Shine a Light: Down the Channel and around to Cygnet

Southern Belle in Sykes Cove, Barnes Bay with the ever present Mt Wellington in the background ... a crystal clear afternoon in southern Tasmania.

On a stunning January 2 morning it was time to move out of the marina and do some cruising in the world renown D'Entrecasteaux Channel. First we had to say goodbye to Jim and Jeannie of Onora who are headed off to New Zealand as soon as their crew arrive and they get a good weather window. We hugged and promised to keep in touch and then walked away (which made me sad). I hope we do see them again someday they were good folks and Jeannie and I shared so many of the same views. I wish them fair winds and good travels wherever they may wander.

The D'Entrecasteaux Channel .. or simply the Channel .. is a wide body of water separating the Tasmanian mainland from Bruny Island. It was discovered in April 1792 by the French explorer Bruni D'Entrecasteaux who, according to Wikipedia, was ill at the time and the seas were rough. His navigator made a calculation error and brought the ships up the then unknown channel into calm waters and discovered this very special place. The Channel, the coast of Tasmania along here and Bruny Island offer all kinds of enjoyment for anyone and everyone. There are picturesque little towns, boutique winerys, art, sailing, sheltered coves and historic sites. You don't need a boat to explore but it does add to the experience!

No matter which direction or where you view the Channel the outlook is big, wide and often empty of people or other boats.

The boundless sky adds another element of wonder .. huge and ever changing.

So, we headed out of our marina berth and down to the Channel. It was a good day with just the right amount of wind for a fast broad reach downwind at 6 knots. The boat and Captain George (and even me) were happy. We managed to sail all the way to our mooring in Sykes Cove with only a few adjustments .. a feat not often accomplished when navigating around headlands, hills and wind shifts. Sykes Cove is a sheltered anchorage at the bottom of the large and popular Barnes Bay. The reason this was our first stop? It's the closest anchorage to the Bruny Island House of Whiskey.

Lovely, calm Sykes Cove. When we arrived there was only 1 other boat, SV Stray Cats. By the time we left, became good friends with Debbie and Steve.

To get to the House of Whiskey from the water is a bit of an undertaking. We called friends that had done it before plus we motored the dingy up and down the shore line looking for the right place to go ashore and climb up to the road. This was the best place we found. George dragged the dingy up a muddy, rocky shore; then we climbed up the hill and slithered through a break in the fence and on to the road. From there it's just a short walk up the hill.

Once in the House of Whiskey there are a multitude of choices!

The House of Whiskey is advertised as having the most extensive representation of purely Tasmanian malt whiskey in one spectacular place. The room even smells good! Faced with a choice ranging from their Trappers Hut 15 year old to lesser younger malts it can become almost overwhelming. They do offer a selection of 4 half dram tasters for $40. We chose to do that. Now, George is from Scotland and he knows his malts. Me, I'm not that crazy about whiskey but I do love a Glenmorangie every now and then. Sadly, neither of us liked any of the whiskeys in our selection (but that didn't mean anything was left in the glass). If you're there it's worth a visit, even if just for the experience of the view and the tasting room selection! Oh, and they have boutique gin too.

The next day the westerly wind was still blowing so we moved over to the mainland side of the Channel to a place called Peppermint Bay. We jumped at the invitation to join Sans Souci and Supa Trooper - also members of the PISST! group - there for very enjoyable sundowners that evening. One of the lovely little towns found along this waterway is Woodbridge and it is just up the road from the Peppermint Bay jetty. Turns out there is a perfect and very popular general store serving good coffee and breakfast there so we all went up the next morning and after a very nice meal walked around the area.

Peppermint Bay.

Woodbridge main street.

Loved this! A free community library. The rules are, "if you like a book please take it and bring one back if you can".

I was ready for a big lunch or dinner off the boat and one I didn't have to cook. The bistro at Woodbridge is supposed to be very good so we called for a reservation but they were booked out. Disappointed and thinking the westerly winds had died down a bit I suggested we make a run for the Great Bay anchorage and the Get Shucked oyster farm and bar. We loved Get Shucked in 2015 and it was one of the places we knew we had to visit again this time ... but we have to be able to anchor in Great Bay to get there. A few words about Great Bay. It's a massive area, shallow at only 4 or 5 meters all over, full of fish farms and unpleasant in westerly winds. Not far into the bay after leaving our anchorage the wind picked up to over 25 knots and Great Bay rapidly became not so great or comfortable. We had to change course and find another sheltered anchorage for the night which turned out to be Aitkins Point in Isthmus Bay. George enjoyed the sail there heeled over on a fast beam reach. Me, not so much. Our new friends from Stray Cats were there already sheltering from the wind and as we anchored they brought over a couple of flathead fish they had just caught so instead of oysters we did get fresh fish for dinner. That was our first attempt getting to Get Shucked.

Fresh flathead for dinner! Thank you Steve!

The next morning we were up early and sailed off to our next destination of Port Cygnet and the village of Cygnet. We managed to sail almost all the way to Huon Island and the start of the Huon River but the wind fizzled out and we motored the rest of the way up the river and into the Port. Just like the Channel the Huon River is wide and deep at this lower end with many fish farms along the banks and a big farm right down the middle. Once the farm in the middle is behind you the cruise up the Huon River is peaceful and scenic. It's not long until the wide opening to Port Cygnet appears off the starboard side and you turn the boat in towards the little port. At the head of the bay there are quite a lot of boats on moorings with the terrific little Cygnet Sailing Club house sitting on the bank with a well used dingy corral . We had booked the DSS mooring for 2 days and made our way through the boats to find the mooring. Just as we found it and were turning off the motor this large dolphin popped up right beside the boat with a loud blow. Scared me to death! Then it proceeded to fish for awhile on the surface just off the side of the bow. Wow! I mentioned it to cruisers who are here just about every year and they said they had never seen a dolphin in the Port before so I consider us very lucky.

Port Cygnet with rolling hills and some fine houses behind. The Cygnet Sailing Club house sits right on the water's edge just behind the blue hull boat in the photo.

Looking across the boat down the waterway leading up to the Port.

It's a 25 minute walk from the Port into the town of Cygnet. I really like the town. It seems to be - at least to the infrequent visitor like me - a friendly, vibrant and progressive village. We walked into town for a few groceries and a nice lunch in the Bed & Breakfast hotel. That evening we had dinner while enjoying the sounds of being at anchor in this lovely place.

The next day, Tuesday, was race day at the Cygnet Sailing Club. Every Tuesday they have an afternoon race followed by a 'come one come all' $15 a head BBQ. We watched the race get underway from our cockpit and then long before it was over took the dingy over for the BBQ. We met up with Jim and Ann, very accommplished live aboard cruisers off their boat Insatiable II, and they introduced us to some of the locals. I sort of felt sorry for the people in the race because the dinner kicked off long before the race was over and when they finally arrived there wasn't much food left. We also met a couple who were passing through on their way around the world from The Netherlands. She is a member of WWSA (Women Who Sail Australia) too. Really good people and very interesting to hear their exploits. She is way way braver than I'll ever be.

Me with Janneke off the yacht Anna Caroline, great to meet and talk to her and her partner.

The rest of the week was one lazy day after the other enjoying walks into town, good coffee and meeting new people. We were there for the popular Cygnet Folk Festival due to start on the coming Friday and we were looking forward to seeing friends on Sans Souci, Supa Trooper and Stray Cats again. There was a crowd expected for the weekend so it was nice to shift down for a while and spend some quiet time on the boat.