This week we have a change of pace and weather, as we move from the SW corner of Tasmania up the D’Entrecasteaux Channel towards Hobart. It has been social but rainy and chilly.

After spending weeks on the West Coast in the wilderness, when we were on a permanent high from discovering stunning scenery everywhere we looked, every single day, in unusual calm, warm conditions, we have had to ‘come down’ to reality. It is a bit like emerging from a glorious dream: you don’t really want to wake up, you don’t want the dream to end, you can’t quite face that busy, crowded world that awaits you. So we had to readjust!

We have been taking it gently though, catching up with dear friends on the water as we have been going along. The change has also been felt weather-wise, with cold, drizzly, windy conditions all week.

Here is the updated chart of the area, so you can see our track. As usual orange markers show our anchorages, blue ones point of interest.

Recherche Bay

Recherche was a good place to catch our breath after our passage from New Harbour. We anchored at Cockle Creek.  It is the literal end of the road and the southernmost point to which you can drive in Australia. Beyond here is only ocean and Antarctica. 

There is a lot of history at Recherche Bay. It was the landing place of the French D’Entrecasteaux Expedition in 1792. This was a high profile dual-purpose expedition. Its mission was to search for the lost maritime hero, La Perouse, but also to undertake top-level scientific research including astronomy and research into the Earth’s geomagnetic field. Recherche, which means Research in French, was the name of one of the expedition ships.

Another part of Recherche Bay’s history is a lot more brutal. During the early colonial days, some thirty years after D’Entrecasteaux’s visit, the bay became a centre for gruesome whaling activities, when Southern Right Whales were hunted to near extinction.

A bronze sculpture by artist Stephen Walker remembers the slaughter of thousands of whales in the bay. It has been erected at Adams Point. Today, if you are lucky, you might see a real southern right whale migrating north from June to September or migrating south between September and late October.

We went for a walk ashore to Fishers’ Point, a trail which follows the rocky headlands and beaches, to the ruins of the Pilot House and lighthouse, both built in 1843 to guide the ships into the bay to collect the bounty.

We left Recherche once the weather improved. The sail to the southern end of the D’Entrecasteaux Channel, a picturesque body of water separating Bruny Island and the Tasmanian mainland, was brisk, with two-meter swell rolling in. Albatrosses were soaring in large numbers. It might be Summer here, but boy, is it cold sailing! We were rugged up: sea boots, beanie, gloves, wet weather gear, the whole offshore sailing catastrophe!

Dover

Our next anchorage was at Dover, a quiet fishing village located further north in Port Esperance Bay. It was a good spot to replenish our fresh food, catch up with our Paynesville friends James and Carol on Time, also cruising the Tasmanian waters, and to walk along the foreshore.

Alexander’s Bay

The sail from there up the D’Entrecasteaux Channel was another active one in drizzle and 38 knots gusts, with dolphins escorting us. There are lovely anchorages on either side the Channel.

We were headed for Alexander’s Bay, part of the popular Barnes Bay, where we caught up with friends from nearby Kettering, John & Dee, for a tasty dinner on their motor cruiser Storm Boy II. They spoilt us with a basket of home grown produce from their garden. Ah how we long for a vegetable garden!

The bay was rather busy for our liking, but what a lovely spot in the early morning light.

We could see Mount Wellington in the distance, although not for long as wind and rain later set in.

Even Bengie enjoyed the morning calm, galloping along the deck for a quick patrol, jumping up on the boom bag, trying to climb up the mast, then jumping down again excitedly. We are always a little nervous when she has a “mad hour”; she could easily fall overboard when she comes down at speed from the cabin roof and that water is very cold! But she managed to put the brakes on and make a sharp turn into the safety of the cockpit. Phew!

Onto Hobart

Finally it was time to make tracks towards the big smoke. The approach to Hobart then up the River Derwent was interesting and involved passing under the Tasman Bridge. We anchored in a little cove past Hobart – New Town Bay – before moving into the Prince of Wales Marina on Friday, as we post this.

The marina is a bit out of the way, but it was the only one able to accommodate Anui. We are here for a week, with lots of errands to run, including getting our fridge/freezer fixed, and preparing us and the boat for the next phase of our circumnavigation. Family will be joining us on board from Melbourne for the rest of the trip back to the Gippsland Lakes, so there is a bit to do to get ourselves organised.