After our short stay in Great Taylors Bay we sailed off to Dover. Dover was only a short 10nm away and so we decided to have a slow morning on the boat, recovering from the previous days long walk. So it wasn’t until after lunch that we actually weighed anchor and sailed off for Dover. It was actually more of a drift and motor sail as there was barely a breathe of wind causing the sails to hang limp above us. There was so little wind in fact that the smoke from the many burn-offs happening that day were going straight up and forming mini mushroom clouds above. When we finally arrived in Dover we decided to anchor behind Rabbit Island instead of heading for the main town to get better shelter from the wind.
We stayed behind Rabbit Island for a few days before heading over to the main part of town. But once there we didn’t waste any time heading ashore to get what groceries we needed. Although the shelves were surprisingly bare due to the panic buying from the first beginnings of the pandemic. Many of the dry stores we were hoping to get to extend our supplies were unavailable so it was lucky we still some stuff on board. Thankfully though the fresh department was fully stocked and we picked up all the fresh fruit and vegetables that we needed, which is what we were mainly after anyway. Back on Allagai it was time to get the boat properly ready for sea as we were planning to leave the channel behind.
The following day we weighed anchor and set sail for Recherche Bay 19nm away. To get to Recherche Bay we left the protection of the channel and it had been several months since we had felt Allagai roll in proper swell. It was a thoroughly enjoyable sail but before we knew it we were sheltered once more by the reefs and islands which protected the entrance to Recherche Bay. This was our first time here and so we were on high alert looking for breaking waves signalling shallow reefs and partly submerged rocks which our cruising guide said were in the area. Thankfully we had no issues and made it into the bay in one piece anchoring in the Pigsties Bay by mid afternoon.
We stayed in the Pigsties for a couple of days waiting out some weather and just relaxing on board Allagai. However when the weather passed we were ready to find somewhere to stretch our legs. This side of the bay was dense forest right to the waters edge with no beaches in sight, however the other side of the bay was a different story. The other side of the bay was packed full of walking trails, so with that in mind and a wind change due we weighed anchor and headed over to Cockle Creek.
Cockle Creek had a beautiful white sandy beach which was just perfect to walk along and stretch our legs. We spent two days anchored off Cockle Creek and had a beautiful walk both days. However while there we finally made the decision and had the right weather to do something we had been dreaming of since arriving in Tasmania. We had the perfect winds to head up the west coast of Tasmania to the remote Port Davey. Early the previous year we had sailed down on a Tallship, that we both volunteered on, which was on its way to the Wooden Boat Festival. Along the way we had stopped in at Port Davey for only one night and ever since we had been dreaming about going back. Finally we were going to make that wish become reality but first we had to make the boat properly sea worthy as we were going out into the formidable oceans off the west coast.
