Silver Fern is tucked away in one of the most incredible places I’ve ever seen, Bathurst Bay on the Southwest corner of Tasmania. We arrived early Wednesday morning after an overnight passage from Recherche Bay. We all ventured to shore to have a picnic on a tiny little beach by our anchorage on Wednesday afternoon, then spent the rest of the day basking in the sun and resting up before the big night sail. We departed just before sunset, and as we were reaching the Southeast cape we were greeted by two whales, (we’re thinking they were likely to be humpbacks) breaching and waving to us! The pair hung out with us for about a half an hour as we rounded the cape and sailed towards the sunset. After the excitement of our whale encounter, we settled into our night watches and puttered along in the light winds towards our destination. The stars were world class, matched by the bioluminescence in the wake of the boat. There was another wildlife sighting by Shien, who was thrilled to spot dolphins in the water riding along with us! Other than that, it was a highly uneventful evening until we spotted the headlands of Port Davey at first light.

It was a beautiful sunrise as we turned East and began our pilotage into the harbor. We dropped the mainsail at the beginning of the Bathurst channel, and motored the rest of the way in. Along the way, we did a drive by of the anchorage at a spot called Wombat Cove, however did not love the look of the lee shore in a strong westerly, which is what we were expecting later that day. We carried on, and decided on an anchorage just south of Kings Point. Our early morning swimmers were off the boat and in the water as soon as we parked ourselves, while the rest of us put a kettle on and enjoyed the peace and quiet of the anchorage while it lasted. Some of us had well deserved naps, others puttered around finding ways to keep busy. Both Pieter and Reinhard have become our handyman team, mending all sorts of little hinges and handles around the boat that need some love.

That afternoon, half the crew went to shore to walk up Mount Beattie, the hill that protects this anchorage from winds coming from the north and the west. Shien, Pieter and I stayed onboard and continued enjoying the quiet after the night’s sail. Our shore team returned with tales of epic views of the harbor, and grand plans for all of to summit Mount Rugby the next day. 

Mount Rugby (also referred to as Mount Rugger Bugger) is a 750 meter peak that overlooks all of Bathurst Harbor. It’s about a 2 mile ascent along a rarely traveled path through the bush of Southwest Tassie. So we traded in our lifejackets for trail runners for the day, packed lunches and started the climb at the crack of dawn (10 am). The walk up was lovely, the first half a steady ascent along a clear path with a reasonable amount of mud that was avoidable if careful. The second half of the trail however was a different story, with massive boulder scrambles and a considerable bit of climbing. The view at the top was well worth the struggle, funny how that’s so often the case, and we were rewarded with incredible 360 views of the harbor, the ocean, and the mountains that spread across the southern half of Tasmania. Pieter and Brendon pointed out the Western and Eastern Arthur mountain ranges, and Mount Federation, all within view from the top of Mount Rugby. As all good things must come to an end, our lunch break at the top could not last forever, and we began the dreaded descent back to Silver Fern. We made our way slowly down the mountain, each of us slipping and sliding the whole way. Every one of us claimed to hold the record for the most tumbles and falls, all of us having the scrapes and bruises to prove it. 

We made it back to the boat by late afternoon, and set off for a little sail around the harbor to check out a possible new anchorage for the evening, but ultimately decided against it and headed back to Kings Point for the night. Windy was forecasting 50 knot gusts by early the next morning, and we did not want to take any chances with having to re-anchor. We were not long for the world after dinner last night, which was an epic feast of fried rice provided by Mish and Reinhard. Mish has been taking advantage of every spare minute to whip up something fun in the galley, whether its a chocolate cake, pancakes, grilled cheese or even as I’m writing this I’m hearing talk of scones. Needless to say it’s been very popular and appreciated amongst the crew.

This morning we woke up to our expected wind and rain, and have been having a very lazy morning nursing our aches and pains, enjoying the crap weather as an excuse to sit around the boat. Tomorrow should bring a little less wind, and hopefully an opportunity for some sailing and more exploration!

Cheers!

Liv