Posted: 15 February 2014.
Fountaine Pajot Lavezzi 40 owners have sent us through this update and great images from their cruising in Tasmania.
Hi Friends,
As you can see we are back on the air. We have just returned to D’Entrecasteaux Channel south of Hobart after spending two weeks on the west coast of Tasmania (Port Davey and Bathurst Harbour) with no internet. Thought a few lines and a couple of photos might be of interest at this stage..
All went well, we had (mostly) excellent weather over there. The passage across the bottom of Tassie is quite dramatic and in bad weather would be extremely intimidating.
There were many highlights but the two that most come to mind were the highest high:
- Climbing 771m Mt Rugby from sea level, up a challenging foot pad, for aeroplane-style views over the vast waterways and mountain ranges of the World Heritage listed South West National Park – an amazing expanse of pure wilderness. And having it all to ourselves.
And the lowest low:
- Barometer fell to 988 hPa. Prediction of gale force winds the next day. We were in a tiny almost land-locked bay for shelter and also because it was the closest anchorage to the start of the Mt Rugby track. There was only room for one boat, us, and the anchor was exactly in the centre with 30m of chain out in 3m of water (no room for any more). The storm hit in the afternoon with a ferocity we have not experienced before, with sustained winds of 30-40kts peaking at 43kts. The surface of the sea went white and started lifting off. The boat was superb, the clears, all buttoned down, shrugged off the tearing wind and shotgun-like-blasts of the rain. We were able to sit at the helm seat ready to start the motors if we dragged, in perfect comfort, even though we couldn’t see a thing. That wonderful 30kg Rocna anchor never moved a millimetre, and our new PWB Australian-made chain was a great reassurance. We had to sit anchor watch all night and most of the next day. When talking with Peter C later, he commented “Gosh, 43kts, I thought you would have been sheltered in Iola Bay”. We have since checked the observation records on the internet for nearby Maatsuyker Island, south of us and just off the coast. Wind strength peaked at 73 knots!!! A little more than a gale, methinks.
We have updated SkiprNet with our movements and brief comments if you are interested. You will need to reset the date back to 22 January to see all the postings. http://skipr.net/where-is/boat-pages/?boatid=1477
I have attached two photos that I particularly like, selected from 20GB of still images and video taken to date……will take some time to process once we get home to Bellingen!!
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Love to all,
Leanne and Grant – Lavezzi 40 CUL8R