Return to Iluka

We are back in Iluka Harbour after a three day adventure up the Clarence River. We are expecting to sail to QLD on either Sunday or Monday.(depending on the weather). We have really enjoyed this area of the coast . It has so much to offer those who love the ocean.

Maclean 2013. ( for my English relatives)

At Maclean We woke to visions of fog cladded sugar cane farms. A photographers delight.

Cane farm.

How's this for an accidental photo?

Around the next bend from our anchorage, the Clarence River veered to the left and flowed off to Grafton. On the right a massive opening formed the Broadwater Lake. It's a water bird paradise and breeding area. Pelicans, Spoonbills, Darters, Cormorants, Egrets, Herons, Ibis and many other native water fowl nest and breed here. We couldn't wait for the fog to lift.

11am and exploring up stream.

Glenn likes to " drive" the dinghy, while I find it frustrating. He does get tired as we putter along with our 3hp Yamaha outboard motor. The trip to the Broadwater took well over an hour. Here he is seen perfecting the "knee controlled tiller technique" while reclining.

A versatile man of leisure.

We could see from a distance what Glenn thought were long floating obstacles, maybe floating pipe lines. As we approached we realise that these were dense lines of ducks swimming in formation. (Eurasian Coot actually, exhibiting their winter rafting up behaviour). There were 100s or possible 1000's in each very long line. Guess whose 'knee' made the decision to charge straight through this line. Frantic flapping of wings in all directions, but no injuries. The helmsman was duly scolded and repentant. These long dark lines were frequent on the Broadwater and extended well beyond the visible horizon.

Neat rows of little ducks.

ST3 close to the Pacific Hwy Bridge at Harwood.

A "fouled prop" is a yachtie's nightmare. (Anything from fishing nets, discarded rope and plastics can cause the failure of the propeller to create thrust in the water. The engine will be on but there will be no forward motion). We were preparing to position ST3 in mid river for our second Pacific Hwy bridge underpass at Harwood. Our booking time was approaching. By chance Glenn heard a bumping noise along side the pontoon. Nothing was visible except for the end of a bit of stick. Our hero pulled at the bit of stick. It did not yield. He then pulled again and this time swore. It was apparent that the stick was part of something much bigger. The call was raised: "Jen, I need help. This bugger is twisted around the prop". Glenn had located a submerged sugar or bamboo cane with shoots that were grasping thevprop so that it just wouldn't float away. We both twisted and pulled as it suddenly yielded. The stick was half of the yacht's length. Thank goodness we found it before the cars and trucks were stopped up on the highway bridge.

Great prop fouling material.

by Glenn: Meeting Alan Lucas. As mentioned in our last blog post we discovered that we had anchored right next to Mr Lucas's boat "Soleares". In cruising yachting circles Alan is a legend. Anyone who has sailed the east coast of Australia over the past 45 years would have had his essential cruising guides on board. I have been studying the guides for years and with the hope of fulfilling the dream that we are now undertaking. It was great to chat with Alan. Although his wife Patricia has been unwell they will also be heading north at around the same time as Sea Trek III and crew.

Alan Lucas's yacht Soleares sharing the fog with us.

Where we are:

http://skipr.net/where-is/boat-pages/?boatid=1122

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Motoring up the mighty Clarence River

Did you know that a keeled sailing yacht can motor 40kms up the mighty Clarence River to Grafton and beyond. We just had to explore the Clarence because this is probably our only chance. We are not in a rush and the weather is glorious. Everything we read said go! The depths under Sea Trek III to Maclean ranged up to 16 mtrs. The river is both wide and deep.

We were surprised to pass a reef fishing vessel called "Tom". The chart plotter and the sailor's voluminous guide by Alan Lucas "Sailing the NSW Coast", reassured us that we would not be grounded. Neither of us ever expected to be travelling on deep Australian rivers.

Introducing Tom. What's he doing here?

