On Australia Day we left The Prom behind us and headed out to sea, aiming for a small group of islands in Bass Strait, called the Kent Group. About one quarter of the way to Tasmania, the Kent Group islands are considered part of Tassie, and so we reached our second state of the trip (technically!).
It was an eight hour passage, motoring at the beginning and then sailing when the wind picked up sufficiently. Our anchorage was in a calm little bay called Garden Cove on Deal Island. Monday saw us hiking all over Deal Island on the well kept trails, climbing up to lots of viewpoints to see the beautiful views over the islands and the ocean. It was a very peaceful place, and the only other people there were the two volunteer caretakers, Dale and David, who look after the island. Volunteer caretakers spend three months at a time on the island, looking after all the maintenance. They are not paid and even have to provide all their own food for the three months.
On Tuesday we motored around to neighbouring Erith Island and anchored in West Cove. Erith Island is much smaller than Deal Island, and with no caretakers to maintain tracks, we had to bushbash our way to the opposite side. We also did some snorkelling in the bay; the water was incredibly clear and we saw lots of interesting fish, but the water was freezing!
As it was a moonless, clear and cloudless night, at about 11pm Matt ventured off in the tender to take his camera setup to shore to try for some night sky and star shots. Although shore was only about 100 metres away, in the pitch black he relied on his now finely honed bushman skills, and a 10 million watt torch purchased on ebay for $25.00 to guide the way. With no moon to judge the passing of time he became disoriented and ended up in the middle of Murray Pass. This stretch of water is notorious for being the last place of many a fine vessel. Unsure how a 2.4 metre blow up boat that had recently been patched to prevent a slow leak and only 3 hp 2 stroke outboard for propulsion would handle the conditions, he started to consider that he may be lost. Still in sight of the boat he turned off the torch and in the darkness was able to make out the shore and pointed his trusty steed in its direction. In scenes reminiscent of Luke Skywalker with the blast shield down practicing with his light saber in the Millennium Falcon, he managed to touch sand. Stepping off onto the shore he set up his camera, arsed about with some buttons and by fluke or good fortune managed to snap a few pictures.
Cool Change 