Return to Hobie.com
Hobie Forums
It is currently Thu Mar 28, 2024 1:08 pm

All times are UTC - 8 hours [ DST ]




Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 29 posts ]  Go to page 1, 2  Next
Author Message
PostPosted: Sat Mar 02, 2013 1:55 am 
Offline
Site Rank - Old Salt

Joined: Fri May 08, 2009 5:06 am
Posts: 1701
Location: Lake Macquarie NSW AUSTRALIA
I've just returned from a 2 week trip back home to Tasmania and quickly realised the difference between some of the worlds most popular sailing latitudes and those latitudes further from the Equator. Living for the majority of my life in the temperate weather conditions of the East Coast mainland Australia, I must admit I was a bit unprepared for the rapid rate of weather change. I didn't go down that way to break any records but as I was sailing out into the Southern Ocean I wondered how far South a Hobie Island has ever ventured. I was at 43deg 08' 31'' and in looking later at Google Earth, there ain't much land around the globe further South than that. A bit of New Zealand, Argentina's Cape Horn and that's about it. One of my big goals for this trip was to attempt Hell's Gate. This is the entrance to Macquarie Harbour on Tasmania's West Coast. The numerous ship wrecks that have happened throughout its 200 year history has given it a reputation of one of the worlds most dangerous Habour entrances.

Left home, heading South towards Melbourne. Approximately a 10 hour drive. Crashed overnight at Wangaratta 2 hours out from Melbourne.
Image

My main goal of the trip was do a weeks solo exploration of Macquarie Harbour. And although it doesn't look real appetising, this, plus water, is all the food I'll be taking.
Image

Sleeping quarters for the night at the ferry terminal. Ferry boarding tomorrow morning at 6am. It ain't much but it's home.
Image

Weather not looking the best. 9 hour trip.
Image

After arriving in Tasmania at 7pm, it was then a 4 1/2 hour drive south to Strahan, a small town on the northern coast of Macquarie Harbour.
Image

This was my first view of the harbour the next morning.
Image

This new Sony RX100 camera has an excellent panorama mode. Love it.
Image

Bit arty but.....
Image

My first view of Hells Gate.
Image

Preparing myself. Nerves were running high.
Image

The rest of the attempt is on video which I haven't yet edited. This is the teaser.
Image

These 2 shots of Hells Gate are not mine but from the net. I had a 6 knot current ripping me out West, breakers to my right, a 10 knot Southerly and a swell from the West. It was like being in a washing machine. Then, for the first time, I experienced that rapid weather change. The wind turned from a Southerly to a Westerly and increased to about 20 knots. With the current still ripping out I had a hell of a time trying to get back in and I started to work on Plan B, which was to go down the coast and find a beach to land and wait. But I tried ChrisJ's method of furling the sail to about 1/3 and heading off wind by about 10 degrees and peddling like mad, then I had to do quick tacks as I had breakers on my left and a breakwall on my right. Took ages, I was stuffed, but it worked ( thanks Chris ).
Image

The next day I walked around the town preparing for an early start the next morning. This was a huge logging town when the world was obsessed with exotic timbers. Now all Huon Pines are protected and only salvaged logs can be milled. I managed to pick up 2 planks from an old timber cutter.
Image

The weather turned with rain and a 25knot Southerly ( guess which way I was meant to be going ) so while it was righting itself I took off inland to suss out Nelson Falls.
Image

Image

Image

Image

A bit further on was Lake St Clair.
Image

Image

The weather conditions on the west coast were still to dangerous to attempt exploring Macquarie Harbour so I decided to change plans and head East to Hobart and come back later.
Image

Image

Image

Image

and then down to Fortescue Bay on Tasmania's South East Coast. How beautiful is that place !
Image

Image

Image

Went North to this headland but then got hammered by a Northerly.
Image

Had to wait under the cliffs until the winds died before attempting to cross back to my camp.
Image

And a visitor dropped in for dinner. She tasted lovely. I started on the ears.
Image

Remarkable Cave.
Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

This small island is the island of the dead. It's where the Penal Settlement of Port Arthur buried their convicts.
Image

This is where my dad grew up. Not a bad little shack hey.
Image

Image

Image

Weather on the West Coast was still too wild to sail so I'd made the decision to continue up the East coast to Launceston. My time was running out, had to get back to work, so unfortunately the Harbour exploration would have to wait until another day.
Here I am, thrilled with the decision on board the Norfolk replica. It was Bass and Flinders boat which first circumnavigated Tasmania.
Image

