Tuesday 19th to Friday 29th October 2021 – Paradise Point to Port Stephens

Tuesday – Wednesday

Paradise Point proved to be a great anchorage, sheltered in the canals surrounded by some very impressive houses on one side and a dog friendly beach on the other.

Sal and I joined the local seniors for a session of Tai Chi on the foreshore. Mark, Georgie & Pete sat on the sidelines amused at our lack of coordination. I don’t blame them we were terrible. Tai Chi originated in ancient China, Tai Chi is meant to be one of the most effective exercises for health of mind and body. It is also meant to be easy to learn, but there was no way I could keep up with the oldies with some of their moves, they were far too good!

Later the same day we took a dinghy ride up the Coomera River to Boat Works. We had heard people talk about how impressive Boat Works was so we thought we’d see for ourselves. Our verdict is that Boat Works is impressive and huge! It has:-
• Facilities to store boats up to 60m
• 300, 100 and 70-tonne marine lifts handling boats up to 50m length
• A 45 tonne hydraulic submersible Sealift
• 19m high sheds with screens
• Concrete hardstand areas with shade and workbenches
• Restaurant, café, laundries, customer lounge, BBQ’s, ensuites, courtesy cars

Next door to Boat Works is a superyacht refit facility which caters for vessels up to 60m and has 10 superyacht sheds, 15 berths and 12 hardstand allocations.

After being totally overwhelmed we discreetly walked back to our second-hand dinghy (which is looking a little worse for wear), crouched down (as we have no seats) and quietly motored away back to the real world.

Thursday

We picked up anchor at 0800 on a high tide and motored out of the canal destined for Southport. Thanks to good old Murphy just as we anchored a big thunderstorm rolled through so we all got saturated!

After a quick provisioning trip to the supermarket, Georgie suggested that we go to the inflatable water park. Sal joined us while Mark & Peter took Lucy for a walk. It was great fun! Lakes is meant to be getting something similar in the future and we can’t wait!

Friday

We pulled up anchor at 0400 – it was going to be a long day. It would take us 14 hours to get from Southport to Iluka/Yamba. Mark was worried about the weather with thunderstorms forecast. Thankfully the worry was for nothing as we had clear blue skies the entire journey.

We reached the Iluka/Yamba bar at 1700. As we were coming up the channel there was a fishing vessel with its stabilisers out coming down the channel, he was a friendly fellow as he kept wanting to get closer and closer to us, pushing us closer to the side of the channel and the rock groins…I can guarantee Mark was not very impressed!

As we motored into Iluka Bay, we were dismayed to see that it was full and we would be struggling to find a satisfactory anchorage. It had been a long day and after trying to set the anchor three times, and a lot of cursing we just dropped 40 metres of chain in 2 metres of water and hoped for the best! Thankfully there was little wind predicted for the next 12 hours.

Saturday – Sunday

First task was to find a safe anchorage. After loading 400 litres of diesel at Iluka we motored across the channel to Yamba and dropped the anchor just outside Yamba Bay. The anchor set first try (yay!) so we spent the rest of the day making water and completing domestic duties. We took Lucy for a long walk on the beach, she could not stop smiling as she ran and swam, she was a happy girl.

An interesting fact about Yamba….situated in tropical northern NSW, Yamba along with two other coastal areas on the world map have been declared by CSIRO and Stanford University as having the best climate in the world (along with San Diego, California and Bunbury in WA) to live and work.

Monday

Pulling up anchor at 0630 we motored across the bar on slack tide and settled in for the 9 hour journey to Coffs Harbour.

Tuesday – Wednesday

Bad weather was predicted for the next 2 days, so we booked into the marina. The marina is certainly in need of a refit, we had to tie the stern of the boat to a one of the pontoon poles because one of the jetty cleats had pulled out of the deck of the pontoon. On our trip up the coast we had anchored in Coffs Harbour Bay and could not believe how uncomfortable and rolly it got with the swell coming in the entrance.

Several months ago Mark had installed a computer fan in the fridge cavity to help with airflow and improve its efficiency. While in the marina he finished the task off by wiring in a thermostat relay which would turn the fan off once the cavity reached a specific temperature. As is always the case when you start a job, it is never as simple as originally thought, but the end result is an excellent addition. When we get back to Victoria Mark is going to add additional insulation around the fridge to prevent the heat from the engine impacting on the fridge.

Thursday

Looking at weather is the first thing Mark does each morning. This morning a weather window popped up with calm seas and a 10-15 knot northerly wind to assist us in the next leg of our journey from Coffs Harbour to Nelson Bay – which would take 24 hours. After packing the bikes away and making a quick provisioning run to the supermarket, we cast off at 0830.

Mark and I shared 3-hour shift’s during the night. We could not believe our luck at around 2am when we came across bioluminescence in the water. It was a dark night and the green glow created at the crest of each wave and on dolphins playing at the bow was breath-taking! Unfortunately, I could not take a photo that did this remarkable sight justice.

Friday

We finally arrived at Fame Cove (Port Stephens) at 0600 and spent the rest of the day catching up on sleep!