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Wineglass Bay beach - better than Whitehaven? You decide…
Delivery to Hobart
Wingara III spent the night at QCYC on 27 January and left the Heads at 0900 on 28 January heading for Deal Island - 145nm. SW at 10-15 knots - confused sea as usual with two swells SE and SW and a wind chop SW on top. Motor sailed with Genoa up mostly. We arrived Garden Cove at 0730 on 29 January - sunshine and beautiful clear water. After some sleep and R&R we headed south for Spike Bay on Clarke Island the next day arriving at 1900 on 30 January. We opted for an early start to cross Bank’s Strait leaving Spike at 0400 in a light ENE of 5 knots arriving at Wineglass Bay, Freycinet Peninsula at 1920hrs on 31 January. We had a great sail- motor sail with up to 9.8knots SOG. Our Portuguese crew Ines who has been travelling the world and crossed the Pacific by boat made bread - we now call “Ines Bread”!
Wingara III spent the night at QCYC on 27 January and left the Heads at 0900 on 28 January heading for Deal Island - 145nm. SW at 10-15 knots - confused sea as usual with two swells SE and SW and a wind chop SW on top. Motor sailed with Genoa up mostly. We arrived Garden Cove at 0730 on 29 January - sunshine and beautiful clear water. After some sleep and R&R we headed south for Spike Bay on Clarke Island the next day arriving at 1900 on 30 January. We opted for an early start to cross Bank’s Strait leaving Spike at 0400 in a light ENE of 5 knots arriving at Wineglass Bay, Freycinet Peninsula at 1920hrs on 31 January. We had a great sail- motor sail with up to 9.8knots SOG. Our Portuguese crew Ines who has been travelling the world and crossed the Pacific by boat made bread - we now call “Ines Bread”!
“Ines” bread! We had to have the fresh bread with home made Lemon Marmalade etc while it was still warm!
Being unsure of our fuel consumption, we opted to go into Triabunna arriving at 1845 hrs to refuel. We learned that our fuel burn was at just over 2l per hour, meaning we didn’t need to, but better to be safe than sorry. After overnighting at Horseshoe Bay, we headed for the Dennison Canal to enter the Northern entrance to Marion Sands at 0900 hrs for the incoming tide.
Being unsure of our fuel consumption, we opted to go into Triabunna arriving at 1845 hrs to refuel. We learned that our fuel burn was at just over 2l per hour, meaning we didn’t need to, but better to be safe than sorry. After overnighting at Horseshoe Bay, we headed for the Dennison Canal to enter the Northern entrance to Marion Sands at 0900 hrs for the incoming tide.
The swing bridge at Dunolly, Dennison Canal & Horseshoe Bay
Going through the bridge with a ~3 knot current against us was somewhat exciting. Doing 8.6 knots through the water, and only 5.8 over the ground, we got the wobbles up going through leaving a 6’ standing wave as we passed! Not a good place to make a mistake - and luckily, we didn’t but it was exciting!
We arrived at RYCT Hobart at 1500 hrs on 3rd February and waited for the slip as we needed to change out a gate valve on the FWD holding tank. We also took the opportunity to anti-foul and polish while we were up.
We arrived at RYCT Hobart at 1500 hrs on 3rd February and waited for the slip as we needed to change out a gate valve on the FWD holding tank. We also took the opportunity to anti-foul and polish while we were up.
Looking pretty with a fresh hull for visiting special places in VDL!
Wingara III ready with her VDL-C bow sticker
We were now prepped for the VDL-C briefing on 5 February at RYCT. We had 40 skippers and crew in the room and another 30 on Zoom. The “Mainland” fleet will join us in the Tamar River at Beauty Point on or about 18 February.
This 2026 Cruise in company will have a full complement of 45 boats - power and sail and will be the first to run skeds on Zoom and compulsory daily position reports via the internet. How times have changed from when it was all done via VHF and HF radio.
This is the second cruise where I am the Communications Officer responsible for Cruise Safety and daily skeds. This is our 4th circumnavigation and every time it is a different experience!
Thanks to our great crew for the delivery ! Pam and John (MYC), David Carver (MYC) and Ines Rodriguez from Portugal.
Wingara III ready with her VDL-C bow sticker
We were now prepped for the VDL-C briefing on 5 February at RYCT. We had 40 skippers and crew in the room and another 30 on Zoom. The “Mainland” fleet will join us in the Tamar River at Beauty Point on or about 18 February.
This 2026 Cruise in company will have a full complement of 45 boats - power and sail and will be the first to run skeds on Zoom and compulsory daily position reports via the internet. How times have changed from when it was all done via VHF and HF radio.
This is the second cruise where I am the Communications Officer responsible for Cruise Safety and daily skeds. This is our 4th circumnavigation and every time it is a different experience!
Thanks to our great crew for the delivery ! Pam and John (MYC), David Carver (MYC) and Ines Rodriguez from Portugal.
More to come as we start the circumnavigation on 11 February 2026.
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