After around 15,000 years ago, sea levels began to rise quite rapidly, reflooding the low-lying coastal areas of the Bassian Plain. It took about a thousand or more years for Lutruwita/Tasmania to be separated from mainland Victoria, and another few thousand years for the main islands of the Bass Strait to emerge.

A serious of photographs from a month aboard a wooden boat.

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.

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.

The other most noticeable aspects of the vessel is that she's tiller steered and what a tiller! 12 feet long and a huge piece of red gun and although she was responsive in light airs, off the wind and with a beam sea, she was a handful for two.

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.

So we continued with the big dog leg left, rain coming down, rolling gunwhale to gunwhale, making 7 knots. We ran watches during the night of one on two off, which just about worked, but you get a lot of practise getting in and out of you wet weather gear, PFD and sea boots!

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.