Arriving at Refuge - Not Happy! |
We had hoped to spend maybe a day or two at the prom however, as mentioned earlier, the volatile weather forecasts meant that the weather windows on offer are just a little too short for our comfort levels as meeting a front in Bass Strait is just not on so we figured why not hang out and enjoy some quality time at Refuge Cove which was not that hard a decision as it is a pretty neat place to spend a few days.
We filled in our days doing lots of walks including hikes to both Sealers Cove and Waterloo Bay. We also updated our Mustang Sally board which is proudly mounted with the many others in the Yachties section at Refuge. We even managed to go for a very quick swim on one of the warmer days which was very brave as the water really is quite cold especially when you are used to swimming in water that is normally over 24C. There was also plenty of excitement with the Ambulance Helicopter dropping in one morning to evacuate a sick walker. There were also a few other boats hanging out in Refuge so we had plenty of company.
View of Waterloo Bay |
Our afternoon guest! |
Wilson's Prom Light |
Eventually a weather window did present itself and all the boats heading West departed on Thursday morning (27th November). Again we had a lovely crossing back to the heads and managed to sail most of the way with 10-15knt Southerly Winds which was very comfy. We were closely followed by a Seawind 1250 called Lauren Maree which was quite keen to follow us in through the Heads as this was to be there first night time entry. We were amazed at the amount of shipping heading up the bay. There were two ships that crossed through the heads as we were entering and we then had another 3 to 4 ships pass us on our way up the South Channel.... Busy Busy Busy!
We made it back into the pond of Port Phillip Bay at around 2.30 on Friday morning and were tied up in our berth at Martha Cove by 5.30am where will be for a while before heading off our on next adventure - hopefully Fiji!
Now most people think that we spend most of the time with just the two of us on board however, we do have a small crew that help us out. They are a pretty quiet bunch that we have collected on our travels to date and if nothing else give us a laugh from time to time. We have included a photo of them below and the members from left to right are: Brian (crayfish), Colleen (gecko), Squirt (turtle) Juddy (no explanation required), Stephen (prawn), Nemo (nemo).
The Crew |
Some information from our travels up the coast.
Time on board: 33weeks
Distance travelled: Approx. 3,700NM
Visitors on board: Barry & Ros (Mackay - Hamilton Island)
Amanda (Hamilton Island - Townsville)
Leapy Lynda (Cairns to Lizard Island)
Wayne & Helen (Lizard Island)
Brian & Kathy (Southport to Sydney)
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