Leg 2
Tall Ships Australia 2013 Melbourne-
Hobart September 2013
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| Abel Tasman's sailings |
Sailing the
Soren Larsen in the Tall Ships Australia, was THE opportunity to sail in the
wake of Abel Tasman. Abel Janszoon Tasman ( 1603–1659) was a Dutch seafarer,
explorer and merchant, best known for his voyages of 1642 and 1644 in the
service of the VOC (Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie) (United East India
Company). He was the first known European explorer to reach the islands of Van
Diemen's Land (now Tasmania) and New Zealand, and to sight the Fiji islands. He
was the inspiration for our sailing adventure. When we left the Netherlands in
January 2013, we didn’t know which ship we were going to sail on but we knew
that we wanted to sail in the region of Australia and the Pacific Islands. And
here we are; crew on the fabulous Soren Larsen sailing leg 2 and 3 from the
Tall Ships event: Melbourne-Hobart-Sydney.
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| Famous Bass Strait |
For the
seafarers under the readers, this means crossing the famous Bass Strait twice. It
has a rich history of challenges and danger since the wrecking of the ship Sydney
Cove in 1797. Hundreds of vessels up to the size of bulk carriers have come to grief in
Bass Strait since that time through hitting reefs, running aground on the
coastline or on river bars while entering port, or foundering due to stress of
weather, some dozens being lost without trace.
We are in
the old harbour of Williamstown, just outside Melbourne and welcome our new
voyage crew on Friday 13 October. This day is used to train the new crew of 22
people, who sail with us this challenging leg from Melbourne to Hobart. I am
still amazed that new born sailors choose
this as first trip and all of us know that they will regret not to bring proper sailing gear and maybe the days
and nights spend green as hell from being seasick. But all of them are up for
an adventure and they will get it ! Luckily we leave the next day on Saturday,
because leaving on a Friday , even more on the 13th, is the sailors
superstitious idea that it will bring bad luck. But we kept the women on board
!!
Myths and Superstitions of Pirates and Sailors
Sailors and Pirates were very superstitious and
would throw salt over their left shoulder. Throwing salt over your shoulder is a
way of keeping the devil at bay.
17th century sailors who would knock on the
wood hull of their ships to listen for worm or rot, hearing a solid sound would
imply that the hull was in "ship shape" When in a conversation a
reference is made to 'Good luck' they would sometimes say 'Touch wood' and
touch some part of their wooden vessel. It is unlucky to start a cruise on
Friday.This is the day Christ was crucified on. But also Women onboard a ship
distract the crew and place it in peril.(probably true)
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| Leaving Melbourne, Soren and Windward |
On Saturday we have a beautiful sail in the Port Philip Bay. A hugh bay of 1.930 km of water and 35 times the sizes of Sydney harbour. We left with the fleet of Tall Ships in a full breeze of force 5-6 Beaufort. Nice flat water though and a good day for our new crew to get their sea legs. We anchored at the yacht club in Capel Sound for the night.
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| "Europa" leaving Melbourne |
The next
day we leave the heads and here the force 5-6 Beaufort feels different and we
start to experience the power of the sea and the waves. A lot of the voyage
crew was seasick so on our watch we ended with only 2 or 3 and the permanent
crew Joe, Donny and myself. Not that I felt fantastic but you just have to sail
the ship and do your work. On our night watch the wind became even stronger and
we had to take in sail. Donny and I had to stow the upper topsail and the
t’gallent. Very exciting and challenging to climb to the yards in a force 6 on
a heavily rolling ship !!! What they say is true “no grip faster than a scared
sailors grip” . I was so glad that our watch was finished at midnight. Time for
your bunk and to lay down. Sleeping in a heavily rolling ship and the creaking
of the wooden planks is impossible but it luckily calmed down in the early
morning.
This was
really the Bass Strait experience with wind and big waves. The combination of
winds, currents, tidal flow and the shallow bottom often lead to tall waves,
often of short length, with a confused short swell often conflicting in
direction.
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| Speed 10.9 knots !!! |
Luckily
Bass Strait is only 120 miles wide so on Monday we crossed the furious stretch
of water and waves calmed down. The wind stayed strong but the sea state was
moderate instead of rather rough (what means waves of 4-6 meters). We made
speeds up to 10 knots and our watch was the winner with 36 miles in 4 hours. A
very nice reward for the difficult conditions the night before. In the evening
we passed Cape Sorell on Tasmania.
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| Greg the engineer |
On Tuesday wind
was light and we had to start the “iron topsail” and motor sailed along the
West Coast of Tasmania. The voyage crew all recovered from their
seasickness and slowly everyone came
back on deck and showed interest in food again. We passed North head and Ashley
point and anchored at midnight in the
Northern arm of Port Davey. Time for quiet relaxing night sleep!
