Month: May 2020

Laurieton to Coffs Harbour

May 25, 2020 / fiandadrian

We tied up to the pier outside the United Servicemans Club in Laurieton. Its free for a few days and they have a hot shower and toilets…very welcome. Oh and a coffee shop. And ordinarily a club serving cold beers, but in COVID19 world, its closed of course.

Most days someone came to the pier to say hello to the visiting yachties. Some days we did little else but talk to and learn from these more experienced sailors. From the young guy who had sailed a Janeau 36 from Sydney to Gladstone, the local who knew the safe line across the bar to the guy who grew up in Sydney building his own boats and competing in Sydney to Hobarts.

The BIG news was Fi’s fishing success. After a bunch of just under the limit bream, this chap turned up for lunch, lightly fried with some salt and pepper.

We went for a big walk to the Dunbogan Boat Shed for coffee and beyond to the surf beach where Bernie was delighted to run, splash and consume large amounts of sand. We were picking up little piles of sand posing as poos for a day.

Of course there are always a list of boat jobs to complete. After arriving at Laurieton we found water in engine compartment. Like, a lot. The bilge is almost always dry in Addictive, but we found that after long periods of following seas the engine bay has some water (Fi is editing this and says “a lot”). We soon traced it to the cockpit drains that needed re-sealing and tightening, which was straight forward apart from the contortions required to reach around behind the inside of the cockpit.

A weather window appeared for us to leave and head up the coast to Coffs Harbour. Crossing the Laurieton bar and arriving at Coffs in the day light meant sailing overnight again. The bar was mostly calm as we crossed at 4:30pm

We headed up the coast towards Port Macquarie as the sun set. Not enough wind to sail but knew there would be a be blow during the night.

By Hat Head the wind had picked up and we were under sail again, but soon reefing down the sails and then dropping the main as the wind increased to 20-25 knots, with stronger gusts. It quickly became like the set of one of those old movies where they throw buckets of water from just off camera. Fi stayed indoors and watched the chart plotters and placated Bernie as Adrian watched the sails and seas, and enjoyed the good test of his foulies.

The wind moderated before dawn and as the sun rose we increased sail and had a beautiful sail up the mid north coast. Bernie was invited on deck to sniff a new part of the world and clean up the crumbs from snacks consumed during the night.

At about 10am we entered the harbour at Coffs and headed straight for our assigned berth. After a long salty night we savoured some champagne and oysters for breakfast and a well deserved snooze.

We’ll likely stay in Coffs for a few weeks. Fi spent summer holidays here with her family and so we’re planning a nostalgia visit to Nan’s old house, and Boambee Creek where she learned how to ride a bike and swim. So far, the burgers are excellent, the fish coop is fresh, and the beach is doggy friendly and off the lead so Bernie is getting some great running and swimming in!

Broughton Island to Laurieton

May 20, 2020 / fiandadrian

Laurieton was going to be our first bar crossing in NSW to enter the Camden Haven river. These shallow river entrances can be very dangerous to cross (google NSW bar crossings for some great youtube fun). There are safer times to cross when the swell is low and the outflow from the river is not strong.

To arrive in daylight and 3 hours after low tide we needed to leave Broughton island at around 11pm and arrive about midday the next day. After pulling up the anchor we followed our waypoints between shallow shoals and out into open ocean. I found it surprisingly easy to get off course on a dark night with no landmarks.

There were several other yachts heading in the same direction that kept us company for most of the night. AIS again proved invaluable in determining how far away they were as this is difficult to judge from their lights. We navigated way off the coast where there are less hard things to run into.

We had good steady sailing conditions all night. Dawn brought schools of dolphins to accompany us along the coast.

We put a fishing line out but seemed to attract more birds than fish. Fortunately no birds managed to catch it, also, no fish.

Perpendicular Point provided shelter from the southerly swells to drop the sails and line up for the bar crossing. Whilst the bar crossing was uneventful, there were still people there filming us crossing, presumably expecting some event. Despite being tired we managed to smile, wave and look suitably nautical in our brand new foulies.

This is view toward the breakwaters on either side of the bar. There were no breaking waves, but it was not nearly as flat as it looks here.

