While many sailors are keen to get across Bass Strait as quickly as possible, there are good reasons to slow down and island hop your way across. If you have ever flown down to Hobart and looked out the window as you fly over Flinders Island, you will see some of the most spectacular cruising grounds in Tasmania. While it can be a challenging place to cruise and anchor, its well worth a visit. 

The Furneaux Group is a group of approximately 100 islands located at the eastern end of Bass Strait, between Victoria and Tasmania. The islands were named after British navigator Tobias Furneaux, who sighted the eastern side of these islands after leaving Adventure Bay in 1773 on his way to New Zealand to rejoin Captain James Cook. The largest island is Flinders which is about 62 kilometres from north to south, and 37 kilometres from east to west, with a total land area of 1,333 square kilometres.

​Mount Strzelecki in the south west is the island's highest peak at 782 metres, and dominates the vista as you approach the island from the south. About a third of the island is mountainous and rugged with ridges of granite running the length of the island, punctuated by grazing pastures. The coastal areas offer beautiful sandy beaches with granite boulders that look like they are spray painted orange. The temperatures are mild and the island is very dry, and of course exposed to the roaring 40s.

We are anchored at Lady Barron in the south of the island, its very well protected and a great place to explore from. We hired a car for 3 days which was dropped of by at the general store by the lovely Mick and Marianne. They briefed us on the highlights of the Island, a suggested itinerary, the "no go" areas and of course the obligation to wave at every oncoming car! More on that later...​

The suggestion to cover the far north of the island first was a good one, so we stopped first at Whitemark, the main town, which is on the west coast. The bakery had some home made sandwiches for a picnic lunch and we planned our tour over a cuppa before heading even further north. Narrow asphalt ribbons give way to gravel roads, which deteriorate further, becoming bone jarringly corrugated. Of course being Tasmania we sadly do see a fair bit of road kill, mainly wallabies and pademelons. We do also see some live fauna as well, including wombats and echidnas. 

And of course the Cape Barren Geese. These are large (75-100cm tall) grey birds that graze on the grass. For me they bring back painful memories of studying ornithology at Uni. Picture a field trip to majestic Maria Island for a catch, tag and release program for Cape Barren Geese. Try to imagine a bunch of scruffy and hungover university students running around after these poor animals, trying to catch them by leaping on top of them and tackling them to the ground rugby style. This technique unfortunately triggered a "fright" response leading to an explosive defecation of lice ridden $h1t all over aforementioned university students, much to the bemusement of the tutors, and possibly the geese...

​We head north crossing the 40th Parallel for the first time via on road! A few cows watch on... Palana Beach, is on the north coast of Flinders island. There are a some holiday homes here and not much else. We have our picnic lunch overlooking the Sisters Islands. The tide must be running very fast at the moment, creating what looks like "rapids" in the narrow channel between the shore and the islands. We take a walk along the beach, sinking our feet into the lovely soft sand. The water is quite mild by Tassie standards.

Further east we find the North East River, which looks a little like Hill Inlet on Whitsunday Island, with its meandering river with white shifting sands. Nothing much here but orange rocks, a small campground, a characterless lighthouse and fishermen try their luck. A very peaceful place.

Mount Killiekrankie dominates the landscape to the north. Its pink granite peak similar to Strzelecki and of course the famous Wineglass Bay. We opt  not to climb it today, but instead head to Killiekrankie Beach, on the western side of the island. Keith is impressed to find a large fleet of Hobie Cats on the beach, which according to a local are usually raced on a Sunday. Killiecrankie is famous for its Diamonds, which are actually a unique type of Topaz, only found in this area. Topaz is the birthstone for November and the gem for the 16th wedding anniversary. Legends have it that topaz has the power to protect the wearer from illness and accidents. We walk along the beach but sadly don't find any of them on our way, collecting a few nice shells instead. 

When we get back to the anchorage there is an interesting, "agricultural" smell, accompanied by the unmistakable sound of cattle mooing on the recently arrived supply ship. There also seems to have been a delivery of industrial strength fertiliser too. Something else seems to have come along for the ride and dispersed around the anchorage - ITIKI is covered in flies!! We fight our way through the throngs, put up the fly screens and light a mosquito coil, before hiding inside for the evening.

