Van Diemen Comes Home

0800 position 42-54S 147-20E.  Tied to the Visitor's Dock, Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania, Hobart.

 

Van Diemen passed the Iron Pot at the mouth of the River Derwent at 930AM yesterday.  The river narrowed and more and more houses appeared along the shore as we worked our way north.  At 1030 we altered course to check out the skipper of a Laser sailboat that was out in the river for a morning sail and waving at us.  It was Anna, Michael's daughter come out to welcome Van Diemen home.  We got the mainsail down and secured, wove our way between the breakwaters and into the marina at the Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania (RYCT), and tied up to their visitor's dock.  At 1045 Van Diemen's voyage home was over.

 

Michael's wife Margo, his daughter Anna, and Geoff's wife Annie came down to greet us.  Rob, Geoff, and Michael are all members of RYCT, and other members stopped by as well to admire Van Diemen and welcome their mates home.

 

At noon Michael and Geoff went home with their families and Rob and I went into town to the Telstra store to sort out our cell phones, both of which weren't working properly.  We got the problems solved and met up again with Michael and Geoff during the afternoon to get the mainsail and jib off of the boat and into the sailmaker.  Both sails need a little bit of work after 10,338 miles of use.

 

As the afternoon wore on the wind started to howl in the rigging of the boats in the marina.  You might have noticed that we used the engine more than normal on our last passage.  We kept the pedal down to get into Hobart before a strong northerly hit.  We barely made it.  I continue to be amazed at how fortunate we have been with the weather on this voyage.

 

Rob grew up in Hobart and one of his lifelong mates, Damon Hawker, invited Rob and me over for dinner, so we caught a cab to Damon's at 6PM.  We were drinking beer and telling stories when my phone rang.  Michael had received a call at home from another member who told him that Van Diemen had broken her forward mooring line and was banging into the pier!  Rob and I were stuck on the far side of town without transportation so Michael, Anna, and Geoff all rushed down and retied the boat. 

 

It turned out that an eye splice in the three quarter inch nylon mooring line had failed.  I have never seen an eye splice fail like that before.  The paint on Van Diemen's quarter was a bit scuffed where she had bumped the pier, but she was otherwise undamaged. 

 

Over the last six months Van Diemen has moored in some pretty risky spots, anchoring in open roadsteads with big swells, on lee shores, in coral strewn lagoons, in busy commercial harbors not meant to accommodate small yachts, too close to other boats that come in to anchor after we do, tied to moorings of questionable integrity...  It seems ironic to me that we had a mooring equipment failure and suffered damage for the first time when we were in the most secure spot we've been in the entire voyage!

 

It poured rain last night and the wind continued to howl.  I would not want to be out at sea in this.