The Furneaux Group & Deal Island
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.
 Mt Strzelecki on the approach to Lady Barron
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. 
All roads lead to Strzelecki
Flinders Island Anchorage at Lady Barron
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...
DaY One - The North Bit
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.  Cape Barren Goose
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...
 Palana Anchorage
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.
 Killiecrankie diamonds, sadly thats not my hand!
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.
 The flies have moved in!
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.
Day Two - The MIddle Bit
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.
 Swimming at Allports Beach
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... Day Three - The Bottom Bit Sculpture at Whitemark
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.
The flinders Wave
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 or No Deal? Winter Cove on Deal Island (Photo provided by another cruiser)
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! 
Weather forecast for Sunday 2am, yes it was accurate!
Lady Barron to Lakes Entrance A little companion on our way out
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.
 Love a good sunset
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.
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AuthorAfter more than 7 years of (minus time off for Covid) and more than 30,000nm Lynda has finally got the hang of this cruising life. Now back in Australian waters, with a home base in Tasmania, ITIKI and crew are enjoying coastal cruising. Archives
April 2025
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