Friday 30th Dec 2022

Kettering – Tasman Peninsula/ Stewarts Bay.

Depart 08:00. Arrive 15:00.

We arrived at Kettering last night after take-aways with Andy at his place.

We departed Kettering at 8am. Motoring out of the channel with strong NE on the nose. As soon as we turned to starboard in the Derwent River out to Storm Bay the wind was on the beam and we enjoyed a fantastic sail for 3 1/2 hours to Cape Raoul doing between 5-9 knts gusting up to 35 Knots with the Main and Genoa reefed.

We passed boats still coming in from the SYD to HBT race.  Very cool seeing the crew’s dangling their legs over the upwind side of the yachts.

There was a magnificent 60ft ketch in full sail passing to our port side with Cape Raoul as the backdrop. Stunning.

A lone albatross skirted the waves and a large pod of common dolphins stayed with us for nearly two and a half  hours playing all around our boat and surfing the bow. It was so much fun watching them enjoy the swell showing off their white underbellies as they raced each other upside down. Magnificent!

Strong NE back on the nose as we rounded Cape Raoul heading to Port Arthur. Excellent views of Tasman Island and Cape Pillar to the north.

Back to motor sailing. We checked out Safety Cove as an anchorage option but it was too exposed and settled on Stewarts Bay. We set the anchor 3 times. Picked up a bag of rubbish on the first set and dragged on the second. Third time lucky! It’s a very picturesque bay with plenty of recreational activities going on. 

We took Kansas ashore for a walk, met a neighbour who recognised LaGecko and settled in for a roast lamb dinner.

We had a calm super quiet night. Perfect for our first anchorage. 

Sat 31st Dec 2022 

Stewarts Bay – Nubeena / Tasman Peninsula.

Depart 09:00. Arrive 14:36

9am Departed Stewarts Bay and cruised a lap of Port Arthur historic convict site. Very interesting viewing it from the water. A steel sculpture of a hull on an old slipway stands out by two quaint colonial cottages with and outdoor kiln/oven. The penitentiary dominates the landscape looking into Port Arthur. It’s possible to anchor here but is very busy with Pennicott boats that do regular daily tours of Tasman Island. The Port Arthur boat also cruises out into the bay and runs daily and night tours of “Isle of the dead”, a small rocky island cemetery.

NE winds fluctuating between 5-15 knts for a lovely (although a little rolley at times) downwind sail to Cape Raoul. Heading towards White Beach and Nubeena still part of the Tasman Peninsula, we had to motor sail again into the wind still gusting regularly between 20-35knots and at times no wind at all.

Sails in to make the passage between the Peninsula and Wedge Island with the plan to anchor hopefully at White Beach and catch up with Sharon. Steady strong NE continued with reasonably uncomfortable swell we decided not to anchor in the southern end of the bay at White Beach with good sandy holding and instead try Nubeena claiming to be an all weather anchorage.

Fish farms clutter the port side entrance creating a narrow passage into Parson’s Bay. There are many mooring’s used and unused and we set the anchor twice (too close to another boat the first time) in what is claimed to be a possible unreliable holding.

We’ve been stuck fast thankfully with strong gusts persistant for the past 22 hours.

Darren went ashore in the dingy and picked up Sharon from Nubeena. They are down here with family for New Years. We spent a lovely time hanging out in the cockpit making plans for a passage to Murdunna tomorrow with Sharon onboard as an introduction to sailing with a 08:00 start. Two seals entertained us for awhile twisting lazily around with their flippers gently splashing in the water and lolling about the moored boats.

Sharon mentioned the Pear Shed Gallery and Café just behind our anchorage.

At 22.00 after working out our passage plan, looking at the forecast and working a way to get Sharon ashore so Phil could pick her up later, we decided the conditions were going to be too rough and the complications of getting her to land was too risky. Sadly we had to cancel.

We decided staying put was the best option for a much needed rest and no point in going anywhere in these conditions.