Coffs Harbour - Gold Coast Mon 10/5 - Sat 16/5

Inspecting the Yamba Bar after a successful crossing!

“When you get up the New South Wales coast, make sure that you take care around the bars!” Sounds like parental advice to a son or daughter about to backpack through Europe. This advice, given often to us before our departure from SA, had nothing to do with us being in peril in local pubs, but rather the unique problem of seafarers entering NSW ports via the many rivers that flow from the Great Divide to the sea.

Many port - river entrances have rapidly changing conditions where depending on swell, tide and weather, entrance can be easy and comfortable, down to totally dangerous. Whilst all entrances are clearly marked, navigationally, both by day and night, most have sand bars that guard the entrance, and often swells rear up and break, making passage for cruising yachts like ours a potentially hazardous process. Down through the years many mariners, both experienced and not have lost their lives transiting the bar entrances.

The best time to enter these rivers is on the flood tide, as it nears its peak. The incoming tide plus increasing depth reduces wave activity on bars, but still there are no guarantees. Local knowledge is invaluable, and although Marine Rescue personnel maintain stations at most to the entrances, they are restricted in the amount of prescriptive information and advice that they can give, given the legal world that we now live in. It is not quite as easy as checking the tide and swell info, and coming on in. As we planned a move from Coffs Harbour to the bar entrance at Yamba, there was something else to consider, and that has to do with the tides and how to tell when the tide is fullest and flowing back in. The huge Clarence River flows out at Yamba and when the river system and its many lakes are full it takes hours for them to empty on the ebbing tide, before the rising tide outside sees water flow back in. There is a science in calculating this, but simply, the published “low tide” may be delayed by up to 2-4 hours by the river system emptying, and if one is planning a passage to a river entrance like Yamba, and keen to time the approach to get the best conditions likely before sunset; the departure time from the port you are in, the distance to travel and likely passage time are key sums to do. For us, having spent a day at Coffs refuelling, resupplying and doing an enjoyable tourist stroll through town, the wind, tidal and swell information was telling us that if we wanted to do a day-passage to Yamba and cross the bar before dark, then a dawn departure from Coffs was the smart thing to do. Beyond the following day, the swell was rising.

With Ann and Cran on Lettin’Go in company we slid out of harbour at 6.00am, found some breeze for a time but the angle was too close hauled for our genoa (headsail), and we were back to our regular configuration of motoring with mainsail. This made for relaxing passage and we were able to settle back and take in the sweeping coastal vistas as we made northing on the charts. We arrived outside Yamba at a touch after 4pm, and after a careful check of conditions we made our way in to the anchorage through the mouth of the Clarence with no fuss at all. Although our first bar-crossing was uneventful we remained as wary as does a cat around grandma’s rocking chair.

The mouth of the Clarence divides the low-key town of Iluka from its more bustling and prosperous neighbour Yamba. We had anchored off the Fishing Coop at Iluka because of its ease of approach before moving the next morning and negotiating the narrow channel leading to the Yamba Marina. The marina has been home to celebrated yachtswoman, boat designer and entrepreneur, Kay Cottee, and a stroll to the marina office revealed that in her life beyond First Lady she has turned her hand to art and sculpture, with some items on display in a gallery.

The view from the Pacific Hotel

Yamba had been highly recommended to us, and it did not disappoint. Although the growth of the locale has led to it now possessing a shopping centre, as predictable as any other, the older, central part of Yamba is a total delight. Some natty shops, interesting browsing, a couple of excellent bakeries and street-side cafes made Yamba a really comfortable place to pass some hours. It was a challenge selecting the best place to get a treat for lunch; such was the culinary array on offer. And, there was more. Down through the years we could be classified as being hopelessly addicted “surf shopaholics”. In recent times, however our addiction has waned. Surf Shops have become so predictable – flat screen tv’s, endless hoodies with skull logos, rows of Roxy pastel, and the full wall pics of surfie chicks with their perfect smiles, perfect tans and not a hair out of place. All with a 10% Sale to go! Occasionally there is a gem to be found, that reminds us how surf shops used to be. So far we have found these surviving relics in Port Fairy, Coffs Harbour, and now Yamba. In this case, on the hill overlooking the town, not far from the lighthouse we found a shop that time forgot. Inside we found an owner with a local tale to tell, with some wonderful memorabilia bedecking the wall, and with some retail offerings that were local, and not just from the big surf brands from Torquay. Our search uncovered a pair of Golden Breed boardies with no skull logos, and at the sale price of $20 they were quickly snapped up. Not far away was a selection of beaches for a swim and body surf, a 30m open air rock pool and from the panoramic balcony of the Pacific Hotel we reunited with old friend Ron McKeoun from the Wollongong Surf Club. You could wile away some time in Yamba!

