooloolaba to Tasmania

2011-07-31T18:43:00.001-07:00

Beach Resort - Tangalooma - Moreton Island near Brisbane Queensland.

View of the beach/wrecks at Tangalooma on Moreton Island

Wendy & Richard (Charon) on Finesse at Tangalooma.

Finesse on the jetty at Dunwich.

"The Little Ships Club" at Dunwich on North Stradbroke Island.

Ron at the "Bali" style resort at Tipplers Passage

The floating liquor/supply "shop" at Tipplers Passage.

Wendy, Richard & Pete at Captain Cooks Monument at Point Lookout on Nth Stradbroke Island.

Finesse at Newport Marina - all rugged up for the cyclone season.

Departing Coffs Harbour NSW

Entering Sydney Heads - The race is on between Finesse, Ship "Claudia II" and the Manly Ferry.

The Cruising Yacht Club - Sydney (Home of the Sydney/Hobart Yacht Races)

Cooks Endeavour at anchor in Sydney Harbour

Bob & Pete at Lady Barron on Flinders Island

Ron and Pete - 2 days from Kettering Tasmania

Finesse at anchor in Fortesque Bay.

View from Fortesque Bay Tasmania

Early morning view of Tasman Island.

Kettering Marina, Finesse's new home port.

Our Journey over the past 2 years.

BRISBANE TO MOOLOOLABA & RETURN JOURNEY TO TASMANIA

2011-07-31T18:16:00.000-07:00

On the 18th October 2010 we motor sailed across Moreton Bay, up the coast past Calloundra and into the river at Mooloolaba. Used an anchorage area in the river for a few days before coming into the Mooloolaba Wharf Marina, where it was easier to get ashore. This also enabled us to enjoy a wonderful dinner for Ron’s birthday at “Fish on Parkin”

This was more or less an exploratory trip for the future slipping of “Finesse”. We returned to Tangalooma. On this return trip we found that our AIS (the device that can spot and track large commercial vessels on our chart plotter) began to malfunction. It showed large vessels to be a mere 5 seconds away from us when in reality they were at least 30 minutes away. We later had this looked at by a “Raymarine” agent but it was not rectified until months later when we left the Brisbane area and sailed south.

A number of other boaties told us of their own similar problem in the Moreton Bay area.

Whilst at Tangalooma we used the sea scooter to explore the submerged wrecks to help us see the beautiful fish life. Unfortunately one of the sea scooter nose cones fell overboard at night whilst the batteries were being recharged. A large ship passing close by caused a huge wash which rocked us quite violently causing the nose cone to fall overboard. A search proved fruitless.

How interesting that on the eve of our departure from Hillarys that one of the sea scooters was damaged when the nose cone exploded due to a build up of hydrogen gas which some how ignited. That unit was replaced and now here at Tangalooma we are back to one functional scooter. Some things are meant to be.

Whilst at Tangalooma this time we had some great weather and welcomed the arrival of Richard and Wendy on Charon (from Port Arthur Tasmania).

The boat numbers increased from 2 to 51 over the weekend then dropped back to a mere handful by Monday, clearly a popular spot for the locals.

Early November 2010 we again motor sailed to an anchorage at Peel Island known as Lazaret Gutter which gave good protection from SE-SW winds. A few days later we sailed into the “Little Ships Club” at Dunwich on North Stradbroke Island, a delightful grassy, tropical setting with very reasonably priced meals.

Dunwich originated as a mineral sand mining town and sand is still mined today although its future is uncertain due to Native Title claims. The area has also been a quarantine station with the local cemetery revealing many deaths at young ages of people arriving by sailing ships.

We cruised south along the Western shore of North Stradbroke to Blaksley anchorage, a very pretty spot. As the waterways are quite shallow, we waited for the high tide before heading further south via Canalpin, Macleay Island, Canaipa Pt, through Canaipa passage between North Stradbroke Island and Russel Island to Jumpinpin then inside South Stradbroke Island to an anchorage near a resort area at Tipplers Passage.

Although these inland waters were discoloured and could be used for swimming, it was great to walk across the island to the clean ocean for a swim. It was here that a large fish startled us by jumping out of the water right in front of us.

A few days later we pulled up anchor and cruised further south past the Aldershots to The Broadwater past the Sovereign Islands down North Channel to the Marine Stadium (known also as Bums Bay) near the Gold Coast Seaway.

Dinghied across to Southport for shopping, took in the latest Harry Potter movie and moved Finesse to Wave Break Island as the Marine Stadium was to be closed off to anchoring vessels for an event.

Wave Break Island was a nightmare as schoolies week had just begun and drunken teenage houseboat operators with running tides and lack of anchoring expertise was a recipe for disaster.

We happily moved next morning back to Tipplers Passage only too pleased to find that Richard & Wendy on Charon arrived the next day. Had fun exploring the Bali Style Resort area and danced along with the day trippers.

Used the high tide to move north past the shoals just before Jacobs Well. Called into Streiglitz then continued to Krummell Passage between Karragarra Island and Russell Island. Anchored opposite the ferry jetty on Russell Island and went ashore for supplies.

It was here we mailed the Navman chart plotter back to Sydney for a replacement as the screen had blacked out.

We carried on to Deanbilla Bay only to again meet up with Charon. We unintentionally “gatecrashed” a wedding at the Little Ships Club along with Richard and Wendy when we decided to have our evening meal there.

As a consequence of the “gatecrash” and making new friends, we were loaned a 4WD Nissan Patrol to explore the towns of Amity and Point Lookout on North Stradbroke Island.

Point Lookout was by far the larger town and catered for tourists, had lovely walks, good clean surfing beaches and laid claim to a visit over 200 years ago by Captain Cook.

Encountered more genset problems. The engine kept cutting out and with Richard’s help we found that the coolant reservoir on the motor was dry (causing the heat cut out switch to cut the motor) yet the overflow coolant expansion tank was full. A blocked elbow and a very slow leak from one of the hoses was found to be the fault.

We visited Peel Island (Horseshoe Bay) and then sailed north to Kounungai a 10-12 metre deep anchorage adjacent to large white sand hills at the southern end of Moreton Island. A walk ashore and up these gigantic sand hills revealed a fantastic view across the Pacific Ocean. Once again the sandflies attacked Peta quite viciously; even her prolonged use of Vitamin B1 seemed to have little to no effect.

We motored back across Moreton Bay to Newport Marina on 8th December, 2010 and readied the boat over the next few days for the impending tropical cyclone season whilst we returned to Perth.

Beres and Marg Coley picked us up at Perth Airport and we enjoyed their hospitality for a couple of days before moving to Colin Sharps house at Yokine (close to our factory unit) for a couple of weeks until Christmas was over).

Beres along with Peta’s brother Bob has been one of our EPIRB emergency contact people.

We spent a lovely Christmas with most of our immediate family at a picnic at Heathcote. (Shelley was in Darwin)

After Christmas we moved into the factory unit so that we could destroy most of Ron’s old practice archive records and prepare for shipment of our household gear for storage until freighting to Tasmania.

The weeks in the factory were hot and the days were long but finally the day came when our 20 feet long sea container arrived. It took us both 3 days to load using Ron’s’ daughter Keryn’s wise advice on “how to load a truck”. Her advice was invaluable. Ron’s son Blair took away trailer loads of plumbing, electrical, hardware and timber which Ron had taken many years to accumulate. Yes it was hard for Ron to give away his many years of collectables but the reality was that it could not all fit into the container.

With the container finally removed for storage we took a well deserved break and stayed a few days with Peta’s brother Bob and his wife Gerry at Binningup Beach before farewelling Charlie and Robin at Wandering. (Charlie left Hillarys with us and sailed our first legs to Esperance).

We put the JBA sports car on the train bound for Adelaide and stayed overnight with Norma Penning a long time friend. After a tearful farewell we drove the Jeep and off-road camper away from Perth on 1st February, 2011.

We visited Wave Rock at Hyden (Peta had never been there), then went to Lake Ballard (out the back of Menzies) to see sculptures set out on the lake. It was very slippery and muddy and we managed in knee deep mud to see only 3 out of some 50 odd statues.

Our trip across the Nullarbor was eventful with a seized wheel bearing some 50 kms east of the Nullarbor Roadhouse (who were particularly unhelpful) and 100 kms west from the nearest mechanic at Nandoo (who thankfully had a tilt-tray truck) as the trailer had to be piggy-backed there for repairs.

The JBA was retrieved from the depot in Adelaide and after a complimentary night at John Culshaw’s Majestic Hotel in the city we drove separate vehicles back to Port Vincent.

Here Cab and Jenny Butler put us up whilst their Alan Pape design 40 feet yacht “Hakuna Matata” was readied for our voyage with them to Kangaroo Island. We spent 5 days on KI, attending the yearly race meeting, caught up with Cab and Jenny’s son John and his partner Tara before sailing back via Adelaide and then to Port Vincent leaving our vehicles in storage at their farm. Cab and Jenny also joined us for a few days last June in Sydney whilst on their way up to Queensland. So another sail under the Sydney Harbour Bridge was arranged, one of many whilst we were in Sydney. Whilst in Port Vincent we caught up again with Ted and Ela who sailed previously with us to Kangaroo Island.

We flew back to Perth for John and Cath’s wedding (Peta’s nephew). More farewells to children, family members and close friends then returned to Finesse on 6th March in Newport Qld.

Days later Finesse was back in Mooloolaba for her annual antifoul (now 2 years) and inspection. After the usual drama and stress of seeing your own vessel lifted out (hanging in slings for it’s transit to chocking and cradle) we found that the yard operators were excellent. We had to replace a cutlass bearing and we replaced the genset hoses (getting old and spongy). We did sanding and polishing whilst waiting for good weather (winds) to head north to the Whitsundays and up the Coral Coast.

On the afternoon of 1st April the very day before we were to head north, we received an e-mail from the lady renting our house in Tasmania advising us she was moving out 6 months earlier than planned. After nearly 2 years of cruising this was a dramatic turnabout realising that this particular voyage had almost reached its “use by” date.

So instead of heading north we headed south using the inland waterways we had become familiar with, to get to the Gold Coast Seaway.

After waiting a week for good weather we headed out at 2300 hours into a wet and bumpy sea until south of Point Danger near the NSW/QLD border after which the seas became smoother.

We reached Iluka at 1400 hrs (a 15hr/105 NM trip) averaging 7 knots.

Departed Iluka for Coffs Harbour to pick up Peta’s brother Bob who joined us for the sail back to Tasmania.

The journey down the coast was fast averaging 6-7 knots most of the way.

There were a number of overnighters and we rostered ourselves to a 2 hour watch with 4 hours off right through day and night. This worked well as you could take a decent break and rest or sleep.

Our trip saw us visit Camden Haven (Laurieton) (17 hrs), Port Stephens (12.5hrs), Broken Bay (13.5 hrs) then to Sydney to dodge “coming” weather and catch up with Ron’s sister Helen.

Stayed one night at the Royal Motor Yacht Club and saw John Culshaw’s new 55ft Beneteau, (we first met John in Port Lincoln and have crossed paths along the way many times), we spent the second night at anchor at Black Wattle Bay next to the Sydney Fish Markets, which we enjoyed.

We left Sydney mid afternoon and reached Botany Bay for an overnight anchorage and then on through to Ulladulla (15 hrs) then Bermagui (10.25 hrs at 8 knots). We then sailed for 2 nights to Lady Baron at Flinders Island (39.5 hours) reaching there just on dawn, another Bass Strait crossing behind us. Found the electronic chart lead line into Lady Barron did not agree with the visual lead lights and we bottomed 3 or 4 times – thankfully a flood tide pushed us over the sand bank and into deeper water. One of those cases where reality must take preference over “myth”, i.e. believe the lights.

We experienced the Three Peaks Yacht Race at Lady Barron, over the Easter weekend, staying on the local jetty for 3 days sitting out 40 knot winds and waiting for the seas to calm down. Departed Lady Baron past the “Pot Boil” at high tide via the Vansittart Shoals down the East Coast of Tasmania to Fortesque Bay (just north of Tasman Island). (29.5 hrs at 6 knots), this was our last overnight anchorage.

Departed Fortesque Bay for a fabulous run on a beautiful sunny day for the final run to Kettering in the D’Entrecasteau Channel, Finesse’s new home port and our last day of voyaging for the past 2 years.

STARTED 4TH APRIL 2009 – ENDED 27TH APRIL 2011

We take this opportunity to give a big thankyou to brother Bob for his assistance on the journey back to our new home and for his ongoing support and advice. Bob managed to sail with us on 3 separate occasions, Bunbury to Mandurah, Robe SA to Devonport TAS, and the final journey Coffs Harbour NSW to Kettering TAS. We had a wonderful journey together.

A special thanks also to Beres and Marg for their many phone calls during our trip, keeping us in their radar and following our journey from their coffee table map. Thanks for your help and advice over the past 2 years. Beres and Marg were able also to join us in Brisbane, Tangalooma on Morton Island & Newport Marina.

Many thanks to Ron’s sister Helen and Frances and Colin who were our mail collectors, which made living aboard much easier, as we had no fixed address, where do you redirect your mail? Thank goodness for computers.

Also to Charlie Strickland who began our journey with us from Hillary’s to Esperance, getting Peta through her first ever night sail, Busselton to Albany, 55 hours with his humour and encouragement.

A special thanks to Alan Paul who joined us in Esperance to Streaky Bay, that horrific Bight Crossing 4 days of a living nightmare. Thank you.

We also wish to thank all the new friends we have made during this time, in the many different places we have visited who have made us so welcome. We know we will see you again.

