Beautiful Yaringa at High Tide
Beautiful Yaringa at Low Tide
After another couple of local daysails in rough conditions, it was an easy decision to head for WesternPort when we saw a weather window open.
Being Pete Wilson's turn to take Mizan out, poor ol' Endurance was left at home in port. No matter.
So the two of us set off for Queenscliff Marina under motor power, entering the famous "cut" and docking with a bit of re-arranging of Mizan's pulpit when we crashed into a concrete piling. Hmmm, we'll wait til slack water next time. An excellent dinner at the seafood restaurant at the dock, and through "The Rip" the next morning. A couple of hours before slack water, with minimal swell or wind, wasn't too difficult.
Then, it was a pleasant cruise along the coast, around Cape Schank and all the way up Western Port with the tide running with us.
We couldn't secure a berth at Hastings, but were welcomed at Yaringa, a cute-as-bat's-ears little place amongst the mangroves. The top pic shows the marina as we were coming in on the full, spring tide.....and the bottom pic shows the same entry the next morning on the low. We weren't going anywhere 'til after lunch.....
Another interesting point about the overnight stay was that with such a clear, still, night, the temperature fell below freezing and the dock and boats were all covered with ice in the morning!
Once we could clear the channel, we headed off for an overnight stop on the public floating wharf at the town of Rhyll, on Phillip Island.
Being Pete Wilson's turn to take Mizan out, poor ol' Endurance was left at home in port. No matter.
So the two of us set off for Queenscliff Marina under motor power, entering the famous "cut" and docking with a bit of re-arranging of Mizan's pulpit when we crashed into a concrete piling. Hmmm, we'll wait til slack water next time. An excellent dinner at the seafood restaurant at the dock, and through "The Rip" the next morning. A couple of hours before slack water, with minimal swell or wind, wasn't too difficult.
Then, it was a pleasant cruise along the coast, around Cape Schank and all the way up Western Port with the tide running with us.
We couldn't secure a berth at Hastings, but were welcomed at Yaringa, a cute-as-bat's-ears little place amongst the mangroves. The top pic shows the marina as we were coming in on the full, spring tide.....and the bottom pic shows the same entry the next morning on the low. We weren't going anywhere 'til after lunch.....
Another interesting point about the overnight stay was that with such a clear, still, night, the temperature fell below freezing and the dock and boats were all covered with ice in the morning!
Once we could clear the channel, we headed off for an overnight stop on the public floating wharf at the town of Rhyll, on Phillip Island.
Our illegal overnight stop at Rhyll
Damn! It's cold in Bass Strait!
The wharf had been storm-damaged and there were signs all over it threatening all kinds of punishment by State Parks Victoria, which we happily ignored.
Mizan had picked up something ugly on her propeller, which was causing a nasty vibration, so Pete called in a diver to clear it off.
It was too cold to jump in without a wetsuit and I certainly wasn't volunteering! Anyway, a quick fix by the friendly local diver, and it was off to our next night's stopover, anchored in the bay off the town of Flinders. A cosy but rolly night's sleep, and an early start back around Cape Schank and a solid day's sail home, in the rain and through "The Rip" with a blustery Nor Easter. Back into the RGYC just on dark. The Winter Weather Window was closing fast and it would be a fair bet that we'd probably been the only yacht out in Bass Strait for the day....
Mizan had picked up something ugly on her propeller, which was causing a nasty vibration, so Pete called in a diver to clear it off.
It was too cold to jump in without a wetsuit and I certainly wasn't volunteering! Anyway, a quick fix by the friendly local diver, and it was off to our next night's stopover, anchored in the bay off the town of Flinders. A cosy but rolly night's sleep, and an early start back around Cape Schank and a solid day's sail home, in the rain and through "The Rip" with a blustery Nor Easter. Back into the RGYC just on dark. The Winter Weather Window was closing fast and it would be a fair bet that we'd probably been the only yacht out in Bass Strait for the day....
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