About to go for a bodysurf.

Back at the boat however, after getting some invaluable help from Cran in setting up e-mail, weather forecasting, and blogging options via our HF Radio and Satphone for our planned journey to the Louisiade Archipelago, across the Coral Sea, the news came in from the net that in this area, dangerous swell conditions were building. Although we had a mind to linger a little in Yamba, the forecast had us revising our plans as a rising swell might prevent us leaving Yamba and might prevent us getting in to the Gold Coast waterways via the Gold Coast Seaway.

Thursday afternoon, then had us planning an imminent departure for Queensland’s Gold Coast, a little over 100nm away, and possibly 18 hours at sea. Taking the late afternoon tide, we cleared the Yamba breakwater and made for the open sea. Then, just as we thought we were clear of the danger zone, it was clear that we were not. A set of larger waves emerged from nowhere and the largest of these had us steaming up,up,up before crashing down on the other side. Wow! Just like in a surfboat!

Successful exit (over a big one!) from the Clarence Bar.

Soon however we had set a stabilising main, and were flying along at 6.5 – 7knots, and getting the ship and crew ready for night passage. This involves setting up navigation lights, checking our course and waypoints, harnesses on, trimming sails, and then one of us going below for a master chef session in the rolling kitchen below. There was no sign of our nemesis, the ECC. In mid evening we made an HF radio connect with Allan at American River, at 6 then 8 metres bandwidth; it was really incredible to make such a clear contact, over such a distance. Later, as we neared Ballina we were enthralled as, finally we could see the Byron Bay light off our port bow. Cape Byron, Australia’s most easterly point! We remembered the first time that we had seen the Cape Byron lighthouse, as we crested the Great Divide in the Escort on our “Coastal Lap” as we shared last blog. We were excited then and were just the same now. We remembered standing alongside the Cape Bryon Lighthouse then lost in a moment of wonder, trying to imagine what it would be like to sail past this iconic landfall. Now, here we were, sailing past Cape Byron!

Another gourmet meal on our night passage.

With a span of illumination of 26 nm, the Cape Byron light held us in her rhythmic embrace for hours, and at midnight we drew level with the Cape just as the nocturnal revellers onshore were reaching third gear. Our celebration was nothing like the full-scale partying in the Byron nightspots, as whilst we are at sea we are a strictly “dry” boat. For us it was a curious celebration of sorts – a bowl of Weetbix and Sports Plus from the ship’s larder. It was just the thing between watches, late at night. The warming gleam from Cape Byron stayed with us all night, and remained as a regular loom in the south as we rounded Point Danger and before us, like a string of coloured jewels, lay the high rises of the Gold Coast.

Calista at dawn off Surfers.. Great photo from Cran.

As dawn approached we marvelled at Surfers from the sea, but had to keep our wits about us as at one stage a trawler towing a net approached us and then cut across our bows. It was clear that he has not seen us. Soon there were pleasure craft to be seen through the gloom, including a tinny with a couple of guys, and not a nav light to be seen. It was clear by now that the lifting swell had not eventuated, and that all manner of craft might be encountered exiting the Seaway on a Saturday morning. As we neared the entrance there was a last delight to take in; the sight of the sunrise on the tall towers of the Gold Coast – it was as though they were aflame, like so many tall trees on fire.

Dawn sunlight as we pass the Gold Coast highrise.

As we left the blue water beyond and entered the Gold Coast Seaway, Lettin’Go, just ahead of us, came up on the radio to warn us of a final, unforseen obstacle before were were in; that of surfers and bodyboarders making the dash across the Seaway to the beaches of South Stradbroke amongst the motorboats and yachts, like wildebeast before crocodiles in an African river. In no time though, we had entered the broadway and were at anchor in “The Stadium” or, as we were later to find, known locally as “Bum’s Bay”. Welcome to the Gold Coast - it was hard to believe that really we were here.

Following Lettin' Go into Bums Bay! What a view.