To our close cruising in company friends, Rob & Lorraine (Songlines) from Geraldton, now relocated to Strahan Tasmania, first met in Streaky Bay then areas of SA. Anne and Cran (Letting go) from Newport Qld, first met in Adelaide, then in Tasmania & Queensland and finally Richard and Wendy (Charon), from Tasmania, first met in Bantry Bay Sydney, then Iluka, and various areas between Gold Coast Seaway and Morton Bay and finally Newport Marina Queensland. We had some great times and I know we will cruise together again someday.

To our family members Ben, Tarryn & Jordan, who visited in Melbourne, Shelley, Lillian and Keryn, Brad who visited in Sydney. To Jason who was our first visitor in Tassie since we moved in to our new home. Thank you.

Finally to all our family and friends who have supported our journey over the past 2 years.

A BIG THANK YOU.

LAKES ENTRANCE to BRISBANE Pictures

2010-10-12T21:46:00.000-07:00

Chinamans Creek at Lakes Entrance

Paynesville - Lakes Entrance

Dont use spit posts as a way point - taken near Paynesville Lake Entrance

Whales at play off Bermagui

Bantree Bay Middle Harbour - Sydney

Sydney from North Head

Sailing on Sydney Harbour

Jenny and Cab Butler from Pt Vincent SA.

Ron, Shelley and Lillian in Sydney

Finesse at anchor in Broken Bay

Sunset in Broken Bay

Ron with the Bonito he caught whilst sailing up the coast.

The pile system in the Brisbane River near the Botanical Gardens.

Tangalooma wrecks at Morton Island. 15 ships/barges making an artificial reef.

LAKES ENTRANCE VICTORIA TO BRISBANE QUEENSLAND

2010-10-12T21:03:00.000-07:00

Monday 14th June departed Lakes Entrance at 4.30pm for our final voyage across Bass Strait and on to Eden in NSW. Sailed through the night past Gabo Island to Bittangabee Creek, a small but protected cove, where we stopped for lunch before sailing to Eden. Spent 5 days in Eden because we had a hydraulic pipe burst through corrosion causing a steering problem. This was a first time test of the emergency tiller which had to be fitted on top of the rudder stock inside the boat. So it was back out with the “marriage savers”, (our hands free walkie talkie radios) so that Ron as lookout and throttle operator could give steering instructions to Peta inside the downstairs rear cabin. We managed to have it fixed by the local shipwright after a successful trip to the wharf without mishap.

Set sail from Eden on Saturday 19th June heading to Bermagui, tied up at the local wharf for 2 days and after exploring the town departed for Broulee Island where we anchored the night before heading the next day to Ulladulla, another delightful fishing village. Along the way we were given an amazing display of whales playing off the coast.

Thursday 24th June headed off at 6.30am to Jervis Bay, arriving mid morning. We found a courtesy mooring at the “Hole in the Wall” near the entrance to the bay, had lunch and then motored across the bay to Hare Bay. We encountered a naval vessel doing exercises in the bay and had the distinct feeling that we were being used as a target as this destroyer sized vessel would head almost directly towards us then veer off and approach us from a different direction. Needless to say we maintained a deliberately straight and consistent course keeping our ear out for any radio contact. We spent 4 days in and around Jervis Bay, coming ashore at Huskinsson where we met a couple who lent us a vehicle. This enabled us to drive to HMAS Albatross. This is where Ron’s ex business partner Mike Spahn was based during his time in the navy. Mike was a Search and Rescue Diver (SAR Diver) and spent some of his time jumping out of helicopters into the sea to rescue people from sinking vessels. He also has the wonderful achievement of being towed underneath a helicopter dressed as a witch, smoke flares strapped to his boots and flying over the Sydney Opera House at its opening by the Queen. Mike also has his name proudly displayed for his past services on the Wall of Honour at the HMAS Albatross at Nowra. Well done Mike we are proud of you.
Sailed further north to the Crookhaven River, spent two nights there before departing for Port Hacking. This was our first glimpse of the Sydney skyline and a high concentration of aeroplanes heading to and away from Sydney. After spending 3 days exploring the area and taking the dinghy to Cronulla Sailing Club, to check out the town we then sailed into Botony Bay. We were not able to reach Captain Cook’s Landing place as we were directed to stay away from cable laying boats. We managed to pick up a public mooring in Frenchman’s Bay within Botany Bay.

Monday 5th July at 07.45 hrs set sail for Sydney. We were able to come quite close to the shore at Clovelly (between Coogee Beach and Bondi Beach) to be able to wave to Ron’s sister Helen who had come down to the beach from her new house to see us sail past.

Entered Port Jackson Heads at 10.00am and motored up to Middle Harbour. We had to wait for the Split Bridge to open at 11.15 having rung ahead to inform them that we were coming through. Explored the various bays in the area before making our way up to Bantry Bay (most northern arm) where we were surrounded by national park bushland. It was exciting to have finally reached Sydney. Spent two lovely nights there before venturing out again into the very busy main harbour.

As we sailed towards the Opera House and iconic Harbour Bridge we were amazed at the amount of sea traffic on the harbour including the 6 ferries that seem to be heading towards us as we went under the bridge. Quite an emotional morning as this was Ron’s dream to sail into Sydney Harbour and under the bridge. We headed to Blackwattle Bay under the Anzac Bridge where the Sydney Fish Markets are located, quite an amazing place, had a few fish meals there whilst in Sydney. Here we dropped anchor and went ashore to meet Helen, Ron’s sister. Our first day in this location saw us drag anchor and be towed back to the anchorage area by NSW Maritime (the local maritime safety authority). We had walked over to nearby Darling Harbour only to come back a few hours later to discover our boat had been shifted slightly from where we left it. A telephone call to the number shown on the calling card from NSW Maritime revealed that whilst we had anchored correctly and with plenty of chain out, we had the misfortune to have the anchor drop directly onto a huge piece of plastic which acted as a sled when the wind changed. Spent 2 nights at anchor before heading to the Gladesville Bridge Marina where we had booked in for a month.

Whilst in Sydney we had many friends and family visit us and stay on board. First Roger and Julie from Perth, then Shelley Ron’s daughter and our granddaughter Lillian came to stay for 5 days. We also had good friends Jenny and Cab Butler from Port Vincent South Australia call in and stay for 2 days as they were on their way further north. On our last weekend in Sydney Ron’s daughter Keryn and her partner Brad did a flying visit from Perth.

Also whilst in Sydney we caught up with Steve and Julie Ann who live in Sydney and are long time friends of Peta’s, Ron’s sister Helen, her son Clinton and his wife Sarah and Amos their son. We also flew to Singapore for 4 days to attend Narelle and Dean’s wedding. (Ron’s niece) and we flew back to Tasmania for 2 days to research properties south of Hobart. Many thanks to Lew and Liz in Hobart for putting us up and lending us a vehicle whilst we were there and the chance to sleep overnight on their beautifully maintained Nauticat called Minerva. So all in all Sydney was very busy and we had lots of fun taking family and friends sailing “Under the Bridge” and over to the Opera House and Zoo area. We also did the Bridge Climb which was awesome.

So finally on Friday 6th August we set sail for Broken Bay (Pittwater). We booked for two nights at the Royal Motor Yacht Club in Newport as our friend Alan Paul who crossed the Bight with us was in Sydney and arranged to drive up with his son Stephen to join us for dinner.

We then spent the next 12 days in and around the Broken Bay area, visiting all the various bays, heading up to Jerusalem Bay for an overnight anchorage before taking the dinghy further up the creek. We then explored Cowan Creek, to the Ku-Ring-Gai Chase National Park area where the NSW Maritime has numerous public moorings. It was so peaceful in the area. We then headed to the Hawkesbury River off Cowan Creek to the little marina just before the rail bridge. This was as far up the river we could go due to height restriction as we need around 20 metres clearance. Here again we caught up with Alan and his friend Paul and had a delightful day sailing down the Cowan Creek to Cottage point where we stopped for an extremely expensive lunch. This was the first time Alan had seen the Pittwater/Broken Bay area. We also met up with Denis Crowdy, Janet and Peter’s son. Janet was a neighbour and employee of Ron’s back in Darlington days and when Ron first went into practice..

On Sunday 22nd August set sail for Port Stephens, a 12 hour sail. We had good seas but fluky winds between 3-10 kts, so motor sailed all the way. We decided against going into Newcastle which would have broken our journey as there were just so many ships in and coming and going from the commercial harbour. We came into Nelsons Bay (Port Stephens) in the dark but felt pretty confident as we had been in contact the Volunteer Marine Radio (VMR) radio guys who gave us some directions and the navigation lights were fairly straight forward. The VMR people on duty also switched on special orange lights to assist.

The next day we moved into the safety of the harbour/marina area and tied up to the public jetty. We ended up staying for a week there as the winds were up to 35kts even in the bay causing quite a surf to develop. Whilst in Port Stevens we caught up with David and Di Baulch from Tasmania who were on their way back down south from a motoring holiday. We spent a night over at Fame Cove before heading out to sea again and to Cape Hawke Harbour (Tuncurry/Forster).
We tied up to one of the fishing co-op jetties right next to the road bridge between Forster and Tuncurry. We were there for 2 weeks as Peta had to fly to Melbourne to be with Jason who was in intensive care in hospital after being attacked whilst on his way home one evening. It was a most stressful time. Ron spent his time as caretaker and doing maintenance work on Finesse.

Saturday 11th Sept departed Tuncurry for Laurieton on the Camden Haven River. This was a 6.5 hr sail, anchored in the river opposite the town a delightful spot. The next day we headed to Port Macquarie again only a short run up the coast, 3 hrs. Met the marine pilot book writer Alan Lucas and thanked him for his great publications which give tremendous help to non local boaties. We used a marina mooring and explored the town the next few days.

Wednesday 15th Sept we sailed for 35nm to Trial Bay for an overnight anchorage and then sailed to Coff’s Harbour. A very “surgy” harbour, so after one night at anchorage we came into the marina, as the winds and sea were increasing in strength. A good safe harbour. After 3 nights at the marina the seas seemed to settle down so we set sail at 6.30am for Iluka on the Clarence River arriving there at 3.30pm. Here we came across Richard and Wendy on the yacht Charon, who are from Tasmania and we first met in Middle Harbour. We only did an overnighter there as had a good wind forecast so we sent sail initially for Ballina. We hope to get back to the Clarence River as it seemed a delightfully sheltered and interesting area and can be sailed up river to Grafton. The sea conditions were not right to enter the bar at Ballina so we sailed further north to Byron Bay for an overnight sea anchorage.

We spent a most uncomfortable night there so were very pleased to up anchor and head to the Gold Coast Sea Way and Queensland this was a 9 hour trip.

Upon entering the sea way and half surfing in, we headed to a small lagoon just near Sea World. Good to be in calm waters again. We spent two nights there before departing at 6.30am for the Brisbane River following the “Main Channel” inside South Stradbroke Island. We passed many delightful spots that we wish to return to and finally entered the Brisbane River about 3.30pm. For the next 2.5 hours against the tide we slowly moved towards the city of Brisbane. Again another long day and we finally tied up to a pile system in front of the Botanical Gardens.

We explored Brisbane for a few days catching up with Shaun and Johan from Wood & Grieve and also Eric and Sue Muir, a CPA ex board member before our friends Marg and Beres Coley joined us for a week. We spent a few more days in the river in the heart of the city before departing and heading over to Tangalooma Point on Morton Island where we anchored overnight. Beres was in his element taking the wheel and sailing across the bay without motor. The next day it was rain, rain and more rain so we decided to motor across the bay to the Newport Marina.

Whilst at Tangalooma we discovered a new noise coming from the rudder and upon further investigation discovered that the keys in the keyway on the top of the rudder were worn. So whilst here at Newport we had a shipwright look at and fix the problem.

Beres and Marg left us in Newport to return first to Wollongong then Sydney and finally flying home to Perth.

We have caught up with Ann and Cran from Letting Go a “cat” in this marina whom we first met in Adelaide and then twice in Tasmania. They were kind enough to take us food shopping so we have been able to reprovision whilst here and have offered to keep an eye on Finesse for us when we are away. We have been boat bound for most of this week due to the extreme weather with winds and rains Brisbane and South Queensland have been experiencing.

We plan to hopefully set sail again soon and head to Mooloolaba for a couple of weeks before returning to the Brisbane/Morton Bay/Gold Coast area till mid December when we will be returning to Perth for 3 months. We will leave Finesse here at the Newport Marina for the cyclone season then returning to sail Queensland for 4-5 months next year before returning to Tasmania where we have now purchased a property.

Photo's Williamstown/Melbourne/Geelong/Queenscliff/Refuge Cove

2010-06-07T00:02:00.001-07:00

View across to Melbourne from Williamstown.

Peta & Jordan first morning they arrived on board Finesse.

Ben & Tarryn - They managed to see 3 football matches whilst in Melbourne for 10 days.

Ben & Jordan at the Zoo in Melbourne.

The Famous Flinders Street Railway Station.

View of Docklands waterfront area.

Wooden supture's in Geelong on the waterfront - a few of the hundred plus scattered around the foreshore.

Bathing beauties also on the foreshore.

The Geelong foreshore.

View of Queenscliff coming through the notorious "Rip".

Refuge Cove at Wilson's Promontory.

Finesse at anchor in Refuge Cove.

Wall of boat names - where people leave their mark when they visit Refuge Cove.

WILLIAMSTOWN/MELBOURNE/GEELONG/QUEENSCLIFF/REFUGE COVE/LAKES ENTRANCE.

2010-06-06T22:45:00.000-07:00

We have been landlocked for the past 5 ½ weeks, exploring around the Melbourne area.
Two weeks were spent in Williamstown at the Royal Yacht Club of Victoria, where we caught up with our friend Beres who was over from Perth visiting his son Michael and his wife Christie whom we first met in Hobart.

Peta caught up with Colleen with whom she previously worked at Wood & Grieve Engineers, also long time friends John and Radka who live in Melbourne and Tom and his wife Michelle and their two children. So the first week at Williamstown was generally socialising with old friends.