Going under bridges is a buzz. The Hardwood bridge required opening just for us. With a phone call the traffic on the Pacific Highway was stopped and the span raised. Full acceleration. There can be current disturbances when passing under bridges. Pylons and boats don't mix and we have previously experienced a few hairy moments on someone else's yacht. This passage was easy, but it did cause some anxiety. Glenn hates heights and will not look up when we pass under. (even the Sydney Harbour Bridge). I know that doesn't really make sense. ST3's mast is approx 18mtrs high and we had heaps of room.

The dinghy enjoying itself.

 

Maclean is "Australia's Scottish Town" according to their tourist pamphlets. While looking for a good cup of coffee and roaming the streets we noticed an abundance of murals. I have to ask why they are all so darn awful. The craft shoppe was just as bad.

Don"t flush 'me umbrella down the well Donald! Woof Woof. WTF!

The Scottish heritage of this town is on display on over 200 light poles decorated with Tartan and the names of the founding families. One of the very first I saw was on pole 58: CAMERON. I was so excited that I instantly messaged my life long friend Maureen about it! It's not her surname but is included somewhere on her birth certificate. (I do know her full name but am sworn to secrecy, lest she reveals too much about me to others). I then went on the search for Mc Slattery, McAndrew, MacGordon, MacLove and of course also hoping to find a McHuppatz. Glenn became tired and scuffly again, telling me that he had already walked a lot this week. (today is Tuesday) He also worried that I would be hit by a car because the names on the tartan cladded poles are only visible if viewed from the road.

A pole of distinction for Maureen.

 

The Scotts are known to be extremely thrifty. This sign "Tidiest Street 1982" is probably due to be retired now. It is on the main tourist road and I think that it has been recycled annually. It is a very very tidy street. The light poles are all nicely draped in Tartan. When you're on a winning streak why change!

A very proud street

 

Glenn is cooking his way through the Iluka meat raffle tray. He couldn't be happier. I wonder why a fishing town didn't have a sea food theme for the pub fund raiser? I suppose then it wouldn't be a meat raffle.

AND HERE'S NEWS...

Where to anchor or moor ST 3 safely while at Maclean? We had consulted various reliable sources (friends after sundowner drinks) and of course the bible for sailors : Alan Lucas's "Cruising the NSW Coast". (in print since 1968). We scoped the area for depth and then took the written advise of the author. We were congratulating our selves on choosing an anchorage in perfect depth etc, and Glenn proclaimed "Alan Lucas recommends this spot so it must be good". We then saw that Alan Lucas himself was right behind us and leaving his yacht Soleares to row to shore. We waved. Mr Lucas was in the other perfect position. We may approach him for an autograph.

Alan Lucas: our bed time reading.

 

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Iluka

The Iluka Pub. Not very glamorous and the extensions are built of fibro.(asbestos) We reasoned that the food had to be good. Lots of locals there. Steak and chips and perhaps a refreshing ale, was on our minds.

Has seen better days.

OMG. We won the meat raffle. How did that happen? There was fierce competition for the trays on Saturday night. The footy was blasting out on the big screen. So it was sausages for breakfast, rissoles for lunch, cutlets for dinner and Mylanta for supper. Luckily the fridge is fixed.

Jen "I'm a Vegan now"

 

The Iluka peninsula has a World Heritage listed Nature Reserve, and is the largest remnant of littoral rainforest in NSW. The strangler Figs were fascinating.

Don't hug me so tightly

Captain Wally: THIS is a composting toilet!

 

We walked about 10kms around the rainforest area. It has been a long time since either of us had walked this far. By the end Glenn was a thirsty scuffling wreck. The view from the lookout foretold of the weather change.

Time to get moving, back to ST3

 

We also scrambled along the break walls to watch the course taken by other vessels entering and leaving the mighty Clarence River. This rock is reminiscent of our recent whale encounter.