After cleaning lots of dead flies and salt off the deck in the morning we took off in the car, heading north again. We missed the turn off to Marshall Beach and Castle Rock yesterday so came back again this morning. So glad we did!. Castle Rock is a huge bolder just perched on the coastline beside a beautiful, small sandy beach. The rocks along the shoreline here are quite spectacular, granite boulders covered with bright orange lichen. Veins of limestone run through the granite, looking like a row of bricks. The long expanse of Marshall Beach stretches to the north. A couple of fishermen are fishing off the rocks and one of them lands at least 3 good sized flathead while we are watching. Gummy shark and flathead are the favoured local catches, I opted to buy some flathead from the IGA given our track record with fishing. 

From here we head towards Settlement Point, also on the west coast, stopping first at Old Jetty beach where I decide to have a swim. Flinders Island is reputed to have a Mediterranean climate and it is a beautiful, warm sunny day. The water is refreshing, and nowhere near as cold as down south. 
We continue stopping to take a look at Wybalenna Church and Cemetery. This place has a very sad history, as during the Black Wars, many Aboriginal people relocated here against their will. Many died due to starvation and disease. 
We continue on to Settlement point, also known Port Davies or Emita. There are quite a few boats anchored here and it looks like a great anchorage, well protected from the south, which is good as there is a nasty southerly front on its way! Again its a stunning beach with some pretty interesting rock formations, including some mushroom shaped ones. 

We head inland next and find a steep and sandy road up into the hills to Walker's lookout. From here we can see both sides of Flinders island. We wont be able to go down the east coast because the roads are no good, and there is not much there anyway apart from farms. We can see Badger island, Prime Seal Island and some other smaller islands off the west coast. 
Back to the coast we stop at Trouser Point. On the south side is a lovely anchorage with Mt Strzelecki for a dramatic backdrop. The group of boats we last saw at Eddystone Point are all here for the night. From this beach we can walk north over the headland, on the Trouser Point Track, and along the coast to the other side, a beach called Fotheringate Beach. Also a lovely anchorage, but very shallow. Nobody here though. The coastline is spectacular, with the granite boulders, orange rocks and limestone outcrops. We spot a couple of wallabies and Pademelons hanging around the campground. Heading back to the main road we stop briefly at the start of the walk to Strzelecki. Its a tough one and we know we are not "match fit" for such a walk. Anyway I can still pose for a photo at the start of the track and pretend...

After a couple of big days on the road hitting all the major sights we feel its time to chill. We head up to Whitemark for morning tea at The Tuck Shop, wander around this sleepy little town, and stretch our legs with a walk along the beach. What better way to finish our stay at Flinders than to have a long, lazy, late lunch in the vineyards. The only winery on the island, Unavale Wines, is owned and managed by Cassie and Ben, who moved here from the Clare Valley in SA. They have four different wines, and the riesling and rose were excellent. We opt for a riesling with lunch and with our picnic basket in hand set out to our assigned table amongst the vines. Cassie arrives a few minutes later with our grazing plate and freshly baked sourdough. What more could you want? Well the basket included a small bluetooth speaker so we could enjoy some lovely music as well! What a great afternoon and (spoiler alert!) end to our time on Flinders Island.

A final word about the Flinders Island wave. We were told that it was standard practice to wave at every oncoming car as you pass. A bit like boaties always wave to each other. Fortunately its not Military Road (that wave is a bit different anyway..) and you see so few other cars you tend to forget to wave. Anyway by the time we dropped off the car I had it sorted. The wave can involve lifting one finger off the steering wheel, maybe two, occasionally four. The tourists (in white MG SUVs) mostly forget to wave, or wave their full hand and grin stupidly. You also have to get the timing right. Too early and your hand is down by the time the oncoming car sees you, too late and they might miss your wave as they whizz past. Need to find that Goldilocks moment. I opted for the one finger wave and eventually got the timing perfect! 

Deal Island, the largest island of the Kent Group, is a 1,576-hectare (3,890-acre) granite island, located in northern Bass Strait. It lies between the Furneaux Group and Wilsons Promontory. Deal Island, and adjacent Erith Island, are 80km off the coast of Victoria, and 80 kilometres north west of Flinders Island. It really is stuck out their on its own.

By all accounts it is a wild and beautiful place and well worth a visit, not least to shorten the Bass Strait crossing. As much as we wanted to visit this island, we always have one eye on the long range forecast. A very strong Southerly is on its way for the weekend, and an East Coast Low is predicted for The Mainland. We have great looking Easterly weather window for Thursday that will get us into Lakes Entrance early Friday morning, on a beam reach. Sadly this time its No Deal!