Image

View from the lighthouse at Low Head
Image

Image

Image

Isn't it funny how it changes to perfect Hobie weather conditions when you leave.
Image

In summary, I was a bit disappointed that I didn't get to explore Macquarie Harbour which is one of the cornerstones of Australian history. Although the weather was very ordinary with ferocious wind squalls that I had never experienced before, I would have gone out on my own local lake in similar weather conditions. My biggest regret was that I attempting to obtain local knowledge on waterways and weather conditions by asking the 'so called' experts. Everyone had a story of a death or a near death experience and warned me against attempting a solo trip. These were all people 'in the know' ie old fishermen, cruise operators etc. I know going out on this harbour shouldn't be taken lightly. The ship wrecks and disasters that have occurred here would make anyone cautious. Perhaps I made the right decision at the time, it's always the luck of the draw with weather, but it won't stop me planning another trip.

Hope you enjoyed this trip report. Sorry, not as much Hobie action as I would have liked but the video of the trip, which is being edited as we speak, will hopefully have a bit more of the good stuff.

_________________
Image

Don't take life too seriously................it ain't permanent.


Last edited by Slaughter on Sat Mar 02, 2013 3:31 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Sat Mar 02, 2013 3:20 am 
Offline
Site Rank - Old Salt

Joined: Mon May 04, 2009 5:02 am
Posts: 817
Location: Sydney - Parramatta
Awesome report with great pics. Can't wait for the video. Tassie is on my list. Been there a number of time but always by the "grey funnel line"...

_________________
Image


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Sat Mar 02, 2013 3:59 am 
Offline
Site Rank - Old Salt

Joined: Sat Nov 05, 2011 1:58 am
Posts: 2893
Location: Forster, NSW, Australia
What can I saw... yet another brilliant report; you really know how to capture the essence of places. BTW I heard that you have to avoid overcooking wallabies, otherwise they just taste like koala. :mrgreen:

_________________
Tony Stott
2012 Tandem Island "SIC EM" with Hobie spinnaker


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Sat Mar 02, 2013 6:05 am 
Offline
Site Rank - Old Salt

Joined: Mon May 04, 2009 5:02 am
Posts: 817
Location: Sydney - Parramatta
tonystott wrote:
What can I saw... yet another brilliant report; you really know how to capture the essence of places. BTW I heard that you have to avoid overcooking wallabies, otherwise they just taste like koala. :mrgreen:


Wallaby ear jerky is pretty good.... Packs well too :roll:

_________________
Image


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Sat Mar 02, 2013 6:11 am 
Offline
Site Rank - Captain

Joined: Fri Sep 21, 2012 4:55 pm
Posts: 87
Location: Virginia - USA
Great scenery and even better pictures! Bob

_________________
Bob
2013 Oasis w/ Sail
Virginia


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Sat Mar 02, 2013 9:01 am 
Offline
Site Rank - Old Salt

Joined: Thu Feb 11, 2010 12:07 pm
Posts: 1041
Location: Ontario, Canada
That looks like an AMAZING trip! Love the pictures. Can't wait for the video!

_________________
Image


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Sat Mar 02, 2013 10:30 am 
Offline
Site Rank - Old Salt

Joined: Fri Jan 05, 2007 9:21 pm
Posts: 2498
Location: Central Florida
Great Pic's and story!

_________________
Image
Hobie Island Sailing since 2006


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Sat Mar 02, 2013 3:56 pm 
Offline
Site Rank - Old Salt

Joined: Tue Jun 19, 2007 6:14 pm
Posts: 3323
Location: South Florida
Terrific travelogue. Great pictures! When you are solo, you have to take a little extra care.

Keith

_________________
2015 AI 2, 2014 Tandem

"Any intelligent fool can make things bigger and more complex ... It takes a touch of genius and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction." A. Einstein

"Less is more" Anon


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Sat Mar 02, 2013 5:24 pm 
Offline
Site Rank - Old Salt

Joined: Fri May 08, 2009 5:06 am
Posts: 1701
Location: Lake Macquarie NSW AUSTRALIA
Thanks fellas. I usually do a video as a trip report but I do like Chekika's trip report format. It works well so I thought I'd try something different.

