January 23, 2017
We left Lakes Entrance on the south side of the continent of Australia almost a week ago, spent time at Flinders Island (see post below) and arrived in Tasmania yesterday. We’re tied up at the wharf in St. Helens now and it’s good to be in. It was not an uneventful arrival (though nothing serious).
First, our Plan A anchorage was too exposed to conditions. The Plan B spot was St. Helens and we weren’t sure we could get in as it’s pretty shallow through the channel. We called St. Helens Volunteer Marine Rescue to ask for advice and they offered to meet us in a small boat and lead us over the bar.
We rendezvoused at 6 PM outside the bar and followed them into a place they call The Paddock, just inside the entrance, where we spent a very comfortable night. We couldn’t get in any further as the evening high tide wasn’t high enough to get us over the shallow spot at Pelican Point and into Georges Bay. That we did with the 6 AM high tide this morning.
We’ve already walked through town and eaten lunch out. The town is small but very nice. We think we might stay here a week or so. -Rich
