Emigre's Voyage to tasmania- Leg 1 - Quindalup to augusta
- morganflower
- 9 hours ago
- 3 min read
Many month of planing and preparation in the making, after many setbacks and delays, Ashlee dropped the mooring lines at Quindalup for the final time which marked the beginning of Emigre’s voyage towards Southern Tasmania. It was 19:50hrs on Thursday, January 15th.
It’s been a dream of mine for some time now to sail Emigre to Tasmania and explore the D’Entrecasteaux channel, Port Arthur, Port Davey and Strahan.
I suppose you could say the two trips I’ve made by car over the last couple of winters was all in preparation for this voyage..
Emigre is old, 43 years to be exact. Starting life as “Sea Fever” in Adelaide South Australia where she was built by Duncanson Yachts, she was purchased by Graeme Bishop and brought to WA where she has raced and cruised ever since.
It’s time for her (and me) to have some new water under the keel.
Joined by Ashlee. An experienced crew and Dunsborough local, we set the Aries wind vane and sailed into a clear starry night Westward towards Cape Naturaliste.
The wind was gentle and warm from the South East and the swell was low. Expectedly more wind as we rounded Cape Naturaliste, I had set the equivalent of three reefs in her boom furling mainsail.
We ghosted along at 5-6 knots past the beaches and bays I’ve spent my entire life sailing to as we made our way to Cape Naturaliste.
As we turns south, so did the conditions.
The wind quickly built to a force 6-7 (‘force’ is a unit of measurement for wind and sea state derived from from the South East with steep waves forming on top of a short South West swell. We settled in for a rough beat for 75 nautical miles between Cape Naturaliste and Cape Leeuwin, one of the three “great capes”.
Emigre is 33ft overall with a modest beam of around 8ft. She has a fine entry, low freeboard and a relatively narrow stern making her sea kindly and safe. One aspect that this hull shape doesn’t provide is dry decks. Fully laden at 7.5 tonnes with tools, spares, food, water and equipment, she sits low in the water and when sailing to windward, quickly turns into a submarine.
Ash was full of good intention however green gills got the better of her. She went on to endure what turned into a very unpleasant 17hr slog.
By 0300hrs the wind has turned east and had built to a force 8-9. Emigre was fully reefed with three tucks in the main and about six foot of jib unfurled.
With a course of around 185° we didn’t have much room to spring sheets and improve comfort aboard. We stayed 8-10 miles off the coast, with a wave engulfing the boat from bow to stern, sometimes dumping a hundred litres of the Indian Ocean’s finest in the cockpit.
When the conditions are average, I prefer to sit inside the cabin, keeping a close eye on traffic. With navigation instruments, AIS (Automatic Identification System) and autopilot controls available.
Daybreak brought a slight drop in wind and an opportunity to get some eggs in the frypan. Ash tried her best to manage eating some egg on toast but quickly decided that it might end up all over the cabin.
Conditions were still rough and the wind continued to build to a force six l in the late morning. We were almost abeam of Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse by 10:00hrs however we had to make significantly more Southerly progress before we could tack and round the St Alouarn Islands. After a further five or six miles, we tacked and were immediately knocked by an easterly shift. Determined that the wind would shift south (as forecast) I set the Aries wind vane and enjoyed everything shifting from one side of the cabin to the other.
The wind was consistently between a force 6 and six allowing us to carry the full number and three headsail and triple reefed main as we slowly clawed our way upwind.
After what felt like an eternity, we put in the final tack around the outermost reef and sprung sheets for a fast run into Augusta Boat Harbour.
I was feeling pleased to see stable ground after such a rough trip but my appreciation of dry land was no match for Ashlee’s after suffering with seasickness for 17 hours!
Augusta Boat Harbour is relatively new with an excellent floating marina and facilities.
We made the important decision to catch a taxi to the Augusta Hotel and celebrate the completion of leg one of Emigre’s voyage to Tasmania.
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