QLD
17 posts
The crew of 2 set sail from Runaway Bay at 11:30am on 31st Feb and headed wide to pick up the EAC - we knew we were off the shelf and in the current due to the ease of speed and the depth !! my sounder only works to 200 mtrs and it went blank so I knew it was deeper than that. We had a perfect run down- to start with at least....... then the bottom one / of my 4 battens decided to work it's way out in the dark in 20+ knots - probably my fault for not putting it in right I guess (I hope that's all it was) then a bloody southerly came in cold and fast about 8 hours ahead of schedule and after some serious tacking under full sail with everything winched on tight and the whole boat shuddering (felt like the main was going to touch the waves) we did a port reach for 6 miles and straight in the Yamba Bar on 1 straight line - phew what a relief. My wife was at work watching us come in on the bar webcam and she said we were so fast the panning camera couldn't keep up haaa !
Damage done - 3 sail slugs broke and my gunwhale rubber fell off and slapped on the side of the hull for hours on ened! Sikaflex will fix that so there won't be a next time. But those bloody slugs...... and how hard is it to find the perfect ones- too small or too big - ggggrrrrrrr !
But what an adventure it was, and the mighty Roberts- the "Little Ship with the Big Heart" stood up to every test. The trip should take about 20-23 hours down but with all the tacking it took 27 hours - probably just as well as we arrived at 3pm Wednesday 1st Feb, 38 minutes ahead of the high tide, and Yamba Bar is not somewhere you want to be on a low or outgoing tide. Even on half tide up when I called the Marine Rescue they told me it had white water right across it - now that gets the heart rate up !! We had dinner on board, a few drinks and slept like logs all night- we were zombies. We might enjoy Yamba and surrounds, and the Clarence for a while before heading home or elsewhere - feeling battered and bruised after a rough ride.....need a rest.
VIC
5904 posts
Well done west wind , sounds like a big sail !! Enjoy the buzz
NSW
2711 posts
Steve and wife,
Good work, especially on the bar crossing. I have been over that bar and it can get nasty on the wrong tide.
A strong breeze will find the weak bits of your boat every time.
BZ
John
QLD
12365 posts
Congratulations on a successful voyage ww88.
I had a look at Coffs Harbour from land just before Christmas and thought "I do not want to ever HAVE to come in here."
Have heard that the harbour/river at Yaamba is great but it is a "bar entry."
My only "yacht trip" on the NSW coast was aboard a Salar 40 and we went from the Gold Coast Seaway straight out to the 100 fathom line and stayed on it until we got to Sydney.
We copped the mandatory southerly blow which lasted about 18 hours. Even motor sailing we were dead in the water at times but the GPS showed us doing 3.5 knots in the direction we wanted to go.
The East Australian Current is a great place to be if you are heading south but a lookout for other shipping is required at all times.
