9. Coffs Harbour to Yamba - Sat 14 May (54nm)

We left Coffs Harbour about 6.20am and headed for Yamba, about 54nm away.   There is a front coming up from the south but we should (eek!) get in before it reaches us, if it does make it that far.  It was a very peaceful trip and we moved from the Tasman into the Coral Sea today, a milestone we had been looking forward to, as it means more tropical weather, right??  In fact, in some ways it was eerily peaceful as there were no dolphins, very few birds, very little swell....the only activity were the occasional fish jumping out of the water, reminding us that there is a whole lot going on beneath the surface that is not visible ....a little like humans really (she says being philosophical!).  Di tried her hand at fishing again, trawling a line behind the boat but with no luck this time.

We arrived at the entrance to Yamba at about 4pm with no sign of the bar, confirming our timing was right.  Di did a great job again of navigating us into the Clarence River and through multiple sets of leads to the yacht club, its quite a convoluted route up and around to where we were berthing at the Yamba Marina.  There are a couple of options of places to stop here, the other being Illuka.   We were greeted at Yamba by a few of the local including the cruising person's guru - Alan Lucas.  He is responsible for many of the very useful cruising guides that those with the pleasure of this activity use as a reference.  He also had his boat "Soleares" berthed at the Yamba Marina.  We got our key, showered and headed to the biggest bowls club in the world (to quote Mark) for dinner.  Surprisingly the dinner was good but we were a little tired so caught the Bowls club courtesy bus home...noice!! We are spending 3 nights here so a cruisy couple of days ahead before our last leg from here to Southport.

So there was no early start the next day (Sunday).  I meditated and got up in time to do the dishes and meet Mark and Di at 8.30am for breakfast at the Marina Cafe.  They got up, had showered and done the washing. The Marina Cafe had quite a good selection on the menu and a nice spot in the sun to enjoy the food and coffee.  I had delicious corn fritters and this with good coffee set the tone for the day.  We walked all around Pilot Hill and the Point and were grateful we weren’t trying to come in today. The views were quite spectacular.  We found the town and did a lap, discovering a gourmet grocer that had some exotic items such as Persian fairy floss and Indian sweet potato dip.  We bought some “essential” supplies from here and headed back to the boat for T-bone steak (courtesy of the Coffs Harbour Yacht Club!) for dinner.

I awoke Monday feeling a little shady after being led astray last night.  It began innocently with a couple of glasses of white wine, but noone warned me the good red (actually in a bottle!) would be pulled out of its hiding place!  What is one to do?  It would be rude to refuse, but why, why did I say yes to the port, eek!!   Having declared myself a sugar-free zone a few days ago, I am now also a port free zone!!  We also realised that we had forgotten to watch the motogp and missed a great win by Casey Stoner.  The combination also created a very strange dream indeed but some things just need to stay on the boat.  So the day started slowly,  awakened again by the need to change the gas bottle (as had happened the first morning after I arrived)!  Noone can argue with that if coffee is required.  We had a fantastic lunch at the Pacific Hotel.  A meal of pasta was just what I needed to soak up that port!  The pasta was delicious and with a magnificent view over Main Beach, watching the thunderstorms out to sea (feeling for the yacht we could see out there) and watching the surfers and boogie boarders having a great time, it was a very pleasant Monday lunch.  We also noticed that due to the large surf and ebbing tide the bar looked a whole lot more menacing than when we made our entrance on Saturday.  We walked home in search of the recreation centre that had a yoga class on but to no avail. We didn’t realise until we got home that we almost got there but had turned around just a schmidge too soon.  We did go far enough to see several kangaroos sunning themselves on the sports fields nearby. 

The rest of the day was spent relaxing, chatting to Jense, a German guy who had been sailing mostly on his own for the last 8 years.  He was working on getting his AIS going (boat tracking system that allows you to see the positions of other boats/ships and them to see you) and it seemed to be working after some  testing with Mark.  He also told us of saving a turtle that had got itself stranded after laying its eggs.  As they are so big and heavy he had to use bamboo poles to try to lever it into a position where it could use its flippers to move again.  His daughter told him he would get good karma points for this...I have to say I agree!  We welcomed another boat, Southpaw, in quite late in the day.  They were just overnighting and then heading out early in the morning.  I went off to my first yoga class in sometime.  Walking along the river path I wished I had brought my camera as the moon was almost full and it lit up my path completely, it was beautiful.  There is something smooth about moonlight.  I had snacks for dinner (but still no chocolate!) and Di and I watched Offspring which gave us a few laughs.  Tomorrow we head to Southport, sadly my last leg!

