On Wednesday 29th January, 2020 I said goodbye to my wife & flew back to Launceston leaving Tullamarine Airport at a sensible hour of 1310hr arriving Launceston 1415hr. Ophelia was in good condition with both lithium batteries nicely topped up due to 2x120w of solar panels. I had to shop for food next day as well as work. The supermarket is about 1.1km from the Old Seaport Marina so with my full back pack & shopping bag in each hand I set about walking back. It took a while. From memory I had a short nap to re-cover. Work continued each day until my eldest daughter & granddaughter, Diandra & Indi, arrived on 1st Feb. for a week. It was the first time for Indi to sleep on a boat which she enjoyed. That was a great week walking many places, including visiting the annual Launceston Festivale with face painting & dancing, breakfast at Peppers & a play in the great new park near Peppers. I hired a car & we visited Jan & Peter in Penguin & Seahorse World at Beauty Point. Seahorses are sent all over the world. It was such a big day Indi slept on the way back to Launceston. While I had the car I filled the 5x20l jerry cans with diesel. The Old Seaport Marina is in need of a make over & dredge. Many vessels are sitting in the mud at low tide.
After they left, it was time for more food shopping so I could leave on 9th Feb. heading back down River Tamar 20nm to Spring Bay for a week working. I caught some small flathead from my yacht & made some bread. After a week I moved 10nm further down the river under Batman Bridge & the fast flowing river to Beauty Point on anchor out of the current. I miss-timed the tides slightly with current against me under the bridge so could only travel at 2.5 to 3kts. After an hour tide changed so all was good. I had a few days of strong northerlies & southerlies which is same direction as the river, although the surface was smooth due to being out of the current.
After continually looking at the forecasts for a suitable weather window to head down the Tasmanian west coast to Strahan, I decided to leave here on Wed. 19th Feb. to stay at Mersey Yacht Club pontoon, Devonport, for the night & leave there about 1300hr next day. That would give me about 15hr to get to south end of Hunter Is. (north west corner of Tasmania) & wait a few hours to catch the tide & slight breeze heading west. I was informed the tide runs fast through this area & don’t go through tide against wind.
Upon leaving Devonport I untied all mooring lines except one stern & bow line. The tide was going out so I stepped backwards onto the pontoon from the bow to release that rope first & landed in the river with some very sore right side ribs which I though I was just winded. They hit the pontoon timber edge on the way down. From memory Ophelia was moving away from the pontoon slightly & in my hurry to leave I jumped backwards. That was my mistake – being in a hurry. I managed to pull myself along the pontoon edge against the current to a ‘stink boat’ in front & clamber onto the low duck board – I was lucky it was there. I changed clothes & headed out the river, un-furled the jib, but after 3/4hr my ribs were so sore I had to turn back to Devonport. Furling the jib using the winch was very difficult & any body movement created pain. I rang the yacht club manager explaining what had happened & asked for help to berth. I closed up the yacht & a club member took me the 10km to Devonport Hospital. After receiving pain killers & about midnight I was transfered to Burnie Hospital ICU for 4 days. The lowest rib was broken in 4 places & next 3 above were broken in one place each. The concern was fluid (blood) below the right lung which could cause pneumonia. They said I had to cough, but I could not – it was way to sore. I was discharged on 26th Feb. to Jan & Peter’s place – once again they came to the rescue. So that was the end of my 2020 trip around Tasmania. It would take 3 months to heal. On 29th Feb. with the help of a club member I moved Ophelia out onto a mooring amongst the seagulls. That was a concern. I caught the ferry back to Melbourne on 4th March to recuperate.
However COVID-19 came onboard & the Tassie border was to be closed midnight Friday 20th March. I had a return ferry ticket booked for end of March but changed it to the night sailing of 19th March. Lucky I did as that was the last chance to enter Tasmania unless one was an essential traveler or lived in Tasmania. I was also concerned the seagulls will take over Ophelia if she was left unattended for months, like some other vessels on moorings in the river. I had to be careful stepping from yacht to dinghy while on the mooring & onto the pontoon from the dinghy. After one month it was getting colder & more windy/rainy so the yacht club put me behind the pontoon in a blow-off position out of the waves. The horrible NW gales belt straight into the yacht club across the river from the city. After a couple of weeks I bought a 21 speed bike to get around & was able to exercise much more including fast walking up a hill to the water supply tank. I stayed at Devonport for 3 months although once we could move I motored 3hr NW to Penguin for a weekend. I had to repair the chain driving the rudder from the helm at one stage as it broke. I cleaned the anchor well & painted the anchor fire engine red. I also painted inside some storage lockers in the cabin & many more maintenance jobs, all while working. I even tried to learn the mandolin but never put enough effort into it – working too much. Devonport has many ships berthing unloading gas & fertilizer and loading cement. The fishing boats have to move to the gas terminal wharf when a cargo ship is in port, then move back for the gas supply ship.