Arrangements were made to have flyscreens fitted on Finesse by Lorraine and Tony whom we met whilst on a mooring at Woodbridge (Peppermint Bay) bay in Tasmania. So whilst we were away at Docklands for 2 weeks these were made and were fitted when we revisited Williamstown on our way to Geelong. We also caught up with their friends Sue and Gary and also Frank who they were travelling with in convoy in Tasmania for dinner at the Royal Motor Yacht Club in Williamstown. Frank delivers vessels up and down the coast and was most helpful with advices of ports and safe anchorages on the way to Sydney. (The importance of local knowledge)

Then we moved further up the Yarra River to Docklands for 2 weeks. Docklands is right in the centre of Melbourne and we stayed at the Waterfront City Marina run by the City of Melbourne which is very reasonable at $210.00 per week, this includes use of their shore facilities including a visitor lounge with TV, internet, BBQ, kitchen, showers plus towels and laundry all included in the price.

Ron and I celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary, mother’s day plus Peta’s birthday whilst at Docklands.

Ben, Tarryn and our grandson Jordan arrived from Perth to join us for 10 days at Docklands. Peta got her “Nanna fix” whilst we had Jordan on board and it was good to see Ben and Tarryn go off exploring Melbourne whilst Ron and I babysat Jordan.
We explored many things in Melbourne with them including the zoo and the aquarium which were just great. As the local free city circle tram left from the Waterfront City stop it was easy to get on and off as you pleased thus making exploring Melbourne with a baby so much easier.. Whilst we were planning to sail to Geelong, we all took the country train to Geelong so that Ben and Tarryn could go to a Sydney Swans football match one Saturday. Nana & Granddad brought Jordan home on the train that afternoon.

We also explored St Kilda catching the tram out there on Peta’s birthday, had lunch at a local pub and bought cakes from the famous Acland Street cake shops. Unfortunately for Ben and Tarryn Luna Park at St Kilda wasn’t open that day.
All too quickly the 10 days passed and it was time to see them off at the local city “Airport Shuttle” bus depot at Southern Cross Station (formally Spencer Street Station). It was quite sad to see them go, however we do have many photos of them to look back on.

Whilst at docklands we met a previous owner of Finesse who sold her 14 years ago but had owned her for 4 years. It was good to hear some stories about her and where she had been. We stayed a further 3 days before departing and heading back to Williamstown to have the flyscreens fitted. We refuelled Finesse at a 24 hr fuelling station in the Yarra in preparation for our onward journey to Sydney.

The motor from Williamstown to Geelong took us about 5 hours, it was a calm sunny day and we arrived at the Royal Geelong Yacht Club about 3pm. The club made us very welcome and Ron has been given some good sailing advice about getting out of “the rip”.

Whilst in Geelong we explored the town, walked along many walk trails and even caught up on a couple of movies. We took the local bus to Queenscliff and then the local ferry across the bay to Sorrento. We wanted to check out Queenscliff and the entrance known as “the cut” in preparation for entering the channel which can have a 6-7 knot tidal flow if you do not pick slack water.

We departed Geelong on Saturday 29th May and headed out and past the many spit posts that mark the entrance up the channel to Geelong before going out the Western Channel and around to Queenscliff. Our entry into the cut left us with an adrenalin rush as the water flow into the channel we estimated to be running at 5 knots. This meant we had to go a little faster to have steerage. At the end of the channel near the yacht club wharf it shallowed up very quickly which meant we had to do a hard starboard turn to avoid running aground. Given we were doing around 8 knots , Finesse obeyed the helm instantly causing us to do close to a 180 degree turn, turning in her own boat length. This left us facing back towards rocks near where we had just come in. Full reverse throttle saved the day. A couple of locals awaiting our arrival to assist in our berthing were very impressed?

We stayed at the Cruising Yacht Club of Queenscliff for 3 nights before departing early on Tuesday 1st June to go out through the “Rip” (Port Phillip Bay Heads). The “Rip” is a notoriously dangerous channel of water and today was reasonably smooth. We had studied the weather and the web cams especially placed to view the sea conditions before departing. Once through we started our journey towards San Remo, located at the eastern end of Phillip Island where after a 7 hour sail we picked up a courtesy mooring just off the beach. Early next morning at 1:30 am we set off for a 12 hour sail around Wilson’s Promontory to Refuge Cove where we stayed a couple of days in this delightful bush setting where access is limited to walkers or boats. There were two campsites on shore , one for bushwalkers and one for boaties. The boaties campsite contained a wooden wall displaying the names of visiting vessels and the date(s) visited. Around 5:00pm on the second day we sailed out for our trip up to Lakes Entrance arriving around 8.00 am next day on a calm sea entering the bar around 9:00am again after studying live web cam views and the height and rates of water flow on a Gippsland Lakes sand management website.
We were close to the end of an ebb tide but still could have waited another hour or so as we still found ourselves partially surfing into the narrow channel of still outward flowing water. This took quite a deal of helming before we were safely into protected waters.

Now that we better understand the enormity of the lakes system here (using the benefit of an exploration trip on a local ferry) we have decided to stay for about a week to explore the beauty and wildlife of this area before waiting for the “right” weather to head finally across the remainder of “the paddock” (Bass Strait) around Gabo Island and up to Eden in NSW.

Photo's our our Tasmanian 3 month adventure

2010-04-23T22:05:00.000-07:00

One of the many friendly dolphins we seem to attract. Seals on Ninth Island

The candle stick formations at Tasman Island

Church at Port Arthur

Finesse at Port Arthur on the jetty

Sister Helen & Peta at Hobart after arriving by water taxi

In Port Davey

Swans at Port Davey

Bathurst Channel at Port Davey

Train trip from Strahan to Queenstown

Huon Pine Log - 695 years old.

Waterskiers record breaking attempt - broke the record with 114 skiers.

Sunrise at Maria Island

Dunalley channel bridge - note the man with bucket - entry cost is 2 beers.

Deal Island Rock Formations

Homestead on Deal Island

DEVONPORT/TARMAR RIVER/ST HELENS/PORT ARTHUR/HOBART/D’ENTRECASTEAUX CHANNEL/PORT DAVEY/STRAHAN/BASS STRAIT/MELBOURNE.

2010-04-23T21:46:00.000-07:00

A brief description of our 3 month stay in Tasmania

We set sail from Devonport on Wednesday 3rd Feb to head to Low Head the entrance to the Tarmar River, the home of Launceston. We tied up at a public pontoon in the West Arm of the river for 2 days before heading further upriver to another public pontoon at Rosevears landing. We had an evening meal at the local pub which claimed to have had an ongoing licence since 1831. We decided not to travel to Launceston as we were warned that the river gets very shallow further up stream and we did not want mud in our water intakes nor the stress of calculating the tide movements precisely. We returned to Georgetown going again under the Batman Bridge where it has the name of Whirlpool Ridge and Finesse picked up to an effortless 10kts as we went under with the outgoing tide with swirling water all around.

Departed Georgetown on the 8th Feb on the remnants of the incoming tide around 6.30am, travelled via Tenth Island where we saw a seal colony, then travelled to Ninth & Waterhouse Island and into Foster Inlet just under Cape Portland on the NE corner of Tassie for an overnight anchorage.

Our next destination, although not by choice was St Helens, as we intended to anchor in Binalong Bay and not tackle the bar crossing at St Helens. We were about 3-4 hours sail from St Helens when we encountered heavy sea fog and could only see ½ a boat length in front of us. It was eerie and we felt like standing on the front deck ringing a brass bell as a warning to other vessels. Radar of course has its limitations if the other vessel is wood or fibreglass, as are many of the local fishing boats. We decided to call the St Helens Coast Guard to ask if they could assist us over the notoriously dangerous bar ,which only a week before had claimed a young woman’s life when a runabout overturned . They came out and met us about 5.30pm and assisted by guiding us across the river bar and further down their channel entrance where we touched bottom 3 times on the way up the channel at Pelican Point. Their efforts earned us a generous tax deduction by way of a donation.

We spent the next day exploring St Helens and then departed on Thursday 11th Feb for Wineglass Bay. We were relieved when we crossed the bar again, thankfully with a slightly higher tide than coming in. Disturbingly we had to encounter a fishing boat coming in at the same time we decided to cross going out. Once you start your trip out to sea there is no going back as the entrance is quite narrow and the incoming waves/swell make it too dangerous to abort your passage. We had a good run down to Wineglass Bay, a beautiful sheltered cove, (although not secluded with 8 other boats in there).We spent two days in Wineglass Bay, Ron catching 7 large flathead, we walked halfway up Mt Graham and we spent a couple of hours cleaning the upper sides of the hull of Finesse.

We departed mid morning Saturday 13th Feb travelling down towards Schouten Passage to spend the night at Passage Beach on the southern tip of the Freycinet Peninsula. Next morning we headed further south to Maria Island to “The Deep Hole” in Oyster Bay a favourable anchorage of many locals. This is a fairly shallow bay with large areas of less than a metre under the keel but once across the bay there is a fairly lengthy “deep hole” which is around 6.5 metres in depth just near the shore.

On Monday15th Feb departed “Deep Hole” for our journey down the coast to Tasman Island and around to Port Arthur. The trip around the bottom and past Tasman Island was just beautiful. We were not far out from the high cliffs and rock formations. We saw Tasman’s Arch, the Three Sisters, The Candlestick and Lanterns – all magnificent features along this length of coast. Then through a narrow channel between Cape Pillar on the Tasman Peninsular and Tasman Island. Cape Pillar is renowned for having the highest dolerite cliffs in the Southern Hemisphere. At 300 metres of sheer cliff face only a 100 or so metres away one felt quite insignificant. Once through the narrow channel we had a good sail to Port Arthur. We were able to tie up to the public wharf just across from the ruins of the historical convict prison for the next couple of days. The next day was spent exploring the Port Arthur precinct taking the audio headsets tour option and learned a great deal about our early history and the hardship and sadness of some of our past.

On Wednesday 17th Feb departed Port Arthur at 8.00am planning to head 24nm to Parsons Bay and near Wedge Island on the Tasman Peninsular, as the winds were favourable we decided to cross Storm Bay and head to Bull Bay on the NE corner of North Bruny Island not far from the mouth of the Derwent River. Arriving at 2.00pm just ahead of a weak front expected later afternoon and evening. The front had actually started as we entered Bull Bay and we became concerned that Finesse could be slowed down enough to furl the sails before anchoring. This bay put us in a better position for an easy sail into the Derwent River to Hobart.

Thursday 18th Feb at 9.15am sailed for Hobart, as we the seas were calm with 2.5kts of wind we decided to explore the Derwent before heading in to the Royal Yacht Club Tasmania, where we had arranged a berth for the coming week. Sailed under the Tasman Bridge a height of 44m and up as far as the Bowen Bridge. Because of height limitations we were not able to go under the Bowen Bridge so started our trip back down the river exploring many interesting coves and anchorages along the way. Arriving at the RYCT mid afternoon and proceed to engage service and repair people for the few jobs that were needed on Finesse with the help of the two very experienced Bosuns Ron and Danny from the club.
By the end of the day we had secured the services of a motor mechanic for engine service and for our outboard motor (first) service, a diver to dive on the hull and check the anode and hull fittings, a marine trimmer to repair worn patches on the dingy cover, and a stainless steel welder to repair and beef up some of our stanchions.

As all these service people were due to either pick up required repairs and/or service Finesse within the next few days we decided to hire a vehicle for two days and go and explore parts of Hobart and the Huon Valley.

On Saturday after the diver had finished inspecting the hull we took a water taxi from the club to Constitution Dock to explore the famous Salamanca Square markets. Had a great day.

Sunday 21 Feb set off and drove up to the summit of Mt Wellington and then to the Huon Valley. Walked the tree top walkway at Tahune (NW of Geeveston) on the Huon River, then drove back into Hobart across the Tasman Bridge to Bellerive so Peta could pick up an Australia / West Indies Cricket program for Ben before heading to historic Richmond (which is like York in WA). The night was spent in the old stone pub before heading back to the Cadbury chocolate factory at Claremont. Took advantage of having a vehicle and restocked the boat with grocery’s etc and visited a chandlery shop before returning the hire car late Monday afternoon.

On the Tuesday before our intended departure on Saturday we had the diesel mechanic (Keith Smith) on board who serviced both the main engine and the genset. Delighted with the professional approach of this experienced mechanic as he found the engine and genset had three more anodes than Ron had recorded in the vessel service log.

Over the next few days cleaned and changed water maker filters and generally did a cleanup of the interior of the boat. All the time we are learning about our boat and the anode find by the mechanic was no exception, caught the bus from Sandy Bay into Hobart for a day of shopping and exploring Hobart.

Caught up with David & Di Baulch (an ex CPA Board colleague of Ron’s) for dinner and drinks at the RYCT one night and on the Saturday morning before our departure to Port Davey we had breakfast with John Culshaw who was in Hobart for the tourism awards whom we first met in Pt Lincoln and later caught up with again in Adelaide.

Our departure from Hobart on Saturday 27th was an interesting start to our 6 day trip down the D’Entrecasteaux Channel, had to dodge racing yachts in the 20-25kt winds down the Derwent River. Our first overnighter in the channel was in Barnes Bay on Bruny Island “The Duck Pond” Spent Sunday there as it was calm sheltered waters and as the Coast Radio Hobart had been giving warnings all morning about the possible effects of the Chilean earthquake in the form of a tsunami.

Set sail on Monday across the channel to the Tasmanian mainland town of Kettering, explored the harbour before heading further south past Woodbridge in Peppermint Bay, past the mouth of the Huon River and on to the port of Dover in Esperance Bay. Found a quite and delightful anchorage at Rabbit Island at one end of the Bay.