We had been warned about the channel from Lady Barron out to the east, its called The Pot Boil. Its a large area of shoals stretching several miles offshore and with wind over tide can generate fearsome standing waves. Our forecast was for very light winds from the east (5kts) and we would be heading out on slack tide. How bad could it be?!! Well you guessed it, wind was actually 18kts and by the time we got to the nasty zone, the tide was already incoming! So we got hammered for about an hour on some big, bouncy, nasty waves, with breakers either side of us, before we crossed the shoals and could finally, safely turn north and get onto our course. Lesson learned! Thats why everyone heads up the West Coast, even though its quite a bit longer. 

Pleased to say that after that traumatic start we had a great reaching breeze with 15-20kts from east, gusting a little higher at times. We had one reef in the main and the full genoa initially, reefing that later as the winds built. Although the waves were relatively small, and from the NE, they were a little short and irregular at times so it was a bumpy ride, more annoying and uncomfortable than anything, but by Bass Strait standards a pretty good crossing! We also had 2.5 to 3.5kts of current coming from the NE, which didn't help our boat speed. Still we were making good time and sailing! The pre-cooked spag. bol. was well received. We crossed the busy, commercial shipping lane, just south of the oil rigs off the coast of Victoria, close to midnight. It was a very dark night, with no moon at all. At one stage we had three big cargo ships approaching from our port side, (the first to within one nautical mile!) and two more from our starboard side. Keith called the nearest boat on the radio to inform him of our presence and intention to cross in front of him, but sadly he could not see us on AIS - our signal is not great! To make sure we would get across Keith put both engines on full throttle. Thank goodness for AIS and big engines! It was a relief to see his port light as we made it across his path. ​

From there we come through two distinct rows of oil rigs. These are well lit and charted and at least they don't move! As we approached the coast the pre-dawn light revealed a misty coastline. The wind was dropping as we got closer and so was our speed, so on come the Volvos. We were able to check the web cams for Lakes Entrance Bar and it looked pretty good. We could also follow a fishing boat in, radioing to announce our presence in case someone was coming out. Its a beautiful sunny day but all we want to do is sleep. After anchoring in the wrong place and getting the evil eye from the fishermen, we move on and find the (free) Cunninghame Dock where we can rest our heads, and wait out the crappy weather. ​

Our first week back on board has really flown by. I thought it would take longer to adjust to life back on board, but its been surprisingly easy. I still have a niggling feeling that there is an unpacked bag somewhere of all the things I meant to bring, or was sure that I had packed, that mysteriously hasn't appeared yet... Keith did most of the unpacking, and he really did a great job finding a spot for everything, I just wish I knew where he hid the citrus reamer! My brother reminded me of his share-house experience of buying a lamb roast, transporting the groceries home in the back of the car and then a couple of months later, alerted by a nasty smell, finding the purifying flesh his boot, it having fallen out of the shopping bag and not been missed! 

Anyway, after a very ordinary weekend weather-wise we were lucky that our first few days on board have just been stunningly beautiful, warm and sunny. Having left our mooring on Tuesday morning we made our way down the Huon River and into the d'Entrecaseaux channel, then up around the top of Bruny Island and across to the NW tip of the Tasman Peninsula, a full 45nm to a beautiful anchorage called Lime Bay. We stopped here on our way in, and its a great place to stage from for our transit of the Denison Canal. We take the RIB ashore and walk along the lovely beach. There is a fair bit of seaweed ashore, it would make great compost, but its starting to get a bit smelly (I think of the lamb roast...) Its much calmer here than on our mooring and we both sleep really well.

It's an early start the following morning to transit the Denison Canal before low tide. We make contact with the Canal attendant on our way to the leads but have to do a bit of circle-work to wait for a fishing boat to come through ahead of us. He is a bit faster than us and clearly on a timeline. We get through without incident and wave to the cheer squad on shore (no idea who they are, but we seem to be the day's entertainment). Its a good hour across to the lagoon to the Marion Narrows and out into Marion Bay. We found a sandbar on our way in so we are keen to avoid that on the way out. I have downloaded the .gpx track, helpfully provided by MAST and we can follow along on the iPad as well as the chartplotter. Nailed it this time, hugging the south shore as we cross the bar, leaving the 6 inch high waves to our port side. Its a straight line to Maria Island and as a Nor'Easter is expected we head for Chinaman's anchorage in the north of the bay. Only 25nm today so after lunch we head ashore for a walk along the beach, again lots of seaweed and a few scallops washed ashore, hmmm that smell again... Its lovely and warm and the water is crystal clear but we might save that first swim until we get to Wineglass Bay.

