Cat’leya

Dutch explorer Abel Tasman, the first European to set foot on Tasmania in 1642, thought he had discovered an uncharted part of continental Australia. He was wrong, as the British George Bass and Matthew Flindlers proved in 1778, when they circumnavigated Tasmania for the first time: it is an island, and we intended to sail around it too!

The waters of the South Pacific, close to the Roaring Forties, are not usually on the agenda of a round-the-world voyage under sail, but Covid offered us the opportunity to discover some seldom-visited places. With the help of La Niña, the southern latitudes of New Zealand and Australia experienced climatic conditions that were highly favorable for sailing in these southern seas. That’s how Cat’leya, having left Sydney in January 2023, arrived in Melbourne to prepare for a circumnavigation of Tasmania.

From Port Philip Bay to King Island

Only 110 miles separate King Island from north-west Tasmania, where 140,000 wallabies, thousands of cattle, a penguin breeding ground and 1,600 human beings await us. But the Bass Strait is no laughing matter, so we took every precaution when leaving Port Philip Bay to avoid the huge waves that can be created by the combination of sudden changes in depth and the opposing current. Despite our caution, when we reached the exit of the bay in the channel, Cat’leya was picked up by 6 to 10-foot (2 to 3-meter) waves, and I was glad that she was equipped with two 80 HP engines which enabled us to keep going... Fortunately, it didn’t last very long, but the swell remained, making for an uncomfortable crossing!

Cape Wickham and its lighthouse, on the northern tip of King Island, would be our first contact with Tasmania. In the 19th century, this was a staging post for the transport of migrants and convicts between England and Australia. More than 60 shipwrecks were recorded in these waters, which eventually led to the construction of the lighthouse. Built of stone in 1861, the lighthouse stands 157 feet (48 m) high, making it Australia’s tallest lighthouse. Painted white, the lighthouse is now automated; its 1,000 W light has a range of 24 miles. At the time, Bass Strait was a shortcut between England and Sydney (by about a week), but strong winds, uncertain currents, inaccurate charts, imprecise navigational aids and reefs and rocks jutting out more than a mile from the shore exacted a heavy toll on those who used it... We’re well into the Roaring Forties here!

The West Coast : Macquarie Harbour and Port Davey

Tasmania’s west coast has a reputation for being exposed to north-westerly swells, and sheltered ports such as Macquarie Harbour and Port Davey are few and far between for those adventurous souls who sail here. After 20 hours’ sailing, we found ourselves at Hells Gates, the entrance to the former. Macquarie Harbour was a former British penal colony on Sarah Island, used between 1822 and 1833. It had the reputation of being one of Australia’s harshest colonies, as the ...