Bertie shakes his tail feather

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Location:Quarantine Bay, Bruny Island

Aaah the serenity....?

Well we finally got back on the boat and went for an overnight sail to Quarantine Bay yesterday. The weather was nice for a Tassie winter's day and we had no major dramas motoring across to Bruny. The water was smooth as silk and the landscapes beautifully forboding swaddled in grey mists that disappeared as soon as the sun's rays gouged their way through the clouds illuminating fields of emerald green.

Ah sailing is so romantic! They only thing missing was a parade of dolphins escorting us to the bay and we wold have had the true hallmark moment!

For the most part it's beautiful out there but there is always something that comes up that firmly anchors us into reality. For us on this trip it was the realization that our battery switch isn't working and we relied on one battery the whole trip. Not that big an issue because we generally don't use much power. Then there is boat envy..... We were the first ones in the bay. We dropped anchor, cracked open the wine and watched Bertie the bird shake his tail feather on the mooring bouy next to us. Bertie, who danced to the rythym of the cacophony of crows in the bushland behind us, was our only source of entertainment until the other yachts pulled in...enter boat envy.

We were very happy with our 29.5ft 30 year old boat until we saw the parade of posh yachts come in. We imagined them all swilling expensive rum in their wood pannelled saloons feasting on gourmet delights with a diesel heater keeping their pompous bottoms warm. We wanted to be them and we started to dream up a million money making schemes to one day out posh them with a bigger and better yacht. Then we realize - our boat is good enough! They can have their fancy cabins and live in their yacht club bubble - we were the only people in the bay out on deck enjoying the elements staying warm by cuddling up close and drinking delicious wine! This is what boating is all about being one with the elements and enjoying nature. They missed Bertie's performance and we didn't.

So as the sun set we warmed up some beautiful seafood chowder and had a lovely meal. It was a simple meal but very appropriate for the setting. Dishes done, we snuggled up with a hot mug of tea and caught up on some reading before drifting off to sleep. No matter how calm the water is I am always waking up at the slightest creak. I have a very imaginative mind especially when tired so sleeping on a boat is never entirely restful. First I thought we had a leak and I had dreams of sinking ships and mermaids...then Bertie must have landed on our deck and I thought we were being invaded by pirates....aaah pirates.....Johnny Depp....finally a good dream! "Jelly...Jelly...are you awake???" Johnny (not Depp) says to me "I am now!" I bark back to husband. Awake again but not for long as the other Johnny calls me back aboard The Black Pearl.

Morning comes and were the first ones up (surprise surprise!). Breakfast over, we bid our adieu to Bertie and the Bay, pull up the anchor...STUCK! Oh well, there always has to be drama! Our anchor snagged some old rope stuck to the bottom...John freed us and we were away. I steered us home to Kettering which was emblazoned with rainbows...sadly with rainbows comes rain and we both copped a soaking before we had th sense to put our wet weather gear on. Got into the pen with a bit of drama but that's all part of the fun.

The wind and rain on your face makes you feel alive...not quite serenity but we love it!

Regatta Weekend Sail 7-8 Feb 2010

On Sunday 7 Feb we decided to pack up and go for an overnight sail to the Duckpond at Bruny Island. We had thought this would be our shore weekend but the beautiful weather and the sea beckoned and we couldn't resist!

We arrived at the Margate Marina at before lunch and discovered (to my horror) how low the tide was! There was no way Jelly the chicken would jump the 10ft down to the boat! I'm probably exaggerating here but it was a long way down.... So brave Captain John jumped aboard got all of our gear on board and did a bit of maintenance while I waited in vain for the tide to come up or summon enough courage to make the leap of faith. Once maintenance works were completed a plan was hatched to get me aboard. This involved climbing onto a neighbouring houseboat and pulling Barquero close enough for me to hop on. The houseboat dude (Michael) was very gracious and I thank him from saving me from having to jump!

Once aboard (with rex the seadog) we got underway and out of the Marina into Northwest Bay. About 15 minutes into our journey we lost one of the 2 kayaks we were towing behind us. Captain John quickly turned us around and I snagged the kayak with the grappling hook and we had her tied back up in no time. Great teamwork there!

The weather was amazing and in about 1/2 an hour in we pulled up the foresail (we aren't brave enough to put the mainsail up) put the autohelm on and stood at the front of the deck with the wind in our hair and eyes on the horizon. That was one of those magic moments that I will always treasure. While on deck we decided to call into Killora Beach on Bruny Island for lunch, some kayaking and a swim. Here is a pic of me and Rex the Seadog at Killora.

Killora Beach is a popular spot for yachts and powerboats. The beach is sandy and the water gets quite warm (warm for Tasmania anyway!) in the shallows and its quite safe for kids and seadogs! The colours were so amazing that John commented while we were kayaking that if he didn't know any better he thought he was in Thailand.

Around 3PM we hoisted the anchor, put up the foresail and made our way to Barnes Bay. We made good time travelling at approx 3-4 knots undersail - lucky the wind was with us! We took the sail down as we approached the Duckpond at Bruny Island.

The Duckpond is a very protected anchorage and that night it looked like a caravan park due to the number of yachts anchored there! After some initial anchor troubles, which resulted in me losing my hat, we anchored got into the kayaks rescued my hat and paddled around. There were some great yachts there - my favourite was a timber ketch called the NZ Maid which I've seen berthed at Kettering. There was an Aboriginal Music Festival happening on the hill - we thought they would get rowdy but there were quite ok ...well apart from waking me up at 1AM with some very bad karaoke versions of "Raindrops keep fallin' on my Head"!

John had packed some beautiful red wine which we enjoyed on deck watching the activity on the water and the hill. It was another perfect moment....although one regret - we should have packed more wine! Shortly after I made a beef stirfry for dinner on the good ol' metho stove. We spent the evening learning to tie knots and added another 2 to our arsenal - the clove hitch and the bowline.

We slept in the main saloon which was a different experience to sleeping in the V-Berth. On the plus side you can stretch out on the minus you don't have much room to turn around and no cuddles :( It was certainly a restful night...apart from the karaoke and Rex's scratching wanting to cuddle up next to us. We spoiled him by letting him sleep on the berths while we are underway.

On Monday morning we woke at around 8AM had a coffee and a nice breakfast of eggs on toast and went for a paddle with Rex to shore. We spent the day kayaking and practicing anchoring - I think I'm getting the hang of being anchor wench! By about 11 most of the yachts were gone and we had the duckpond to ourselves - our own little paradise. We seriously contemplated calling in sick the next day to spend another day out on the water but being the responsible people we are we resisted...... We made our way out of the duckpond after a late lunch at about 3PM.

We had varying success with the sails - the wind wasn't in our favour and was fickle but we weren't in a hurry and took our time.

We arrived at the marina at around 5:15 and then the drama began. One of our mooring lines had mysteriously disappeared! It was of course the critical one and as luck would have it the wind picked up and made things more difficult. We got Barquero tied up eventually - it was a harrowing experience but our newly found knot and rope splicing skills came in very handy here! Chicken Jelly actually managed to hop on and off the boat herself which was a huge achievement.

What a great weekend! I'm looking forward to the next adventure...

PS - we were going to update the blog in realtime with our new u-beaut Telstra NextG we've got coverage everywhere mobile broadband card but there was no coverage!!! Oh well....maybe its a good thing we can't have internet on Barquero.