2nd November Southport to Yamba 104nm

The alarm went off at 1.30am and I felt like I had hardly slept. As usual I was tossing and turning and not sleeping well in anticipation of our early departure. We had a cup of tea and checked the weather and current coastal observations and it all looked clear for our trip to Yamba. The forecast was up to 10 knots variable in the morning and NE winds 10-15 by midday and 15 – 25 knots in the evening. We timed our arrival at the Yamba bar for 4pm which was about 2 hours into the run in tide which helps when the wind is strong.

We made good progress with the Eastern Australia current assisting us at up to 1.5 knots at times before Cape Byron. 

 Cape Byron Light House

After Cape Byron it was noticeably reduced down to less than .5 of a knot assistance. The wind strengthened as forecasted but became 25 knots by mid afternoon. We had a full mainsail up and the headsail poled out and Billabong was relishing the 2 meter swell surfing at up to 10 knots at times.

We approached the bar with anxiety. I have never been through the Yamba Bar and did not expect the winds to be above 25 knots by this time of the day. We saw gusts up to 30 knots on the wind speed instrument and the swells got a little bigger as the water shallowed on approach. We furled the jib and started the engine but kept the main up. We surfed in from a NE direction reaching 9.5 knots on a good wave as we entered. We were both quite relieved to be into calmer water safely.

The wind was still howling as we dropped the mainsail and motored into the Clarence River and negotiated the tight turns and shallow water into the Yamba Marina.

 The entrance into the Clarence River. Photo taken the day after arrival. Wind was considerably less.

We met a fellow boatie on the way to the showers and he advised us that the Yamba Tavern was a great place to eat. They have a courtesy bus which will pick you up drop you back.  We took his advice and caught the bus to the tavern. After a long day on the water the beer always tastes better and we had a couple of beers and ordered our food.

The tavern was very crowded as there was a wedding reception. We have never seen anything like this country wedding before. The bride and bridesmaids were dressed traditionally but the groom and the groomsmen were dressed in white shirts khaki trousers and thongs. The guests dress apparel was a mixed bag from ties and tee shirts and runners and thongs on the men and some of the women had no idea how to dress to impress. It was our entertainment for the night as most of the guests were in different stages of inebriation.

We both agreed the night was not that pleasant and eating on the boat was superior. We caught the courtesy bus back to the marina and had a rum liqueur before retiring.