This week we experienced some wild days while visiting a few anchorages in the Furneaux Group! We are after all in the Roaring Forties where strong westerly winds blow and really pack a punch!

This chart shows the main islands of the Furneaux Group, and we have marked the places we visited this week with an orange dot.

Not many people realise there are about 80 islands in the Furneaux Group, only being aware of the largest: Flinders Island. However not all islets are suitable to hide behind; in fact only a quarter of the Furneaux offer reasonable anchorages which generally give protection from only one direction. You therefore must be prepared to move at short notice to the whim of the wind. The main challenge when cruising the Bass Strait Islands is the fast-changing weather systems that switch from roaring westerlies and southwesterlies to Northeasterlies in summer for a day or two then back to the west.  So it is best to have no fixed plan of where you want to go, just a few options in mind, and see what the weather lets you do.  As we often say, cruising Bass Strait is about sailing from one hidey hole to another! It also pays to have time and be patient, as you can get stuck in one place for several days.

In this post we are taking you to a few favourites: Roydon Island, off the NW coast of Flinders Island, Trousers Point on the SW end of Flinders and Badger Island, west of the Franklin Sound. It is a longer post with lots of photos, so sit back, relax and enjoy the virtual cruise!

Roydon Island

Roydon Island is quite small, only 37 hectares, lying in eastern Bass Strait off the north-west coast of Flinders Island. In gentle conditions, the anchorage has a lagoon feel, sheltered behind a pyramid-like granite hill with a lovely beach at its base.

The advantage of this islet is that it offers good shelter in a westerly or SW, but you can shuffle across to the Flinders Island side just 500m away if the wind shifts to the NE.  Not quite an all-weather anchorage, but as good as it gets here! We did have to do the shuffle a couple of times, one of them in the middle of the night, so fickle was the weather! 

Here is what it looks like from the air:

As you can see from the shots, there are a few patches of sand among large expanses of the green ribbonweed. You have to ensure the anchor is in sand, so it holds. If you end up in the ribbonweed, the anchor slides and the boat drags! The anchorage is also quite shallow with a few rocky reefs around.

One of the delights of Roydon Island is the beautiful sunsets and the views north and south. To the north is Cape Frankland; to the south, are the imposing Strzelecki Peaks. On a calm clear night you see the Milky Way and you can go to the beach to watch the Little Penguins come ashore as they return to their burrows. We had one clear night; the rest of the time, it was blowing a gale with menacing clouds, so no star nor penguin gazing. Here are a few shots of our surroundings in different moods.

While the Sydney to Hobart race yachts were getting hammered on their passage south, we were too, registering 56 knots behind Roydon during our second night there. The wind was roaring, the boat rearing at anchor in the gusts and moving around in the short chop. And we had some rain and thunderstorms.

During the strongest night, we had all the navigation gear turned on, Wade sleeping in the saloon to keep an eye on the instruments and be ready for action. But we were safe.

Here are a couple of images taken when the wind was blowing at ‘only’ 35 knots. The bay looks positively calm, but of course pictures at sea are always deceivingly flat! And after you have seen the sea state at 56 knots, 35 is a doddle, really!

Once the westerly wind eased somewhat, we were able to get ashore a couple of times. Here are a few images from our walks. One day we visited the hut and took Bengie for a little beach wander. The other we rock-hopped right around the island. The orange lichen over the granite boulders, the birdlife, the sea state all contributed to making this an interesting hike.

Trousers Point – Flinders Island

With some kinder weather at last, we sailed 33nm from Roydon to Trousers Point, a lovely bay at the SW end of Flinders Island, briefly stopping at Whitemark on the way for fresh food reprovisioning.

Trousers Point is a gorgeous anchorage with a beautiful beach and coastal walks around the rocky headland to Fotheringate Bay on the northern side. The renowned Strzelecki Peaks dominate the bay, demanding to be climbed! One story behind the name of the bay is that a box of trousers was discovered on the shore, washed up from the wreck of the Cambridgeshire in 1875.

The Strzelecki Peaks Walk

For our second time up this mean mountain it all worked out well. On New Year’s Eve, the forecast was for sunny conditions with light winds. We reached Trousers Point the previous afternoon and picked up the one and only public mooring. This meant we could safely leave the boat unattended and not have to worry about dragging in the slippery sea grass.

The Strzelecki Peaks is a hike with breathtaking scenery, but it is a tough one: a 6.3 km return from the base at sea level to the top of the 756m granite mountain. However we also have to add a 6kms return walk on the road from the beach to the official start of the trail. This is classified as a Hard, Grade 4 hike. The climb is relentlessly steep, and any excuse is used to make numerous stops as your legs and lungs are burning and your heart is pounding… photos of the scenery, gazing at the wildflowers, having a drink of water, more photos, wondering why on earth you are putting yourself through this… We found it hard 12 years ago and even more so this time, but we did it! Slow and steady wins the race! It was a fitting end to a tough 2024 year. Unfortunately the summit did not clear until we were well gone, but we managed to get brief views at the top as the clouds were wafting in and out. Luckily once back on the road we managed to score a lift back to Trousers Point from a kind local. Now we are rather crippled, but look at these photos!

Badger Island

With strengthening westerlies forecast, we escaped straight after the hike across to Badger Island, a low-lying granite and limestone island about 8nm away. The isle is said to have got its name from early settlers who saw the furry creatures we call wombats, and thought they looked like badgers! The island vegetation has changed drastically: deforestation to make way for grazing sheep.

We had some trouble finding a suitable anchorage because of the ribbonweed, but eventually dropped the pick in sand near the spit at Lucy Bay.

What a beautiful evening we had for New Year’s Eve, visited by dolphins, gazing at the Strzelecki Ranges all clear at sunset, enjoying a tasty dinner prepared by Trevor and a very special bottle of sparkling shiraz!

We are now hiding from the strong wind and resting our old bodies – some much needed recovery time. We moved to the northern side of Badger Island as the wind shifted to the southwest.

Happy New Year to you all. See you somewhere in the Furneaux Group next Friday.