QM crosses the border into NSW - Arrival in Coffs Harbour

Quartermoon
Mike Share & Sammy Byron
Wed 20 Jul 2011 10:15
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!