8. Forster-Tuncurry to Coffs Harbour - Wed 11 May

After much rain in Forster Tuncurry we woke to a bright sunny day with light westerly winds on Wednesday the 11th May.  Our original destination was Crowdy Head but as we were making excellent progress we decided to continue on to Camden Haven and stopped at a little place that Rob from North Arm Cove had recommended called Laurieton.  Cambden Haven was about another 10nm down the track, and made a total of 36nm for the day. 
 
We arrived late into the afternoon and negotiated the bar at the entrance easily with Di's excellent navigation.  Luckily the bar was quiet today but dolphins were there to greet us and accompany us on our way in, which is always a bonus.  We headed for the visitors pier where we could tie up for the night.  We rafted up next to a boat belonging to a couple who had already been stranded in Laurieton for two weeks as they had engine problems and didnt want to push into the wind (as they were heading south) so they were waiting for some more favourable weather.  They were very friendly and gave us all the inside information on the town.  Not quite the extravagant facilities we had experienced recently but at least there was one shower for us to use (just clarifying, one at a time!).  We ate at the Laurieton United Services Club on our neighbours recommendation.  Quite an impressive building thats for sure and quite popular with the locals.   The surrounding area was quite pretty and it looked like a place that would have been nice to spend a bit more time.  That would be for another time.

Next morning we were up early again on left for our next stop, Trial Bay, approximately 50nm away.  Again we ended up having a lovely sail and arrived late in the afternoon.  The weather was beautiful and it seemed the water was a balmy 23C according to the Sally's sea temperature gauge.   This got Di excited and next thing she was in her bathers and in the water.  Mark wasnt far behind her.  Despite me not feeling so warm and inspired to swim compared to Costa Rica what was I to do?  I couldnt be the only one not to go in, could I? I was pleasantly surprised with how warm it was, but still comparatively cool compared to what I had been used to.  Still it was a nice way to end the day and get ready for happy hour!

 
We had an unexpected early start this morning (Fri 13 May) due to rolly night! Our next stop was Coffs Harbour about 36nm away.  Heading off at 6am the weather was mild with a beautiful sunrise.  Once the sun was up it warmed everything up, the sea was calm with some swell but nothing major.  The wind was abeam so we actually managed to sail without motor for about 4 hours today.  It was nice to finally have the peace and quiet from the engine.  Dolphins were with us again today on and off.  In the afternoon we had about 6 very playful ones jumping out of the waves ahead of us, it was awesome.  We arrived at the marina late afternoon in time for a late lunch on deck.  I was a true grotty yachty today, not leaving the boat until dinner time and not bothering to have a shower...eek!  Despite this (or because of it) I happened to win the meat tray in the raffle at the yacht club.  We also had a delicious meal there, atlantic salmon with warm vegetable salad and a bottle of wine, one of the best meals we have had on the trip...it was a sweet day topped off by a great evening despite the ominous date.

7. Port Stephens to Forster-Tuncurry - Mon 9 May (45 nm)

The good ship Mustang Sally left Port Stephens around 6am Monday morning, early but worth it as we got to watch the sun come up!  Awesome. Today we are headed for the twin towns of Forster-Tuncurry. The sea was calm and it was a sunny day once the sun reached its full height in the sky.   There is a bit of bad weather following us up the coast so we were hoping to get in before it gets us.  The time passed pleasantly with beautiful scenery, good food and company.  There is something special about the perspective you get from viewing the landscape from the sea.  Well for me anyway!  It is probably a good time to mention what a great job Di has been doing navigating us from place to place.  Having done it in the past, it can be quite a nerve wracking time, particularly entering and leaving harbours!  Also a mention for the skipper Mark who has been getting the weather timing pretty spot on.