Next morning set off for a 2 ½ hr sail to Southport (the end of the Huon Highway) where we anchored in Deephole Bay which gave better protection from winds and swell than our first anchorage just opposite the main town site. Southport Hotel has the famous notoriety of being the most southern hotel in Australia. The next day went ashore and explored the Ida Bay State Reserve area and railway, (an old limestone light gauge railway taking limestone from the quarries onto barges) now a tourist railway. Walked the track to Southport Lagoon, took the dinghy up the Southport Narrows towards Hastings Bay. After lunch set sail taking 2 ½ hours to reach Recherche Bay the last of the “small hops” before our big leg to Pt Davey – some 70 nm away.

Whilst sitting in Coalbin Bay (Recherche) with a number of yachts waiting for the right weather to dash to Pt Davey, another Nauticat 38 sailed into the bay. Later that evening we met with Lou & Liz, the Nauticat owners who had just returned from Pt Davey. We spent the next day exploring the area which once housed a small settlement including a pub which the whalers and the forest loggers used.

Friday 5th March set sail early at 6.00am (not yet light) on our way to Port Davey. Headed down the coast to SE Cape across the south coast from SE Cape to SW Cape via De Witt Island (near the Maatsuyker group) and up the West Coast to Port Davey, anchored the first night in Spain Bay arriving at 4.00pm. Had a good motor sail across as the winds were less than 5kts, another good voyage in the Southern Ocean.

For the next 7 days explored the areas of Port Davey, going up the Davey River to its second gorge by dingy, taking most of the day. This is where we first met up with Lyn & Tony and Mike and Denise who were visiting on Tony’s beautiful American made “Westwind” displacement motor cruiser. We anchored in various bays in the Bathurst Channel, Schooners Cove and Ila Bay. Spent an uncomfortable night at Kings Point (just before) Clayton’s Corner and we heard the next day that they were forecasting “storm force” winds of up to 50kts. As we were having trouble holding with the anchor decided to shift around to Claytons Corner. Again tried to anchor in the small bay and after much discussion decided at 7pm to shift and tie up at the only jetty in the whole area. Thank goodness we did as we were not the only boat/cat to drag anchor there.

Whilst in this area took the dingy down the Melaleuca Inlet and Melaleuca Creek some 5nm and explored the area pioneered by Deny King, quite an amazing man who lived and brought up his family in this area for 45 years. He built a “Nissan style hut home built the light aircraft airstrip by hand and worked a tin mine in the area. We had both read the book “King of the Wilderness” the life story of the SW Tasmanian pioneer called Deny King and could only feel wonderment at his achievements, certainly deserving of the Order of Australia award bestowed on him.

Whilst still tied up to the jetty at Claytons Corner walked up Mt Beattie for a fantastic view of both Bathurst Harbour and up the channel to Port Davey, then departed to start making our way back out to Spain Bay, anchored in Clyte Cove overnight before taking the dinghy up to Joe Page Bay and exploring Manwoneer Inlet where we saw hundreds of black swans with white tips on their feathers.

Departed Spain Bay on Saturday 13th March at 6.30am for our trip back across the bottom of Tasmania to Recherche Bay, as we were having a good run decided to head further up the D’Entrecasteaux Channel into calmer waters back at Dover and anchored again at Rabbit Island around 6pm.

The next day made contact with Anne & Cran from the catamaran “Letting Go” who we met in Adelaide at the Royal Squadron Yacht Club. They were in Cygnet heading to Port Davey and stopped in at Rabbit Island to catch up with us again. We went ashore later that afternoon and reprovisioned Finesse and had a lovely meal at the old post office “6935” restaurant. Whilst in Dover met the local mussel farmer who at one stage owned a Nauticat 44 called “Archer” (the sister ship to Finesse) and he invited us later that afternoon to visit him and his wife at their farm/home.

For the next 9 days we explored more anchorages/bays in the D’Entrecasteaux Channel. We visited places like Tin Pot Bay in Great Taylors Bay on Bruny Island, lighthouse jetty beach again in Great Taylors Bay, Port Cygnet where we spent 3 nights in Cygnet before heading back across the channel to Isthmas Bay on Bruny Island where we climbed the large lookout staircase to see the other side of the Bay (Adventure Bay). Then departed for Woodridge (Peppermint Bay) where there are 6 public moorings available. Visited the local upmarket pub for lunch before returning to Finesse for the night as strong winds were again forecast. At 2am Ron woke up by very strong winds 30-40 kts tugging at the mooring only to find that another power boat had dragged the mooring and was heading towards us. Glad we had put a second rope on the mooring we were using, assisted the other boat by using our spot light to help him to pick up another mooring. Spent the following day battling the strong winds whilst still on the mooring; finally around 6pm that evening they subsided.

On Thursday 25th March set sail again for Hobart, motoring all the way back to the RYCT where we were met by Ron’s sister Helen, nephew Clinton, his wife Sarah and baby Amos who were in Hobart visiting Sarah’s grandmother. It was good to catch up with family again and spent the following day with Helen before they departed on Saturday back to Sydney. That evening (Friday) had dinner with Lou & Liz (Nauticat 38 owners) at their lovely multi storey classic home in North Hobart.

We had booked a berth at the yacht club for the following two weeks and in that time decided to once again hire a car for 6 days and explore more of Tasmania.

Headed to Strahan on Saturday morning, to catch up with friends Rob & Lorraine - “Songlines” from Geraldton who we first met last May in Streaky Bay with whom have spent many good times as our paths have crossed on this journey around Australia.
Spent Saturday night aboard “Songlines” and on Sunday morning witnessed the world record attempt of the greatest number of water skiers behind one vessel. Much too every one’s excitement, they broke this record with 114 skiers. Strahan was in party mode.

Sunday afternoon around 1.00pm departed on the charter yacht “Storm Breaker” for an overnight cruise 34 km up the Gordon River to Sir Johns Falls, had 4 other passengers on board. Motored across Macquarie Harbour and up the Gordon River crossing a very shallow bar at the entrance but once across the river it was very deep and the reflections of the surrounding hills and stands of trees along its bank were absolutely magnificent. For the first time we became aware of the famous Huon pine trees.

On dark reached Sir Johns Falls in the upper reaches of the Gordon River and pulled into a landing. The rafters who had travelled down the Franklin River to Sir Johns Falls were waiting there camped in the surrounding bush they were to accompany us back to Strahan the next morning. Arrived back in Strahan around 1pm and as we had arranged to stay on board for the next 2 nights at the jetty we decided to do some sightseeing around Strahan. We had also booked on the Strahan-Queenstown historical train trip for the following day. Again this was a wonderful day with a little steam engine pulling us up and over the hills on a rack and pinion track system, travelled premier class which gave us food and wine for the whole journey, a great way to see this area.

Left Strahan the next day and drove to the Cradle Mountain area where we walked around Dove Lake, then headed to Deloraine for an overnight stay before heading back to Hobart again purchasing supplies to restock the boat before we left.

Easter was spent at the RYCT where we caught up with Beres & Margaret’s son & daughter-in-law , Michael & Christi, who were visiting Hobart, had dinner at Salamanca Square On Monday had dinner on finesse with friends Kerry & Jenny (Adelaidians) whom we met in Pt Vincent SA arrived in Hobart to do bush walking. Monday also saw us replace our aft cabin toilet as the pump decided to stop working, it was cheaper to buy a whole new toilet rather than get parts for the old one.(Just like motor car part prices). On Tuesday evening before our intended departure on Thursday we had dinner with Tony, Lyn, Mike & Denise who we met in Port Davey on Westwind. So all in all our last week in Hobart was spent socializing and sightseeing.

On Thursday 8th April departed Hobart at 7.00am heading down the Derwent for the last time, heading to the Denison Canal, a shortcut through to the open waters just south of Maria Island. Dropped anchor again at the Deep Hole in Chinaman’s Bay at approx 7.00pm, spent the following morning doing a 9km walk to an old historic farmhouse before departing for Schouten Island. Found the two anchorages in Hen & Chicken Bay quite small so decided to travel further north to Bryan’s Corner again we had to anchor in the dark. Next morning sailed to Coles Bay and found a public mooring available, so decided to stay there overnight in this delightful location situated just below the Hazards (low rocky mountains) over the peninsular from Wineglass Bay).

Next day headed around to Wineglass Bay as this was a safe anchorage and gale force winds were forecast for the next couple of days. Put out two anchors and held well, spent 3 days at this anchorage before heading further north leaving on Wednesday 14th April to sail to Binalong Bay just north of St Helens. Anchored overnight and then headed to the Furneaux Group, first to Clarke Island at Rebecca Bay where we spent a very rolly unpleasant night. Ron even slept in the wheelhouse to be ready in case the boat dragged anchor.

Next morning we sailed around the west end of cape Barren Island and into the south side of Franklin Sound on our way to the town of Lady Barren on Flinders Island. As we followed our pilot book instructions very carefully along with our chart plotter we managed to get safely into Lady Barren. Spent the night tied up at the inner wooden wharf after seeking permission from the Port control officer.

As this was going to be our last night on “Tassie” soil, decided to have dinner at the local tavern and enjoyed a very expensive crayfish meal. The following morning departed Lady Barren at approx 8am to sail out the northern passage of Franklin Sound and consequently ran aground within an hour of leaving the town. The chart plotter was telling us that we had under our keel 5metres, unfortunately this deemed not to be correct. We had a flood tide and this was pushing us further onto the sandbar. After trying to use the dingy to move Finesse (a 17 ½ tonne vessel) without much success, we tried the motor to back off and eventually managed to move her and then the tide promptly sent us sideways and further onto the sandbar. Eventually we wriggled free and then crept carefully out of the sound up to the northern end of Marshall Bay to Roydon Island which was a beautiful picturesque and safe anchorage.

Sunday 18th April motor sailed to Deal Island in the middle of Bass Strait and anchored in East Cove. This anchorage is protected by two other islands (Erith Island and Dover Island). These islands are high 279m rock formations which just rise straight up from the ocean. Took the dinghy ashore and proceed to walk up the steep hill to the houses and structures at the top, met the “voluntary” caretakers who had only been there 5 weeks of their 3 month stay. Had a cuppa with them and exchanged gifts, ours being chocolates from the Cadbury’s factory in Hobart and their gift to us was some fresh vegetables and herbs from their wonderful garden. The caretakers have to bring in 3 months of provisions, bedding etc so the established veggie garden is a godsend. We walked up to the top of a hill, a great vantage point and visited the museum. We wanted to walk to the light house but it too late in the day for the return trip. This lighthouse is reputed to be the highest in the Southern Hemisphere, but unfortunately we decided to leave early next morning as we had favourable weather to complete our crossing, so we never did see the lighthouse. We would love to go back to Deal Island and explore some more as it was so remote, awesome and magical.

Monday 19th April departed Deal Island to head to Wilson’s Promontory a distance of 45nm, as we neared the defined shipping lanes we decided based on the sea conditions and weather to continue on overnight up to Hastings in Western Port.

We saw dolphins a number of times in the clear waters and they continued to accompany us into the evening and even late at night. The sea traffic around Wilson’s Promontory is divided into separate zones, those going east and those going west. Naturally we worked our way very carefully through this section , picking our crossing time and waiting to allow a south/west bound ship to catch us up (at 19kts) and pass before cutting across that shipping lane. At one stage during our voyage across Bass Strait we counted 18 ships in this area which our AIS through our chart plotter/VHF 16 radio picked up.

As night wore on each of us tried to rest up, as you can’t really sleep, whilst the other kept watch. At around 0300 hrs we had reach a point about 5nm from the entry into Western Port and as we don’t like coming into ports at dark we decided to cut the motor and with a very reefed mainsail sailed around 1.5- 2.0 kts towards (Hastings) entry. Hastings is quite a hike up a channel next to Phillip Island and would still take a few more hours to reach. With the light winds and direction of seas we did not have to steer and around 7.00am calculated we could reach the “rip” entry to Phillip Bay by the “slack water” tide entry time to avoid the up to 7kts tidal flow in or out of this huge harbour. (Slack water tide time was 12 noon).

On approaching the entry, we rang the Lonsdale lighthouse (also can use VHF 16) to ensure it was safe to enter, as sea conditions can close the entry to even large ships. Ron read and reread articles he had on entering what is affectionately known as “The Rip”. We got the approval to enter The Rip after a big ship had come out so we “bit the bullet” and went for it. It should be remembered that the entry is only 6/10ths of a nautical mile wide and when a large ship is in the middle there is very little room for error. Fortunately we had a fishing boat in front of us which in some way helped us, plus Ron steering from inside to be able to follow directions on the big chart plotter. We then proceeded up the West Channel to head towards Williamstown at the mouth of the Yarra River. We encountered heavy rain and 35kt winds coming across the harbour and after a couple of phone calls to identify which pen we were allocated to in the Royal Yacht Club of Victoria we berthed at 5pm that evening.

So here we are safe and sound in Melbourne, where we will spend 2 weeks in the RYCV before moving to Docklands for a further two weeks before we continue our journey across to Geelong the up the coast towards Sydney.

Photo's from Portland - Victoria to Devonport - Tasmania

2010-02-03T14:12:00.000-08:00

Portland Harbour

Port Fairy River

River houses in Port Fairy

Peta at Hot Rod Car Show in Port Fairy

OurKing Island Sea Rescue

The boys sorting out fishing gear

"The Nut" at Stanley

Finesse at Stanley Wharf

Spirit of Tasmania - leaving Devonport.