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| Explaining voyage crew our plans for Port Davey |
1642, Abel
Tasman may have been the first to sight the Port Davey inlet, but his chart
shows a smooth coastline. Now wind the clock forward a hundred fifty years,
Matthew Flinders along with his friend George Bass set sail aboard the tiny
Norfolk to prove Tasmania was indeed an island. Approaching two rounded hills,
a strengthening wind they perceive, “the appearance of a considerable opening.”
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| Arrival Port Davey |
Why is Port
Davey so special?
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| Arrival Port Davey |
An
isolated, stunningly beautiful wilderness area on Tasmania's South-West coast.
This marine area, to which there is no road access, comprises of some 17,000ha
and is part of the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area. Bathurst Harbour
is the only sheltered inlet. Bathurst Channel is a deep and narrow drowned
river valley and it would still be considered unique, as it the only harbour in
southern Australia where marine and estuarine systems and surrounding fresh
water catchments have not experienced significant human impact. The lack of
human impact is a result of the difficulties in accessing the area - access is
possible only by sea, foot (via the South Coast Track and the Port Davey Track)
or air.
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| Dingy tour in the mouth of river Davey |
The next
morning we discover in our little dingy the beauty of this nature area and
although it is raining, we feel like very lucky to see so much beauty.
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| Oosterschelde in Port Davey |
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| Voyage crew Hugh and Andrew |
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| Charlotte en voyage crew Beth |
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| Bosun Billy |
We set sail
again at the end of the day and motor sail the whole day. The waves are back
and the Soren starts rolling again, not a favour of the voyage crew with the
least sea legs. We have another anchorage the next night in Quarantine Bay what
gives us a nice quiet sleeping night.
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| Billy working on the t'gallant |
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On the
Friday October 20 we sail into Hobart. We feel a little like hero’s that we did
it ! We crossed Bass Strait and the Tall Ship events Hobart are waiting for us.
That means party time and a day off for Billy and me. We are able to sneak away
for 24 hours and stay in a little hotel to have some private romantic time.
Then it is time to say farewell to the voyage crew and get the ship ready for
the next 22 new voyage crew for the last leg: Hobart Sydney. For me a lot of
cleaning and preparation involved and hard work to get all the cabins ready. Besides
that we have “open ship” to show all the people from Hobart our ship Soren Larsen
and to answer the most stupid questions. So most asked question is : “what are
all these fluffy things”? It are the baggy wrinkles to protect the sails from
chafing against the stays.
All good,
this is the great Soren Larsen crew, ready for the next crossing of Bass Strait
!!!
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| Crew Soren Larsen |
Leg 3
Tall Ships Australia 2013
Hobart-Sydney September/October
2013
On the 24th
of October we welcomed the new voyage crew for the leg Hobart-Sydney. Another
challenging stretch of sea, sailing the East Coast of Tasmania and crossing
Bass Strait again.
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| Joe demonstrating the survival suit |
In my watch
a lot of courage woman who sail this leg as what I guess, a sort of a midlife
crisis treat. All in their beginning 40 ties and really fun. We start the
training this time with the explanation of the “survival suits” . In the
emergency of abandon ship, in these cold waters, this suit will keep you alive
at least a couple of hours longer.
Also Abel Tasman,
my sailing hero had a difficult time and bad weather on the East Coast of
Tasmania.
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| Capt Marty explaining our sailing plans |
Tasman then tried to work his two ships into
Adventure Bay on the east coast of South Bruny Island where he was blown out to
sea by a storm, this area he named Storm Bay. Tasman then landed in Blackman
Bay – in the larger Marion Bay. The next day, an attempt was made to land in
North Bay; however, because the sea was too rough the carpenter swam through
the surf and planted the Dutch flag in North Bay. Tasman then claimed formal
possession of the land on 3 December 1642.
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| Europa leaving Hobart |
We left
Hobart the day after with the big fleet of Tall Ships. A gorgeous parade of sail
and it felt like a museum to see all these great Tall Ships. Again as Duchy I
am very proud that our of the fleet of 10 ships, 3 ships are Dutch, who sailed
halfway around the world to join this event. For hem the next challenging event
is Cape Horn !!
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| Watching the Tall Ships parade |
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| Elliot 2nd mate |
We got some
serious wind and waves at the end of the afternoon. The wind picked up to 40
knots with gusts of 50 knots! On our watch from 8-12 in the evening, all the
voyage crew disappeared down below in their bunks, too scared or too sick. We
called up some more permanent crew to rig all our safety lines and nets, to be
sure not to get washed overboard with the big waves and rollers. We lost most
of our fruit out of the nets rigged mid ships but other than that no damage of
any sort. Later we heard from a couple of ships that they had serious damage:
Europa lost her top mast and Oosterschelde lost her main staysail boom. I think
I saw waves of at least 6-8 meters height. Also I felt a little green and
seasick but the excitement was too great to think about it.