With our precisely planned timing and exceptional crew work, mostly on the part of Max the Autohelm (or maybe it was luck!) we made it into Forster Tuncurry with plenty of time to spare before the weather caught up with us.  When it did we had quite a bit of rain.  We ended up anchoring in the inlet on the Tuncurry side given the marina at Forster is tiny and also very shallow.    We were near the bridge and had dolphins swimming passed every now and then!  Also a part of the middle of the harbour dried out at low tide and was filled with pelicans and seagulls.  We went to the pub for dinner in the hope of seeing the Carlton V St Kilda game live.  Despite the publican's willingness to put it on for us, it just didnt appear to be scheduled.   Instead we ended up trying to watch it via the computer on the boat.  Has anyone else used the 'watch live' application on the AFL website?  Its ludicrous (but have to say, better than nothing for a couple of footy tragics!).  Its an animated oval that presents footy jumpers with a description of the action (eg Gibbs long kick).  Its behind the match, slow and just about does your head in.  We endured this knowing we could also watch the replay which started about 11pm.  We were trying to negotiate with Phil to spend the night in my cabin (no, not with me!) as he was sleeping in the saloon right under the tv.  It is safe to say that Di and I like to 'participate' while watching our matches so it would have been a bit noisy for Phil or limiting for us for him to stay there.  Despite me thinking it was a splendid offer, Phil was not too keen but eventually I wore him down and he moved.  It was a rather late night to bed though by the end of it all.   Particularly as we didnt win that match mainly due to poor kicking.  But still...GO BLUES!! 

Given the weather we decided to stay another day in Tuncurry (the 10th). We had a nice day lounging around and a couple of us even made it up to the gym for a bit of exercise before enjoying dinner on board, Chilli Con Carne  a la Leapy Lynda.  I maintain that it was not because of the nagging Phil got to move bunks the night before Phil, but he had to head back to Melbourne unexpectedly so we also gave him a bit of a send off over a few glasses of wine.  He made all his arrangements and left first thing in the morning.

6. Newcastle to Port Stephens - Fri 6 May (26 nm)

 Another shower while you can have them, before leaving at 7.15am to head for Port Stephens.  The sea state started off with a big but gentle swell that got more boisterous as we got closer to Port Stephens.  Again the wind ranged about 17-20knots with more (up to about 26) in front of the rain clouds.  Today we were lucky and did not actually get rained on.  The coastal scenery was beautiful with Stockton Beach offering 17 miles of sand dunes.  We saw a shark just outside the entry to Port Stephens.  The plan was to stay here for 3 nights.  First stop, Shoal Bay just inside the entrance, where Di tried her hand at some fishing again and this time caught herself some bait.  After lunching in Shoal Bay, we moved to Fame Bay and anchored for the first night.  A very peaceful and beautiful location.

The next morning Mark and Di got in touch with an old friend of theirs from their yacht club (Royal Melbourne Yacht Squadron).  His name is Rob van Zandvliet and he had a catamaran called Moreli.  After an extensive sailing trip of his own, 3 years worth I believe, he is now living in North Arm Cove which is not far from Fame Bay.  He tootled over in his tinny as you do I guess when you live on an extensive waterway like Port Stephens.  He brought the papers which was very civilised of him.  After chatting for a while, Rob agreed to pile us all in the tinnie and take us over to show us his project which is just building a two storey house, by himself!!  Quite an idyllic setting, house amongst the forest, walking distance to the shore and the tinnie and a short row out to Moreli!  

Once back at the good ship Mustang Sally we headed over to Soldiers Point Marina for the night.  Rob made the trip with us and helped get us sorted.  The Soldiers Point Marina is quite flash and most impressive were the facilities that looked like something out of a 5 Star Hotel!  There is a photo on Mark and Dis blog for those interested (markanddicruising.blogspot.com).  Least impressive were the marina rates which were the highest yet as I understand it...and they were the low season rates...eek! That night he joined us for dinner at Soldiers Point.  The marina at Soldiers Point is pretty flasho and has set a new gold standard in bathrooms and also berthing fees (the picture may explain a bit clearer).  We all went for our afternoon constitutional (walk, not happy hour yet!) around the area and chatted to some friendly (but just a little scary) fishos.  That night we had happy hour on board, Rob joined us, again scooting across in the tinny in 10 minutes, rather than taking the one hour by car route!  We all went to dinner at the restaurant there and had a lovely meal and lots of fun.

The next day, still in Port Stephens, we headed over to Nelson Bay Marina which is quite large and adjacent to a built up waterfront area complete with bars and restaurants.  Di and I liked our chances of getting a green drink in this spot!  The standard investigation of our local area was undertaken.   We had some delicious fare for lunch at Red Neds Gourmet Pies.  My favourite aspect was that you could pay a little extra and get mashed potato (one of my favourite things, sung in a Julie Andrews voice) on top of any pie...noice!  It went nicely with my kangaroo teriyaki pie.  While Mark and Di went on a walk up to the look out I did yoga on the marina hidden as best I could between the boats.  The afternoon passed happily and suddenly it was time for cocktails at one of the upstairs bars before heading to a restaurant for dinner.  Another happy day in the life of a cruiser.  Oh and guess who has a new camera...extra photos today!

Rob and I (btw its windy okay!)