The title of this blog represents the furthest south we have ever been in our boat! But it’s also with some disappointment that this will be the furthest south we’ll go aboard Poseidon. We’ve been carefully watching the weather ever since arriving on the north coast in early March, and during this time we haven’t seen wind/wave/swell conditions that fits within our tolerance for cruising. Any more than 1.5m beam on is very uncomfortable causing us a lot of roll and the same head on sees us slamming into waves and again it’s not pleasant.
So while I’ve struggled to let go of the idea of circumnavigating Tasmania, we have been to Strahan during a driving holiday in early 2017 and cruised on Macquarie Harbour, so I also know how rugged the west coast is. I’m sure that as soon as we head north/cross Bass Strait, weather conditions (and the Roaring Forties) will settle and we’d have the opportunity! But it does feel like we’ve been “hanging around” hoping and we’ve made the decision that for us, it’s time to head north up the east coast. Besides, crossing Bass Strait is a a big accomplishment for us considering our lack of experience when we left Broken Bay just over four years ago.
This short video (sorry no music!) shows our route after refueling at Prince of Wales Marina until we reach Port Huon Marina at Kermandie.
Constitution Dock to Apollo Bay (via Prince of Wales Marina)
We left Constitution Dock in the waterfront heart of Hobart on Tuesday 8 October. We decided to make a short detour via Prince of Wales Marina to top up with fuel before heading the 21 nautical miles (NM) south through the D’Entrecasteux Channel between Bruny Island and the mainland. We arrived in Apollo Bay (south) about 3 hours later.
Leaving Constitution Dock we again saw the research and supply vessel (RSV) Nuyina. which is the main lifeline to Australia’s Antarctic and sub-Antarctic research stations and the central platform of our Antarctic and Southern Ocean scientific research.
When heading to Prince of Wales marina, we passed Risdon Zinc Works. You can read more about it in the link provided. Unfortunately, the smelter continues to produce toxic heavy metal contaminants affecting the air, soils and estuary waters.
As we headed south, of interest were the bathing boxes at Taroona Beach. I haven’t seen colourful sheds like this since leaving Portsea (Victoria).
Apollo Bay to Southport
Despite strong winds, we were able to go to Southport, the furthest south we’ve been aboard Poseidon.
We’d previously visited the area in 2017, where we took a train trip around the bay on board the Ida Bay Railway. This was a 7-kilometre, 2 ft narrow gauge heritage railway and the most southerly railway in Australia. In September 2018 a train derailment highlighted the poor state of repair of the track, and the Ida Bay train has not run since. Little has been done to prevent further deterioration of the line, rolling stock and buildings and urgent maintenance and restoration of this heritage listed railway is needed. Apparently the Ida Bay Railway Preservation Society Inc was formed, and in December 2020 reached an agreement with the government to restore the line. However, there seems to have been no progress.
Southport to Mickey's Beach
After leaving Southport on the 10 October, we were going to anchor at the end southern end of Great Taylor’s Bay. However, the winds had picked up and were funneling down the bay, so we found a little ‘bolt-hole’ which provided excellent protection from these bad conditions. If you look at the photo showing Curlew Island, you can see how much chop there is in the bay. There’s a bigger Curlew Island in QLD where we anchored on our way to Mackay in June 2021.
This trip was about 13NM and took us close to 2 hours. Once again, we passed many marine farms, probably farming salmon from what I could find out.
Mickey's Beach to Drip Beach
With the weather forefront in our minds, on 11 October we decided to head into the Huon River for a few days to get out of some worsening conditions. This was an interesting trip as we had quite a bumpy passage and then when we reached the Huon River, the winds had really picked up and were funneling from the west causing us to roll quite a lot as we crossed into Port Cygnet. We could hear Radar, one of our cats yowling in the cabin where he and Vinnie were safely secured, so he clearly wasn’t impressed.
This was about 15NM , it took us 2.5 hours. Our original plan was to anchor in Deep Bay, but I checked my Cruising Southern Tasmania reference book and it indicated the bay is comfortable in all winds except W!
So a quick check on other possible locations resulted in us anchoring just off Drip Beach, which is said to be comfortable in W conditions, as Beaupré Point affords protection from the SW and the hills above the beach protect from the NW. And the information was spot on!
Drip Beach to Deep Bay
We had no intention of moving on too quickly, but during the afternoon of 12 October, the winds started picking up in the other direction, so we decided to cross to Deep Bay, about 2NM away. This offered another excellent anchorage with good protection from the winds.
It also made us realise how exposed we would have been, had we come here the day before instead of going to Drip Beach. If you’re wondering about my reference material, I was using a the “Cruising Southern Tasmania” book, published by the Cruising Yacht Club of Tasmania.
Deep Bay to Port Huon Marina
We stayed at Deep Bay for two nights and decided that since the weather wasn’t getting much better in the D’Entrecasteux Channel, we’d head up to Port Huon Marina at Kermandie. We’d been here during our driving holiday in 2017 and I remember a quaint pub overlooking the marina!
So we checked with the marina manager and arranged to head upstream and enter the marina at high tide on 14 October. From Deep Bay, this was only about 7NM, but we went quite slowly as we approached the narrow channel into the marina, so we took closer to 1.5 hours.
We stayed at the marina for 3 nights, enjoying dinner at the Kermandie Pub and catching the bus to Huonville.
Where to next?
We’ll be making our way through the Denison Canal into Dunnalley, and then heading north to Maria Island.
2 Responses
Poseidon is looking fantastic! Also, I think “A Foggy Morning” is a beautiful shot.
I saw a very windswept photo of you Pam !
Best wishes to you and Robert who I think has a birthday coming up soon.
May