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| At sea in stormy weather |
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| Charlotte & Donny |
No way that
any sleep was possible after our watch because of the big rollers and creaking
of the planks of the ship. The fun part was that this wasn’t in Bass Strait but
in the lee of the Tasmanian coast. A real Abel Tasman experience !!!
The next
day the wind calmed down and to give anyone a rest and a good night sleep ,we
anchored at Maria Island.
Another
beautiful sail to Cape Barren, where we anchored or the day and waited for a
change in the wind direction before
crossing Bass Strait.
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| Leonie wet & stormy |
The next
day the wind was from the right direction, but again Bass Strait is living up
her fame and we battled through the Tasman sea with 50 knots of wind. Exciting
sailing with again a lot of crashing waves over the bow and mid ships. I don’t
think you can get more exciting sailing than this !
It calmed
down once we crossed Bass Strait and we motor sailed our way up north to Eden. Some
excitement after all the rough weather with dolphins!
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| Soren alongside in Eden |
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| Eden at sunset |
Eden, the first
safe harbour after Bass Strait and a lovely little old whalers harbour.
A relaxed evening at the quay and for everyone some time to go ashore and stretch
our wobbly sea legs.
More motor
sailing north and in the early morning of 30 September. The weather calmed down
and we could spend some time fishing. We caught 2 little Bonita tuna fish and Emilia
and Jess made a fantastic starter for dinner.
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| Charlotte & Kimberley |
The weather
became really nice , although the wind was from the wrong direction so we had
to motor sail a lot. Wonderful whale said hello to us. The voyage crew enjoys
the leisure motor sailing and is proud on the new hats they bought in Eden.
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| Whales & Tall Ship Lord Nelson |
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| Kim & Kimberley |
We entered
Jervis Bay to check out the navy vessels . They are part of the The Sydney Tall
Ships event. The Review is being held to commemorate the centenary of the first
entry of the Royal Australian Navy's Fleet into Sydney. On 4 October 1913 the
flagship, HMAS Australia, led the new Australian Fleet Unit into Sydney Harbour
for the first time to be greeted by thousands of cheering citizens lining the
foreshore. This was a moment of great national pride and importance, one
recognised as a key indicator of Australia's progress towards national
maturity.
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| Heads of Sydney |
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| Endeavor and Lord Nelson, heads of Sydney |
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| Back Home ! |
It is a big
historic event with 40 visiting warships , 16 tall ships participating, 8000
sailors and one Prince Harry will descend upon Sydney Harbour from October
3-11.
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| With Dutch sailor friend Marlieke |
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| Sydney fire works |
A week full
of events was waiting for us. A tall ships parade; warships arrival from more
than 15 countries; ceremonial fleet review; naval gun salutes; fixed wing and
helicopter flypasts; aerial acrobatic displays; Sydney Harbour fireworks and
light show
We sailed
into Sydney with a lot of rain and wind and felt proud we did it ! We sailed in
the wake of Abel Tasman and really know what Bass Strait has to offer.
This is the
last part of our sailing adventures. One more blog to come about our trip to
Vietnam to trace the footsteps of Billy’s dad in 1970.
Ahoy
Charlotte
Myths and Superstitions of Pirates and Sailors
1642, Abel
Tasman may have been the first to sight the Port Davey inlet, but his chart
shows a smooth coastline. Now wind the clock forward a hundred fifty years,
Matthew Flinders along with his friend George Bass set sail aboard the tiny
Norfolk to prove Tasmania was indeed an island. Approaching two rounded hills,
a strengthening wind they perceive, “the appearance of a considerable opening.”
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
On the
Friday October 20 we sail into Hobart. We feel a little like hero’s that we did
it ! We crossed Bass Strait and the Tall Ship events Hobart are waiting for us.
That means party time and a day off for Billy and me. We are able to sneak away
for 24 hours and stay in a little hotel to have some private romantic time.
Then it is time to say farewell to the voyage crew and get the ship ready for
the next 22 new voyage crew for the last leg: Hobart Sydney. For me a lot of
cleaning and preparation involved and hard work to get all the cabins ready. Besides
that we have “open ship” to show all the people from Hobart our ship Soren Larsen
and to answer the most stupid questions. So most asked question is : “what are
all these fluffy things”? It are the baggy wrinkles to protect the sails from
chafing against the stays.
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
The next
day the wind calmed down and to give anyone a rest and a good night sleep ,we
anchored at Maria Island.
We entered
Jervis Bay to check out the navy vessels . They are part of the The Sydney Tall
Ships event. The Review is being held to commemorate the centenary of the first
entry of the Royal Australian Navy's Fleet into Sydney. On 4 October 1913 the
flagship, HMAS Australia, led the new Australian Fleet Unit into Sydney Harbour
for the first time to be greeted by thousands of cheering citizens lining the
foreshore. This was a moment of great national pride and importance, one
recognised as a key indicator of Australia's progress towards national
maturity.
