Bass Strait Updates

Trip Notes for 5 March 2006

From Hogan Island to Bare Back Cove (Wilsons Prom) on the Mainland

The last metres to the mainland.

The proof: I made it across Bass Strait first!!!

Exhausted and happy: We did it!

The last of the big crossings. Forecast good for today, but tomorrow strong westerly change. So if we don;t make it to the mainland today we'll almost certainly get stuck on Hogan for 3-6 days. Alarm goes off at 5:30am, on the water at 7:30am. Today's crossing is 50km with no waypoints in-between. We should be able to see Wilsons Prom in the distance, but it is overcast and hazy, we can't see our destination for hours on end. Adrian goes for a swim in Bass Strait to retrieve his spare paddle bag that had come lose.

Approaching Wilsons Prom we underestimate the incoming tide whipping around the headland of Cape Wellington. Our course takes us to the mainland a little too far south. Fight our way metre for metre up north. It is very rough with winds agains tide. This is the only time that Kevin and I come close to a capsize. We struggle our way along the rocks, and suddenly a bay opens to our left. We make it into the bay, find us out of the current in sheltered waters again, and touch land at 1:40pm.

I MADE IT ACROSS BASS STRAIT FIRST (in the front seat of the double)! See the adjacent phot for a proof. Set up camp, have a swim. CDMA contact to home that we made it to Refuge Bay; only to realise later that our bay is not Refuge but Bare Back Cove. We couldn't care less ;-) It's a beach, and it is sheltered from the currents. Side note: After we survived Bass Strait, we still have to survive the next high water mark, which comes up to 50cm close to our tents on this narrow beach.

The forecast for the next day is clear: String westerly front coming through with W winds up to 30-35 knots. We still have to make it back to civilization; there is no water in Bare Back Cove. We decide to get up and see how we'll be doing in the sheltered lee of the Prom. It's now all go go go for the home run.

Stats for the day
  • 49 km in 6h 10mins, no land stop in between.
  • Average speed: 7.96 km/h
Two text messages from Claudia

Leaving Hogan Island for Refuge Bay on Sunday

Arrived Refuge Cove at 2 pm. We did it! Battery low, 2 more days to Port Welshpool. Call then. A, B, C, K.

Notes on the Weather for Victoria (Issued at 1630 on Saturday the 4th of March 2006)

A high pressure system south of the Bight will extend a ridge over Bass Strait today. The ridge will weaken on Sunday and Monday as a low pressure trough develops over eastern Victoria and a cold front moves northeastwards, crossing Tasmania during Monday. Another cold front will move across Tasmania on Tuesday. The high will ridge across Bass Strait once again on Wednesday.

Coastal Waters Forecast (Issued at 5:00 am EDT on Sunday 5 March 2006)
Victoria East Coast, Wilsons Promontory to 60nm east of Gabo Island:

Sunday until midnight: Southeast to northeast wind 10/15 knots, tending northeast/northerly in the east at similar strength. Afternoon inshore seabreezes to 15 knots. Seas 1 to 1.5 metres. East to southeasterly swell 1 to 1.5 metres. Areas of sea fog reducing visibility to 500 metres.

Monday: Southwesterly wind 15/25 knots extending throughout early morning and reaching 30 knots at times. Seas rising 2 to 3 metres. Southwesterly swell 1 to 2 metres developing. Easterly swell to 1 metre abating.

Tuesday: Southwesterly wind 20/30 knots. Seas 2 to 3.5 metres. Southwest to southerly swell 1 to 2 metres.