Our next anchorage on the Clarence River was off the hamlet of Lawrence,which boast an excellent pub and a 9 hole golf course (which I checked out but didn't play).

It was busy on Mother's day with live music but we found a corner and happily accepted the foretold hour wait for lunch. We had another piece of luck as over lunch we met a local sailor. We knew the next bend of the river upstream was the shallowest so we asked his advice. Shades of the Fitzroy river the advice 'leave the port hand buoys to starboard' and you'll be fine.

Following this advice we headed safely upstream, (20 cms clearance at one point!) and anchored off the small town of Ulmarra. The village remains one of the finest examples of a 19 Century River port in Australia, a step back in time and the whole village is classified by the National Trust, with crafty shops and old knick-knack collectibles.

Finally we reached the city of Grafton, after a nervous moment before passing under the power lines. Our official mast height is 17m and we were expecting a clearance of 19.8 (at HAT). Grafton has a population of circa 19,000 and had all the rush of a bustling town.

After a few days we slowly retraced our passage back to Maclean, where we had arranged a lift out at the yard at Harwood.