Monday
After having sensational weather over the Easter weekend it was a back to reality with overcast skies as we cast off from Bermagui and motored out across the bar. Once outside we put up the main and genoa but left the motor running as the forecast 15-20 knots did not eventuate.
We had a following swell of around 1m so arrived in good time at Broulee Island (which is not really an island as it is connected to the mainland by a sandy isthmus). Broulee is 20km South of Batemans Bay. Peter and Sal on S/V Music Maker were heading in the same direction so they anchored alongside.
We took the dinghy ashore and went for a stroll along the beach, Lucy loved having a run and paddle in the water. It was a very pretty place to anchor so we were feeling confident about getting a good night sleep. How wrong we were, the anchor didn’t drag but we rolled all night.
Tuesday
We pulled up anchor at 0600 and set off in a 2-metre swell and a 10 knot southerly wind. We only managed 6.5 knots as we were starting to feel the effects of the Eastern Australian current.
The voyage was going to take around 9 hours, so I decided it was time to review the grab bag (in case of an emergency). We have the life raft but the rations in the raft are minimal and do not cater for a dog. In our grab bag we have additional flares, torches, hand held VHF radio, additional water, snacks, dog food, dog boots (don’t want Lucy piercing a hole in our life raft with her claws) along with passports, wallets, matches and an additional first aid kit). We will keep refining the contents as we go, hopefully we will never have to use it.
Georgie has been enjoying the school holidays and I must admit I am enjoying not having to hassle her to get her schoolwork done 😊
We arrived at The Hole in the Wall in Jervis Bay at 1515.
Wednesday
We had never been to Jervis Bay before and were pleasantly surprised at the clear warm water with sea grass, reefs, and lovely sandy beaches. We had anchored in 10 metres of water adjacent to the National Park.
It was time to inflate the stand-up paddle boards again and explore the shore. While paddling along the rocks, a school of small fish started jumping out of the water all around us, the fish were being chased by larger fish, initially we thought it could have been dolphins as we had seen them doing the same thing earlier in the day. Later Georgie and I swam to shore (which was about 300 metres). Mark motored alongside… just in case.
It would have been the perfect place to put up the drone and get some great footage, except for the Navy base, which was less than 2 nautical miles away so the drone stayed safely packed away. We were interested to learn that 70 square kilometres around the southern headland of Jervis Bay is actually part of the ACT not NSW. This took place in 1915 to provide a seaport for the new capital under construction at Canberra (Australia’s only inland capital).
Whilst anchored we saw 3 navy ships, one the “The Sycamore” anchored ½ a nautical mile behind us for the night, at first glance we thought it was a passenger cruiser but soon realised what it was.
Thursday
After going for an early morning SUP we pulled up anchor and motored over to Montague Point via the township of Huskisson. Part of the Navy’s training program was for Officer’s to run from the Navy base along the shore to “The hole in the wall” and back. It was good to note that not all Officers were super fit as there were a number that had stopped running and were walking. We saw several naval helicopters completing exercises and as were we leaving there was a warning issued over the marine radio regarding live rounds being fired offshore.
Friday
There was strong wind forecast for later in the day so at 0530 we (along with S/V Music Maker and S/V 2getherII) pulled up anchor and motor sailed to Greenwell on the Shoalhaven River. Mark did his best to try and avoid the Eastern Australian Current which comes in close to shore in these parts, but we still dropped back to 3 knots rounding Beecroft Head.
We arrived at Shoalhaven River and anchored, the tide was running out at 4 knots, so Mark put out 50 metres of chain. We had just brewed a coffee and were taking in the view when Mark noticed a small run about with 4 on board drifting toward us and were looking overly concerned. They were trying to start their outboard and then looking at us whilst pulling out their oars. Mark and I went up to the bow as they drifted straight for us. As they came closer the front of our bow sprint pushed through their side window but luckily, we managed to push the runabout around to the starboard side of Escapade before it got completely stuck under our bow with the 3-4 knots of current. It all ended well with no damage to Escapade and just a broken clear on the runabout. It turns out that they’d run out of fuel and were unable to start their backup engine in time.