But the family's trip on the Spirit of Tasmania on Monday was cancelled because of this week's wild weather, and their plans have been put on hold temporarily.

Mr Webb, his wife Kandice, their Staffordshire bull terriers and the three vehicles carrying all their belongings will most likely be stranded in Melbourne until the weekend.

"We've got no family or friends here in Melbourne, so we're stuck here with three vehicles and nowhere to stay," Mr Webb said.

"And we're going to be lucky to find somewhere to stay with our dogs."

Mr Webb estimated they were transporting 4½ tonnes of furniture and possessions, including the weight of their ute, the car pulling a trailer and another vehicle.

Fortunately, the couple has since been able to secure accommodation and temporary storage space at a Pakenham caravan park until the Spirit of Tasmania is able to set sail again.  

The couple are moving from Newcastle to Georgetown in Tasmania for Mr Webb's new job.

Mr Webb, a furnace operator, was made redundant last September and was due to start at Bell Bay's Tasmanian aluminium smelter on Friday, but he doubts he will make that first shift.

They spent last night inside the Spirit of Tasmania and were roused at 6am this morning, and told the delay had been turned into a cancellation.

Their ticket was refunded, and the ferry's operators have booked them in on Sunday's service.

"We boarded last night under the impression we would be sailing last night," he said.

"There was no indication we would be cancelled until we got up at 6am this morning. We were just told that we would be leaving late."

"I'm disappointed and I understand there's not much we can do about it, but I'm disappointed by the lack of communication with everybody," he said.

The vessels can't set sail because flooding swept debris downstream into the port of Devonport.

Tasmania's ports authority closed the Mersey River to sea traffic on Monday night because of heavy rains and floating debris, affecting the Spirit of Tasmania's route.

The heavy flooding caused the Devonport Yacht Club marina to collapse and boats were dragged into shipping lanes.

It is unclear when the ferries will be able to sail again, and passengers in Melbourne and Tasmania have been booked into services on Sunday.

Monday night's two sailings have also been cancelled.

A spokeswoman for operator TT-Line said the company was speaking with Tasports and would advise passengers on when they could make the journey as soon as possible.

She said TT-Line was looking at scheduling additional day sailings later this week to carry the backlog of passengers.

Wild weather struck the Bass Strait ferry service a month ago, with huge swells turning a large semi-trailer on its side and smashing cars together.

And in January, the Spirit of Tasmania II broke free of its moorings and crashed into Station Pier during a storm, damaging the front of the vessel.