28th 29th Oct Coffs Harbour to Pittwater RPAYC 234nm

I hate the early morning starts and when the 5am alarm went off I felt I had not slept enough. Never the less you have to get going or it will be a longer journey than necessary.

A hurried cup of tea and breakfast and we were ready to go at 5.30am. The wind had dropped and 4 yachts had already left the marina.

There was a mass exodus of about 11 yachts and a power boat leaving for various destinations down the coast. Everyone had been waiting for the southerly to pass before continuing the journey south.

Out of the harbour the seas were still quite large but little wind. We had the main up to steady the yacht from the rolling swell.

Two yachts got lobster pots wrapped around their propeller within 2 hours of leaving the marina. They were not keeping a good eye out. We maintained a watch all day as we did not want to get one around the propeller.

We saw a lot of whales - mainly mothers and their calves.

At first, we had current against us but by the afternoon we had a knot with us. That helped a lot.

The wind never got more than 15 knots which made it a gentler sail but we had to motor sail the entire way which was a bit frustrating considering the forecast was for a lot more.

Dolphins played with us during the day and at night. Seeing Dolphins coming at the yacht at night with the effervescence in the water makes them look like torpedoes coming at you. It is really a fantastic sight but it is impossible to capture on a normal camera. That memory will be etched in the mind forever.

Sailing into the sunset

It was a peaceful night motor sail as the swell eased down and there were no violent motions so I managed to get some sleep. That made the day easier for me and we motor sailed into Pittwater, passed Barrenjoey Light House at 2pm, and into the basin where we grabbed a mooring and cooked a chicken burger and tidied up the sails.

Once settled we motored into our pen at RPAYC to conclude our Coral Coast 2017 Rendezvous Cruise.

It has been an amazing trip with the weather so kind. We only had 10 days of rain since leaving on 12^th May.

We travelled a total of 3126 nm and used the engine for a total of 422 hours burning 1177 litres of diesel.

We had no real boat problems or issues for the 5 months and it was a relief to be back in the pen safely.

It was sad for the journey to come to an end and I thanked Bruce for helping me with the delivery south.

That’s it for another cruise. Who knows when we will be off again.

Perhaps 2019.

26th 27th Oct Coffs Harbour

We woke up very tired from the previous day. Long distance sailing is tiresome.
After a lazy breakfast we went for a walk into town and had lunch. We needed the walk although it was very hot. We found a food hall in the central shopping centre and had lunch and purchased a few supplies from the supermarket and we walked back to the yacht and had a lay down to catch a few winks.

The yacht next door invited us for drinks which was interrupted by a rather large hail storm. We were inside the yacht having drinks and it sounded like someone was throwing stones at the yacht continuously. It lasted for about 10 mins and it went away and the sky cleared up. It appears that hail storms were right through NSW as Sydney got some and Port Stephens got some too.

After drinks Bruce and I went to the Yacht Club for dinner where we ordered a whole snapper deep fried with a rather nice salt and pepper coating. Delicious and washed down with a bottle of red.

Whole deep fried salt and pepper snapper!!

Done

That is two great meals we have had at Coffs Harbour Yacht Club.

 

Back to the yacht and some more catch up sleep.

The big southerly that was expected to come did not eventuate. It was a very mild southerly wind and a mild sunny day and I spent my time catching up on boat chores in preparation for tomorrows departure. Bruce visited friends in Coffs Harbour and returned for an afternoon nap.

I scrubbed the bottom of the yacht so that I could get max speed going home. I really don’t want to be out there any longer than we have to. Any growth will slow us down and did not want that to happen.

Tomorrow we have 220 NM to travel home. If we leave at 6am Saturday morning, we should be home by 6pm Sunday night. If the weather and the sea is kind.

Billabong hosted drinks for our neighbours and we all went to the local Vietnamese restaurant for a great meal. The walk back to the yacht marina was cool which gave us an indication that tomorrows 6am start will be a cool one.

Back on the yacht we readied the yacht for a 6 am departure and set the alarm for 5am.

24th 25th Oct Southport to Coffs Harbour 141nm

We crossed the bar at 2pm and headed out to sea to avoid the rocks at Point Danger. We were able to sail immediately and turned off the engine.

Leaving the Goldcoast behind

We had good current with us and while the breeze was up and down we made great progress rounding Point Danger at around 5pm.

We prepared the yacht for the night time but kept the poled-out head sail as we were making good progress and the wind was not too strong.

We had dinner of a pre-prepared lamb stew at 9pm as we were not hungry after a big burger and chips. We had to eat. Soon after I had eaten I put my head down for some shut eye which is always difficult. I managed some sleep and Bruce was happy to keep watch until 2am. I stayed on watch until 5.30am when Bruce woke.

The seas were comfortable and the wind was still pushing us along although we lost some of the current during the night.

The wind went light but we were still managing 6 knots SOG which is all we need to get to Coffs by 2pm.

Around 11.30am the wind increased and so did our speed. We saw a few whales and a few dolphins came to play.

Peaceful Sailing

Playful Dolphins

Not sure why the dolphins further up the coast don’t seem to want to play but the NSW Dolphins do.

South Solitary island

We arrived right on our target time of 2pm and came straight into the pen. We collected the key from the marina office and had one of best hot water showers on the coast. Great water pressure at Coffs Harbour.

A few beers back on the yacht and we headed to the Coffs Harbour Yacht Club where Bruce and I had a fantastic Wagyu Beef rump steak. Very nice and well deserved after an all-night sail. Sailing all night is never pleasant. It is long tedious and tiresome.

We crashed as soon as we got back to the yacht.

