That's where we're about to go - our route from Eden, NSW to Tassie is drawn in above.
Bass Strait is one of those bodies of water that has the reputation of being BAD when it's bad, but quite nice when it's good. The forecast for the next few days is excellent, so we'll jump off tonight after the kids are in bed, and get started on the 340 miles of sailing that lie between us and our first anchorage in Tas.
We waited out a southerly gale while we were here in Eden - that wouldn't have been the time to cross! Check out the sky above as the gale approaches in the form of a line of thunderstorms embedded in a cold front. When we were waiting out southerly weather in this same anchorage two years ago I managed to flip the dinghy when we tried to land on the beach - all of us, including Elias and seven-and-a-half-months-pregnant Alisa, ended up in the drink. So this time through we just stayed on board for two days while the winds blew themselves out.
Luckily, being boat-bound can be... fun!
And Elias and I had a go with his new squirt guns.
And Alisa baked pain raisin, her go-to treat ever since the good ship Pacific Bliss introduced us to them way back in the Tuamotus.
About an hour before dinner on the second day I was feeling cooped up enough to think about doing some yoga on the front deck. But then Alisa suggested cocktails instead. Here she is mixing up a couple of gin and tonics and a milk for Elias...
The anchorage where all this took place is dominated by an Australian Navy dock. Imagine our surprise when we were drinking the above g and ts and heard an announcement over the radio that due to planned explosives loading, the anchorage would have to be cleared by 0600 the next morning. Remember, our windlass is still not working, so we would have to pick our 40-kilo anchor and the 175 feet of chain we had out by hand. Rather than doing that right when the kids were waking up and clamoring for a clean nappy, mother's milk and weet-bix, we decided to get up at 0430 so that we could work together to get the hook up without little people screaming at us:
As an old sailing friend said, you've got to bob and weave in this life!
Here we are after the anchor had been pulled and we were safely back in the anchorage right at town, away from any loading explosives. Dad a bit weary, but one-year-old and his stuffed dog ready to go!
It's not a bad life...
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