Unloading Fertiliser 
Another unloading something 
Gas supply ship backing to wharf 
Fishing boats on the gas wharf 
Roll on roll of ship in front, Tassie ferry behind 
Mersey Yacht Club 
On the mooring 
From the very busy road bridge 
The slipping area 
On outside of the pontoon during a NW gale 
In behind the pontoon 
Wonderful sunset 
After sunset 
Fertiliser tanks 
Unloading fertiliser the basic method 
Isloation car park – early August 
Take your Dragon boat positions 
Dragon baot training 
Trying to learn the mandolin
Close to the yacht club was a car park for all the returning Tasmanian’s from the ferry. From here they were bused to a hotel. At one stage early on, the car park was full – perhaps up to 200 cars. Once restrictions were eased the local Dragon boats made their appearance on the water – practice only. The club named Nipples on Ripples is the paddling home of breast cancer survivors & supporters. I spent one weekend with Jan & Peter who took me to Burnie, Wynyard, Smithton & Stanely where we climbed The Nut. I had hoped to sail to these places but the weather was too cold. Eventually I purchased a cheap Chinese diesel 5kw heater. 1kw setting is quite sufficient for my cabin.
By end of July I was getting ‘itchy feet’ – it was time to move on. So on Tuesday 4th August I left Devonport motoring to Port Sorell onto a mooring owned by a Mercy YC member, Lance. I stayed here for one week after Lance showed me around the area. It would be a great place in the summer months. They have a ‘mud berth’ where vessels sit on the bottom at low tide & float at high tide. My next place to stay was St. Helens – since watching the tv show Gourmet Farmer Afloat a few years ago, I wanted to visit St. Helens. I phoned the marine rescue & booked the bar crossing on Tuesday 1300hr. So on Sunday 8th August I left at 1300hr for the overnight 125nm journey passing the notorious Banks Strait (NE tip of Tasmania) at 0230hr Wednesday morning. I had planed a perfect trip arriving spot on high tide to ‘go with the flow’ east & the surface was a mirror reflecting the moon which had risen at 2330hr. I arrived Binalong Bay on the public mooring at 1000hr Monday. The whole journey used the motor as there was very little wind. Ophelia was rocking a lot on the mooring & I was concerned about the bar crossing next day so I motored the 2nm to take a look – wow, no way was I going to cross that bar – the rollers were breaking right across the bar. An easterly swell had developed. After a phone call to Marine Rescue, who agreed, I set sail for the next safe haven, Triabunna arriving there at 0830hr Tuesday. I had phoned the Triabunna Boat Club before leaving Binalong Bay to book a berth.
Devonport to Port Sorell 
On Lance’s mooring looking south 
On Lance’s mooring looking north 
The Mud Berth – high tide 
The Mud Berth – low tide 
The Mud Berth – low tide 
The Council marina 
Triabunna -Boat Club marina 
Triabunna – Boat club marina 
Orford 
Spring time 
Lobster city 
Overlooking Triabunna east 
Overlooking Triabunna west 
During the 2nd NW gale – note Ophelia leaning to port 
Colonial professional cheese cake 
AJH amatuer cheese cake 
Bread mix using Laucke sourdogh mixture with added seeds
I stayed at Triabunna for 1 month working, departing for Port Arthur via Maria Is. on Wed. 09-09. In that time we had 2 NW gales – luckily Ophelia was very protected by 2 long vessels on the windy side. Winds reached 42kts during the 2nd gale. There was a very nice cafe – Colonial Food & Wine – which had some very nice cakes & meals. I tried my hand at the cheese cake & also made my usual bread from Laucke mix.
The second part of my journey was across Joseph Bonaparte Gulf, 105nm, to Berkeley River & a neap high tide river bar entrance. Leaving Wadeye at 0745hr on Friday 4th August, I made good time & crossed the inner bar at 0600hr Northern Territory time in pitch black darkness. The moon disappeared at 0500hr. There are two channels from the east on the Navionics chart & a cruising book recommends the south entrance west of Reveley Is., but both seemed to go over a shallow area. Ophelia’s keel is 1.5m deep & we had 0.8m under the keel at shallowest place. I normally zigzag along a channel so I keep in the deepest part. The crossing took 1hr due to the slow progress in the dark & I dropped the anchor inside the river before sun rise & had a two hour sleep. I do sleep while travelling – roughly 2hr on watch & 2hr sleep.
After a good sleep & breakfast I motored 4nm into Casurina Ck. arriving about 1000hr. After launching the dinghy & looking out for croc’s I went ashore via a rocky oyster ridden ledge & clambered up the cliff. The rock face could be very dangerous due to the loose small rocks, but there appeared to be a path which leads to top of the nearly dry water falls. I had the obligatory cool fresh water swim before taking many photos & returning to Ophelia. No croc’s were seen.
Harbour catching the ebb tide from Darwin & flood tide around the corner into Bynoe Harbour, arriving at 1830hr & a wonderful sunset. Not a good place to go walkabout as no beaches. At 0700hr on 05-05-2017 we left for the 50NM journey to Fog Bay anchoring at 1800hr 2NM offshore due to very shallow water. We caught a Spanish Mackerel along the way.
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