After a short motor up the river the Marine Rescue team directed us to the pier in front of the United Servicemans Club where we tied up, enjoyed our arrival beer and relaxed. We reflected on our passage, and noted that we got a lot of things right such as our sail plan, but we also learned a lot, such as not to kick out the autopilot power cord while attempting to reef the headsail in the middle of the night, going the wrong direction towards land, really fast. But overall, first overnighter, first anchoring in open water and first bar crossing…tick.

Port Stephens and Broughton Island

May 16, 2020 / fiandadrian

By Fi

Fame Cove – Port Stephens

We spent a few days in Fame Cove, enjoying the serenity of this quiet little bay. Eagles flying overhead, fish jumping, and the daily visit from a pod of dolphins who would come in and get their breakfast.

We spent our days fishing, finishing off some boat jobs, looking around the creek to the end of the bay that was only accessible in high tide, and watching the amazing sunsets. It really was the bay for sunsets and every day they continued to amaze us.

Left: Cooked blue swimmer crabs
Right: Processed crab

We caught 2 good sized blue swimmer crabs one morning and enjoyed them for lunch. The recipe is stir fried blue swimmer crabs courtesy of the Sydney Seafood School cookbook. We had to ad-lib a bit as we can’t duck to the shops to pick up the perfect ingredients, but the substitutes worked, and with such fresh seafood, a cold glass of wine, and a beautiful vista, who cares!

The Auto-Tiller repair was one job that we needed to prioritise, as we knew our next leg would likely be an overnight and we need our third crew member on overnight passages particularly. Coming up from Newcastle, the auto tiller repeatedly jumped out of its cradle, which was distracting. Adrian fashioned a new mount for the end of the tiller from some marine ply we have onboard, and some epoxy and fibreglass. Its not pretty, but its super solid and that’s what we need.

Left: Bernie looking soaked after an accidental fall in,
Right: Bernie swimming to Fi on Addictive from the beach

And not to be outdone by the sunsets, seafood and boat jobs, Bernie took it upon himself to have 2 unapproved swims, the first, when he decided to jump into the dingy, then while trying to get back on board the yacht, fell in, and the second when he was on the beach with Adrian, he decided he would swim all the way back to his Mum on the big boat. Adrian couldn’t keep up with him rowing. He had a great time that day, not so much when he accidentally fell in. Little guy is getting more and more confident with his new lot in life which is great.

Shoal bay. Addictive is in this photo on the right hand side, second boat in.

Shoal Bay – Port Stephens

After a few days of chill at Fame Cove, we set sail for a little bay on the southern side of Port Stephens near the entrance called Shoal Bay. We sailed all the way there, enjoying some really perfect conditions and a sunny day. After picking up a mooring ball, we had some fish and chips and a coffee on shore, then went to walk up to the headland. Unfortunately with COVID19, the walk was closed so no luck. Instead we tried our luck at fishing in the clear waters there. Also no luck. Until next time little fishies.

Broughton Island

Shoal Bay is close to the heads of Port Stephens, meaning the next day we could just pop out the heads, travel up the coast for a couple of hours and arrive at a gorgeous island called Broughton Island. The sand was white, the swells were low, the water was like glass and I couldn’t wait to get onshore and explore. Its a bird sanctuary, so little Bernie was confined to the boat with a peanut butter filled Kong, as Adrian and I went and explored. After trying my hand again at a little fishing onshore, it seemed like I would have more enjoyment in the water itself, so after a tentative moment of “ooooh, it is a little chilly” I got used to the cool water and enjoyed a little float in the turquoise.

Rounding the island to our anchorage on the left

We spent about 32 hours here soaking up the sounds and smells of this gorgeous place. Our next leg, however, was calling, and so time for some final planning and checks, for our departure at 11PM on the 13th May. This leg, we will sail from Broughton Island, overnight to Laurieton, which is just south of Port Macquarie, and just north of Taree. Its our first overnight sail by ourselves, so we’re a little apprehensive and over preparing, so watch this space for our write up of our experience!

