Wednesday 30th June was spent catching up on the mundane things, doing the washing, a bit of shopping, and getting the boat ready for our next voyage to the Gold Coast. The marina laundromat turned out to be the social centre of the marina and a great deal of the morning was taken up talking to various people as they came and went.
We also met up with a couple, Terry & Marjatta, from a catamaran “Lioness 111”, who we had met briefly at Laurieton, as they were anchored nearby. We ended up having sundowners with them and they decided they would also head off to Southport tomorrow, so we might as well sail in company,
We were to have dinner with David and Justine tonight, but Justine unexpectedly ended up in Maclean hospital with kidney stones, so we said our goodbyes and may catch up on the way home.
Thursday morning we readied for our departure, not before buying some essential supplies from the fresh seafood outlet attached to the marina, easily the best quality and value for money seafood we have seen so far ( king prawns $20 per kg, and 6 flathead fillets for $6). And fresh off the boat that morning.
We set out from the Yamba marina at 1215 hrs (high tide was at 1130 hrs and we needed the high to get through the shallow approaches to the marina and wanted to cross the Clarence river bar before the tide runout gathered momentum. Lioness 111 came out with us. It was our first overnight sail.
The bar crossing was smooth and after a few hassles getting the mainsail up ( the halyard had become caught on the radar reflector and it took a bit of juggling to get it free,) we set sail for Southport.
The forecast was for slight winds 5-10knots dead behind us for most of the trip, so we had factored in a slow sail, a lot of motoring and some loss of headway due the strong southerly currents in some areas. Everything taken into account we expected to be at the seaway around 0800 hrs, a good time to enter as the low tide was at 0600 hrs.
How wrong we were !!
After a bit of a slow start the wind settled in at around 12 to 17 knots from the SW, and we were sailing at 7– 9 knots, we reached Cape Byron, a little over half way, at 2000 hrs, and realised if we continued at this rate we would have a long wait standing off the Gold Coast Seaway. So both of us set out to shed as much speed as we could to get back to 5-6 knots. We hauled in the headsail, put a reef in the main and still struggled to stay below 6 knots. In the end we ended up sitting off the seaway entrance for around 3 hrs before crossing the bar at 0730 hrs.
Mike Wesslink was at the Seaway entrance, camera in hand to greet us and to photograph the choas associated with entering the seaway ,tinnies anchored in the middle of the entrance fishing, all manner of small boats darting in and out, and a large charter cruiser, tearing up the middle going out at around 25 knots generating a bow wave you could surf on.
We were tied up at the Southport Yacht Club marina by a little after 8 am. Once again Mike Wesslink was there greet us and help us with our lines. Thanks Mike. Carole got out the Nespresso machine and we celebrated with a real cup of coffee.
The weather here is pretty ordinary, overcast with light showers. Hopefully it will be better tomorrow.
First priority is to have breakfast and get some sleep.
Why are you buying flathead when you have all that lovely Bonito! - PDS
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