In 2015, a break-up of 40 years of marriage upended life as I knew it and cast me adrift on a sea of grief and confusion. Under pressure to sell or buy out, I decided to take on Aziza as sole owner and soon realised that to have the freedom to sail at whim I would need to learn how to sail single-handed.

The South and West coasts of Tasmania are places that demand respect. The isolation, the exposure to the southern ocean, the lack of communication, all conspire to make the coast daunting. But all coins have an obverse side.

On Sunday 17 December 2023, TANDANYA sailed south and down the Coles Channel to QCYC for the night. On Monday 18 December James Waters and James Spencer joined the crew as Mate and Sailing Master respectively. By some miracle the hoped for weather window presented itself.

The 25 mile trip down the bay from St Kilda is always a good time for contemplation. The views are not spectacular. There’s no harbour bridge to serenade you on your way, or dramatic cliffs to escape… just a thin diminishing and growing 360 degree strip of land, interrupted by the teeth of the city skyline, and the pimples of the You Yangs and Arthur’s seat.

Almost exactly three months after we had left Sydney, on 22 April I stood on Georges Head to watch ANITRA V sail back through the Heads after a voyage of seven days from Kettering. It was an emotional moment to see my boat returning to Sydney.

I continued to look at the weather incessantly, until December came around – at last a double high pressure system lay over Victoria, producing a week of pleasant but windless days. It wasn't an idyllic northwesterly, but it was something. This was my chance.

The Islands of the Kent and Furneaux Groups are surely one of the great undiscovered cruising grounds of Australia. They are not for the faint hearted and will punish the arrogant sailor, but with preparation and respect, they reward in spades.

“I don’t think I will ever forget the hours at the helm, three on -six off. All woollen clothes soaking wet under oilskins and seaboots; safety belt hooked into the eye of the cockpit; and end of the main sheet around the waist, made up on one of the jib cleats It was bitterly cold but I didn’t feel it.”

We just said to family and friends, that we would contact them in about a month when we arrived. “We'll see you when we see you”.

A Photographic Essay-450NM, five friends, a 66 year old boat, a home made tender, a double rip swimmer, a mainsail with 12,000NM on the clock…(time for a new one!)

For the next year I was a bit aimless and couldn’t help thinking about how I missed sailing. As a mental health professional I know the importance of having activity, hobbies, time outside, exercise, and human connection.

In 1941, the ashes of a master mariner from Massachusetts were scattered at sea over the shipwreck of his schooner in Port Phillip Bay. The site is the mile wide reef extending off Point Cook just 7NM from Williamstown. He had sailed from Cape Cod to Sydney arriving in 1938.

It seems to me that wooden boat owners, perhaps more than others seem to understand that rushing is not always good, and that good preparation provides rewards that aren’t available to those who stick to the shiny marinas springing up around our coasts.

The Ocean Cruising Club exists to encourage long-distance sailing in small boats. A Full Member of the OCC must have completed a qualifying voyage of a non-stop port-to-port ocean passage, where the distance between the two ports is not less than 1,000 nautical miles.

In many ways ocean racing has become a monoculture. To succeed you must be skilled and tough and rich, but for most owners with a realistic chance of victory, the broader values, ambitions and motivations of the founders of the event have disappeared amid the ruthless need for a trophy.

The careful mathematical figures and many pages of design details, displacement ratios and sail area plans give a picture of the meticulous planning that he did before a yacht was allowed to be built.

I’m Thinking, Is This An April Fools Prank From A Mate Or A Genuine Attempt To Return A Significant Piece Of New Zealand’s Wooden Boat Building History To New Zealand? The fantastic story of TANGAROA by Larry Paul

A second wonderful piece from Tim Phillips aboard the Jane Kerr. Tim is undoubtably one of the last true woodenboat adventurers. An inspiration for those of us looking for more from our time on water than sailing well varnished, museum pieces, around in small triangles!

So, when I was given a copy of South Sea Vagabonds by Johnny Wray I assumed it was going to be another entertaining but outdated, perhaps pompous account of a privileged white man’s parade through the islands. I couldn’t have been more wrong.

After a tumultuous 2020 and a busy Christmas period we decided on a turnkey cruise! Squally Cove is beautifully set-up and so, so easy to live on. The Kent Group — I just love the place… Fishing, walking, swimming, scenery, it’s got the lot.