QM crosses the border into NSW - Arrival in Coffs Harbour
Quartermoon
Mike Share & Sammy Byron
Wed 20 Jul 2011 10:15
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Finally we feel like we are on the
home stretch, although it's been a long time coming!
We decided to stop delaying and flew
straight up to Gold Coast resisting the temptation to stop in Sydney for a
while.
Phil and Ness very kindly picked us
up from the airport and looking at our jetlag and the rain, decided we
needed a decent meal and a proper bed for the night! Their kindness has been
incredible and we very much enjoyed our time with them over many beers and games
of pool.
We kept an eye on the weather and
decided Monday morning was our window, so Phil launched their "small"
boat (the big one isn't back on the water yet....) and took us out to QM.
We were both nervous about what state the boat
would be in after a month having left in somewhat of a hurry. We'd both had
nightmares in UK about coming back to a boat full of water, flat batteries,
engine or electrical problems through lack of use but thankfully QM was sitting
on her mooring looking just fine. The engine started straight away and all was
good. So good in fact we cast off and headed for Coff's! That is Coff's harbour
in NSW, not too far from our final destination and home - Sydney!
Motoring out of Southport seaway we
had fantastic sunshine and calm seas. We motorsailed into light southerlies and
enjoyed what we assumed to be a short spell of good sailing conditions on this
coast! East Coast Australia has not been kind to us regarding sailing
conditions, admittedly we are now 8 months later than planned and in
mid-Winter so there aren't many boats heading south due to incessant southerly
winds this time of year. You really have to take your opportunities and use the
engine more than we'd like.
  So we had nearly a day of great
sailing as we passed Cape Byron, Australia's most Easterly point, then
right on cue it turned a bit grimmer come night and cooler conditions. Seas
and wind building but still not too bad. It was about now that the engine cut
out. Great.....The engine never cuts out unless it has a serious fueling issue.
The fuel gauge read empty..oh shit, it was definitly full when we left. We
initially thought we had a bad fuel leak. However,we didn't and it was due to
the fuel tank isolation stop cock not being shut properly, all the fuel had
drained into the leeward tank (which was not the feed tank for the engine). No
problem, change tack,refill the feed tank, bleed the system and we are good
to go. Or so we thought! But Mike couldn't bleed the system as no fuel was being
pulled through. After 6 hours of replacing the fuel lift pump and all the
filters and then checking for air and fuel leaks we finally got the
engine back. Neither of us having had any sleep all
night.
Also our state of mind was
not helped by a someone at Volunteer marine rescue giving us a scare over
the radio when we logged our position. He informed us of incoming 40 knot
southerlies and 6m seas - which weren't mentioned on any forecasts we got just
before leaving. Turns out he had it at least 24hrs early, so we ditched our
get-out plan after heading for Yamba and continued on to Coff's harbour; our
planning said we should make it in before dark and the turn in weather.
We got to Coff's with seas building
and 20 knots on the nose so we were very happy to pass the harbour walls and
head into a protected marina for a night or two.... Which turned into a week as
seas were reaching 6 meters and we saw constant 40 knots within the protection
of the marina walls so who knows what it was like outside?!
   Our very good friends Al and Debs
live in Coff's who we hadn't seen in almost a year since Tonga. They were very
hospitable with Al cooking us a lamb roast and we even got to see youngest
daughter's opening performance of "7 little Australians" at Coff's theatre. She
was superb and hopefully she will get into Sydney drama school in the next few
weeks so we will see the family move down our way. It was great to catch up and
discuss how they are coping with land life and all that we have to dread/look
forward to!
 Coff's itself was lovely. We both
thought it was the first place we've visited since getting back that we
could live. A great vibe, amazing beaches, surf and diving. It's the only
coastal town where the "great" dividing range touches the coast, so has a
fantastic backdrop of mountains which is quite rare on the coast
here.
Our timing also worked out well as
Gav & Dee were in South West Rocks for the week, a mere hour and a
quarter by train, followed by 25 mins in the car! We had a fun day playing
frisbee on the beach, lunch and a few beers by the river before heading back to
the station. We wanted to stay the night but again we had to head south
early next day as the cruel mistress that is weather (not Sammy!) had
spoken once more. Besides mini-issues James had worn me out pillow fighting
whenever we were in the house!
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