Day 9 Cloudy Southern Sunday… (Written on June 09, 2013)
Rubbing my eyes to wake quickly while stepping into the wheelhouse, I notice there are all kinds of lights on show. Homes, streetlights and lighthouses sparkle from three locations. A white line of beads on Marsden Point (on the NE tip of Kangaroo Island) glows at our 4 o’clock position. Towards the starboard bow in the 130pm position of our imaginary ships’ clock, the lights of Kangaroo Head north of American Beach on Kangaroo Island sparkle and on the mainland Land’s End on the SW point of the Fleurieu Peninsula at our 11 o’clock is a line of orange jewels.
‘Not-so-shy’ Shy Albatross fly by for a closer look.
Photo credit M.Jenner
Just before my watch Resty turned our good ship from an easterly heading in Investigator Strait and now I guide her at 135 degrees between Landing Shoal and Hardstaff Shoals through famed Backstairs Passage. This passage is a gap 7.75 nm across, between Ironstone Hill on the Dudley Peninsula, Kangaroo Island and Land’s End on the Fleurier Peninsula of mainland Australia in South Australia extending for 23 nm. A 2.5 knot current and tidal over-falls the cautionary information on the chart in such a narrow water-way. On both sides of the passage, steep cliffs arch away in sweeping curves.
We had planned to survey for whales outside Kangaroo Island while heading eastwards but since this area would be under cover of darkness (given our departure time from Port Lincoln) we decided to travel the calmer, quicker route to the north of Kangaroo Island. On the sounder coming into Port Lincoln the other night there was a distinct lack of plankton. Now, a definite scattering layer from 13.6m to 17.7m is a fuzzy line of white spots, not unlike the lines onshore of lights representing people. Plankton and people, I have critters everywhere tonight!
On the radar there is an approaching vessel. From the AIS and ARPA information they are heading for Port Adelaide and travelling at a speed of 22 knots! We quickly pass safely as they sweep to the NE into the Gulf of St Vincent, of which on the eastern side Adelaide is situated. Well after the ship passes and my full attention returns to the sounder the strong targets are now absent, confirming well-held beliefs. Localised distribution is common place within the biological world, physical features affecting presence/absence.
Vessel traffic heading to and from Adelaide gets Skipper’s attention.
Photo credit M.Jenner
As we sneak in the backdoor at Backstairs Passage lights on Ironstone Hill indicate the gradually rising incline of the landscape like a string of pearls dangling on a slight slope. Backstairs Passage is a great name and is joined by some not-so-interesting ones, Tree Hill, Sheep Hill and Second Valley. Approaching the narrowest part of the channel we have lost a knot and a half of boat speed and you can feel the currents jostling us as the tide begins to flood.
In the morning, we are at the northern end of Encounter Bay, the site of an interesting meeting on April 08, 1802 between English discoverer Matthew Flinders and his crew of Investigator and the French explorer Nicolas Baudin aboard Le Geographe. Such a polite encounter was quite an unusual occurrence, since explorers of old had much riding on their discovering reputations while they explored the world for their flag and country.
Photo yoga captures a Crested Tern.
Photo credit M.Jenner
As we travel south-east along Encounter Bay, we hope for whales close to the coast and deploy three sonobuoys to monitor the ambient sounds. Unfortunately, no cetacean calls are heard but very loud snapping shrimp. The morning was relatively uneventful cetacean-wise, but none-the-less albatross-filled. With great flourish they swoop low in large “figure of eight” dives almost touching the water and then with a daft wing-over, soar to 15 m high above the waves. Crested terns with bright yellow beaks try to land on the fly-bridge – stalling and splaying their wings and tail feathers just above me on the Portuguese Bridge. Photographing I am bent over backwards at a funny angle. This is one routine in my daily “photography yoga”!
Hot potato and leek soup with baguette and salad warms as the crisp air cools. Throughout the mid to late morning Shy and Black-browed albatross circle constantly. At any one time, at least one or two are in the distance or right near the bow.
Sunset over ‘many capes coast’.
Photo credit M.Jenner
Cape Jaffa is 19.5 nm away and from here we shall continue on the same course at 145 degrees, just 6.7nm from the south-eastern oriented coastline of south-eastern South Australia. Many capes unfold before us, Cape Jaffa (at Robe), Cape Thomas, Cape Dombey, Cape Rabelais, Cape Lannes, Cape Martin, Cape Buffon, Cape Northumberland and across the border into Victoria, Cape Bridgewater, Cape Nelson and Cape Sir William Grant. The names on the chart get me thinking about being an explorer here in times gone by. I also wonder where I would go as a whale, but am distracted from these thoughts by the piercing eyes of a Black-browed albatross drilling into mine just 20 m above as I pop out of the wheelhouse wielding my camera skywards for the 51st time today! The thrill of capturing a sharp shot as they cruise nearby, simply irresistible!
The swell is just 2m, the grey sea scattered with white-caps and the grey sky, well it’s grey today! Small, grey-blue lumps dot the portside horizon as we close with the “many capes coast”. In the golden sunset five albatross rise and fall beautifully.
A scrummy seafood dinner, Coffin Bay oysters shucked and gifted by Dale and beer-battered whiting prepared and provided by Inday with Restys’ honeyed almond carrots, garlic green beans and Southern Ocean string fries are delicious as we contemplate entering Victorian waters and travelling through Bass Strait.
From near the South Australian/Victorian border at Cape Northumberland,
Mich
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