Week two of our Bass Strait foray keeps us around Wilson’s Promontory in swiftly changing weather conditions.  It’s a game of cat and mouse, not what we had hoped, but we are playing it safe.

Some Reflections

This Bass Strait wandering is the first of hopefully many trips we will take on Anui as part-time travellers. We will see how these relatively short cruises pan out. Holidaying afloat is a totally different mindset to long term living on board. You deal with challenges and compromises for a limited time, which makes it much easier. And yet at the same time, because your time afloat is temporary, you are even more affected by the weather conditions which can play havoc with your plans. You just can’t win!

Is the full moon having an influence? The weather has continued to be rather fluky, staying in one direction for a day or so, then switching around, with wind strength highly changeable too. One minute you are sitting comfortably in an anchorage, the next you are stern to the beach and exposed. You are underway with the spinnaker up in a light tail breeze, then it’s panic stations to get it down because the wind has unexpectedly picked up and switched by 45 degrees! Every time you look at a forecast, it is different to what you saw last, and we have been making plan after plan in response to swift weather shifts. It has been a mix bag: a few good sails, a few nice beach walks, some days boat bound during strong wind warnings when we get a bit bored…

There has been a few times in the past two weeks, when Wade has felt disheartened and we have wondered whether it is all worth it. The gear issues haven’t disappeared. We are making do without a remote for the autopilot and with misreading wind instruments, which is annoying in this very unsettled weather. There is always this tightness in the belly as we wonder how long the current forecast is valid for, or what is going to break next. And the more days you spend boat bound, the more your body aches and you undo all the good work you did ashore. Questions like “Am I over this? Is cruising still fun overall?” cross our mind, particularly Wade’s mind since he carries the bigger load when it comes to boat maintenance.

And yet despite it all, we are both sleeping better on board than on land, we enjoy our sails, relish pristine anchorages not frequented by flotillas, and our wanders in very scenic seascapes. There are serene, beautiful sights, moments of delight, peace and pure joy. It’s those extremes of experiences that keep us hooked, addicted to being in the ocean, chasing those great sails and breathtaking destinations like hopeless gamblers.

Cruising this week

At Waterloo Bay where we left you last week, we waited for the right conditions to get into Bass Strait proper and island-hop towards Hogan and Deal Islands. We made multiple plans as the weather shifted like quicksand.

With the wind switching to the East, it became untenable at Waterloo and impossible for the Bass Strait Islands so we moved to the Western side of the Prom, to stunning Oberon Bay. We rounded the Prom and the albatrosses were out in numbers!

While at Oberon Bay it blew quite hard – to 30 knots from the NE for a couple of days. We could hear the wind descending from the hills and roaring through the rigging, the boat was groaning, but we were comfortable, protected in the middle of this magnificent scenery.

We managed to get ashore at low tide and stretch our legs. It was moody, with dark clouds and threatening rain.

The wind was due to move to the NW and West late on Easter Monday night, still blowing hard, making it too exposed to stay put. We had to get back to Waterloo, which meant rounding the Prom again. We ended up leaving Oberon on Monday afternoon when it was still northerly but easing somewhat. We ran the gauntlet, hugged the promontory to get protection from the hills and were in relatively flat seas until we rounded Southeast Point. Capes are always intimidating: dramatic, rugged, highly exposed, with turbulent water and rushing currents. And this one is no exception. But we got off lightly.

We burnt some fuel, but at least we avoided the worst of the horribleness and anchored safely in daylight, initially beam to the beach and swell. As the W and SW came with a vengeance during the night, we swung around!

We paused at Waterloo until the breeze eased enough for us to fly the drone for a bird’s eye view of our anchorage and contemplate venturing into Bass Strait proper the next day.

However we yet again have had a change of plan as the weather is not playing nice with us. We had hoped we’d get enough of a break to get down to Deal Island. But the prospect of a very rough crossing in the Bass Strait washing machine, followed by several days of westerly gale that would keep us boat bound, just did not appeal. No fun, too risky, too stressful. So we are choosing to ride the strong winds at the Prom and will reassess what we do once the blow has passed.

This is what’s coming and why we’d rather be at Wilson’s Promontory in 30-35 knots rather than in the middle of Bass Strait at Deal Island (the little black dots in the middle of the pink NW of Flinders Island) in 45-50 knots!

We did two more little hops: to Little Waterloo at the northern end of the main Waterloo beach and to Sealers Cove where we are hiding for a while.

We managed to get ashore for another leg stretch at Sealers before wind and rain set in. The waves were fun to photograph!

Talk to you next week, somewhere in Bass Strait!