ROBE/PORTLAND/PORT FAIRY/APOLLO BAY/NEW YEAR ISLAND/KING ISLAND/HUNTER ISLAND/STANLEY/DEVONPORT – TASMANIA

2010-02-01T21:36:00.000-08:00

Monday 4th January 2010,we set sail from Robe at 6.30am and reached Rivoli Bay (South End) at 1.30pm, after a few hours rest we then set sail again at 6.30pm for the long overnight sail to Portland. This was my Brother Bob’s first night sail. When we arrived in Portland we were met by the local customs officers who wanted to check that we were an Australian Registered Vessel (which we are) and then were advised by the local council that we couldn’t stay tied up to the town jetty as it wasn’t designed to take vessels our length or weight. We spent 3 nights anchored in the harbour at Portland before departing on Friday 8th Jan for Port Fairy.

The sail from Portland to Port Fairy took us approx 5 ½ hours sailing past Lady Julia Percy Island which has a seal colony and then up the river to the delightful town of Port Fairy. We stayed for 6 days tied up to the wharf on the ocean side of the town. We caught up with Rodger Haldane whom we first met in Port Lincoln, he owns the Shaw River Buffalo Cheese Factory and we sampled some of his products. This town is a well kept secret and one we will visit again one day.

We departed Port Fairy Thursday 14th Jan at 4.15am and arrived in Apollo Bay at 3.30pm a long day but a pleasantly smooth Southern Ocean at a 10-15 knot southerly wind, so we truly motor sailed. Whilst we were waiting for “the right weather” to cross Bass Strait Bob & Ron serviced the anchor winch and small Barlow #15 winch, did general engine maintenance, refuelled and generally got Finesse ship shape for the crossing.
We found Apollo Bay an expensive tourist town. We managed to visit the old cable station museum which we found quite interesting. Bob even had a round of golf on a course that overlooks the ocean.

After spending a week at Apollo Bay we departed on Thursday 21st January for New Year Island at 5.20am and arrived there at 3.00pm after a great run across Bass Strait or should we say “Bass Lake”. New Year Island is a small island on the North West side of King Island and is adjacent to Christmas Island and a beautifully protected anchorage. This crossing was approximately 55 nm so a great introduction to Bass Strait. We dropped anchor and the boys proceeded to go fishing and managed to catch 4 fish which we then cooked for dinner. We found this a great anchorage and were joined that night by 4 fishing boats seeking shelter for the night.

Friday 22nd January we departed at 7.30am for the motor sail around the top of King Island our destination being Grassy Harbour on the East side of the island. . At about 2.30pm after an extremely pleasant motor sail in very light winds the water pump on the main engine stopped pumping water. We were about 7 nm from Grassy when this happened and with a tide running against us we were down to a boat speed of 2kts. Whilst time was not so much a factor the fact that our low speed and the tide were pushing Finesse closer towards the land (a lee shore). Peta tried to raise the Tamar Coast Guard and the police vessel Van Diemen from Hobart who was cruising around King Island and other islands on a 6 day mission, answered our call and within 45 minutes arrived and took us in tow. (This vessel only comes this way twice a year) so how lucky were we.
They suggested taking us back up the coast to Naracoopa (about 10nm north of Grassy) as it was a better safe anchorage and when we arrived in Grassy we knew why they had made that decision. Peta managed to contact a marine diesel mechanic at 4.45pm on a Friday afternoon and he agreed to send one of his boy’s over from Currie which is about 26kms on the other side of the island. He arrived at 6pm and it was all fixed by 7.30pm.

We decided to set sail early next morning as strong winds were forecast later but turned back after an hour as we were heading into southerly 20+ kts gusting to 30kts winds and heavy seas. So we spent the day back at Naracoopa.

We departed Naracoopa t 6.30am the next morning and motored to Grassy Harbour on a reasonably calm sea arriving at 9.00am. The harbour master advised us which mooring to pick up as you can’t anchor due to the large turning circle needed for the once a week supply vessel to the island. We all agreed that the very rough seas the previous day would have made it very dangerous to enter this very tight harbour.

On our dinghy ride to shore we met a local yachty who offered to drive us the 26k’s into Currie and then took us to the King Island Cheese Factory We were able to purchase a good selection of cheeses.

Monday 25th Jan we departed King Island at 5.30am for Hunter Island and Three Hummock Island. We anchored in Shepherds Bay arriving at 2.00pm. We found Shepherds Bay a safe anchorage with a sandy bottom for good holding from the strong southerly winds but no fish..

We departed the next day at 7.30am for our final Bass Strait crossing heading to Stanley (The Nut) on the Tasmanian mainland. Again a fantastic motor sail arriving in 30 knot winds into an extremely small harbour with a very narrow (hairy) entrance around 2.30pm. We spent 2 nights in this harbour before departing on Thursday 28th Jan for Devonport.

This was a long day sail leaving Stanley at 8.00am and arriving into Devonport at 6.15pm. Friday morning we saw Bob depart on the Spirit of Tasmania ferry back to Melbourne for his connecting flight home to Perth.

I am sure Bob has enjoyed his month with us and we thank him sincerely for his contribution to shipboard life during that time and for assisting us to cross Bass Strait.

We have been in Devonport now for 5 days awaiting the replacement of our domestic battery which is not holding its charge. We will then depart and head up the Tamar River and hopefully to Launceston all being well.

Photo's of River Murray & Robe

2009-12-26T15:44:00.000-08:00

Peta relaxing after Christmas Day lunch

Ron on Christmas Day in the office

Wharf at Robe

Cray fishing fleet at Robe

Coorong National Park

"Mouth of the Murray River"

PORT VINCENT/ADELAIDE/KANGAROO ISLAND/ROBE

2009-12-26T15:40:00.000-08:00

Upon our return to Pt Vincent we discovered that our Westerbeke 240 volt genset was not generating any electricity. We also discovered that the water pump was leaking. This unfortunately led to another problem with a piece of plastic being drawn into the motor which wedged itself under an inlet valve causing it to be jammed open.

We decided after much thought to have the back end (the stator and rotor) of the genset rewound in Adelaide and use a mechanic in Pt Vincent to repair the engine. In hind site we probably should have bought a new genset!! Anyway after various road trips to Adelaide and finding that the backend was not rewound correctly we decided to sail across the gulf to Adelaide to have the rewind company use their own mechanic to save our cost and so they could establish the problem first hand. Unfortunately our auto helm decided to go crazy on the trip across, Finesse decided to do do-nuts in the middle of the gulf. So another problem had to be fixed whilst in Adelaide. It was found that our flux-gate compass had broken some internal wires.

Whilst in Adelaide we took the dinghy up the Port River to the Old Port, saw the Birkenhead Bridge open to allow a classic steam driven tug boat through. We saw the maritime museum, did a twilight race out of the Cruising Yacht Club with John Culshaw and ate in his central Adelaide “Culshaws Restaurant” in the Majestic Hotel. John also showed us much of the North Adelaide district and a number of his own property developments. We also explored Glenelg using public transport.

Mike and Maggie who worked for Australian Submarine Corporation (ASC) loaned us a car for a couple of days which helped with our shopping and to see a South Australian movie “The Boys Are Back”.

One our final trip back to Adelaide me met Anne & Cran from “Lettin’Go” who are also sailing around Australia on a Cat who met up with Peter Cartens when he was in the Kimberley’s and we are sure our path’s will cross again in Tasmania.

We finally had the 240Vgenset rewound and fitted correctly, a total of 2 complete rewinds with the backend on and off 5 times. We then sailed back to Pt Vincent for the final engine adjustment. This whole saga has taken 5/6 weeks. The night before we were leaving to head back to Kangaroo Island we discovered that our holding tank in the aft cabin toilet had decided to split. So again we sailed back to Adelaide. We were getting quite accustomed to the 5 hour sail back and forth across the gulf.

The people at the Royal South Australian Yacht Squadron were also getting used to us coming and going and joked about giving us membership. We found the staff and workmen at the yard very helpful. This last problem happened three weeks before Christmas and we were very fortunate to have found a tradesperson able to make a new stainless steel tank at such short notice.

Finally on Saturday 12th December we set sail down the coast to Wirrina Cove to catch up with Songlines. We were able to borrow their vehicle and Sunday we drove to Victor Harbour then to Goolwa and the mouth of the Murray River.

We set sail on Monday 14th Dec with Songlines to sail in company back to Kangaroo Island. We were able to use some moorings in Kingscote and our intention was to stay a week there before sailing further east.

Unfortunately upon arrival at Kingscote we tried our genset and it wasn’t pumping water. So the next day, after our own attempts to fix it, we tried different people on the island and no one was available to help us. So the decision was made late Tuesday afternoon to sail back to Adelaide, this being on overnight trip taking some 11/12 hours. The sail up was just beautiful, the gulf being so calm and the coastline all lit up. We arranged for a marine auto electrician to meet us once again at the Yacht Squadron. He came down at 7.30am and the problem was fixed within 2 hours. The problem being a wire caught under the control panel box of the genset that was shorting out, causing the genset to stop.

We decided to stay overnight and sail late on Thursday evening leaving at 11.30pm for another overnight sail down the coast and this time going to the eastern end of Kangaroo Island to Antechamber Bay. This sail took us approx 11 hours and we dropped anchor (using our new stockless anchor for the first time) in the bay at about 11am. After a few hours sleep we again set sail at 5pm for a night sail to Robe.

This was not a pleasant sail as the winds forecast were stronger than predicted ranging from 20 to 30 kts with 3 metre swells. It reminded Peta of the bight crossing on the 3 day and she did not travel well. We made it to Robe in 18 hours and are now safely in the Robe Marina. We have found since we arrived here that the genset stopped pumping water again so we arranged for the local diesel mechanic to have a look. Well he found a problem with the water pump and has fixed it. The problem was initiated by Ron fitting a cork gasket which was too thick and did not allow the impellor to seal behind the backing plate. The genset is now working well and hopefully we will have no more problems with it.

We spent Christmas Day on board Finesse and have a lovely meal of local crayfish/prawns/oysters and some local South Australian wines.

Peta’s brother Robert is joining us on the 31st December to sail to Portland/Port Fairy/Apollo Bay then to King Island before reaching Tasmania. We intend to depart on Saturday 2nd January weather permitting.

Wallaroo/Pt Vincent/Kangaroo Island - Pictures

2009-09-11T20:59:00.000-07:00

Finesse under sail on route to Kangaroo Island

Cape Du Couedic SW corner of Kangaroo Island - Admirals arch.

At Remarkable Rocks on Kangaroo Island

Tree lined road at Kangaroo Island

Port Vincent - Wharf & town.

Sailing around Cape Spencer - Yorke Peninsula

Cormorant's hitching a ride at Galway Bay.

WALLAROO/PT VINCENT/KANGAROO ISLAND

2009-09-11T20:52:00.000-07:00

Saturday 8th August we departed Wallaroo for Wardang Island which is 40 nm heading south This location is about 10 NM from Port Victoria where the last of the great grain race schooners departed for their voyages back to the United Kingdom. We picked up one of the moorings put down by the authorities over various ship wrecks for charter/dive boats to use. There are about 8 shipwrecks around this Island. Here we caught fish and Ron’s first ever squid.

Monday 10th August we set sail for Galway Bay to a spot behind a light beacon marking a sandspit for protection against 13-18kt SW winds. This is between Point Turton and Corney Point. We found it to be a great spot and the holding was excellent.
We anchored there overnight and in the morning set off at 3am for our long journey around Corney Point down to Cape Spencer and then to our destination for that day Davenport Shoals (Stuart Bay) on the bottom of the Yorke Peninsula being 75 nm away.
The early start in the dark saw us punching into headwinds and seas of around 1-2 metres and picking our way around shallow shoals of 3-4 metres so as to stay in 10 metre depths. As we worked our way south the winds were less of a problem but the seas were now a definite southern ocean swell so it was not the most comfortable leg and it was cold. We had been advised to sail around the capes in daylight because of dangerous reefs and islands many being unlit around Cape Spencer. It was a smart move to sail this section in the daylight as the coast around here is awesome to see and you are quite close to towering cliffs. This trip took us 12 hours. We decided to stay another day in Stuart Bay as the anchorage was very protected and we could sleep easy. This allowed us to just relax and catch more squid. We even had a BBQ on the back deck our first outdoor meal for some time as the weather had been too cold.

Thursday 13th August we departed this delightful anchorage at 9.00am to head around Troubridge Point and up Sultana Passage headed for Edithburg. We found that Sultana Passage has moving sandspits and had to very careful as we navigated our way through these shallow waters. Unfortunately Finesse touched bottom between two starboard markers but we managed to reverse off and find our way out of these shallow waters. Upon reaching Edithburg we dropped anchor and went ashore to explore this small town.

Friday 14th August we set sail for Pt Vincent, we pounded into 15-20kt headwinds all the way with rather nasty wind waves. This trip took us 6 hours. We had arranged to use a pontoon within the Pt Vincent Marina complex owned by John Culshaw who we first met in Pt Lincoln.

Pt Vincent is a small country seaside holiday town with friendly locals many of whom we have met as they have come down to the marina to inspect Finesse. A very lovely couple Ted & Elizabeth lent us a 4WD vehicle for some of the time we have been here. We took advantage of this and headed out for two days to the Innes National Park down at Stenhouse Bay and Cape Spencer starting at Corney Point and worked our way down the coast which we had sailed past either in the dark or saw only from the sea. Although many of the bays we saw were listed by James Cowell in his cruising book as anchorages I would prefer to only consider them as summertime locations as the swell and winds were causing very difficult looking conditions in most of the bays .Some of these are Cable Hut Bay, West Cape Bay and Pondalowie Bay.