A whale of a tale

Catamaran cruising over to Yamba

We are off to explore the mighty Clarence River tomorrow, going up as far as Maclean. Do I here the bag pipes playing. Glenn hopes to find his own tartan.

 

 

 

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Continuing North Coffs Harbour to Iluka

Coffs Harbour. We ended up spending 5 days at the The International Coffs Harbour Marina. We spent a great deal of that time waiting to have repairs done! Our fridge is small but vital for our provisioning. It had stopped working. Our consistent problems with the autopilot continued to be consistent. (yes its meant to read like that Jen!) Coursemaster Autopilots take note: I'm only halfway through my letter of complaints. (a list of them)

Sea Trek III @ Coffs Harbour Marina.

For those of you familiar with the jetty area in Coffs you will know that its a hive of activity. It has shops, yacht club and eateries. There was no shortage of things to do and places to visit. Jen really enjoyed the walk on the monumental old jetty. I enjoyed a couple of SUP surfs at Jetty Beach. I was able able to launch from the deck of ST3 and paddle out of the marina to the beach. SUPs are amazing for catching little waves that normally would be unridable. I did scare the hell out of the whale watching skipper on the commercial vessel docked next to us when I threw the SUP overboard. It made a the huge splash and had him thinking that one of his customers had fallen in.

It seemed like every sailor we met recommended "Attitude Hamburgers" to us. We were tired after our sail from Trial Bay on Monday and fancied someone else's cooking. We arrived at 6pm anticipating the culinary delights of these boutique burgers. Jen and I scanned the menu with our stomachs grumbling. Jen chose a "Tree Hugger": a vegetarian mushroom delight, while I chose their special "Attitude" Angus Beef. There were about 10 other customers enjoying drinks around the outdoor fire place. Can you imagine my surprise (I was flabbergasted ) when I came to order only to be told by the waitress "sorry, but we have run out of meat and there will be a 40 minute wait for everything else". So we ate elsewhere and it was rather ordinary.

Monumental Old Jetty at Jetty Beach Coffs Harbour.

It was great to catch up with Izzy Foreal while we were in Coffs. Izzy and I played in the "Trashed Out Cats" in the 90's. ( I think?) James and I had recently attended and played at Izzy's "When I'm 64" celebrations at Raleigh. We did that trip by road. Izzy called down to the boat for a cup of tea and a catch up on what we have both been up to since those heady 90's days. When you're in the area make sure you catch one of Izzy's shows. He's very entertaining.

Izzy Foreal on ST3

James and Glenn perform at Izzy Forreal's "When I'm 64" earlier in 2013. I'm blessed to be able to perform with my son on stage on occasions.

Whilst in Coffs we also caught up with fellow cruisers Ines and Steve from SV Bravado. We met them in Port Stephens and have now caught up with them in Camden Haven and Coffs too. They have raced ahead of us now and are in "Bums Bay" on the Gold Coast. Jen snapped a great pic of them coming in to escape the approaching storm front.

Bravado looking for safe anchorage.

The fridge is now fixed, and I know a lot more about 12volt refrigeration. The autopilot is still inconsistent and we are now safely anchored in Iluka Harbour. We left Coffs around 2am on Saturday morning and motor sailed the whole way: about 9.5 hours.(once again timing our arrival to cross the bar). We were greeted by "I'm the skipper" star: John King! John lives here on his beautiful catamaran "Dream Weaver". We have known John since we first started looking for a yacht to sail when we all lived in the Ulladulla area. We both then moored our older yachts at Batemans Bay. John also helped me bring ST3 back from Brisbane on her delivery trip.

Just who is the skipper? Convention at Iluka

We are staying at Iluka until Saturday and we are looking forward to exploring the mighty Clarence river by yacht. We will motor to Maclean this week. We thought that it was too good an opportunity to miss this famous voyage and I don't think we will be back this way for sometime to come.

Where we are:

http://skipr.net/where-is/boat-pages/?boatid=1122

 

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