Our Current Position

Thursday 24 December 2015

Day 16 - Slow but Spectacular

We left Maria Island at 0830 heading into a light southerly wind. With the exception of about an hour in the middle of the day the wind remained pretty light all day and so we motored sailed, taking care to look after the engine. It ended up taking us a total of 11 hours to cover the 45 nm to Port Arthur, a very poor 4 knots average.

The slow pace did, however, allow us to take in the spectacular scenery around the Tasman Peninsula. The dolerite pillars make for pretty impressive set of cliffs. We sailed through what is locally known as "the hole in the wall', a narrow gap between Tasman Island and the Tasman Peninsular with towering dolerite on each side. Not for the feint hearted and certainly not for the skipper who hates sailing close to the hard stuff. It did cut 5nm off the trip though! As if the scenery wasn't enough we were also treated to great views of dolphins, sunbathing seals and albatross. 

We are now safely in Port Arthur on a mooring and planning to spend the next few days chilling out here.  We have some interesting neighbours. I'm sure I heard him saying that he wished he had a yacht like ours (see pic). 

A merry christmas to all. Ho Ho Ho


Sunset  Maria Island 
Cape Pillar, Tasman Peninsular

Cape Pillar, Tasman Peninsular

The hole in the wall

Our neighbours for Christmas

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