Police found the body of experienced skipper Donald Joseph Marshall, 78, about two kilometres east of Badger Island on Tuesday after earlier locating his yacht, which had run aground.

Mr Marshall's family visited the island on Wednesday.

North-East divisional Inspector John King said yesterday that police were completing duties on the island and would prepare a report for the coroner.

MAST recreational boating manager Peter Hopkins said his thoughts were with relatives and friends of the yachtsman, who had ties to Queensland and South Australia.

Without speculating on what happened, Mr Hopkins said the Flinders Island area was very tidal and travelling there was not advisable unless it was daytime and people were familiar with the area.

"It's very hard to navigate around Flinders Island with the tidal variation," he said.

"There are also a lot of rocks around Flinders, particularly on the western side, and you get a lot of current in and out of Franklin Sound.

"This is the patch of water between Cape Barren and Flinders Island.

"Badger Island is immediately to the west of the entrance to Franklin Sound."

Mr Hopkins said people needed to know where they were going, particularly at night.

"If you don't know, don't go in the first place," he said.

He advised people to do their research and gain local knowledge about any new area they wanted to travel to, and to travel to such places during daylight.

Mr Hopkins said people should use hard-copy marine charts and not rely on electronic maps because these could be inaccurate.

He said during one yacht race a boat became beached at Macquarie Harbour because the crew had followed their GPS device, which had the wrong data.

More Information about sailing in Tasmania is available by visiting www.mast.tas.gov.au and searching for Cruising Tasmania.