Coffs Harbour
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Position: 30
18.28 S 153 08.63 E As forecast, come yesterday evening the wind was fading. At 1730 I set the code zero to make the most of what breeze there was but by 2000 our speed was down to less than two knots and the mainsail was flopping from side to side as Sylph rolled in the the low SE swell. At 2145 I gave up on sailing, dropped the code zero and flashed up the BRM. We motored for a couple of hours, staying close to the coast with the hope of picking up a land breeze later in the night. At midnight my hopes were rewarded with a light W'ly to which I set the code zero again and shut down the engine. The light breeze was at times a bit fluky but remained consistent enough for us to be able to keep on sailing for the rest of the night, with which I was happy as it meant I could snatch some sleep in between looking around and monitoring the navigation, making sure we did not stray too close to the coast. At 0930 this morning the land breeze abandoned us and we were once again flopping about in the SE swell. By this time Coffs Harbour was only six miles away. I contemplated whether to push on or to take a rest. The forecast was for light headwinds for the rest of the day, freshening late tomorrow. While my intention was to push on if conditions were not too uncomfortable, with Coffs Harbour so close I could not resist the opportunity for a break, especially as there are no favourable winds forecast for about a week from here, so pushing on was going to be slow and at times likely hard work. Also Coffs Harbour is an all weather port which is easy to get in and out of, whereas all the ports of refuge between here and Southport are barred and need to be entered with the flooding tide and not too much swell running. And another minor factor which tipped the scales was seeing on AIS the sail training ship Windeward Bound at anchor in Coffs Harbour, and therefore perhaps the opportunity to catch up with her Master who is a friend from my Young Endeavour days. Thus at 1115 we motored through the entrance of the Harbour. Once inside I came into the wind and handed the main then motored over to Windeward Bound. Unfortunately my timing was bad as she was in the process of weighing anchor. Nonetheless I was able to shout out a hello to Captain Sarah and exchange a few pleasantries before she got under way, her destination South to Newcastle. Having said our all too brief hello, we then found ourselves caught up in a dinghy race and I had to manoeuvre carefully so as to not upset any of the competitors. Now we have picked up a public mooring. My immediate plan is to have a short nap and then get the dinghy in the water to go ashore for a leg stretch. As for the longer term plan, I will think about that after I have caught up on some sleep. All is well. |