Our time in Pt Vincent has been spent doing some minor repairs and generally relaxing in this pleasant environment. One of the more difficult of the repairs was to clear the blocked toilet outlet pipe which would not respond to treatment with vinegar (to remove the calcium buildup) nor to the long stainless probing rod we used to try to breakdown the blockage. Whilst these methods had some small impact they did not reach the root of the problem. Finally in desperation we removed the whole length of pipe which meant disconnecting all the other pipes and pulling out the toilet. The offending length of pipe was beat on the jetty and finally the offending blockage was cleared. Thankyou author Nigel Calder for your recommendation we spotted in your Cruising Handbook written for sailors like us. We also arranged to refuel at the town wharf on a high tide at 7.30am. The local garage owner came down to the wharf with a tank on a trailer and we gravity fed the fuel into Finesse’s tanks.

On Monday 31st August we depart at 7am for our trip to Kangaroo Island via Wirrina Cove which is approx 70 kms south of Adelaide, this taking us 8 hours. Here we met up with our friends Rob & Lorraine from Songlines who were planning to cruise in company with us to Kangaroo Island. We also invited Ted & Elizabeth, who had previous sailing experience, to join us for the week at KI and whilst there we hired a vehicle for 3 days to explore this wonderful island.

At KI we anchored at American River, a delightful small settlement with its own small wharf and boating jetty. Here we manage again to catch the local fisherman coming in with the haul of oysters and were able to purchase large oversized “fresh from the sea” oysters at a very low price. We used a mooring here and probably just as well as the tidal race was 3-4 knots and with an opposing wind saw Finesse dancing around in circles on the mooring.

KI is approx 160 km long with a great deal of farmland and large quantities of native vegetation. We were delighted to find many of the road verges covered with carpets of freesias. We saw caves and koala’s (estimated population 30,000), seals and many kangaroo’s.

The south west coast was an outstanding highlight with gigantic cliffs and rock faces against which the southern ocean swell was crashing. There were many beautiful bays and quiet coves to explore.

We hope to get back and spend more time both in American River and the capital Kingscote where there is a good anchorage protected from SW/SE winds.

Saturday 5th Sept due to the poor weather outlook we decided to set sail to Wirrina Cove. When planning legs of voyages we calculate an average speed at 6 kts, we were delighted to have exceed this speed significantly on the return trip from KI to Pt Vincent.
We stayed Sunday at Wirrina Cove and were take out by John Culshaw to visit a winery and also to see his country residence at Mt Magnificent.

Monday 7th Sept with the weather outlook modified and good winds from the SW we were able to sail in our NW direction back to Pt Vincent again at good speeds.

We will be leaving Finesse here in Pt Vincent for the coming month as we are returning home to Perth to visit family including a new granddaughter “Lillian” and friends.

PORT LINCOLN TO WALLAROO - Pictures

2009-08-06T22:25:00.000-07:00

On Songlines at the Sir Joseph Bank Group of Islands

Sunrise at Plank Point

Port Augusta Wharf

Flight over Lake Eyre

The Maree Man

Port Pirie Wharf

PORT LINCOLN TO WALLAROO

2009-08-06T22:18:00.000-07:00

We have now been away from home for 4 months.

Saturday 4th July. Today we finally set sail from Port Lincoln and headed out to the Sir Joseph Banks group of Islands, a 4 hr sail from Pt Lincoln. We spent 4 days anchored off Reevesby Island which has an old abandoned homestead dating back to around 1911 . We saw lots of Cape Barron Geese and a large lovely old white owl living in the barn.

Our friends Rob & Lorraine from Songlines, sailed back to Reevesby Is. from Pt Augusta and joined us for what was to be a lovely day catching up on each others sailing plans, going ashore and with an evening meal on Songlines , before they departed for Pt Lincoln the next morning.

We set sail to Tumby Bay on the 8th July timing our entry into the channel to reach the marina on a high tide. We needed at least 1m under Finesse We spent 6 days in Tumby Bay, met lots of locals who also took us on interesting drives in the area. . Naturally we also had to exit on a high tide so we come out and of the marina into the bay and hooked onto a mooring with the owner’s approval on 12 July.

Monday 13th July. We set sail at 7.30am bound for Arno Bay, and because of good winds of 15-20 kts we reached Arno Bay mid morning but decided to keep sailing up to Cowell, a much safer harbour, otherwise know as Franklin Harbour where we tied up to the local jetty.

Cowell is famous for its oyster production and whilst there we sampled plenty of cheap oysters and also their famous oyster pies. After 3 days of exploring the town we decided to head further north towards Whyalla.

Thursday 16th July. We departed Franklin Harbour which took us about 1 hour, as you have to navigate your way out through a long entry channel on high tide before reaching open seas. We decided to only go as far as Plank Point (Murininnie), which is a long sand spit. It was like anchoring in wide open waters, but in 3m at low tide, you are protected from seas because of the spit.

This was our first every anchorage of this type and even though we anchored securely with both anchor alarms on, neither of us slept very well.

We weighed anchor at 8am, and motored into northerly headwinds all the way to Whyalla, which took us about 4 hours. We kept out of the shipping channel as there were some very large vessels anchored in the gulf and loading from a huge barge, as they were too big to get into Whyalla.

We spent 6 days in Whyalla at the local marina, next to the Yacht Club. We again met lots of locals who came down to inspect Finesse. We did quite a lot of walking in Whyalla exploring this “red dust” town. In fairness the red dust is now under control and a wash- off grey soot has replaced the indelible red. Their maritime museum houses on land, the first steel vessel produced in the Whyalla shipbuilding yards. This was a Corvette warship used as a minesweeper in WWII called HMAS Whyalla. We had a very interesting guided tour through this vessel.

We did the usual pub lunches and caught the local bus to the other side of town, as it is split in two and too far to walk. We had dinner with a local couple Andrew and Leanne one evening which gave us an opportunity to see Whyalla at night from the local lookout at Hummock Hill plus the lights of Port Pirie across the other side of the gulf. We even had the local paper come down and do an interview with us about our travels, calling us “Gypsies of the Sea”.

Thursday 23rd July. We departed at 7am for Port Augusta. Had a glorious run but no winds only tides up to the top end of the gulf. It was beautiful scenery with the channel narrowing and the Flinders ranges on one side and another range the other side. We reached Port Augusta, after navigating our way through 50 spit posts and tied up to the “city” pontoon at 2pm. This was adjacent to the very long and tall wharf where old sailing schooners used to tie up.

Port Augusta is a very tidy and clean city, and again we met lots of locals. Did the usual Friday night drinks at the yacht club where we were also able to use their facilities for showering and storage of our dinghy. We put Finesse onto a mooring for two days, when we took a trip up to Maree for a flight over Lake Eyre. This was a local tour run by Gulf Tours which incorporated visits to local towns and ruins along the way up and back to Maree. A fun evening was spent around a large “sleeper” camp fire, including a roast dinner with singing and dancing into the night.

We were scheduled the next morning for a 7.30am flight over Lake Eyre in a 6 seater Cessna, which would take 1 hour 30 minutes, flying up to 4000ft before dropping down to 500 ft for most of the flight over the lake. It was fascinating to see the vast expanse of water even though it was quite shallow and wide areas of salt and mineral deposits giving both colour and patterns over the lake. We also saw the Maree Man a 4km long outline of a native person etched into the ground by a cultivator, illegally done back in 1998.

The long drive back to Pt Augusta was uneventful apart from historic towns and ruins. We rowed back to the boat on the mooring in the dark, after being dropped off around 5.30pm.

We took Finesse back to the pontoon in the morning so we could do local chores, washing/shopping etc, before our departure from Pt Augusta. One of the fond memories is the valued time we spent with John & Marina, whom we shared a few dinners with and also gave us a lot of local information in relation to safe anchorages.

Thursday 30th July. Departed Pt Augusta at 7.00am for the long trip back down the channel, our destination was Port Pirie on the top end of the Yorke Peninsula. Again we had little wind so motored all the way with just one sail up. Port Pirie also had about 50 spits posts to navigate through taking us past the lead smelter before coming to the long wharf and jetty area where we tied up at 5pm. We had to be careful of tide movement with regard to our ropes tension and we noted that there was not much water under Finesse.

The next morning we explored Port Pirie on foot and saw some really beautiful old buildings, but without a vehicle the surrounding country side was out of our reach.
Met a few locals at the usual Friday night drinks at the Yacht Club and by this time had decided to set sail the next morning at 5.30am as we expected it to be a 10 hr trip down the Gulf to Wallaroo.

We rang ahead and organized a marina berth. On this leg we were able to put up sails and we tied up around 4 pm in the designated berth which was about ½ the size of Finesse.

Whilst in Wallaroo we met a local yachtie/car dealership owner who lent us a vehicle for the duration of our stay. We took advantage of this and drove to the 3 towns that make up the copper coast triangle. i.e.Kadina, Moonta and Wallaroo. We also drove up the coast to Port Broughton. We met a lovely couple Bob & Denise who welcomed us into their beautiful canal home and a fun night was had by all.

We have been in Wallaroo now for nearly a week because of weather the outlook. We intend to depart on Saturday 7th August for our trip down and around the bottom of the York Peninsula. We are heading to Port Vincent in the Gulf of St Vincent and will take our time by calling in at various places.

Photos Port Lincoln & Memory Cove

2009-06-19T20:55:00.000-07:00

A clean shaven Ron cooking a BBQ in Memory Cove.

Tuna Boats in Port Lincoln

Prawning Fleet in Port Lincoln.

PORT LINCOLN

2009-06-19T20:52:00.001-07:00

5^th May 09 – 16^th June 09

Six weeks spent in Port Lincoln, initially waiting for the insurance company to attend to our claim and then for trades people to come and complete their part of the required work.

We required a dinghy and outboard motor to be replaced, a new back stainless steel ladder and woodwork around the ladder, plus work on the duckboard to secure it. We had to replace the foil up the mast and repair the bimini cover plus have a new dinghy and outboard cover made.

Whilst Peta was away in Perth for 2 weeks when Jason had his operation, Ron was kept busy with repairman and plus socializing with various people we had met in Port Lincoln. We have tried the seafood here, being Coffin Bay oysters, Southern Blue Fin Tuna and mussels all farmed locally here and just loved it all.

17^th June 09 – 19^th June 09

We have resigned ourselves now to do local cruising in the Gulfs around South Australia and Kangaroo Island, as we have left our run to late to go to Tasmania.

We have just completed a 3 day sail down the coast to Memory Cove and Thistle Island. On the way to Memory Cove (a historic place where Matthew Flinders lost a number of his men in a boating accident) we saw 2 whales. Memory Cove is a wilderness area within the large Port Lincoln National Park.

We were able to use a mooring in Memory Cove, the next day we sailed for Whalers Bay on the SE side of Thistle Island. We decided against staying in Whalers Bay as the winds were northerly and the seas were building up, and returned to Memory Cove before sailing back the next morning to Port Lincoln.

Our plan is now to start sailing up the Spencer's Gulf towards Port Augusta, again this will depend on weather conditions

Photo's from Streaky Bay,Pt Lincoln & Coffin Bay

2009-05-11T19:37:00.000-07:00

Photo 1 - Pelican on Oyster Beds at Coffin Bay

Photo 2 - Port Lincoln home of Makybe Diva triple Melbourne Cup winner 2003/2004/2005

Photo 3 - Tuna Boats at Port Lincoln

Photo 4 - Dolphins at bow of Finesse leaving Streaky Bay

Photo 5 - Fresh Razor Fish at Streaky Bay, opened by Nors a German Traveller.

Esperance to Port Lincoln

2009-05-11T18:46:00.000-07:00

Day 17 Monday 20th April, 2009

Today was spent tidying up ship and welcoming Alan Paul aboard for our leg across the Great Australian Bight to Port Lincoln.

Day 18 Tuesday 21st April.

Left Esperance for Lucky Bay on a course out of Esperance Bay between Limpet Island and Black Island to Murray Rock. Then a course between Cap Le Grande and Murray Rock and Cliff Island. Outside Ram Island and straight into Lucky Bay by early afternoon.Another beautiful spot with the claim of having the whitest and squeakiest beach sand in Australia.It was there we also saw kangaroos nestled amounst seaweed banks on the beach eating fish heads and totally unfazed by our presence.

Day 19 Wednesday 22nd April.

Travelled from Lucky Bay (departed 7.15am) inside Rob and Roy Islands, outside Tony Island and inside Outtrem reef. Sth of Conwall Island, York Islands, Lizard Island and SouthTwin Peak Island. Inside ie. north of York Rock Mart Rock and Sial Rock, south of Ward Bank and Frodd Bank. To Goose Island to anchorage at Middle Island.Arrived approx 3.30pm. put down 2 anchors CQR and admiralty and set position on both chart plotters to determine any drag.Around 7.00 pm a brisk front (SW) came through and pushed our vessel sidewards even though we were in a seemingly protected bay. It is a well used bay and even shown in the FSC Cruising book. Whilst we were in the process of retrieving our anchors (it all happened very quickly and it was pitch black outside) we quickly discovered that we were being blown onto a rocky shore. Alan and Peta were manning the winch and retrieving the second anchor (on rope) and using torches and a spotlight were directing Ron at the helm. We would go astern to move away from the rocky shore then put her full ahead to retract and retrace our course into the bay. But every time the vessel immediately headed back toward the rocks and shoreline. We tried probably 5 or 6 times (We were all too stressed to count). Finally by reversing into deeper water we managed to go ahead and get out of the bay. By now the wind I estimate was between 30-40 kts and it would have been an impossible task to reanchor in that ba. We decided to set sail immediately for our next destination Ceduna.
The seas were now picking up and Ron went forward with safety gear to secure both anchors which were merely pulled and left on the deck due to the dire emergency. Such a simple and quick processin the marina is a surprisingly difficult task on a pitching and rolling deck. Thank goodness the dinghy was on the davits as we had not gone ashore. Most of the rest of the night Ron plotted courses to the east to take us with the wind and waves and away from the myriad of islands around the Esperance area. Our plans to go toIsraelite Bay were cancelled as it was giving us only marginal distance to the east and we reckoned in the dark that it was not a good idea in the storm. Also the old adage came to mind "if in doubt - keep out". It was a dreadfully bumpy night with some pretty high wind gusts (50 + kts) (later confimed as 60+ kts gale force).