Woke a little later than usual, after a very calm night. We put engines on straight away and have breakfast on the go. We head up the west coast of Maria, past Ile des Phoques, which gives off a very strong, fishy smell, carried to us on the NE breeze! A sure sign that seals are in residence. Its rolly as we pass the gap between Maria and Schouten Island, as the ocean swell comes through the passage. We round the top of Schouten Island just after lunch and then punch into it for a couple of hours. The NE waves of 2-3m​ are pretty nasty, bouncing off the cliffs to our left, and coming back at us again. It makes for a pretty uncomfortable ride as we fall off the back of one wave and T-bone the next. We pass a mono that is having as much fun as we are, and just as we turn west to head into Wineglass Bay,  the westerly kicks in. Catabatics make their way down the steep cliffs of The Hazards into the bay and we see 30+kts gusts.

There are a few boats here, including one that we last saw in The San Blas Islands, Panama. In fact we saw them at very close quarters, when they came between us and the shore in a shallow anchorage, ran aground, lost control and were about to hit us amidships! We had to fend them off! Sadly their English was not good enough to muster an apology, and fortunately they probably could not understand our descriptions of their seamanship.... They give us a friendly wave as we anchor, oblivious to their reputation.

We tuck into the South East corner of the bay, as close in as we can, to get some protection from the swell which finds its way around the corner. The westerly blows through fairly quickly and its quite calm by bedtime, which is not that late these days. The southerly kicks in around 11pm but the anchor resets and we hold well. After gusting well into the 30's for a bit it finally calms down and we have a very still night, which is only fair given we have had wind coming at us from just about every direction today!

We decide to stay put on Friday and relax. The weather is cool and its quite overcast but we head ashore and walk along the beach. Otherwise a relaxing day doing a little cleaning and passage planning but not much else. Its a lovely calm and peaceful day in a beautiful bay. Later in the day I go ashore again on the SUP, still not quite brave enough for a swim though...

Had a very early start (6am) on Saturday morning to make some progress northwards with some southerly breeze. Sadly the winds were too light to sail so we ended up motoring most of the way once again. Still the seas were flat and we had a glorious sunny day. Progress was so good we decided to continue on past Binalong Bay (St Helens) and made it all the way to Eddystone Point. A front came through about an hour south of the point bringing gusty winds from the west, but seas remain flat. Eddystone Lighthouse looms large over the point but not much of a view of it through the salt-spray covered helm "clears". As the wind is due to turn south we opt to anchor on the northern side of Eddystone. There are already quite a few boats here, we saw them leave from St Helens in the afternoon. The bay gives reasonable shelter from the westerly but as the wind drops out it leaves is with the residual rolling ocean swell from the NE and it makes for a creaky night. 

Another 6am start the next day as we plan to make it all the way to Lady Barron Bay on Flinders island. Whilst Bass Strait has a fearsome reputation, and rightly so, we first have to transit Banks Strait. This stretch of water also has a bit of a reputation as both tidal currents and southern ocean currents funnel through this relatively narrow area. As we were initially planning our departure from further south we would have hit Banks Strait just on low tide, with a southerly breeze and flood tide then carrying us through. Perfect! However the start from further north meant we arrived mid-ebb tide and had 3kts of current pushing against us most of the way across. Although it was wind over tide, which you are supposed to avoid in this area, it actually wasn't that bad. A little bit lumpy but with a full main and headsail and a little Volvo assistance we were able to push through. We passed Clarke Island and Cape Barren Island on our starboard side and the majestic sight of the Strzelecki Peaks comes into view ahead of us. Its still some distance to get into Lady Barron though, navigating carefully around the many rocks and shoals in this nicely protected area. We anchor in a Lady Barron Bay  just to the east of the Town Quay and head ashore.  I feel like we should be hoisting the Q flag and going to check in with the local officials, but no we are still in Tasmania! So instead, we don our best flannelette shirts and head off to the Furneaux Tavern for a very fine meal, (schnitty and fish & chips of course). We have organised a rental car for a few days so we can see the island the easy and fast way!

With only days to go before we set out on our Aussie adventures in ITIKI, we are checking and rechecking our preparations list. Its not the first time we have taken a break from cruising, having left ITIKI in Tunisia, Greece and Grenada for extended breaks. In the past we have packed up ITIKI and stepped off with just a suitcase of mostly unsuitable clothing for a short-ish break back in Australia (well except in the case of the infamous 2019/2020/2021 Covid-19 "interlude"). Getting back on board and setting off again used to mean reversing the "winterising" process, putting sails back on etc, getting the cocktail deck cushions out, provisioning and just taking off, leaving a port and often a country, never to return. This time is a little different. We stripped pretty much everything off ITIKI when set up our land home, so all of that needs to be dinghied back out again. At least it is not too far!

