Eddystone
“Captain, Sir, we’re not making way!”
“This wall of wind has won the day!”
“This fierce north wind is here to stay,
We can no longer make our way!”
“Ease the main-sheets, Bear away
We’ll go no further north today!”
This was not what Tasman planned,
He left behind Van Diemen’s Land,
A part of ‘The Great Southern Land.
In 1642, he could not withstand
That wall of wind, you understand,
So left our shore for New Zealand.
In seventeen-seventy-three
Furneaux tossed forty miles to sea,
The same spot that made Tasman flee.
Going further was not to be.
Eddystone Point was named by he
After some rocks in English sea.
In seventeen ninety-eight
Matthew Flinders came to navigate
The water he did name Banks Strait,
Where three knot tides move at a rate,
Where north-west winds do not abate,
Sometimes calm seas eventuate.
Reefs and rocks caused much despair
When sailing in the waters there.
Standing majestic in the air,
Eddystone Light makes us aware,
Advising sailors to beware
Of the many dangers and prepare.
I’ve crossed these waters and I know
The many moods it has on show,
From mirror calm to seas that slow,
Beating into the tidal flow,
Like sailing a bucking bronco,
The Sat-Nav vital as we go.
Bill Edmunds
March 2025
billedmunds.com
Bill Edmunds 