Goodbye Bass Strait 19th & 20th June

We departed Refuge Cove in fine, calm weather with only a small swell entering the opening.  The wind was predominately ESE and very light the whole way to Gabo Island. However, it was a forgettable trip, owing to the mashed up seas in this area. At times it was so bumpy that we both felt vaguely seasick and couldn't do much below. After the bumpy seas at the beginning of the trip, the seas started to get spikey, then around Point Hicks the sea looked prickly. Stranger little prickles stood up on the top of the waves. There was a swell coming in from the west and another from the south east as a result of a huge depression in the Tasman Sea. Compounding all this must have been various competing currents. I'm glad Bass Strait is behind us.

As soon as we had rounded Gabo Island and began the trip north the seas flattened out, the wind whispered in from the west and we sailed comfortably up to Twofold Bay and the town of Eden. As we arrived at 1.30am we decided to go to the south part of the bay to a smaller bay called East Boyd Bay. This was behind the Naval Munitions Wharf and as there were no navy ships in we could go around it into the bay and anchor. This was a sensible place to go as it is well lit and has no troublesome shallows to avoid. We were in bed and frozen at 2.00am.