An early start to Yamba

Monday 18th October




The alarm went off at 1.15am, and we reluctantly got up and prepared to leave the marina. We cast off the lines at 1.40am and were at the seaway by 2am and had an untroubled bar crossing in the dark.



We were off Point Danger around sunrise in a lumpy sea with a light SW wind, so the motor was still running.

Sunrise Off Point Danger

The further south we went, the more the seas smoothed out and by the time we were off Cape Byron, it had settled into a long rolling swell of a few metres height. We started to see more fisherman in tinnies, some of which were pretty fearless. The one in the photo below was 5 nm off Byron Bay, and the photo was taken when he was on the crest of a swell, the one below it was when he was in the trough between the swells.

One man in a tinny off Cape Byron

Here he is in the trough of the swells (you can just see his head just in from the left edge of the photo)

The auto pilot steered most of the way and the promised NE breeze did not cut in till late and only in the last hour reached above 10 knots.



We went across the Clarence bar at 5.30pm ( daylight saving time, had forgotten about the time difference till we logged off with Marine Rescue Iluka/Yamba), and motored around to the marina at Yamba. By now the NE breeze was 15-20knots (as it was when we crossed the bar). The bar crossing was pretty bumpy and a fleet of trawlers were all powering out the other way, so it was busy in the entrance.



Our allotted berth was fully exposed to the cross wind and was very tight, so after a couple of attempts I berthed in one that I preferred the look of and will sort it out with the marina in the morning. The owner of the Riviera “White Knight” from Bobbin Head was also in the marina (they passed us at Cape Byron on the way down the coast) and he saw us coming in and came around to give us a hand with the lines.



We called Carole’s brother, David, to let him know we had arrived and will catch up with him tomorrow.



We had an early dinner on board, and no trouble getting off to sleep.