Malua - an Adams cruising yacht
Malua - an Adams cruising yacht
Sailing to Tasmania across the Bass Strait was the first serious cruise Malua made. We soon joined a number of other cruising yachts spending the summer months sailing around this beautiful island. It is a friendly and helpful community which includes many fishing boats. Malua spent a month on the east coast in the area of Spring Bay and its main harbour at Triabunna (famous for its scallops), Coles Bay, Maria Island, Schouten Passage and Wineglass Bay during January. The weather was very good with hot clear days. John and Stephen had left by then and Denny, Nicola, Dean and Iain spent the time walking, swimming and fishing. The seafood is wonderful and we acquired two ancient lobster pots which quickly supplied us with some choice specimens to share with friends. Dean wanted to see the tesselated pavements at Eagle Hawk's Nest before rounding Tasman Island and then visit the awesome surfing break at .... As is always the case the wind came up and flattened us as we rounded the island. We stopped at Port Arthur and then sailed on to the Royal Yacht Club in Hobart. It was an opportunity to stock up with food and meat (our first experience of vacuum packed meat) prior to going to the channel and on to Port Davey on the south-west coast. Nicola, Dean and Iain left Malua in Hobart.
The Channel is the greatest place to cruise. It has many inlets to shelter in, abundant fishing, and great mussel and oyster beds. We set off from ?? in fog and no wind. The wind came up in the afternoon as we arrived. Port Davey is a wild and ruggedly isolated place. There are many places to anchor. There were a few cruising boats there as well as the odd fishing boat taking refuge from the southern ocean. We walked every day and climbed a few mountains. As expected the wind blew and it rained for a week which did not dampen the spirits. We were in the company of the cruising vessels Ambiance, Saffron.
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