Thursday 23rd April

The long rough night ever so slowly melded into dawn and a new day of awareness of the reality of the harsh environment in which now found ourselves.
The seas were running high with hugh swells which Finesse was managing (on by now auto-helm) with an amazing denterity. The hull design of this vessel said all about her pedigree. Her ability to rise above the wave crests and immediately sink into deep trough only to tackle the wall of water of the next swell was a credit to her design. It was hard to estimate the height of the waves. The period between crests seemed to be only a few seconds andnot the slow motionof a swell with a long period as encountered when we came around Cape Leeuwin.
Finesse was given a challenging course to pursue. Our destination could not be a direct line to Pt Lincoln or even Coffin Bay because the swells were on our beam (right angles to the side of our boat). So the course was one of getting as much east as possible knowing that our continbual pounding by the swells was knocking us off course sending us northwards towards the coast. We were probably only around 70-80 nm fron the coast at any one time on a course which pointed us more towards Ceduna. (later we decided on Streaky Bay as it was a better track for us).
The ability of Finesse to have her stern to an amazing wall of water,(the face of the swell) and to rise and to correct her couse more along the face of the swell as we rose up the face of the wave was amazing. At the top of each swell the effect of wind and choppy wind waves would sometimes affect the ability of the helm to get back to the correct course heading and our alarm would sound indicating we were off course. The ride down the back side of each swell also had the effect of slewing the bow around to follow the wave direction which again placed her stern on to the next wave. Occasionally a set of swells would cause her to actually surf down a swell. An exciting rush of speed but with a terrifying rush of thoughts going through your mind.
Calculations showed that we averaged 6kts between Middle Island and Streaky Bay but there were times when the vessel reached 9kts with waves pushing her. We averaged 7kts from Middle Island unit Friday 24/4 10.30pm.
Sometime Thursday night into Friday morning there was an almighty bank as yet another wave knocked us. Later on Friday the first time that the winds and waves had abated sufficiently to harness up and check upon deck(as we had been confined to the wheelhouse) Ron found the bimini cover madly flapping, the plastimo rescue harness rope trailing in the water (minus the harness part), the remnants of the dinghy rope, no dinghy to be seen and a mangled stern ladder with oneside actually pulled out of the vessel damaging the wood work.
My rough calculations show that our position would have been approx. 33 degrees 40 minutes S and 126degrees E when we lost the dinghy. (Approx 80 NM due south of Twilight Cove).
Later we found the boarding platform (duckboard) to be damaged and a Plastimo safety floating light attached to the orange life ring to have taken water and rendered useless.
Sadly the dinghy our lovely new Aquapro 3.1 metre RIB with the deep V aluminiun hull, new Yamaha 6HP outboard, new fuel tank, dinghy cover, anchor chain and rope all gone. Given the time we spent researching to get the best possible dinghy for our trip this was dissapointing but not life threatening.
It isnot surprising that my expectations of anything "Plasitmo" will be well down my list of future choices for safety equipment. What if someone had gone overboard - the harness could not even handle the conditions without a person holding on and if the lifering had been needed at night the light was no longer working.
The first position fix I took was mid Friday morning when I could stand long enough at the chart table to record our lat & long.

Friday 24th April.

At 10.30am we were at 33 degrees 12.48 minutes S and 128 degrees 31.41E. Still in very heavy seas and occasionally taking water under the ortside sliging cabin door when a rougue wave would push us sideways and another wave would quickly appear before we could regain our intended course with the result of Finesse being thrown heavily onto her port side and taking water onto the side deck. The immediatae righting of the vessel or even a rock to the starboard would see water flow under the bottom area of the door into the main wheelhouse because the water trapped between the cabin and the hull did not have time to escapeout of the scuffer holes.

Saturday 25th April.

The strong winds continued mostly around 30 kts plus into Saturday still with a hugh swell. Swell height was hard to estimate but conservatively I would say greater than 10 metres possibly some around mast height 16 metres.
Position Sat 25/4/09 at 9.25am WST was 32degrees 54.29 minutes S and 131degrees 54.57 minutes E.
Our calculations showed that we would reach Streaky Bay (some 20 NM closer than Ceduna) sometime around 1.00-2.00am Sunday morning. We were very tired, Peta had been confined to her hunk with sea sickness. Soon after leaving Middle Island Alan Paul and Ron had tried to take an hour or two in shifts both day and night so that one could try and sleep. Sleep was almost impossiible with the raging sea conditions with violent lurching and the occasional side knockdowns when water would enter. Every new sound was treated with caution and the nights were so long.
We slowed the engine revs to slow us down and managed only to drop a knot of speed. Our jib which we had partially set on Friday was still working hard and helped keep some stability in our very rocking environment.
We reached the Cape Bauer light north of Olive Island and throttled back in the still rough and windy conditions but not the huge swell out at sea.
Unbelievably theengine stalled. Ron attempted to re-start it still believing we had sufficient fuel in the tanks. The engine started but within seconds stalled again. With the help of Peta and Alan, Ron changed the main engine primary fuel filter, bled the air out of the system and to everyones great relief the otor started and continued to run. We managed toboil water for teas and for Ron a double streanth coffee then Peta and Alan bedded down while Ron crept the vessel at 1-2 kts on a couse towards the first leading light beacon.
I omitted to say that just as the engine had restarted with the new fuel filter the wind suddenly gusted to 30-35 kts and the jib started pulling us up to 5-6 kts towards some large reefs and sandbanks. Again we rallied into action and bought down the jib, we did earn that hot drink.
Sunday 26th April
Dawn finally come and we quietly motored down the channels and into the beautiful bay where the townsite of Streaky Bay is situated. We winds were still quite strong and we had trouble anchoring (again) on the weedy bottom. We tried 6 or 7 times and finally a local identify called BUGS came to our assistance and told us to pick up a fishing boat mooring, which we did.
Ron went to bed, totally sleep deprived whilst Peta and Alan started the unenviable task of tidying up Finesse.

Monday 27th April

Spent assessing damage, tidying ship, taking delivery of a "loan" dinghy per courstesy of Bugs, taking our laundry ashore to the caravan park and having a wonderful meal in the restaurant at the Streaky Bay Caravan Park.

Tuesday 28th April

Engine Hrs 4031.04 (Starting Hrs 3821.63) Hours running to Streaky Bay 209.41 hrs
Distance travelled - Start 2927 NM now 4057 NM = 1148 NM
Added 408 litres of fuel - poly - tank in cage on forklift filled up at the local garage and run down the hill to the wharf where forked onto a 4 wheel railway flattop car and pushed out jetty.Gravity fed through hose into boat tanks.
Spent day from 10.00am rafted up next to Bugs vessell "Foxy Lady" at the jetty. What a character - had lunch at Streaky Bay Hotel.
Gigantic steaks and greatmeal. Checked out the main streets and reported dinghy loss to local policemant SC Sam Frick of Streaky Bay Police Station. He made an incident report and this was later confirmed by Fremantle water Police. Note reported due to identification markings on the RIB should it be found. Noted that the foil on the main sail track had the plastic bolt rope foot smashed in a couple of places.

Wednesday 29th April

Made vessel ready for departure to Sceale Bay. Sampled "razor fish" taken from the sea bed near the jetty. Tasted a lot like "nutty scallops".
Departed 10.15 from Streaky Bay arrived Sceale Bay 4.45pm. The jetty shown on the charts was not to be seen. Tried radio (VHF)to get authority to use a mooring but checked tide chart and found them located too shallow.
Everyone agreed to an early start tomorrow for Flinders Island so had an early BBQ dinner in preparation.
Anchor watch was kept overnight. Quiet night.

Thursday 30th April

Sailed out of Sceale Bay at 5.30am in the dark with a weak tail wind from the north. Reached Flinders Island 2.30pm and set 2 anchors. Uneventful sail with a very low side swell. No wind - no sail.
Many small dolphins raced the boat.

Friday 1st May

Departed Flinders island 8.45 set course of 165 degrees T once clear of Topgallant Isles. This should take us just inside Greenly Island through clear water.
We had originally planned to visit Pearson Island, CoffinBay and Greenly Island but without a dinghy and the inability to get ashore we decided to run straight to Pt Lincoln, also Alan Paul was happy to get home sooner.

Saturday 2nd May

Our course once past Greenly Island took us between Rocky Island and Whidbey Isles, outside Liquanca Island through Thorny Passage between Thistle Is and Cape Catastrophe on the mainland, an easy run in calm waters up to Cape Donington and into Port Lincoln arriving around 12.30pm. Tied up in the private marina and tidied up ship. Had farewell dinner at a marina restaurant for Alan.

Sunday 3rd May

Big sleep in after nosleep Friday into Saturday, late breakfast and trip to airport for Alan per courtesy of Bruce and Bonnie Mariott an Adelaide couple who keep their yacht "Freedom Now" at the marina. They also took us to the laundromat and showed us the wonderful view of Pt Lincoln from a vantage point just out of town. The Mariotts invited us to dinner aboard their yacht and we learned a great deal about their voyages, anchoring tips, weather fax from the HF radio and much more.

Monday 4th May

Today was spent completing the Club Marine Insurance claim form and in obtaining quotes from a wood craftsman, stainless steel fabricator, RIB dinghy supplier, outboard motor dealer, biminbi repairer and a chandlery shop for other missing or broken parts (dinghy anchor rope & chain, wind indicator, derrik straps).

Tuesday 5th May to Monday 11th May

We have spent time exploring Pt Lincoln using our folding bikes and so far have the bimini cover restitched and re installed and a new metal foil track up the mast which will allow us to again use our main sail. Ron replaced the bilge pump and cleaned out the old one. Last Friday we hired a small 4 x wheel drive vehicle and explored the Pt Lincoln National Park, Coffin Bay (a really delightful spot with Coffin Bay Oysters at $13 a dozen) across to Tumby Bay and back again to Pt Lincoln. We celebrated our wedding anniversary last Wednesday 6th with a lovely dinner at the Marina Hotel where we are moored. We also celebrated Peta's birthday on Sunday with a great meal at one of the hotels in town.

Updated Blog Page

2009-04-19T19:37:00.001-07:00

Hi everyone,

Just to let you know that today we have updated our blog page. www.finessefremantle.blogspot.com if you are interested, take a look.

We are intending to depart Esperance tomorrow (Tuesday) to head to Lucky Bay, then Middle Island before heading accross the bight. We are planning to head to Ceduna and then work our way down the South Australian coast to Port Lincoln. (This all depends on weather of course.)

Anyway hope this finds everyone well, and we will be in contact again once when we reach South Australia

Regards

Peta and Ron.

Esperance

2009-04-19T19:22:00.000-07:00

Hillarys to Esperance

2009-04-19T19:08:00.001-07:00

Here it

is a fortnight since we departed Hillary's Boat Harbour. The planning had been going on for some three years. Initially looking for the right boat was in itself a huge challenge. Did we go for a ferro cement, steel, wood or fibreglass? Should we select mono hull or multihull? Should it be a fast sailer or a cruiser with a long keel?

It was interesting research, looking at articles written not only by experienced owners of such craft but comments by maritime and safety authorities.

We had come from a powerboat background and many wonderfully built and safe yachts we put on our doubtful list because of our feelings of restriction and confinement when on board.

Finally we found "Finesse" a wonderful combination of safety, space and class.

Made of fibreglass with a roomy wheelhouse, a high aft deck giving good visibility (a reassurance for a powerboat person used to a fly bridge). The full length cruising keel gave some degree of added reassurance where craypot ropes would hopefully slide right under both the propeller and the rudder. Add to the good visibility, a good sized diesel engine and lots of wood trim we decided this was our vessel. Thankfully the various surveys came up positive with the words of our hull surveyor of "she is not just a boat but a little ship" gave us the reassurance we needed to go ahead and purchase Finesse.

Next came the preparations to make her ready for the trip. The service and maintenance log will attest to the wide range of modifications, additions, repairs and replacements carried out to make her user friendly, safe and ready.

I suspect that Joshua Slocum on his vessel Sea Spray would not have approved of many of the mod-cons we have grown accustomed to in our way of life, be it the microwave or the chart plotter however this was to be our home for at least the next few years , so we wanted a few creature comforts.

Our attendance at the Fremantle Technical College in Maritime Studies where we picked the eyes out of the master mariner courses was a great help. It helped us better understand so many things about which we had so little knowledge. How to read the radar, a better understanding of weather, the effects of wind on sails, the qualities of rope types, the use of blocks and tackle, practical sailing lessons, coastal navigation, wave action, tides and much more.

Meanwhile Ron was planning for full retirement from his professional life plus with tremendous help from Peta spent much time painting and quietly renovation our home in preparation for its ultimate rental to help us finance our trip.

So now a fortnight after our departure, we are still getting over the psychological build up in our minds and the sheer physical effort over the past three years. On top of all that some of the family issues within the same time frame were quite emotionally draining. Peta's son Jason suffered from a serious accident which still required some major surgery at our date of sailing. Ron's daughter Shelley is also expecting a child in September and Peta had to leave her much loved 10 month old grandson Jordon behind.

Our day of departure Saturday 4th April, 2009 saw an easy sail to Rottnest Island but a hard emotional farewell to our family and friends who collected on the service wharf at Hillarys. We still become a little chocked with emotion as we realized more and more the enormity of the "sea change" (pardon the pun) we have embarked upon.

Day 2 Sunday 5^th April.

The sail from Rottnest to Mandurah was quite fast with 15 to 20 knot wind strengths pushing us along with boat speeds of 8 to 9 knots. Peta was not all that well but bravely suffered in silence and assisted Charlie and Ron when help was needed.

