“Sinabada” Sails South

Local yacht “Sinabada” (affectionately know as ‘Sin’ ), quietly slipped her mooring at Queenscliff Cruising Yacht Club on a recent Saturday morning and set sail for Hobart Tasmania with an able crew of local ‘salts’.  Owner Brian Golland, Commodore of the Queenscliff Lonsdale Yacht Club teamed up with fellow sailing identities John Barry, Ian Lee and Michael Bowe, to go ‘out through the heads then turn left’ steering a Southerly course into Bass Strait.

The weather was kind and the sea lively as the wives took turns with binoculars to catch last glimpses of the ‘boys’ as they sailed past the Bull Ring to commence the  480 odd nautical mile adventure.  Wind was 22 knots ENE and the compass heading 135 degrees. The last of the daylight on day one saw them off Cape Liptrap with two reefs in the main, steering a rhumb line from Queenscliff towards Banks Strait off Cape Baron Island.

A rough night ensued through the transverse tides in the middle of Bass Strait heading parallel to Wilson’s Promontory.  During the night the yacht damaged  it’s backstay but fortunately the design of the fractional rig with it’s swept back spreaders caused minimal concern as mast stability was not compromised but this did rule out any possibility of flying the spinnaker!

A very cold night followed with SSW breezes of 12-20 knots as the boat sailed down the East coast of Tasmania, arriving off St Helens mid morning on Monday.  At this point, the crew sighted whales less than a 100 meters from the boat, heading North between the boat and the shore. Spectacular!
With the Barometer dropping, the sea was confused as they headed for Bicheno for a brief stop for fuel and running repairs to the rig where they arrived just after dusk on Monday night, with tuna bake in the oven for dinner.  

The ground crew had done their research sourcing fuel through the local service station operator who was persuaded to deliver it dockside complete with family in tow because “he was minding the kids”.  Locals were subsequently treated to a spectacular scene not unlike a pit stop in a Grand Prix that saw much activity under lights as crew members worked furiously at a multitude of tasks in preparation to resume the journey in haste as a front was rapidly approaching.
“Dad . . . what’s that man doing up the mast?” was heard by the Commodore from the Bosun’s Chair, who can only wonder at what may have been the reply.  A well rugged up local couple, fishing off the pier peered into the boat, most interested in the view below decks and the aromas of tuna bake wafting up from the warm galley.

Leaving Bicheno presented a navigational challenge in the dark because of the numerous cray pots in the area, but Michael perched on the fore deck showed the way by shining the portable spotlight through the forward hatch.
Later, Monday’s night sky was amazingly clear with spectacular stars, including some incredible, comet like shooting stars that lit up the night sky like fireworks.

Tuesday’s dawn saw ‘Sin’ off Maria Island, passing Marion Bay heading towards “Dunalley Passage” where they hoped to pass through on the high tide to shorten the journey by over 40 miles and hopefully avoid having to go further south around Tasman Island where the weather had already turned bad.  The “Channel Master” was confident that ‘Sin’ would get through and despite ‘grounding’ several times and frustrating the fishing boats following, he was ultimately proved correct.

Passing Norfolk Bay, Betsy Island and the Iron Pot, journeys end was in sight and dolphins appeared as if ‘on cue’ to escort ‘Sinabada’ around the corner and into Hobart, where at approx 1530, a weary but happy crew secured her into the berth at Bellerive Yacht Club that will be ‘home’ for a while.  The crew welcomed the hospitality, not to mention the hot showers!

Wednesday was a hectic day of visitors and packing up to fly home after an adventure that was completed in around 79 hours. The crew arrived home with their heads still spinning, sea legs barely coping with ‘terra firma’ and many stories to tell.  A ‘de-brief dinner’ was enjoyed by all at “The Espy” Queenscliff on the following Sunday.

Post Script:-  Brian and Jill plan to re-join ‘Sin’ at every opportunity to continue exploring the east coast of Tasmania prior to sailing her home again.