Bound for Botany Bay, but....

Gold Coast Seaway

East Australian routes SV Aeolus

Mia takes control over Aeolus

Tom takes control over Aeolus

Granny and Mia

Mia at the helm

Birgitte, Dan and Tom enjoying Tweed River

Dan and Mia enjoying Tweed River

Coff's Harbour

Storm waves breaking over Coff's Harbour seawall

Cruising the Australian East Coast is not a dance on roses! Try keeping one in your mouth and it will be ripped out, and finding a sheltered anchorage is a cold partner. Sneaking through Broadwater to the Gold Coast and Surfers Paradise was a challenge with a 6 feet draft. Arriving in Bums Bay on Boxing Day was even a harder challenge where the option was to waltz around speedboats and jet skis. We turned around and found shelter in Jacob’s Well fighting myriads of hungry sand flies, but better than a menu of aggressive jet skis!  Sheltering there for a few days we were ready for Bums Bay. During our voyage from Scarborough to Bums Bay we had family visits on and off. It was Birgitte and Dan with their two young children, Mia and Tom. It was a pleasant time. We also met up with fellow cruisers from Port Vila, Tania and Alan on their catamaran “Somwhere”.

Eventually, we left the sheltered shallow waters for the open ocean and negotiated the Gold Coast Seaway, riding the surfs and strong tidal currents. The plan was to head south to Tweed River. My charts showed that there was water enough and Google earth showed several larger size yachts for anchor. How they got in there I don’t know. The bar was outright dangerous and we took a roller coaster trip, just to find shallow water (at high tide!) inside. The bar to the anchorage was five feet! We got ourselves in sand three times. Eventually, we anchored at the fork of the river, where the tidal currents were a constant worry, but the anchor did hold. Again, we had a lovely visit by the Purkis family.

The weather was less pleasant throughout. We did find a window and headed for Clarence River, about 75 Nm south. The entrance to this river was wider, but sand was building up on the northern side allowing a southern entry. But well inside we found a pleasant anchorage just off the marina at Illuka. Here, we had another visit by the Purkis family over a weekend. Now it was time to good bye. As the weather improved we made a leap for Cox Harbor, 53 Nm south. The bar to the harbour is fairly easily negotiated provided that the surf is not up. Well inside, the marina is deeply embraced by high sea walls, but with a reasonable anchorage at the jetty. However, the swell is a constant companion. We decided to go into the marina, where we received a warm welcome.

The marina is a nice place. We met another P2P boat from the US.  It was Tenaya, a 40 ft Halberg-Rassy with Jim and Katie on board. Here we faced a furious gale pounding the north seawall sending cascades of water over the marina. The swell crept in working on the docks ripping out bolts and cleats. At one stage I thought that we were all in for an exciting rafting expedition. But it did hold up although bits and pieces were missing and a few docks were turned upside down. Jim took a video footage when the gale was strongest. Check http://youtu.be/ljjAN3752uc.

We sailed south to Port Stephens. This is a nice place. We found shelter in Salamander Bay and met up with Yadranka’s old friends Beth and Dennis. Here we changed our plans. It has become late to move south and to Port Lincoln. Finding a berth in Port Philip Bay seems impossible. So, we decided to head north again and spent the next cruising season exploring the Qld coast and the Great Barrier Reef.