Charlie Strickland comes from a family with strong ties to the sea. His enthusiasm, wealth of knowledge, common sense and great sense of humour taught us a lot about ourselves and why Charlie will always be one of those extra special people in our lives.

Also whilst in Mandurah, at the Mandurah Yacht Club, Peta was delighted to re-establish contact with long time friend and work colleague Di and Terry Partridge.

Day 3 Monday 6^th April.

Peta's brother Bob Riordan joined us in Mandurah and was on the helm for most of the pleasant trip to Bunbury. We averaged 5.5 knots but needed the motor running for most of the day assisting the sails due to lack of wind. We relished in Bobs beautiful operatic voice while sailing – he was our Pavarotti on the sea. He touched our hearts that night in Koombana Bay with his rendition of a beautiful Irish love song. Peta and long time friend Norma Penning both had tears in their eyes. Thanks Bob for your sincere interest and great input into our trip. Bob also has all of the operational and parts manuals relating to Finesse and her equipment and is our backup should we have trouble obtaining parts during our voyage.

Day 4 Tuesday 7^th April & Day 5Wednesday 8^th April.

With Charlie still on board we left Bunbury about 8am for a 46 hour trip to Albany. The leg across Geograhphe Bay was quite sloppy as we were traveling in the same direction and speed as the wind, but the waves were side on to the direction to which we wanted to travel.

Once we were around Cape Naturaliste we picked up the benefit of the Leeuwin Current, which was amazing to see as the water colour changed from murky to clear and we picked up speed once we were in the flow of the current. It was so calm that we had a cooked breakfast on the back deck (Amazing for the Southern Ocean).

During the second night sail we managed to pick up speed and maintained 9 knots for a period of time (Charlie was delighted as he wanted to put Finesse through her paces) but this faded the closer we got to Albany.

Day 6 Thursday 9^th April.

Arrived Albany at 6.30am and tied up at the town jetty. We went ashore to explore and visit Peta's old workmates at Wood and Grieve. Caught up on washing, tried to arrange fuel but unable to, due to it being the last day before Easter, with one company refusing to deliver because of their safety concerns with the Albany Town Jetty!!

We also met the brother of the man who imported " Finesse" into Australia from Finland, and invited a Maxi-Yacht "Technical Skipper" for a Russian Racing Syndicate to help us get the Raymarine Chart Plotter going again after it decided to switch itself off on arriving in Albany.

Thanks here to Ron's sister Helen who gave us our first update on mail and sent scanned bills to us for payment. Helen is clearing our mail on a regular basis from our post office box and keeping us informed.

Day 7 Friday 10^th April.

We departed Albany for Bremer Bay on Good Friday and arrived in Dillon Bay (just before Bremer Bay) after a horrible sloppy sea trip with no sails due to headwinds and a cross swell. This was a long night with much bumping and rolling and flying spray. Finesse had a good deck wash, and Peta was about to jump ship!!

Day 8 Saturday 11^th April.

Spent the day recuperating in Dillon Bay and caught a variety of fish for dinner that night. We dragged anchor (the CQR) and put down a second one (the Danforth) both of which held us overnight.

Day 9 Sunday 12^th April.

We moved from Dillon Bay to Bremer Bay after a 2 hour sailing and then explored the township. Again we dragged anchors in the early hours of the morning. After 2.5 hours we managed to bed in again. The fine sands along the south coast makes it hard for anchors to penetrate and even though we had let out many metres of chain, the currents and winds still seem to pull the anchors out of what little grip we seem to establish when we first set them.

Day 10 Monday 13^th April.

Remained at anchor enjoying the tranquility of Bremer Bay and whilst in town bought Charlie a 2 litre tub of icecream to help satisfy his cravings. We had our first swim in the Southern Ocean which some of you might recall a text message saying that Ron hit an iceberg and Charlie fought a 7.5 metre white pointer (don't believe all that you read), particularly after a BBQ on the back deck with a FEW wines.

Day 11 Tuesday 14^th April.

Left Bremer Bay 6.30 am bound for Esperance. Used Jib and motor (around 1050 RPM) for a reasonably comfortable trip. As day faded into night and at Peta's insistence, we overlaid the Radar onto the Chart Plotter screen to assist with our navigation. We were so pleased that our mobile range was still covering us around the coast as we could call Perth to get assistance from our electronics technical expert Peter Turner from Maritime Electronics. What fantastic after sales service.

Day 12^th Wednesday 15^th April.

We were still on route to Esperance and around 1am we had to wind in the jib as the wind had swung to the east. We continued to weave amongst the Island on our approach to Esperance based on some wonderful advice from the skipper of one of the Blue Juice Charter Vessels in Hillarys. (He had worked as many years as a fisherman on the south coast). Around 3.30 am with Ron on watch and the vessel located south of Cull Island (ie. behind the island) the AIS (our VHF shipping identification system) picked up a large ship leaving Esperance harbour, and on a near collision course. We could not get a visual and the radar could not pick it up because it was shielded by Cull Island. The closest point of approach (CPA) read as 198 ft in 13 minutes. As she was a 800 ft plus vessel Ron changed coarse to give us best part of a 1NM (nautical mile) clearance. Thank goodness for the AIS.

Sadly Charlie had to leave us this day to return home for family reasons. A really sincere thanks to Charlie for his input, great humour and sense of confidence in ourselves that he has given us. We hope he can join us again somewhere down the line.

Today we again dragged anchor, after being anchored from 5.30 am to 1.30 pm when we went ashore to do some shopping for food and hardware. We arrived back at the dingy on the beach to see "Finesse" had drifted towards a rocky groyne and was only a couple of boat lengths away. We raced across the bay in the dingy to get onboard and just as we reached her opened the door and started the motor, the local volunteer sea rescue boat arrived from Bandy Creek Marina (across the Bay) to tow us to safety. Naturally we thanked them sincerely even though we

managed to secure Finesse ourselves. However we ended up in the local paper colour picture and all, with the head line "Boat drifts towards rocks". . Had a pleasant evening with Don and Rhonda Perrin over a meal in the town of Esperance.

Day 13 Thursday 16^th April.

Spent the day at rest and planning future legs of our voyage

Day 14 Friday 17^th April.

Purchased a new Admiralty anchor from Perth,(from Yacht Grot) as no one seems to list them in the standard chandlery catalogues. Visited the Esperance Bay Yacht Club and suffered our humiliation, regarding the anchor drag the previous Wednesday as reported in the Friday edition of the local paper. The club people were fantastic and gave us lots of tips for places to visit as well as advices on anchoring in their hard sandy seafloor.

Day 15 Saturday 18th April.

Took delivery of our new Admiralty anchor which we trust will hold us in the future. (note – the locals cut off the flutes and sharpen the points to obtain maximum penetration into the hard sand). We spent the afternoon with long time friends and farming clients Geoff and Bev Spencer. We joined them in their totally reconstructed 100 year old vintage International Harvester High Wheeler motorized buggy. What a load of fun (see photo attached).

Day 16 Sunday 19^th April.

Today we confirmed that Alan Paul another JBA owner builder will be joining us for the trip across the Great Australian Bight. Fantastic as we can certainly use another pair of eyes to help us on the expected four to five days / nights crossing and Alan has good sailing abilities gained from his own yachting. Alan owns a Beneteau called Panache and keeps it at Hillarys.

Attached photos.

2009-04-11T00:35:00.001-07:00

Sorry guys, I forgot to attach the photos, will get the hang of this gmail eventually.

I have also attached a photo of "the three sailors" as we depart Hillarys.

Love

Pete. xx

Hi from Dillan Bay near Bremmer Bay

2009-04-11T00:27:00.001-07:00

Hi everyone,

Well we have been gone 1 week today, and quite an adventure so far.

We arrived in Dillan Bay this morning at 8.00am, after sailing (motor only) due to strong head winds, and very sloppy rough seas, took us about 18 hours, and we were pleased to drop anchor this morning. After a shower and pea and ham soup for breakfast (couldnt even heat it up last night, as boat was rolling about to much) and then a sleep, we all feel much better, (Thank god for auto pilot, and a wheel house) The boys are catching fish on the back deck, (with a glass of wine) I am baking some bread,and checking emails. So its fish for dinner tonight.

We left Rotto and had a good sail to Mandurah, where we stayed overnight. We were having a drink at the Mandurah Yacht Club, and I bumped into old friends and work mate, Dianne and Terry Partridge, such a small world.

I am having trouble handling the night sailing, although our trip from Bunbury to Albany was like a mill pond, had the genoa up with a little motor and we even hit 9kt at one stage.Took us 48 hours from Bunbury to Albany. My brother Robert joined us from Mandurah to Bunbury which he enjoyed, and if time permitted I think he would have sailed on to Albany with us.

Albany was interesting, I think our Finesse was the talk of the town, as so many people came down to the town jetty to "check her out", and even the brother of the original owner(who lives in Sydney), that bought Finesse out from Finland and now lives in Albany came aboard for a chat. So its a really small world after all.

Have had a couple of things stop working, but with two capable men aboard all was sorted in no time.

Anyway, we intend to stay in Bremmer bay till at least Monday, before head to Esperance, another 20 hour journey.

I have attached a couple of photos, one of Charlie and brother Robert, sailing from Mandurah to Bunbury and the other of Ron and myself on the back deck having a cooked breakfast after we rounded cape Leeuwin, such calm seas.

Hope every one is well, from your travelling sailors,

Peta and Ron. xx

Preparing Finesse for departure

2009-03-24T22:38:00.000-07:00

Preparations are well underway for our departure from Hillarys Boat Harbour.

Our intended date of departure is now Saturday 4th April, and we will send an email to all our contacts giving exact time and location for those of you who are interested in waving us goodbye.

We have attached a couple of photos of Finesse Fremantle whilst she was on the hard stand at Hillarys a few weeks ago undergoing preparations for the big trip.

As most of you are aware, we intend sailing south accross the bight to Port Lincoln, before heading to Tasmania. Charlie Strickland, an old friend of Ron's will be sailing with us as far as Port Lincoln. Having Chas on board will benefit us because of his sailing skills and the extra pair of eyes needed for watch on the night sails will be most welcome.

2009-02-17T04:44:00.000-08:00

Finesse Fremantle

Western Australian Registration No. AT 655
Australian Shipping Register No. 858711

Specifications and Inventory

Builder: Siltala Yachts , Finland
Length: 44 feet (54 ft including bowsprit & davits)
Length at waterline: 37ft 7in.
Beam: 12 feet
Draft: 6 ft (1.8 metres)
Hull: Hand laid fibreglass (GRP) Hull No.133 Built in 1987
Mast: 16.5 metres Aluminium with fold down steps to the top
Rig: Cutter Rigged with inner and outer self furling sails
and with in boom furling on mainsail
Keel: Full length cruising keel moulded as part of hull with skeg
to support rudder and protect propeller
Machinery: Main engine : Ford Lehman 135HP 6 cylinder diesel with dual controls. Borg Warner Velvet Drive Gearbox.
Fuel tanks (2) approx. 1000litres.
Power Supply: Westerbeck 240 volt 8KVA genset
Smart battery charger and inverter (3000 watt)
200 AmpHr House Battery
200 AmpHr Starting Battery
Radio Battery
Genset Battery
Fresh Water Supply: Main tank 800 litres
55 litres per hour water maker ( desalination plant)
20 litre hot water system (Heat transfer from engine
& 240 volt booster)
Ground Tackle: 70 lb CQR Anchor
35 lb Plough Anchor
Delta Anchor
Reef Anchor
60m & 50 m short link chain and snubber
70 m Warp (Anchor rope)
Muir 3000 Electric anchor winch with up/ down foot switches
Refigeration: Freezer (large) 240v/12v
Fridge/ freezer 240v
Galley: 4 burner auto ignition gas stove with oven/grill (gimbaled)
Supplied from 2x 9kg bottles
Sharp Carousel 240v Microwave
Cookout Barbeque with separate 4.5 kg gas supply on aft deck
Safety Gear: 6 Man RFD Seasava Self Inflating Liferaft with hydrostatic
release and Digital EPIRB, water, first aid kit etc.
Dan Buoy with light
Life Ring with light
20 ft diameter Para Anchor with retrieval gear
Throw lines and lifting strop
Spot lights
Boarding platform and ladders
Man Over board lifting / rescue sail
NAF Gas fire suppressant system
Flares – (Assortment)
3 x Fire Buckets
3 x Fire Extinguishers
Mechanical pump for water pumping out and deck wash
Fitted Jack Stays/ Life lines with attachable harnesses
10 x Lifejackets (2x gas inflatable)
406 Digital EPIRB
Tender: Aqua Pro 3.1 m Sportmaster Inflatable RIB with Yamaha
outboard motor (6 HP) anchor, oars and flares
Wheel House
Equipment TMQ Autopilot with aft deck remote
& Electronics: Robertson Rudder angle monitor
Brooks and Gatehouse sailing monitor with repeaters
Brooks and Gatehouse Depth Sounder with repeater
VDO engine instruments
Watch keeper alarm
Navigation Equipment: Raymarine 24 mile radar with integrated chartplotter and
AIS system. (Electronic charts of whole of Australia)
Small Navman Chartplotter (Aft Deck) with Aust. Charts
Handheld GPS for position (Lat. & Long.) as backup
Koden Depth sounder (deep water)
Suunto Compass
Ships Clock and Barometer
Electronic Weather Station
Communication
Equipment: VHF Shipmate RS 8000 Radio
ICOM HF SSB transceiver with auto tune aerial
Telstra next G hands free telephone kit & masthead aerial
for e-mail transmission.
NEC laptop computer with electronic world charts
Entertainment
Systems: Pioneer multiband radio with USB port for memory sticks
Phillips multiband radio cassette (aft cabin)
Sony 15inch colour TV and DVD player