28/10/2009, Off Port Macquarie
We are currently at sea after spending the night at Coffs Harbour. I had intended going through to Sydney in one go however decided we were all to old for 2 nights at sea when we could stop over and get some sleep each night. Our destination for tonight is Camden Haven so we left Coffs at 0300 this morning and should be there around 1600 today.
I mentioned that we were too old to sail overnight if we had a choice but it would appear one of us thinks he's younger than he is. I mentioned John and Geoff's afternoon out a few days ago and now the true story is starting to emerge about the lift back to Iluka they got. It seems that John chatted up a blonde lady and convinced her to drive them back, she agreed but Johns smile somehow disappeared as they were getting into the car a giant of a man (her husband) appeared and informed them that they were in the back seat.
The photo above is the crew hard at work during our passage to Camden Haven.
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26/10/2009, Iluka
24th October 09
We are currently on the Clarence River waiting for the Harwood Bridge to open at 0900. We decided to go up river as far as Mclean for a couple of days due to unfavourable weather down South. We will probably go back to Iluka on Monday morning. The trip has been going well and the weather terrific. John is good company onboard and lots of humour. I am still hoping to be home by the end of the month so weather permitting we will do some overnighters.
27th October 09
We are back in Iluka waiting for weather and it is very overcast with some heavy rain. Yesterday the 3 of us caught the ferry across to Yamba which in itself is a nice trip. We looked around the town and then walked up a steep hill to a hotel that looks over the beach. We had a pub lunch and then it started raining. I wanted to get the 1345 ferry back and don't mind getting a bit wet so set of for the town. Looking back this was a mistake as not only did I get wet but John and Geoff failed to turn up. After I had been back at the boat for a few hours I had a phone call from John (talking shorthand) that they were over at the Iluka pub and they wanted me to come over and have a drink. It appears that they had talked a couple who they met at the Yamba pub to drive them all the way back to Iluka (about 60ks). When I arrived at Seadgers Reef hotel the story unfolded but by then they were both well and truly wasted. I could spend a lot more time trying to explain how I got them into the dinghy and then onto the boat but it would take to long. I can say however that they are a lot quieter and subdued this morning than they were last night.
Still raining and still waiting for a weather window.
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20/10/2009, Ballina
The weather yesterday was perfect for a 0800 motor out of the Tweed River to start the trip to Ballina. We arrived at the Richmond River bar at about1530 with the tide still running out. This is not the best tide to cross a bar but as the seas were calm I decided to go in. No real dramas but we did get picked up by one large wave and Kirralaa turned into a surf boat for a short time. We are anchored a couple of miles inside the river and will stay here for the day planning an early start tomorrow morning. The trip yesterday was great although no fish were caught we were within sight of whales all the way. We also saw some very large turtles sunning them selves on the surface. They had quite a yellow shell and are not sure what type they were.
Today we will walk into the township of Ballina for a look around plus do a couple of little jobs on the boat and tomorrow we arrive at Iluka on the Clarence River
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18/10/2009, Tweed River
We have spent a nice couple of days in the Tweed River however I want to be on the move again and just waiting for the wind from a favourable direction and tomorrow looks like the day. We will leave about 0830 and arrive at the Ballina Bar about 8 hours later all being well. This is about the last port and river on the coast that is navigatable for a yacht that we have not explored. John arrived yesterday and will probably stay till we reach Sydney. I have decided not to do the Clarence River cruise this year but we should meet up with some of the CCC boats in Iluka
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16/10/2009, Coolangatta
We left Mooloolaba at 0530 on Thursday morning and had a great days sailing and arrived at the bottom end of Morton Bay about 1600 where we anchored in the lee of Coochiemudlo Island. It was not the best of anchorages but allowed us to get some rest. It was another early start on Friday morning, 0430 as we had to get the top of the tide to cross some shallow spots near Jacobs Wells in the Broadwater. We stopped for awhile at Tipplers while we had Breakfast then about 1100 motored down to the Gold Coast Seaway and sailed the 16 miles to the Tweed River entrance. Excellent conditions' crossing the bar and this was the first time we had visited this port. The Tweed River is only quite narrow and we had some difficulty finding an anchorage. We will be here at least until Monday waiting for a wind from the north and I think John will arrive on Sunday. In the mean time we will take in the sights of Broadbeach and catch up with Geoff's friends Pat and Bill. As we entered the Tweed River yesterday we were not sure what the time was. Queensland does not have daylight saving and NSW does. It must be very confusing for people living and working close to the border. The weather has been very warm and as I type this today looks to be good as well.
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13/10/2009, Mooloolaba
The story is familiar and here we are in Mooloolaba weather bound again. We certainly made the correct decision to cross the Wide Bay Bar when we did as the last 2 days have been NW winds at around 30 knots and although the direction is good much to strong for us old guys. Last night we caught up with Graham and Sue and had a meal at a local Indian restaurant. It was a good night. Today John picked us up to take us shopping and as he had to go to Noosa to pick up a painting we went along for the ride. We had lunch at the Trewantin RSL club and drove around the area. The plan being to do our shopping at the local Aldi store. We were back in the car after lunch and had been driving for awhile and I was starting to think that the Aldi store was further away than I had thought. Oh well it appears that the nominated driver (John) forgot all about the shopping! We will do it tomorrow as the weather is going to keep us here another day. John is just getting over a lurgi he picked up on an outback 4 wheel drive trip so will not join us here but may come onboard in the tweed river when we get there in a few days.
The weather is very warm 30+ but the wind is the problem.
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