After a month out of action following our two weeks’ sojourn at the Boat Works, we have left Queensland and are on our way south. What a relief!

We can at last take you on a long awaited cruise down the East Coast of Australia! This is the first post in our Passage South series and an excuse to share lots of photos.

Our mission is to get to the Bass Strait Islands for Christmas which means moving through at a steady pace since we are a month late getting underway. We are avoiding overnighters but are not stopping for long anywhere while the winds are favorable.

In this instalment we are using a long weather window to ride the northerlies to Yamba, Coffs Harbour and Port Macquarie, doing a few errands along the way.

Gold Coast to Yamba

We left the Gold Coast on Sunday 24 November. It was a 2.30am departure to ensure we would catch the tide for the bar crossing at the other end of our 90nm passage to Yamba. The entrance to the Clarence River can be horrible with the wrong tide so we wanted to time our arrival with the top of the incoming tide. We sailed all the way, beginning with a light easterly which gradually shifted to the northeast. We can’t begin to describe how enjoyable it was to be on our way. And the bonus: an effortless passage.

We stayed anchored at Whiting Beach, near the entrance for two nights and had a look at the canals in the dinghy this time, to get a feel for properties from the water and check out the depth. Yamba is a possible contender for a house move at some point in the future.

Of course you can’t start cruising again without having to run repairs: one of the pipes from the water maker blew its fitting. Luckily the ocean was calm enough for a fix underway and we were able to top up our water tanks. And as we were anchoring, Wade found the winch was not letting the chain free fall properly. All sorted now.

Yamba to Coffs Harbour

By 6am on Tuesday we were leaving Yamba. Here are two shots as we were departing, taking the shortcut around the southern breakwater wall.

The 60nm passage to Coffs Harbour was slow with only a knot or two of breeze to start with, so we had to motor for hours, but eventually the wind picked up! While the conditions were calm a juvenile osprey visited us, circling intently for ages, repeatedly trying to land at the top of the mast. We were a wee bit worried it was going to slash the jib with its talons, or destroy the anemometer by sitting on it, but it eventually found the spreaders, although it did not look steady up there! What a beautiful bird it was.

We eventually made it to Coffs by early afternoon. By then it was blowing at over 30 knots!

We stayed on a public mooring near the wooden jetty as we generally do when we visit. With strong winds and 3 meter swell forecast, a departure the following morning would have made the bar crossing at the next spot a little too challenging, so we opted to stay an extra day. We went for a walk, got some seafood for dinner, so it was not all bad! We quite like Coffs, with the beaches and Solitary Islands out on the ocean side and the beautiful mountainous hinterland on the other. Pity the residential set up would not work for us with nowhere to park Anui.

Coffs to Port Macquarie

Our pre-dawn departure from Coffs was spectacular, the reward for getting up early!

With the wind much lighter than forecast, our 70nm hop to Port Macquarie was rather slow going but we sailed all the way. Bengie did not mind, enjoying the snooze in the duvet!

We are here for two nights, hoping to catch up with our local friends and checking out canal properties for feel and price range – Port is another contender for an eventual move.

We arrived in overcast and misty conditions. It was quite odd and not a good day for flying a drone. So here is a shot we took last year! You might recall that Port Macquarie is as far as we got nearly a year ago, when we had to turn back for Chris’s cancer treatment. It was a bright sunny day then despite the terrible news.

We will resume our southward bound migration tomorrow. See you further down the coast next Friday!