What’s the deal?

by John Curnow on 1 May 2016 Indeed, exactly what is the deal? It’s nestled in the Eastern side of one of the world’s most renowned or is that revered patches of water. It’s part of group named by one of the best ever explorers and navigators. One industry icon even feels that this is the best cruising ground on the planet. He may be biased, as he lives nearby, but he’s also seen a lot of places and even circumnavigated the continent.

It can have absolutely heinous weather, and that’s just in Summer! Equally, it is also possible of delivering the most sublime of conditions that in combination with the lack of any sort of traffic, apart from the odd kerosene canary (jetliner), can transport you into a meditative state without trying.

Now the water is so clear and so aqua, the beaches golden and clean, with nary a soul to worry about. I have not been for nearly 45 years now, but it has stayed top of mind all that time. Part of me is still the little boy looking over the gunwale of the dinghy at all the fish and working out exactly which one was about to attach itself to bottom of my line.

Then there are the free running Brumbies (Aussie wild horses) that go galloping around the place like a herd of young puppies going completely nuts on free time. Given how quiet the place was, the serenity was truly deafening, I can actually hear the thundering hooves right now, and I do not even have to close my eyes!

The location is Deal Island, part of the Kent Group, it’s a granite slab, with some decent 250m cliffs, and it lies in the Nor’eastern part of Bass Strait. Today it is a bit different to yesteryear. It’s now a National Park, so no horses, but plenty of wallabies (small kangaroos) and a bunch of other fauna and flora. It also means you need to be careful where and how you fish. Ah yes, the age of rules - well it now rules everything, OK…

The lighthouse is no longer functioning, but the upside of that is that you can now stay there, if you’re sick of the boat. At 305m it is the highest in the Southern Hemisphere, which is why it could often be seen from Victoria, but it also meant it spent time in the clouds, which is ultimately why it was decommissioned.

Now Bass Strait, along with Southern Victoria and Northern Tasmania, offer some memorable moments with aquaculture, other foodstuffs, wine, golf (in case you have the clubs on board) and scenery, they can do it with a certain uniqueness. That uniqueness stems from time. You’ll have plenty of it too, for the distances are not huge, and you also get it because you will have to time your runs with the weather.

Now back to our industry icon, for he only returned from the place one week ago. He virtually single-handedly resurrected the Mornington Peninsula’s classic wooden boat scene. Today, the Couta Boats no longer bring the day’s catch home, but avid interest in them stems all the way from their traditional home on Port Phillip to France and other parts of the Continent.

His two boys, Will and Sam, have been heavily afflicted with the sailing bug, albeit a fair bit speedier, and are now part of Australia’s 49er squad. He also owns a couple of the best, large Smacks you will ever see and when he’s not doing all that, he is at his Wooden Boat Shop in Sorrento either on the tools or busy designing some new craft.

He is Tim Phillips and he said today of Deal Island, “I really like it there. My Cheviot 32 is named Murray Pass for a reason!” By the way, this is the boat in which he and wife, Sally, circumnavigated the whole of Australia. That craft is now back home and in the yard, no doubt begging him for another adventure.

“We like to call it ‘The Group’. Stephen Murray-Smith found some evidence of Aboriginal occupation on Erith Island, dating back to the land bridge days. This was when you could walk to Tasmania from Victoria and this occurred as late as 10 or 15 thousand years ago.”

On this last jaunt they took Jane Kerr, which is a 50’ Smack or cray boat (crayfish is like a lobster) built by Gary Stuart in Port Fairy. Tim also has the splendid topsail cutter rigged Smack, Storm Bay. Of Deal Island herself, Phillips said, “I think it is like an oasis in Bass Strait, with three or four really good anchorages.”

“We often lay in House Bay (East Cove), then there is Erith Island directly opposite. They say (Matthew) Flinders himself planted watercress in Garden Cove, which is another we use and then if it comes in hard from the Sou’west, we go around to Winter Cove.”

“We go straight from Port Phillip Heads and it is about 18hours motor sailing to cover the 140+nm. The thing about it is that it offers nice swimming, beautiful beaches and a terrific element of wilderness. You just cannot walk in from the bus station in your sandals!”

“There is pretty much an anchorage for all weather conditions and there are great walks to be had. For the young and invigorated, well you can run to the lighthouse from the jetty. Will and Sam are fit and the record stands at 20 odd minutes. They were off by a couple of minutes, so it shows just how tough it is.”

“You are not allowed to fish in Murray Pass anymore, so get the right areas from the Parks information. We like to go cray fishing, which you can do from SCUBA or get a Tasmanian Pot Licence off the Internet and put it pot down. We got seven or eight this last time and biggest was a very healthy 4kg. We were down there a week and only moved just the once for the weather”, said Phillips in closing.

It used to be two and a dog that showed up, but now it is something like a massive 300 souls that come to see it now. Well off the ferry anyway.... Yachties count for a fair bit more. “We were there for a week and saw 40 different souls in that time”, said Phillips. So definitely boaties have got the upper hand.

So what’s the deal with Deal? You’ll just have to find out for yourself. The whole of Bass Strait, Southern Victoria and Northern Tasmania is replete with super food and beverage options, some sensational vistas and some other things called time and space. Sounds good, huh?

Anyway, elsewhere in the universe, please avail yourself of the latest out of Tahiti from Ian and Annika. They had some lucky souls just recently, and the stories together with the accompanying pics, will leave you inspired. I loved Fran and Jean-Guy Nadeau’s report, as too the material Crystal Blues. The UK Coastguard’s efforts on the Isle of Skye remind us why we need to be careful and how thankful we all need to be for the safety services around the globe.

Are you out there plying the seas and got something to say? We’d love to hear from you via editor@sail-world.com – In the meantime, do you love being on the ocean? Well remember to love them back too. They need our help. Now more than ever! Until next time…