Port Davey Part 3: Waiting out the Storm in Moulters Inlet

Read Time:4 Minute

April 2020

The day we left for Moulters Inlet we had unbelievable weather, not a breath of wind and mirror flat waters, essentially the calm before the storm. We weighed anchor just after lunch and with no wind were forced to motor the whole way. But the scenery and reflections of the mountains on the water were absolutely stunning, well worth the diesel used to motor.

We arrived in Moulters in the early afternoon and dropped anchor on the western edge of the inlet, the perfect spot to hide from the incoming weather. Moulters Inlet is a long skinny stretch of water surrounded by looming mountains covered with button grass and dense forests in the valleys and wind shadows. So that afternoon before the storm arrived we decided to launch the dingy for a quick explore of the stunning inlet. Our cruising guide had suggested that there was a walk up one of the surrounding hills, however from the dingy we couldn’t see anywhere to land, let alone a track through the thick button grass on the hill. So we ended up just doing a lap of the inlet with a quick stop at one of the rocky beaches, enjoying the beautiful bay before returning to Allagai.

The following day the weather was a completely different cup of tea compared to the day before. We were forecast for a small gale and had thought that Moulters Inlet would offer the perfect protection. However once again the forecast was wrong as not only was the wind vastly greater then it was predicted but it was also from the wrong direction. We had anchored in the perfect spot for winds from the south west however with wind from the north and a mile of fetch the anchorage became miserable fast. That day we had horizontal rain with sustained 40kts with 60kt gusts and willy-willies tumbling off the mountains causing sea spray to fly through the air. We knew it was windy when our full 20l jerry can started skidding across the deck as if it were empty. However we knew that all we had to do was weigh anchor and move one mile up the coast to get better protection off the land. However our little engine just wasn’t up to the job, unable to do much against the gusts even while anchored. Thankfully though throughout all of this our anchor held fast and we didn’t drag at all. Until finally after hours of watching the wind we got a break in the weather which allowed us to weigh anchor and move. Although we weren’t going anywhere fast as we still had a 30+kt headwind and even at full revs our little engine struggled. It took us just under an hour to go a mile travelling at 1-2kts and stopping dead in our tracks during every gust. However we eventually made it, dropping anchor in relatively flat waters compared to where we had come from.The gale continued to rage for the next five days, never quite as windy as that first day but still too bad to leave Moulters Inlet. However when the storm did finally pass we were ready to leave the area as with nowhere to walk and five days onboard we needed to get off Allagai and stretch our legs. So we decided to head back to Claytons Corner weighing anchor and leaving the windy place that was Moulters Inlet behind, arriving in the anchorage later the afternoon.

It was a couple of days later that we had an interesting offer from another cruising boat in the bay. They were heading out to the outer part of Port Davey, around Breaksea Island for a sightseeing daysail and wanted to know if we wanted to join them. They knew we were running low on fuel by this point and so didn’t have the fuel to do the trip ourselves. We were excited about the offer and so agreed to go with them. That day was another no wind, flat water day which caused stunning reflections of the mountains as we motored out Bathurst Channel. Unfortunately though the weather on the west coast is prone to changing fast and so by the time we exited the channel only an hour later the clouds had appeared and a steady rain had started to fall. Although this just meant wet weather gear was put on while we motored around enjoying what could be seen though the rainy fog.

Following our day out we enjoyed a few more days anchored in Claytons Corner going for occasional walks ashore and enjoying being in such a beautiful place. As when it wasn’t raining or the wind howling Port Davey was a truly amazing place and if it wasn’t so wet and the ground so soggy I would have liked to have spent more time exploring ashore. However eventually the good weather came to a end and we had to find somewhere to hide from yet another storm. This time we decided to head back up to Melaleuca, our plan was to tie up at the wharf by the airport.

Archives