After a week enjoying the delights of Port Stephens, it was time to get going again.

We could see that there was some quite bad weather developing for the NSW coast and our preference was to avoid getting stuck in Port Stephens (as beautiful as it is) for another week while we waited for that weather to pass. Little did we know just how bad that weather was going to be. So we carefully checked the weather forecast for this next leg to determine if there was a window for us before the weather was due to deteriorate. We decided to leave on Sunday 19^th April which would give us southerlies most of the way, which for the initial part of the trip were forecast to be a little stronger than we like, but manageable. We could also see that it was likely we would end up with northerlies once we got to about Cape Byron, but these were not going to be strong so we decided to go for it.

Steve and Innes helped us get out of that tight berth on the Saturday evening and we spent Saturday night in Shoal Bay and after a bit of a rolly night, headed out the Port Stephens heads about 7am. It was a beautiful morning and we enjoyed some lovely scenery provided by the cliffs.

We made very good headway that day and late in the afternoon were joined by a pod of dolphins who swam along with us for a while. I just love sitting on the rail watching them dart back and forth, especially when we are going fairly fast. It is quite exhilarating.

As forecast, the wind picked up and we reduced sail for a more comfortable ride, had our evening meal and prepared for the night. We had been averaging 6.5-7.5 kts/hr. By this stage, we were starting to run into the East Australian Current which for those who don’t know runs south along the Australian east coast at about 4 knots. This makes heading north more challenging as you need more boat speed to counter the current – otherwise you go nowhere. With a good southerly breeze, you can get sufficient boat speed, but then there is wind in the opposite direction to the current which can make the waves stand up a bit. So the ride starts to get a bit more uncomfortable as the boat rocks around in the waves. It was in these conditions that we sustained some damage to the steering pedestal. We had headed into the wind to adjust the main halyard which had slipped a bit, and with the boom swaying and the waves rocking, the main sheet got caught around the pedestal and gave it a good yank with a fair amount of force behind it. Initially, we thought that we had lost the steering, which gave us both a bit of a fright. We dropped the main, settled the boat and established that the steering was intact and the autohelm working well, despite the pedestal being on a 20 degree angle. We continued on through the night with reduced sail, and the steering held up very well. Unfortunately, this meant that our boat speed dropped to an average of 4.5-5 kts/hr.

During the night I stayed in contact with Women Who Sail Australia, a facebook group of which I am a member, and received much encouragement. There was in fact a member of this group on a yacht, Anthem, that had left Port Stephens about an hour after us but who were catching us due to our slower boat speed. Anthem eventually caught up to us and sailed by very close, and checked in with us via the VHF radio to establish that all was OK before they kept going, also bound for Southport.

The next day, Monday, was fairly uneventful. In the morning light we were able to see that one of the fittings that holds the steering pedestal to the cockpit floor had cracked and so this accounted for the lean of the whole pedestal. The pedestal itself and the steering mechanisms all appeared to be undamaged. The wind strength dropped off during the day and hence we spent a bit of time motoring.

Early Tuesday morning, the wind picked up again- motor off and sails up again. Peace. We went along nicely all morning averaging 6 kts. However, a drama was unfolding back in Port Stephens and all along the Hunter coast with those damaging category 2 winds making a terrible mess of people’s homes, boats and towns. Our friends in Port Stephens were fairly lucky in that there was no damage to their house, and only the loss of the headsail on their boat, Bravado, anchored in one of the many bays in the port. Others of course were not so lucky. We were very very thankful that we were not still there. Even tied up to the berth, enduring hours of howling wind and then the rain would have made for an anxious time. Similarly, we were pleased that our strategy of getting ahead of that bad weather had paid off. We ran out of wind, would you believe, in the afternoon, and what there was had swung around to a northerly (against us) and so back to motoring again.

From about Cape Byron, we made excruciatingly slow progress with both wind and current against us, and it got worse when we came to round Point Danger, where for quite a period of time while we were tacking the current was pushing us sideways. We finally got past there around sunset and we were now in QLD waters sailing up the Gold Coast as we made for Southport. It was a beautiful clear starry night, but also cold and for the first time since we left Victoria, Phil had to rug up with sailing pants, jacket and gloves, and I had to put on a beanie! We entered the seaway to the Broadwater around 11.30pm and with considerable relief dropped anchor in Bum’s Bay just on midnight. Hot shower, celebratory drink, and into bed. The NSW coast had provided us with glorious pacey sailing with dolphins and birds for company, too much wind and waves making for an uncomfortable ride, current against us, and no wind, making for painstakingly slow progress- a real variety pack. This leg had once again demonstrated the highs and lows of sailing and gave us a good lesson in being able to roll along with the conditions – not that either of us are very good yet in dealing with the extremes of lots of wind and no wind. We were pleased that we seemed to have fixed the leaks that made the previous leg a bit messy, and also that Phil was much less affected by sea sickness. We are also pleased with the lithium batteries which are providing us with ample power, including being able to boil an electric jug several times a day using the inverter.

The next morning was absolutely glorious and it was very exciting for me to wake up anchored in the Broadwater – I grew up not far from here and sent many hours walking along the shores of the Broadwater and on the beach at the Spit and Main Beach. I never imagined that one day I would sail into here on my own boat. The other source of my excitement was the prospect of catching up with family and friends. We did the usual boat tidy up, and spent the afternoon on the boat sipping champagne with one of my nursing buddies from 40 years ago, and then we spent the evening at my brother’s.

The next few days have been spent sourcing boat bits and technicians we needed for the various jobs, and in getting those jobs underway. My brother had lent us his car for a few days and it was very handy indeed. It looks like we might have found the antenna fault with the AIS so for those of you who have been tracking us on Marine Traffic, it might be a bit more reliable now although keep in mind that we still need to be near a VHF base station for our signal to be picked up and transmitted. We have also caught up with Phil’s cousin who lives in Townsville but happens to be here for work, and with my mother and step-father. The weather has been absolutely superb and our anchorage is just lovely.

There are quite a few boats in here and we had the pleasure of Jill Knight in Cooee come in today and anchor next to us. We had ready many articles by Jill in Cruising Helmsman and she is well known in the cruising community. We have not set a definite day for moving on yet- maybe Wednesday next week and maybe to Mooloolaba.