The Huia in Bass Strait
Singlehanded across Bass Strait in an 86-year-old open timber boat.
| Year | 2022 |
|---|---|
| Boat | Huia, a 26ft gaff-rigged couta boat built in 1936 by Peter Locke from New Zealand kauri |
| Crew | Singlehanded |
| Route | Sorrento (Port Phillip Bay), Refuge Cove, Deal Island, Flinders Island, Binalong Bay, Wineglass Bay, Dunalley |
| Distance | About 450 nautical miles in 13 days |
The idea came during the long winter nights of the 2020 lockdown, reading the voyaging accounts of Captain James Kelly. The boat came later: Huia, an open 26ft couta boat built in 1936 to catch barracouta outside Port Phillip Bay.
My first attempt never left the bay. After weeks of preparation with The Wooden Boat Shop, the south-easterlies wouldn't let up, and with my son due, I packed up and flew home. Huia spent the winter in Melbourne while my friend Paul kept an eye on her.
In late October I tried again. The first days were champagne sailing: blue skies, a light northerly and flat seas. I hand-steered for 17 hours to reach Refuge Cove, waited out the weather, then left for the Strait at 2am under a full moon.
At Deal Island, gusts of 50 knots funnelled into Winter Cove and nearly laid Huia over while her anchor dragged. A passing fishing crew lent me a tender and fed me. From there it was Flinders Island and a hot meal at Lady Barron, a narrow pass by Vansittart Island, then down the east coast of Tasmania.
The tiller pilot died near Binalong Bay, the propeller fouled, and I hand-steered 60 miles through squalls with visibility down to 50 metres. The last eight miles into Dunalley, in hail and a short cross-swell, were perhaps the longest of my life. Thirteen days after leaving, Huia was anchored in Tasmania. After 87 years at sea, what was 13 days on passage?
Read the full story on my Substack: Part 1 · Part 2
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