Our sail was, uh, boisterous. Again, it was one of those times when we expected to see no traffic other than the ferries because no sensible boater would go out in this. We wouldn't have either if we weren't going directly downwind.
We started with 1.5 reefs in the jib, which is about 16% of our full working sail area. As soon as we left the protection of the river, it became clear that that was way too much. The wind was blowing above thirty. We reduced to 10%, then 3%. The building waves were short and steep and we kept getting thrown by the odd one from a slightly different direction.
About halfway across, the wind was occasionally touching forty knots and it was apparent that we were still going too fast. We didn't want to enter the river on the ebb, with the wind against the current building up standing waves. I rolled up the jib completely, leaving us just with the windage of the bare poles and the cabin. At least with no sail up, we didn't have to worry about the danger of a crash gybe. We were still going six knots and surfing up to nine down the wave faces. Even then, we were too early for slack water when we approached the river entrance, but it was almost gone, so we decided to continue and see what it was like.
It wasn't too bad after all. We had a two-knot current against us, but the decreasing bottom depth had reduced the standing wave height to less than a meter, which had little effect on us. Best of all, the channel was roughly lined up with the wind, so we could keep 'sailing' in. We had the engines ready to go; the fuel valves were open, the covers were off; all I had to do was push the start buttons, but we didn't end up needing them until it was time to warm them up for anchoring.
It was a little choppy but eventually we were in the protection of the Estuary
For the first time in ages, we were seeing plenty of other cruising boats, almost all of them local. At our intended anchorage in the West Arm, the spot we had planned to anchor was already full so we had to continue on upriver to a different location, which in retrospect, I think I like better. It has a better view for catching up on admin.
Maryanne was keen to make use of our inflatable Kayak
The next morning, after the wind had calmed and the sun came out, we were visited by Ron and his visiting daughter, plus her partner. Ron runs the marina around the corner at Beauty Point. He said he had seen us come in the day before on AIS and thought he would come over, say "hi" and tell us he has a berth for us if we want it. I tell you, that AIS is really paying for itself down here!
... Or perhaps Ron was convinced that we had snuck over from the mainland without telling anybody? He made a point of mentioning that he had Biosecurity on speed-dial and then taking photos of us. He said he just liked to go out and welcome other boaters, but he made a beeline to us from around the corner and then a beeline back without chatting with any of the others. How disappointed he will be when his speed-dial buddy says, “Yeah, they checked in at Stanley ten days ago.”?
After a couple of nights there, we headed further upriver to Supply Bay, mostly for a change of scenery, but also to break up the long tidal river into more manageable sections. We anchored above a shallow mud flat that was way out in the middle of the river a long way from shore (but obviously out of the channel).
Moving further up the River Tamar
Plenty of evidence of a thriving timber industry
Along with Blubber Jellyfish, the fur seals kept us entertained
Around the Batman bridge there was a long stretch of heavy turbulance (known locally as Whirlpool Reach).
When we got tired of being cooped up on the boat, we each took the kayak out for a paddle along the shore. I got a little overambitious and decided not to turn around until reaching the Batman Bridge five kilometers downstream. I had estimated the current carrying me towards the bridge would reverse just before I got there. The Batman crosses the narrowest part of the Tamar and thus has the highest flow, so I was half expecting to be held back from my goal by it. I ended up being early, though, which ended up making the long trip back to Begonia longer and harder than the way down.
{Maryanne: The Batman bridge was built in the 1960s and is Australia's first cable-stayed bridge. While the mention of the Batman Bridge brings that 60's Batman TV show music instantly to my mind, it was actually named after John Batman, "an Australian grazier and explorer of the early 1800s, who was noted for his achievements including the founding of Melbourne and capture of notorious bushranger, Matthew Brady". He is also one of the first to have engaged in any treaty negotiations with the aboriginal population (which was promptly declared illegitimate by the government). Like many influential European-Australians of the time, there is also a dark side, he was known to be involved in the "Black War" and connected with mass genocide of the native Aboriginal populations. Recently there have been calls to change the name of the bridge, perhaps to Kanamaluka, the local aboriginal name for the river itself.}
We weren't the only ones chilling out at Supply Cove
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