Visiting Flinders Island, The Tiny TallShip

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November 2019

We left the Kent Island Group just as the sun was rising with the intention to head to Prime Seal Island, Waterhouse Island and then Launceston but sometimes the weather has other ideas and sailing plans have to change. Prime Seal Island lies about 8 miles off the western side of Flinders Island and is about half way between mainland Australia and Tasmania. We had no problems getting to this island it was the next day when we left for Tasmania that we had issues. The morning we left for Prime Seal Island we had the ideal forecast, 15-20kt westerlies and flat seas (at least for Bass Strait) and for once it was correct. The conditions on this sail were just perfect to get Allagai moving fast and that day we had some record speeds of 5-7kts and it was all under sail.

We arrived at Prime Seal Island an hour or two earlier then expected but it was actually perfect timing because just as the anchorage was coming into view the wind increased to 30kts. So rather then reefing the sails I was taking sail down but still we came speeding into the anchorage dropping the anchor before the winds made it too hard to get into the bay. Unfortunately this stop was set to be another overnighter with no time to go ashore, but we both vowed we’d come back to the area when not pressured by time, weather or our dwindling supplies. The following morning we were once again off, setting sailing just as the sun was rising over the horizon, that days destination Waterhouse Island but that was soon set to change.

The conditions that day weren’t as ideal as the day before, the forecasted north westerlies never arrived instead we had south westerlies which caused a less then comfortable sea state with the swell directly on the bow. Every time we hit a wave we stopped completely in our tracks meaning we were struggling to make any headway which combined with the headwind (Waterhouse Island was to the south west of us) our average speed was about 2kts. By 10 O’clock it was becoming apparent that that day was a two steps forward one step back kinda day as we had only made about 10nm in the 4 hours we’d been sailing and we hadn’t even tacked. So with that in mind we dove into the anchorage guide book we had of the area, weather forecasts and Navionics to work out a contingency plan, as getting to Waterhouse Island wasn’t really looking feasible. This threw us into a flurry of activity but it was quite challenging with the Allagai rolling so we decided to pull into Badger Island for lunch which allowed us to think straight. Anchoring off Badger Island was a welcome relief from the uncomfortable sea state in Bass Strait and made planning our next move easy. We decided that instead of fighting the winds it was simple easier to go with them and sail through Franklin Sound and stop in Lady Barron on Flinders Island instead.

Franklin Sound is known to be a challenging stretch of water as it is both full of shoals and tidal rips and navigated using lead marks and channel markers. We were quite lucky when we made our decision as the tide was due to start coming in which was exactly what we needed for navigating the shallow waters and meant we wouldn’t be fighting the current. Coming through Franklin Sound we had no problems and were really grateful that Allagai was a centre-boarder with a shallow draft. Keeping close watch on the depth sounder we carefully followed the instructions listed in our anchorage guide book and made it safely into Lady Barron. However we did take the tricky route into Lady Barron by taking the shortcut between Little Dog Island and Great Dog Island which our book suggested for shallow draft vessels on a rising tide. But using the lead markers and the books suggestions we came through with no issue saving a few extra miles with this shortcut. It was also in Lady Barron that we came across our first public mooring placed by MAST (Marine and Safety Tasmania), which we decided to use that first night instead of anchoring. But we quickly discovered a problem with these moorings. The MAST moorings have a large pole sticking up from the float with a hook on the end which is used to hang the mooring eye on when not in use. However we found out the hard way that this pole and hook is the same height as our bow net and whisker stays. This caused us endless trouble and after that we agreed not to use them again as not only did it’s hook become tangled in our bow net the pole would also hit the hull making loud bangs which overnight woke us multiple times.

After our restless nights sleep we decided to move off the mooring but first we made a trip ashore as apparently the small township of Lady Barron had a small general store. Turns out it was a very small store but it still had some much needed supplies, fresh fruit, vegetables and even fresh bread and milk, all luxuries that we were happy to pay the extra price for. While in town we were also able to swap our empty gas bottle for a full one at a reasonable price saving us from having to start cooking on the trangia. Although we didn’t buy much during this stop it allowed us to top up our food just enough to ease our worry, especially now that our plans had changed and we were unsure as to where our next major town would be. Originally we were heading for Launceston but that plan was now out the window and the next town on the east coast of Tasmania that we could get into would be St Helens. But to get into St Helens we would be required to do a bar crossing and so this was a very weather dependent stop and still at least a week away.

Our stay in Lady Barron was quite nice and a change of pace from Bass Strait. The weather system which had been forecast and which we’d been running from never really eventuated where we were, all we experienced was one gusty night. Instead throughout our stay we had beautiful blue skies and crystal clear water and light breezes. But again due to our food uncertainty we were pushed onwards without truly exploring the area. So Flinders Island was added to the list of places to revisit later. Hopefully when better prepared so we could fully explore everything that Flinders Island offered, next destination Jamieson Bay on Cape Barren Island.

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