Georgetown to Launceston
We did some re-provisioning and laundry the first day in Georgetown. It was rather windy. There is a series of public pontoons up and down the Tamar River and they are very useful for people like us as we can pull into them much like pulling into a kerbside parking spot in a car.
The replica of the "Norfolk" is housed here. The original Norfolk was built on Norfolk Island after the wreck of the First Fleet ship, the Sirius. Penny's ancestor Peter Hibbs was the Sailing Master.
We were able to explore the replica Norfolk inside and out. It re-enacted Bass and Flinders' circumnavigation of Tasmania and also Flinders' trip to Hervey Bay. All very interesting and particularly exciting for Penny.
As the winds were worsening and the gale warnings continued throughout Tasmania, we moved to a place called "West Arm". First task was to wash off the boat. One always thinks of Tassie as a pristine, clean place but on that Tuesday it rained mud. We are not sure if this was dust brought in from Victoria or a remnanrt of the terrible bushfires. Whatever it was, the boat was a brown mess. Just after Dave finished scrubbing everything down, we had several large rain showers which finished the job rather nicely.
Wednesday, we read books as the wind howled. We saw a maximum of 45 to 50knots in our relatively protected spot. To put this into perspective, there was a large ship outside the harbour and they were trying to get a Pilot aboard to get them into the Harbour. The Captain sounded quite stressed. When the pilot asked him to "increase speed to 8 knots", the Captain said that his engines were at full power and he could only achieve 4knots. This is walking pace and not really enough to maintain steerage way- quite dangerous. So, the six metre seas and howling wind were pretty bad out there.
Thursday, we moved down the river towards Launceston. We had phoned the Tamar Yacht Club and planned to stay there for a few days. Sam, the bosun, had told us there was a real problem with siltation and the high tides (which have a four metre range at the moment) so we would be "sitting in the mud".
We anchored for the night about 6 miles short of Launceston so that we could go in near the peak of next day's 4.2metre tide. It was a very scenic trip and we saw a lazy seal well up the river. The river has some narrow and shallow bits, but they are well beaconed. At some points, the river is several kilometres wide- an impressive river. There are lots of wineries around and the cool climate wines appear to have been quite successful.
Friday, we were up early and went the final stretch into Launceston. In a number of places, the depth was fine but at low tide would have been too shallow for us. "Bosun Sam" met us at the club pontoon and was very welcoming. Definitely not five star accommodation, but good hot showers and everything is clean and tidy though old. The Club House is a very stylish old building.
The yacht club itself started in about 1836 and lays claim to being the oldest in Australia. We were the only boat on the pontoon (which is smallish). Another yacht was tied to piles near the slip yard.
We waited anxiously for the first low tide, to see what was going to happen. It was all very un-dramatic though still remarkable. Our keel, rudder and Saildrive (ie gearbox and propellor) just sank into the mud and the hull sat in the mud on the surface. The mud is very soft and apparently 2.5metres deep. By the time the tide was all the way out, we were sitting 0.6metres ABOVE the water level and all around us was drying mud! Quite remarkable. As we were tied to the pontoon, we could come and go as we pleased. Some other boats, attached to pile moorings on the other side, were very restricted. Their owners could only come or go by small boat at the high tides.
We have a beautiful view up the famous Cataract Gorge.
More later.
Best Regards,
Dave & Penny
