Thursday 18th to Sunday 28th November 2021 – Port Hacking to Bermagui

Thursday

We left Port Hacking with a seas at around 0.5 metres and 10 knots of wind. For most of the journey It was very comfortable, but by the time we arrived off Point Perpendicular (Jervis Bay) the wind picked up with bullets up to 37 knots coming off the cliffs. The seas quickly picked up to around 2 metres and we were averaging 8.5 knots – it was starting to get a bit interesting.

As we neared the entrance to Jervis Bay there was an Australian Naval ship about 3 nautical miles out to sea doing laps. Each time the ship turned it would fire ammunition into the sky. When they had finished their training one of the officers was making a call over the radio confirming that they had finished and was relaying the coordinates of the training area…Mark had a chuckle as the longitude that he provided was on land. The Officer had hesitated obviously realising his mistake, but rather than correct himself he just continued with his message, obviously hoping no-one would pick up on it.

We motored the last hour (into the wind) to the northern side of Jervis Bay and dropped anchor alongside 4 other yachts sheltering from the strong northerlies.

Friday

Long Beach provided great shelter but we’d soon be on a lee shore once the forecast southerly arrived at around midday. Our plan was to move to the southern side of the bay which is National Park, with this in mind Mark took Lucy ashore and raced her up and down the beach in the dinghy, which she loved. At around 1000 hours we pulled up anchor and motored across to The Hole in the Wall picking up one of the five public moorings along with MusicMaker. This has been one of our favourite locations because of the crystal clear water, great scenery and sandy beaches, the only downside was it is a National Park.

The Young Endeavour had anchored further up the bay and while we were walking along the beach the passengers were being ferried to shore by dinghy. On our return trip down the beach they had started playing different beach games, it looked like a lot of fun.

Saturday – Sunday

At 0300 we dropped the mooring ball and motored out of the bay bound for Bermagui. Mark completed the first watch till 0630, I did the second and Georgie did the third watch, she did a great job.

After 8 hours of motoring and 37 knots of wind on the nose we rechecked the forecast to find that it had changed. The sea had also picked up to over 2+ metres on the nose. After having a quick chat to Peter on MusicMaker we decided to cut our voyage short and go into Batemans Bay. We anchored behind Snapper Island, which didn’t provide the best shelter. It was a rolly and uncomfortable night but we persisted as the plan was to leave at 0030 hours.

Waking up at midnight Mark checked the forecast which had changed again. With a quick discussion with Peter we decided to stay another day. On the next high tide that morning we crossed the Batemans Bay bar and picked up a public mooring hoping to catch up on sleep.

Monday

With a more favourable forecast we dropped the mooring at 0830 and motored back across the Batemans Bay bar with 0.8m under the keel. The swell was still rolling through in the bay making us thankful that we had made the decision to cross the bar the day before.

Spotting a seal off Montague Island brought back memories of home. Montague Island is 1.4km long and 525m wide and is home to the largest colony of little penguins in NSW, and a thriving colony of seals. During peak time, there can be over 1,000 fur seals on the island.

We arrived at Bermagui at 1430, tying up to the fisherman’s co-op jetty which was a lot less crowded than on our trip up. Bermagui has a great ice-cream shop which Georgie loves, needless to say our first task was to get an ice-cream followed by taking our rubbish to the bin and going for a walk… to walk off the ice-cream!

Tuesday – Sunday

Being in a marina is still a novelty, being able to go for a walk whenever you like without the hassle of putting the dinghy in the water. Lucy loved it as it meant a lot more walks for her. The ability to do your washing in bad weather as a clothes dryer was available in the laundry (at a fee) and being connected to power and water. Even Escapade benefited from a thorough wash down.

The weather forecast showed good weather for a day or two and then it would turn bad again for about 5 days, with a band of strong wind and rain heading for the east coast. If we were to leave Bermagui and voyage to Eden, there was a good chance that we would be stuck at Eden for 5 or so days at anchor in the bay. After chatting to Peter & Sal we all agreed that we would rather be stuck at Bermagui in the marina rather than rolling at Eden boat-bound.

With Georgie turning 12 we booked her in at the local medical centre to have her first COVID vaccination. Other than a sore arm she had no other side effects, which was great news. Funnily enough we applied for a permit in preparation for entering Victoria, and then 2 days later found out that a permit was no longer required!

Feeling like a laugh we decided to have an 80’s night with Pete & Sal. The idea was that
• You were not allowed to buy clothes.
• You could buy accessorise
• 80’s menu
• 80’s music

Sal provided the main menu of hamburgers with chips. Georgie and I prepared an entrée consisting of guacamole dip, spicy mince dip, Japanese rice and tortillas. The outfits were hilarious, the food was great, and it was a fun night.

During the worst of the weather the seas off Bermagui and Eden reached up to 8 metres, so we were very thankful that we had made the decision to stay in the marina.