Port Stephens to Camden Haven

On Monday 21st we set sail for Camden Haven , approx 78Nm north of Port Stephens. We left our mooring just after 4am with mainsail up and a 12 knot westerly. We motor sailed till we cleared the islands around the entrance to Port Stephens on then stopped the engine and had a good sail for the next 4 hrs averaging around 7.5 knots.




As we approached Seal Rocks the fishing line went out the back and with 10 minutes we had a bonito. At this point we were sailing at 8 knots and had little interest in slowing down, so landing was a challenge.

Sadly soon after the wind started moving to the south and ran out of steam, so back on with the engine and we motor sailed most of the rest of the way.



We lost count of the number of whales we saw, some flapping their tails above the water for extended periods, others breaching and some just swimming along, sometimes quite close to the boat. Dolphin sitings were also common and lots a seas birds.



Around 1 pm a storm was developing out to sea, so as it appeared to be moving our way and the wind was beginning to get confused, we pulled the sails down and motored the rest of the way.. Fortunately it went back out to sea so all we got was a bit of rain.



We arrived at Camden Haven at 4.30pm and had an easy run across the bar and up the river at full tide. We were anchored off Laurieton by 5pm.

Last night we had a good nights sleep and today explored Laurieton. We are treating ourselves to a meal at the RSL tonight (located on the riverbank adjacent to where we are anchored) .It has been showering on and off all day, hopefully we won't get too wet getting there and back.