Without going into too much detail of our every move in Stanley let’s just say there was quite a bit of seafood eaten, some special gems purchased, a quick trip up The Nut and, a first for all of us in Stanley, some little penguins found! There was also an excuse or two found to visit the tourist shops and have a few hot chocolates along the way.
Only 5 of the fleet managed to make it to Stanley and so we needed to move on to either the Hunter group, namely Three Hummock Island or head straight to the West Coast and down to Strahan.
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A quick stop
We really wanted to to see the Hunter group of islands, and am very glad that we did. It was 23 miles of easy motor sailing with the light winds we had. So after leaving Stanley early Tuesday morning, we had made it to Chimney Corner, Three Hummock Island, by lunch time. It was again another fine day, and the beach beckoned us in to explore. We could see at least two homesteads, but these didn’t seem easily accessible from the beach, so it was difficult to tell if they were currently in use. There were old remnants of past shipping in the left hand corner of this bay. Old tracks, a large shed and more rusty wheels or gears down near rocks on the beach suggest livestock farming and a means of transportation. What was most unfortunate about this beach visit was the abundance of March flies. They came in packs and swarmed about for endless moments. Many in our party of 5 weren’t happy about their invasion on our beach afternoon and so after a quick walk and sand collection we retreated, sad to have missed the opportunity to stay a little longer. If I can find out if and when March flies have a season, it may be well worth planning another visit around this information. The orange lichen covered rocks, clear water and creamy sand certainly would entice me back. The fleet had now grown, as the Melbourne portion ( another 10 or so boats) of the fleet had joined us and all of the boats that stayed in Beauty Point had sailed over during the night. With the beach declared a no-go zone by a few select people on board, there was no point staying the night, and we made the decision to rest and head off for our first overnight passage of the trip. With dinner in the oven and a tidier boat, we set off at about 4:30pm, with the thought that 120 miles at our passage planning speed of 6 knots is 20 hours underway. That would get us to Strahan by lunchtime Wednesday, and through Hell’s Gates, the entrance to Macquarie Harbour in daylight hours. | |