Silver Fern is back out exploring Tasmania only two weeks after completing the Sydney to Hobart yacht race. The race crew pulled into the Constitution dock 20 minutes before the New Years Eve fireworks display in Hobart, and while we were all relieved to see the boat and her crew arrive safely, there were a few important repairs to be taken care of before we could head out again for this Southwest Tasmania trip. The most pressing task, which turned out to be an excellent team building exercise for John and myself, was to get the mainsail off to the sail loft for a repair, then refit the sail to Silver Fern. Safe to say, next time the mainsail needs to be taken off and on again, we will wait to do it until we have a few more hands onboard! But after a few days of hard work, Silver Fern was ready to stretch her wings once again!

Our crew arrived on Saturday, and we didn’t waste a minute, jumping straight into safety briefs, winch training, and general boat familiarization. We have a few repeat offenders onboard, Denise who we had the pleasure of sailing with in Fiji this winter, Chris, who has spent more days than we could count onboard Silver Fern, including this year's Sydney to Hobart race, and Tracey, who has also been sailing on Silver Fern in Fiji. Chris and Tracey managed to coerce a friend of theirs to come along, Bel, who after having lived in Tasmania for years, has all the helpful local knowledge. And to complete our little crew to a lovely number of seven, Susan has come onboard after spending time sailing with a tall ship organization called South Passage, and was looking for a bit more experience and hoping to see the rugged and untouched sights the West coast of Tasmania offers.

Around 6 in the evening, just as our stomachs were starting to rumble from a full day of training, we realized that our provisions delivery had gone south, and we needed to do a full provisions shop at the nearest Woolworths that night in order to still make our early departure the next morning. So John, Chris and I made the journey to Woolies, loaded 5 shopping carts full of provisions, and returned to put them all away with the help of the rest of the crew.

Yesterday morning, we set off at 8am, our first stop taking us all the way to the fuel dock! We refueled, changed filters, lashed down jerry cans, and then were on our way. We had a lovely sail out of Hobart and down past Bruny Island. Sadly, our wind dropped off in the early afternoon, and we put away our brand new jib and put the engine on. The rest of the day was spent chugging along, enjoying the abundance of wildlife that thrives around the South coast of Tassie. We had pods of dolphins, seals, and the most albatross I’ve seen at sea, cruising along with us throughout the day and well into the evening. Susan treated us all to a delicious stir fry for dinner, which went down very well with everybody as it was getting colder and colder as the sun got lower. Chris and Tracey enjoyed a beautiful sunset on their watch, and the rest of the night watches quietly passed without too much excitement.

Tracey and Chris enjoying a beautiful sunset on the Southern coast of Tasmania

This morning we are still motoring along the west coast towards Macquarie Harbor, on track to make it to Hells Gate, (a very welcoming name given to the entrance to Macquarie Harbor), in time to make our tidal gate to make the pilotage in. The entrance is less than 100 meters wide, which causes the tide to rush through at rapid speeds, making it only safe to navigate at slack tide. The wildlife has continued to keep us company throughout the morning, a reminder of how untouched by mankind this part of the world is. It is truly special to get to experience Tasmania from the sea, especially when so much of what it has to offer can only be accessed by boat.

Cheers,

Liv

She’s Back in Tas!

Sydney Harbour you beauty!