WineGlass Bay to Port Arthur via Schouten Passage , Ile des Phoques,Maria Island and Tasman Passage.

We made our way to Maria Island and anchored in Shoal Bay, having passed through Schouten Passage and past the Isle des Phoques. There were hundreds of phoques lying around taking in some rays as well as dozens swimming about. They cared about us, as we hove to just off the island and drifted past, not one little bit.

https://youtu.be/Mq3qyJghCLk

In Shoal Bay we caught enough flathead for tea and realised it had been so long since I had  caught a flathead that I needed to find the most humane way to despatch them. Youtube is a wondrous medium indeed.

I definitely prefer cold water fish to warm fish.The flesh is so much firmer.

Still not entirely convinced that our 'as supplied' 10mm anchor chain, to which I added an extra 30m in Borneo as soon as I realised that 55m was never going to be enough for anywhere other than Sydney Harbour, is up to withstanding the bullets of wind encountered here. Already we have seen that 12mm is a more usual size (as a minimum) for this size boat. 9 or 10:1 scope on the chain is managing to hold, but I'm certainly not happy enough to feel I can leave K'Gari anchored and go too far away ashore if there is any chance of a wind shift. Each anchorage is now a minimum of 65-75 m of chain being used in 5-9m of water. This could be interesting when the rally starts and there are several boats in a small area. I begin to see perhaps why numbers of participants are limited.

We stayed anchored in Shoal Bay for a couple of days, awaiting a change in the weather. When that occurred we left at 0330 in the morning as there were 30 knot Northerlies forecast from about lunch time.

We were accompanied by dozens of dolphins as we ducked in to have a look at Tasman Arch - from seaward , a view I hadn't seen before.

Approaching Tasman Passage
Tasman Island  (L)        Cape Pillar  (R)

Passing between Cape Pillar and Tasman Island was something Peter had definitely been looking forward to as he had spent time on the lighthouse tenders. Of the three lighthouse vessels that serviced and resupplied the many then still manned lighthouses and the lighthouse keeping families  ,Peter had been on the Cape Don, which serviced the Victorian,South Australian and Tasmanian lights. I had been far luckier (from the weather point of view) of being able to do some time on the Cape Moreton which serviced the Queensland lighthouses and outer Barrier Reef lights during my cadetship.

Happy having sailed through Tasman Passage  between Cape Pillar and the mighty Tasman Island
which boasts the highest operational lighthouse in Australia - serviced by guess who back in the day?

Did I mention how warm it was on this January morning?

Shortly after lunch we sailed past the UNESCO listed Port Arthur historical sight and the Island of the Dead -the name of which leaves little to the imagination and anchored in Stinking Bay, which is far more pleasant than it sounds.