24th Oct Blaksley Anchorage to Southport 35nm

At 5am it was dead low tide but I needed to get to Jacobs Well which is the shallowest part of the Gold Coast Broadwater by the 11am high tide.

We departed at 6.30am after breakfast and motored down the channel.

There are overhead power lines crossing the main channel at Rocky Point and they say there is only 20.9 meters clearance. However, that is at the lowest hanging part of the wires and away from the large pylons where the main channel is. We looked up as we crossed under and I estimate there was 6 meters clearance from the top of my mast. My mast height above the water is 19.5 meters with antenna’s.

Must remember that if I get a bigger yacht!!!

We had no trouble navigating the Broadwater and we motored into Southport Yacht Club to fill up with fuel. Bruce met his brother and his dad and then ran off for a burger and chips. Bruce returned with some food for both of us and we hurriedly scoffed the burger and said our goodbyes and headed back up the Broadwater for and exit across the Gold Coast Seaway bar.

23rd Oct Mooloolaba to Blaksley Anchorage 69nm

The tide was quite low in the morning and I was a little nervous going out but I need not be. We followed the same track we came in on and there were no dramas. The swell had subsided and the wind was blowing Southerly at 14 knots.

We motor sailed all the way to Blaksley Anchorage and arrived there at 5pm.

There was a major weather alert with big storms.

It was cool and we had a hot shower and a cold beer. We were the only ones at the anchorage.

Another long day and did not catch a fish despite trolling from Mooloolaba.

It was a great sunset after a long day

21st 22nd Oct Mooloolaba Marina

The weather in Mooloolaba was not great. We had some very heavy rain on Sat 21^st so we were stuck in the yacht for a while. Alan and Sue Pick rang and invited us to their place on the canal for a nice dinner of prawns and red emperor. Maureen came and collected us and took us home so we were kept dry.

Sunday Maureen collected us and took us shopping and Sandy and Eric drove up from Brisbane to see us. I cooked a nice lunch of Spanish mackerel that Eric caught leaving Lady Musgrave and we had a very enjoyable afternoon.

That evening Bruce and I prepared the yacht for an early morning departure and then headed off for one of the best Pizzas I have had in Mooloolaba. I was not very hungry after our big lunch but needed to eat a little. We had a few beers with it. We did not have a late night and we were in bed by 10pm with a very full stomach from our late lunch and our late dinner.

20th Oct Pelican Bay to Mooloolaba 68nm

I was awake at 5 am and quickly studied the weather maps and the forecasts. I checked the wind observations at Double Island Point.

The wind had subsided right on que as the weather bureau predicted and it looked right for a crossing.

Flat water was at 8.15am at the bar which is some 6nm from where we were anchored.

We would need to leave at 7am at the latest to have the most favourable conditions.

Car ferry at Inskip Point at sunrise going to work

There was a 100 ft power boat anchored with us and they weighed anchor at 6am and headed out. I called them on the VHF radio and asked if they would provide us with conditions of the bar report, which they agreed to do. They motored out at 9 knots and we could track them on the AIS. After they crossed the bar the skipper radioed us and said conditions were not good. 3 meter waves with tops breaking.

That was not good news and it saddened me because if we could not get out today we would be stuck there for another 5 days.

I pondered and pondered and kept thinking that this big yacht is huge at a 100 foot and it said it was not pleasant then our 44 yacht would not enjoy it at all.

The only saving grace would be that they went 2 hours ahead of the high tide. The other factors to consider was that the swell was from the east and not the south east and the wind was from the east. These are all factors in our favour. The 3m swell with breaking tops was not a factor in our favour.

I saw other boats making preparation and we heard several log onto Coast Guard at Tin Can Bay for a crossing.

I had a big dilemma. Things can go very wrong when trying to stick to a schedule.

I made the decision we were going to go and informed Isabella that we were going to go to reference point 2 and if it looked really bad we would abort and return.

We weighed anchor at 6.45am and headed out. The mad mile (the long trench on the way out) was like a washing machine. I have seen it worse. We were pushing 2 knots of current so progress out was 4 knots SOG.

We were following several other boats so it was a bit of procession. If any pulled out and returned then I would too.

We received a radio report from a catamaran in front of us Skedaddle. The skipper said while it was hairy he managed to avoid all breaking top waves.

Decision made to progress.

Kokomo V traveling with us

We made it across the bar unscathed and never took any white water on top. A big relief. 3 meter breaking top waves are a bit scary and you have to be on the ball.

Hard to see how big the waves are on a camera. watch the yacht behind us and you will get a feel for it

Big wave breaking behind us

From there on it was a motor sail all the way to Mooloolaba.

Dolphins and whales were spotted along the way and the large rolling south east swell made it somewhat uncomfortable. However, it was great to get out of the bar and be on our way.

Arrived at the entrance to Mooloolah River which has another bar crossing. This one is also treacherous as the sand bar shifts regularly and this time was no exception. The huge strong easterly swells had pushed the sand bar out into the middle of the channel. Notice to Mariners and regular VHF updates by Coast Guard Mooloolaba gave us lots of warnings. However some did not read the NTM or listen to the broadcasts on VHF and paid the consequences. One yacht that came with us over the Wide Bay Bar and was travelling about an hour ahead of us attempted to cross the bar from the east instead of from the western side and ran aground for 30 minutes while getting pushed across the bar with each big swell.

That must have been frightening.

We docked at 4.30pm and tidied up the yacht and had a beer and a big sigh of relief. The nerves were frayed and on edge and it will take a few days to calm down.

Bruce and I went to the Surf Club for a steak and a long-awaited walk. We had not been off the yacht since we left Bundaberg. 7 Days!!!!