I soon realised this Keith. On my own lake, sailing with others, I feel like I'm in my comfort zone. Without others, I'm still in my comfort zone but a bit more cautious. This situation was foreign to me and the comfort zone was nowhere to be seen.

The hardest part of this trip was to pick the right time of the year to go. There are only 2, perhaps 3, months of the year that sailing in that part of the world is do-able in an Island. The rest of the year forget it. The maritime history for that area is fascinating and the fact that in that small, narrow stretch of water that I sailed, there have been 29 recorded ship wrecks, this is always in the back of my mind. I didn't particularly want my AI listed as number 30.

_________________
Image

Don't take life too seriously................it ain't permanent.


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Sat Mar 02, 2013 6:01 pm 
Offline
Site Rank - Old Salt

Joined: Tue May 18, 2010 2:31 pm
Posts: 3068
Location: Kailua 96734
TERRIFIC! Hope you get more water time on the next trip , but thanks for scouting out the place for us. :wink: Hell's gate is well named.

Pictures are really well made. Excellent panos! You used a sony camera for those?

I only wished we would see some new camp recipes. Those were kinda scurvy rations, for a gourmet like you.

Roo burgers and jerky? I hear the young ones is most tender. Image Argh,..


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Sat Mar 02, 2013 8:03 pm 
Offline
Site Rank - Old Salt

Joined: Fri May 08, 2009 5:06 am
Posts: 1701
Location: Lake Macquarie NSW AUSTRALIA
..

_________________
Image

Don't take life too seriously................it ain't permanent.


Last edited by Slaughter on Sat Mar 02, 2013 8:05 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Sat Mar 02, 2013 8:04 pm 
Offline
Site Rank - Old Salt

Joined: Fri May 08, 2009 5:06 am
Posts: 1701
Location: Lake Macquarie NSW AUSTRALIA
Yep, you just slip it into pano mode, click the button and it takes a dozen or so shots in a 90 degree arc, then stitches it all together like magic. The camera is a bit pricey but I'm a lazy photographer so I love that fact that it's small and always in the pocket rather than bulky and packed away in a bag at the back of a wardrobe like my old SLR.

.....and photos can either be horizontal
Image

or vertical.
Image

_________________
Image

Don't take life too seriously................it ain't permanent.


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Sat Mar 02, 2013 11:22 pm 
Offline
Site Rank - Old Salt

Joined: Fri Dec 05, 2008 2:32 am
Posts: 1807
Location: Terrigal NSW, Australia
Mate, great report, beautiful photography. Only thing is, that photo of you in the Norfolk only served to confirm my wife's misgivings about me going camping with someone called Slaughter.
Quick survey around the forum.
Image
Who do you think the person in the above photo is?
(a) Renowned gourmet chef.
(b) Award-winning short film maker.
(c) Talented photo-journalist.
(d) Serial killer.
(e) All of the above.

_________________
Image


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Sat Mar 02, 2013 11:45 pm 
Offline
Site Rank - Old Salt

Joined: Thu Aug 16, 2007 2:25 pm
Posts: 2863
Location: Central Coast NSW Australia
:lol: :lol: :lol:
Chris- you forgot
f)-Precision Instrument Maker (remember the wind vane).

That trip report was a great read Slaughter even though you didn't do too much sailing!
Looking forward to the video. What have you done to your Haka...wrapped it in closed cell foam? You're getting soft! :wink:
BTW- Isn't it time you shared with us how you came by the handle Slaughter? I reckon there's a lot more to the story than just being named after your Dad's boat.


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Sun Mar 03, 2013 12:08 am 
Offline
Site Rank - Old Salt

Joined: Tue May 18, 2010 2:31 pm
Posts: 3068
Location: Kailua 96734
G) Skin cancer survivor. And it hasn't effected his looks at all. :twisted: Oof!

I think he just wrote a bit about his dad being from the Penal Colony or sumpthin?

I dunno, I just look at the pictures,... :mrgreen:


Top
 Profile  
 
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 29 posts ]  Go to page 1, 2  Next

All times are UTC - 8 hours [ DST ]


Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 2 guests


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum

Jump to:  
© Hobie Cat Company. All rights reserved.
Powered by phpBB® Forum Software © phpBB Group