Category: Passages (Page 3 of 3)

After a 2 hour motor inland from Iluka, our first obstacle was the Harwood bridge. Although the new highway bridge has been built, the old bridge remains in use for local traffic. The old bridge isn’t high enough to let our 14m mast through, but with 24 hours notice they open the bridge for travelling yachts and we had booked it for 10:30 that morning.

We pulled up at little towns along the way which have public pontoons big enough for a couple of boats to stay for the night and welcoming pubs often overlooking the river. With lots of shallow water we sometimes posted a double watch on the bow.

Our first stop was Harwood. We were surprised by this large partially completed houseboat that pulled up behind us to resupply before heading up the river. It had come down the coast from Ballina that day crossing two bars and was heading up the river where it would be completed, although we didn’t spot it again as we travelled up stream. We had a great meal at the pub, and could see the boat from our dinner table. Overnight the temperatures dipped to significantly lower than we were used to near the coast.

Maclean was our next stop to resupply. There are many small trawlers in this section of the river although they were not active during the day. We met our first cross river ferry at Lawrence. These use cables across the river so we needed to time our crossing when the ferries were on the bank and the lines are slack. The ferries are surprisingly well used with queues of traffic on both sides of the river mid-week.

We stayed at Ulmarra overnight and enjoyed the great pub on the river and many small crafty shops. Again the temperatures overnight were about 1 degree celsius and we lamented not having more insulation! We do appreciate our little heater though on nights like this. The next day we did a day trip up the river to Grafton where the low bridge prevents any further progress for us upriver.

The next night we stopped at a small town called Brushgrove. Bernie especially enjoyed Brushgrove where we found a big park where he could chase his bumpers. Again there is a lovely local pub where we could have a beer and still admire our little home on the dock.

There is lots of sugar cane grown in the area, as well as the large processing factory on the river. On our last night back at Harwood they were burning the cane as we went for a dog walk along the river.

These guys were a feature up and down the river. At Harwood this Pelican would complain with a deep guttural growl every time we came out on deck and upset his normally quiet pontoon.

From Harwood we had a rainy and wet motor back to our now familiar anchorage at Iluka. The anchorage was steadily filling up with vessels preparing for the Queensland border opening (of which we are one).

We’ll be looking to move further north in the coming days, now that the border is open and we both have our QLD declaration passes at the ready.

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!