Tasman Treasures

Cruising in the ‘Roaring Forties’ proves rewarding for Janneke Kuysters as she braves the bass strait to explore Tasmania.

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No pizza today.” When this announcement is made at Port Cygnet Sailing Club, all conversations among members in the clubhouse stop.

“The pizza guy says it’s too hot. He won’t bake today,” is the explanation. Too hot in the Roaring Forties? It’s true, it has been a delight to sail here with warm temperatures, clear skies, light breezes and moderate waves. The sailing club members recover from the disappointment of missing their pizza by delving into more cheese and crackers with gusto. The local shiraz flows, as does the conversation about sailing, racing, crews and skippers: this is cruising in Tasmania at its best.

Tasmania is one of those bucket-list cruising destinations. On the other side of the world and across the daunting Bass Strait, it takes a lot of effort to get there. But the rewards are plentiful: stunning landscapes ;very diverse cruising areas; superb food and a friendly welcome.

The cruising areas can roughly be divided into three: the north of Tasmania and the islands scattered in the Bass Strait, the east coast, and the west coast.

The numerous islands to the north of Tasmania, such as the Furneaux Group, Hunter Islands and King Island, offer excellent opportunities to break the crossing of the Bass Strait into daysails, with a wide range of anchorages available to find shelter from the occasionally strong winds. The islands are little treasures where everything revolves around really good food; many are the base for specialised fleets of fishing boats and the cattle on the windswept pastures produce milk for an abundance of cheeses and other dairy products.

The north coast of Tasmania has a few towns, Launceston being the largest one. This second largest town of Tasmania lies on the banks of the river Tamar and has an active sailing community.