Larry and Maxine, regular contributors to Flying Fish, also appear in this issue with a contribution about the birds they encountered.

This year saw the running of the seventh Van Diemen’s Land Circumnavigation, conducted by the Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania in Hobart, in partnership this year with the Royal Geelong Yacht Club whose base is near Melbourne, Australia.

After much pondering we decided to participate. We don’t usually go for group sailing, but this opportunity to sail in the company of friendly Aussies knowledgeable about conditions and anchorages was too good to pass up. We sailed with the Hobart group, leaving from the RYCT where OCC Port Officer John Solomon made us welcome. Erich Brosell and Holger Danske also participated. The plan was to meet the Geelong yachts in the Hunter Group on Tasmania’s northwest corner, which allowed boats from mainland Australia to take part without first sailing all the way to Hobart. We strongly recommend that OCC members visiting the area consider joining one of these rallies. The next one will be in 2007, probably in January and February, and though not always easy cruising it is worth planning around.
We left Hobart on 12 January in strong northwesterly winds (when the weather report was given during breakfast, the wind blew so loud that it was difficult to hear). Some boats waited for a day – the schedule allows for people to make choices about when and how far to sail. There is a requirement for SSB radio, and the ability to communicate over a specific distance must be demonstrated before a boat is accepted on the cruise. This provides the freedom to go to places other than those chosen by the majority of the fleet – it’s important for those in charge to know where everyone is. The radio schedule is relaxed in the morning, with people reporting in when they’re moving or want to check in, and required in the evening unless there is a function ashore. There also is a safety checklist for each boat to complete and submit.
Social occasions were set up about weekly, starting with a breakfast at the RYCT on the first morning. The first and last dinners en route were free bring-your-own barbecues, the others were put on for us by local groups at a very reasonable fee. Besides getting us off our boats and giving the cook a break, they gave us the chance to get to know each other better. For the ‘token Americans’ on the cruise this really helped. A lot of these guys already knew each other, but we were meeting people at a rate that challenged our poor tired brains!
Included in the entry fee were an Anchorage Book, Cruise Manual and a Log Book, professionally assembled with waterproof covers. The Tasmanian Anchorage Guide, put out by the RYCT, was worth the fee on its own and is much more informative and better organised than Cruising Tasmania by J Brettinham-Moore, which we also had aboard. The two books dovetail in coverage. The Cruise Manual contained rules for conduct of the circumnavigation, the itinerary, a list of boats and skippers and a helpful guide to stops where food/fuel/laundry and assorted shops were available. To encourage good log-keeping, prizes were given for the most accurate and most interesting logs in each fleet – I’m pleased to announce that I (Maxine) won the award for the most interesting log for the Hobart fleet, probably because of my ‘foreign’ views. There were other awards, including a very well made Circumnavigation Plaque and a Certificate for those participating in all or part of the cruise. Those for the Hobart fleet were awarded at a complimentary dinner at the RYCT after completion of our circumnavigation. The Geelong fleet also attended the dinner, but had their own awards dinner at the end of their circumnavigation.
However it wasn’t all ‘cokes and beer’. A group of boats was sitting waiting for a tidal change on the northeast corner of Tasmania when a 35 knot southerly blaster made life uncomfortable – one boat was lost, a terrible price to pay. Later we were lucky to miss a storm which hit Bass Strait coming from the east. It gave Melbourne more rain than has been recorded since they started taking measurements, and the Melbourne–Tasmania ferry turned back after having windows on its seventh deck broken by 66ft waves. Boats at a marina where we had stayed the previous week broke loose, and several on moorings were lost. After studying the weather charts we’d all decided to forgo the chance to visit the Hunter Islands, so we were already down the west coast, but still had a sobering number of boats dragging anchors when systems blasted through at night.

We made a counter-clockwise circumnavigation. Port Arthur with its penitentiary is an interesting stop. The awesome cliffs of Cape Pillar on the Tasman Peninsula in the southeast inspired lots of photos. Wineglass Bay, named because its waters ran red as wine in the days of whaling, was lovely in southwest winds. From there we made a long passage around the northeast corner (where the aforementioned boat was lost) to Beauty Point on the Tamar River, though some boats stopped en route. From there one could visit Launceston by bus or car, or take the boat 40 miles upriver. Museums featuring seahorses and platypus are nearby, and a local ferry takes one to Low Head Pilot Station, which is now a museum though pilots still work out of it. We visited the Tamar and Mersey Rivers as guests of the local yacht clubs.

The big National Parks bays on the west coast were all that we’d expected. Macquarie Harbour – with a hair-whitening entry called ‘Hell’s Gate’ – is worth the increased blood pressure, but pay close attention to where you are and note that if you’re using C-Map you’ll be 500m to the east of your charted position.


Once inside, there are anchorages enough to keep one busy for a couple of weeks. A cog-rail train takes one into the mountains. Built by hand, it opened in 1897 and ran for 67 years, and was the only means of moving copper from the mines to market – now it carries tourists through the beautiful forest. Alternatively a catamaran takes one out through Hell’s Gate and then down into the Gordon River to visit a penal island. Helicopter and aeroplane flights over the area are also available, and after receiving a strong recommendation we took a helicopter flight. It was wonderful, and included a landing in the mountains and walk to a viewing tower. Port Davey is undeveloped, though a bird-feeding site at the airport on Melaleuca Inlet is one of the few places where one can see endangered orange-bellied parrots. This airport is the only means of entry to this area other than by boat. Hikers fly in to hike and camp.

Don’t forget to mark January–February 2007 on your calendars now!