Here it is! The 5th and final leg! As my 6 new crew stepped onboard(all first timers to Salt Lines) and my 2 repeat offenders Sandie and Sally, I was excited to be starting our last leg of the circumnavigation. As I’ve mentioned before this trip as a whole has been no small feat.  We have met many challenges along the way; having navigated our way up the East Coast through the inside of the Great Barrier Reef, negotiating our passage through the narrow Gugari Rip, losing our anchor on our way to the Horizontal Falls, sailing across the Great Australian Bight and a crew member breaking her wrist! I was under no illusions that although we might be close to the end there will indeed be more challenges to face.

So we decided to get our new crew acquainted with the ‘challenges’ of sailing by starting off with a trip across the infamous Bass Straight(why not!). We departed Geelong on an amazingly hot and sunny day on the 5th of November. We had an easy start to the day as our tidal gate to get out of Port Phillip Bay wasn’t until 8pm. As we cruised out of the glassy bay with no wind, we were lulled into a false sense of security as the sun went down. As we advanced across the Bass Straight, the boat started to rock ‘n’ roll with what I like to call the washing machine effect. While relaxing down below in the saloon my mind hadn’t quite cottoned onto what was happening……my stomach certainly had though. As I started to feel nauseas I quickly put myself to bed and tried to sleep it off before my watch. Luckily having a bit of experience on these choppy passages now, I knew what was good for me! Some of our poor crew on the other hand had highly underestimated the effect the washing machine would have on them. 

Our resident hippy Ian was sick for 2 days and when I asked what he’d taken to calm the seasickness he said he’d been sucked in by Whitworths who had sold him a very expensive bottle of essential oils to rub behind his ears. I can confirm that the smell of lavender and peppermint coming from your ears will not cure an unsettled tummy.

We had great sailing conditions with plenty of wind on the beam across the Strait, but with the short sharp waves coming sideways at us, my poor crew were dropping like flies! Special mention to those who weren’t bed ridden for 2 days, Kathryn, John and Darren who impressively all seemed to have iron stomachs. Sandy, Sally and Mark were absolute rockstars and are the type of people who will throw up with a smile on their faces and carry on. 

We made it across the Strait with no one throwing themselves overboard(phew!). The next challenge was making it to the beautiful town of Strahan. To access Strahan(pronounced ‘strawn’ in Oz), it is necessary to enter Macquarie Harbour via the well named Hells Gates and then negotiate miles of channels through sandy shoals. Naturally I was asleep for this as usual but Matt managed to get us into Strahan safely without hitting the bottom. 

We had a lovely day in Strahan having lunch at the train station and even managing to go for a bush walk! Next stop for us was Bathurst Harbour which is only accessible by boat or plane. This was a small overnight passage and unfortunately the wind was directly on the nose so we had to motor sail the whole way. My crew got quite a bit of tacking practise in though which was good!

We anchored up in Bathurst Harbour around midday and the new crew got to experience the team building exercise of inflating the landing craft. Silver Fern’s outboard wouldn’t start so we did some pickups and I dropped everyone ashore to go for yet another walk! With our legs stretched and food in our bellies, everyone promptly fell asleep around 9pm, wanting to make the most of our night at anchor. 

Next stop Hobart! Looks like we’ll be motoring most of the way and will arrive sometime tomorrow morning. With another ‘sporty’ low pressure system on it’s way, we may have to hunker down in Hobart for a few days(what a shame…..). 

I’m curious to know what people’s go to remedy for sea sickness is or if you’ve tried anything in the past like Ian that definitely hasn’t worked for you? Leave a comment on our Facebook page and let us know!

Till next time,

Jess :)