Wild weather dominated this week, pinning us to the Eastern side of Wilsons Promontory. There are worse places to spend time at, but it is just as well we are not in a hurry to get to Melbourne!

Considering Summer officially started, we have been feeling quite cold. Victoria has been battered by strong WSW winds and rain, with morning temperatures of 7^oC at the Prom, testing our endurance. No shorts and T shirts, we were rugged up and longingly looking at the Queensland 30^oC temperatures… until yesterday!

The persistent westerlies made it impossible for us to get past the Lightstation. So we waited on the Eastern side and did what we could to pass the time. We hopped from Sealers Cove, to Refuge Cove and Waterloo Bay for changes of scenery, monitoring the forecasts and entertaining ourselves with bush walks when the weather allowed, or binging on Netflix when it was bucketing down!

Sealers Cove

Sealers Cove is quite a special place no matter what the weather and we had extremes!  You would get moments of total silence when mist just hangs over the hills and the boat is still, especially early in the morning. Everything was in shades of grey, but for the long sandy beach. It made for very atmospheric photography.

But most of the time there was a low hum of the wind alternating with shrieks through the rigging as 30 knot gusts blew.

We were hoping to go for a bushwalk from the beach to Windy Saddle for some spectacular views. But unfortunately, we found that the track had been closed, not just recently but for the past 4 years! During 2021, successive storms and floods hit the Prom and caused significant and widespread damage. This included the destruction of the two-kilometre Sealers Cove Boardwalk which used to provide a way across an otherwise impassable swamp.

Refuge Cove

Being restricted with where we could walk to from Sealers, we decided on a change of scenery, and motored in Anui across to Refuge Cove in the hope nobody would be mad enough to be anchored there in this weather. Thankfully there was no other boat around, so we claimed the centre of the bay, using its entirety to spin around in the swirling winds with impunity!

A lull in the weather provided perfect conditions for a quick aerial view of our beautiful surroundings.

We even went ashore that afternoon, before the showers and wind returned. This is Refuge Cove from the lookout, a set of sloping rock slabs overlooking the anchorage.

Over the next days, we managed several walks, dodging the rainy periods: to the northern beach for a leg stretch, to Kersop Peak for spectacular views and even back to Sealers Lookout for more exercise.

Here are a few images of our outings.

And as is the tradition, we made a boat sign to add Anui’s name to the Visiting Yachts Board. Chris drew it, Trevor and Wade drilled it. We hung it next to the nameplates of our two previous boats, Take It Easy and Medina.

Waterloo Bay

Edging our way towards the Lighthouse, our last stop on the eastern side before committing to going around the Prom, was Waterloo Bay. It was a motor into 30 knot westerlies, but we hugged the coast with its spectacular rock slabs. One of the features of this part of the Victorian coast is the granite tors covered with orange lichen, the same geology we encountered early in the year as we were sailing among the Bass Strait Islands. We spent two days at Waterloo Bay hiding from stiff winds but in brilliant sunshine and managed to get ashore for a beach walk.

The next day we were boat bound, clocking 56 knots NW on the wind instruments, with spindrift and 33 degree heat… crazy!

This week has been slow, yet it is like a gift of time. There is something about being stopped in your tracks that makes you slow down, take stock, think about what you really want to do next… no frantic rush, no social overload, just going with the flow.

Today as we post this, the long-awaited wind change has come. We are running the gauntlet, rounding the Promontory while a short window of light southeasterlies allows. We are heading northwest, bound for Cleeland Bight at Phillip Island. However the westerlies are due back tonight so we will get stuck again!