Having motored up from Kettering and provisioning with fuel, water and food on Wednesday, the homeward leg of Tegwen's cruise to and around Tasmania started today from the Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania. With a light dusting of snow and a rainbow showing on Mt Wellington, Bruce Hall and Stephen set off just after 9:00am. Once into the Derwent Estuary, the westerly wind started picking up and we set the genoa and turned off the motor. The forecast for the day ahead involved significant and increasing wind along with a decent swell, so just the more easily managed sail was deployed. We had considerable speed even so and managed to average 6.2 knots for the whole day's sailing.
As we crossed Storm Bay the conditions became more boisterous and the genoa was partially furled with little effect on speed. Approaching the entrance to Port Arthur the swell eased off, the winds subdued a little and the sun cast its light on the cliffs leading to Tasman Island - a magnificant sight. We arrived off the Port Arthur settlement with blue sky and some clouds and anchored Tegwen in a very sheltered spot to sit out the strong weather forecast for tomorrow.