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Newcastle for a while

May 7, 2020 / fiandadrian

By Fi

We arrived at the Newcastle Crusing Yacht Club marina at about 6PM on the 27th April. We were pretty tired after a big day in conflicting seas, so put the boat to bed, had a nice hot shower and some take away Thai food – and a beer.

We would spend the next 8 days tucked up in this lovely marina, exploring Newcastle and naturally, doing boat jobs. Here we are safely in our berth.

While in Newcastle, we went for some pretty big walks. I never realised how lovely Newcastle was. I grew up not far away in the northern most suburbs of Sydney, and always perceived Newcastle to be an industrial town dedicated to big ships and coal. What we discovered was a gorgeous city with amazing coffee and food (OMG the oysters), beautiful views and ocean pools, and parks and gardens to walk through.

The “Bogey Hole” (shown here) is a super cool ocean pool built by convicts around 1819 for Major James Morrisett, the Commandant of Newcastle at the time. It was of course unfortunately closed due to COVID19 (as were the beaches, museum and most shops).

We took a long walk to a chandlery (about an hour each way) to get a new fresh water pump as ours had packed it in completely just before we left Pittwater. It was a cheap water pump and therefore we replaced it with something more robust. And in particularly exciting news, I had a tea cosy made by the wonderful Alie Jane designs so my tea in the mornings stays warm in the pot. I’m rather beside myself with happiness for such a simple improvement! Plus its cute.

We chose to stay in Newcastle for longer than we had planned (and enjoy hot showers), as just after we arrived, the winds picked up to gusts between 20-35 knots for a few days, and once that calmed down, the seas were up to almost 4m which in our sized boat isn’t really an option to be going out in (for us, for now anyways). We started planning out leaving time once we saw the swells were due to drop. We still want to head north so that we can get into QLD as soon as we are able to when the border opens. With that in mind, we mapped out some options for a few north heading trips, the first one being to Port Stephens. So, after some preparations and provisioning we left at 9AM on the 6th May, dancing around a couple of freighters as we exited the port.

Military jets buzzed along the coast at low level heading to nearby Williamstown airfield. Adrian captured this absolutely stunning shot of two low flying jets passing overhead.

We arrived in Port Stephens to a welcoming party of a pod of dolphins! We elected to enter at low tide as time leaving Newcastle coincided with this, and also we knew then the tide would be coming in so if we were to touch bottom, we’d eventually be lifted off. As it were, following the lead lights that guide vessels in to port, and then following the marked channel, keeping a good lookout and checking the chart and chart plotters, we made it in with no issues and no anxiety. Future port entries up the coast will be over bars, and so we will be planning things differently for them.

We have chosen to stay at a mooring in a place called “Fame Cove” which is a lovely protected area. Now that we are here, we will review our plans to head north based on the presiding weather conditions at sea. We’d like to go to Broughton Island, as well as get the chance to look around Port Stephens.

Pittwater to Newcastle

May 2, 2020 / fiandadrian

The day had come, and we planned to leave the gorgeous cliffs, flat waters, fish (no fish) and vistas of Pittwater, and head north. We were originally hoping to drop in to Lake Macquarie but a safe entrance on a rising tide would have meant travelling through the night or arriving in the dark which we’re not so keen on at the current point in our sailing adventure. So we picked a day with favourable southerly winds and aimed for Newcastle.

We use a program called “Predict Wind” which provides us with 4 models of how the winds (amongst other things) will affect our journey, and therefore which course we should take and when we should leave. 3 out of 4 of the forecast models had us hoisting the sails and sailing most of the way, leaving at 6am and arriving around 4pm, but the 4th model was correct and we motored much of the way in rolly seas and arrived at dusk.

We noticed this tug that seemed to be pulling a barge gradually catching up with us. Using AIS really helped us with working out which direction they were going and whether or not we’d have a collision. As they passed behind us the ‘barge’ turned out to be the retired Manly ferry ‘Lady Northcott’ being moved to Newcastle.

The final couple of hours almost made up for the motoring (and queasiness) with a a great sail past all the massive ships lined up to enter Newcastle harbour. Although Fi is frowning, she actually really enjoyed this moment on the helm! This is concentration face.