30.19S, 153.09E
Around the world with the Aqualunies
Jonathan & Gabrielle Lyne
Fri 16 Dec 2011 12:15
Sail down here was still pretty rough but not quite as bad as yesterday and this time I did not attempt to go below but stayed on deck. We shipped the occasional wave over us but again not as bad as yesterday.
We arrived in Coffs harbour, a very pretty place, but a very small harbour with some pontoons. They were full up but said we could come along side the dock which we did as the other option was to anchor in the bay which had a huge swell. One of the guys who helped take a warp from us called Marcus (originally from the Isles of Scilly) had a restaurant nearby called 'Latitude 30 degrees' a very good fish restaurant which was not here when we visited Coffs Harbour last February. He had just set it up with his wife six months ago. It was very busy and buzzy with lots of tables booked for Christmas parties, they squeezed us in, great setting and good food between the harbour and the bay on the other side, with a lovely deck for warmer days. Chatting to Marcus we learnt that he used to have a restaurant in Inverness catering for the Salmon fishing crowd and knew some HK people whom we happen to know, so just goes to prove what a small world we live in these days.
One of the systems they have in Australia are voluntary coast guards, with whom you can log in as you sail down the coast they then pass on your details to the next coast guard as you go all you have to do is log in with them as you leave one place and log out as you arrive, such a good idea. We called up the Coffs Harbour coast guard to say we would be arriving within the next hour and he said he already had a visual on us. It is a great feeling especially when the weather is not so clement, you don't have to log in with them but we do as it is just the two of us sailing, they can then let us know the conditions if there is a sand bar to cross or any other localised hazards we may not know about. The southerlies are still blowing and although they are supposed to be turning Nr Easterly on Sunday another big Southerly buster is due in on Monday.
We are booked into the marina in Sydney for the 20th but might end up being a little late.