Well everyone knows what the 5 (or 6) Ps stand for**, and of course we prioritised the important stuff, which is kind of a good thing. We organised farewell drinks on ITIKI for a Friday night, planning to come alongside our neighbours dock for a couple of hours at high tide. As I waddled down the dock from the car, with seat cushions under each arm and a back pack full of cheese and crackers I got a call from Keith, who was already on ITIKI, telling me that neither engine would start! Both starter batteries were completely flat with readings of 6V! OK so this had been on the list of boat jobs, these batteries were really past their use by date, being originals from 2018, but so far we had been getting away with it. Our farewell drinks venue was quickly changed to our dining room ashore, and the next day a trip to Hobart to purchase 2 new batteries. Lets just go over that preparation checklist again...

Needless to say that removing the old batteries and installing the new ones was not a 5 minute job... Basically the boat was constructed around the batteries! 

In the lead up to our departure there have been numerous trips out to ITIKI in our $10 FB marketplace dinghy, which handles the shallow, pebble and oyster strewn beach much better than the RIB. Its hard to know what clothes to pack as even though we are heading north, we are heading into winter and still have a long way to go before we get to warmer climes. Best to include a bit of everything and hope for the best! At least we are heading towards civilisation, we may soon be able to treat ourselves to a trip down the centre aisle of an Aldi. Hopefully it wont take us too long to get back into good habits, following our practical and safety boat procedures on board. Of course its always important to ensure the RIB is firmly tied to the vessel before letting go of the boat to retrieve something you dropped in the water. Yes Keith did have an impromptu swim in the chilly Huon River, fortunately the RIB was drifting towards the near shore outside our neighbours place and not the opposite direction!

And so the day has arrived, we have our weather window and the first week is laid out before us. We decide to spend the the night before departure on board so its only a quick trip ashore when we realise we have forgotten something critical. Lucky we did, and fortunate that it was only after one glass of wine that Keith remembered his coffee percolator was still at home! He took the SUP, this time without incident, to retrieve this critical item.

Its the first time we slept aboard on our mooring and with the wind blowing down the river, it was a noisy and rolly night. I would give it 2 stars in that respect. We wake early and have our breakfast and as our trusty house-sitters, Michelle and Ocea, wave us farewell from the shore, we slip off our mooring and head east. Farewell Surges Bay, we will miss our new home, but our next big adventure awaits.

** Prior Planning Prevents (Piss) Poor Performance

Well things have been a little quiet here since we moved into our forever land home down in SE Tasmania. We have been busy getting our new place sorted but now things are under control it is time to turn out thoughts, and our bowsprit, northwards. The Tasmanian winter is fast approaching and yes we have chickened out and decided to escape to warmer climes. So while many of our Sydney cruising buddies are packing up to head to the Med, we are kind of doing something similar. Team ITIKI will be re-launching in a couple of weeks and we will make our way up the east Coast of Tasmania and into the Furneaux group (which apparently has a Mediterranean climate...), before crossing Bass Strait, checking out the Gippsland Lakes and then continuing northwards. While we plan to make it as far as The Whitsundays, it’s a really long way with the prevailing NE winds and EAC against us, and with lots of opportunity to get side tracked. So we will go where and when the winds take us. If you would like to follow along, we will be sharing our journey.
 
In a sign of the times, we would like to avoid providing free content for billionaire social media owners to exploit. So how can you follow us? Well we are planning on doing more frequent mini-blogs via this website, which we own. You can sign up to get a link in your inbox whenever news is shared. Yes I know email is kind of old fashioned but… This way you don’t have to trawl through ads and AI generated crap on FB, hoping that their algorithm throws up something as interesting as ITIKI’s adventures. Yes that does mean the extra commitment of signing up and then clicking on a link, but the upside is you can read (or not) at your leisure, no spam or advertising, no political or religious discourse, no spookily targeted advertising (how the @#%$ do they know I need a facial hair plucker?!), no endless DIY/Thrift shopping/makeover/weight loss miracle/clickbait reels and no cat videos… (oh wait, there may be cat videos but not that kind!)
 
So if you are cool with that and would like to follow the old fashioned way, send me a message with your preferred email address and I will add you to the mailing list. For those who are nervous about letting go of FB, I will continue to post reminders/links for a limited time, until you get used to the new world order. Counting the sleeps until we drop the mooring lines, and head out to sea! Check out our planned route in the video below