Korea-bound!
Future Japanese paper. Ex Australian forest.
Eden treated us well, and while we had 35 knot winds forecast, we scurried from one side of Twofold Bay to the other as the wind went from a balmy Northerly through to a chilly Southerly.
My anchoring skills are obviously improving because we had no trouble holding in either spot, although we always found a nice sandy bottom to dig into. Tucked inside the Woodchip and Navy wharves, we watched as a big cargo ship was loaded, 24 hours a day for four or five days straight, with good Aussie hardwood logs, probably straight from our nearby National Parks. Meanwhile, the Japanese-owned woodchip mill over our shoulders was spurting out more trees after they'd been converted to chips. Don't get me started.
My anchoring skills are obviously improving because we had no trouble holding in either spot, although we always found a nice sandy bottom to dig into. Tucked inside the Woodchip and Navy wharves, we watched as a big cargo ship was loaded, 24 hours a day for four or five days straight, with good Aussie hardwood logs, probably straight from our nearby National Parks. Meanwhile, the Japanese-owned woodchip mill over our shoulders was spurting out more trees after they'd been converted to chips. Don't get me started.
Not a nice bar entrance.
We'd planned on a pre-dawn departure from Eden on the Friday, and up until Thursday night the weather reports all looked very mellow. Until Thursday night, when they started issuing Dangerous Surf Advisory warnings for the NSW coast. Which made for a sleepless night, with visions of a nightmare crossing into the Bermagui Harbour. I kept seeing, in my mind, the YouTube clip I'd seen a few months previously. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfj5sOTgMpc
But, in the morning, things felt smooth and we motored out of Eden's broad bay in gentle conditions with a small swell.
Fortunately, just ahead of the Korean bulk carrier's departure, and also just ahead of the Navy ship HMAS Melbourne, which was heading into our anchorage and would've chucked us out anyway.
While it was a slightly uncomfortable run North, with a following wind making it awkward to get the right sail combination, and being a bit "rolly" with swell. But it proved an easy run, and we romped along, motorsailing up to 7 knots at times, with lots of dolphins and sea birds keeping an eye on us.
We arrived into an idyllic Bermagui not too long after the high tide and enjoyed a soft, gentle swell entry.
Settling down to an afternoon nap, we were surprised to receive a text from our Geelong friends, Kerryn and John Peirce, aboard "Esoterica", to let us know they'd soon be arriving from Bittangabee Bay and had been advised to raft up to our boat. So that was a pleasant surprise, and with friends of theirs from the catamaran "Gemini Lady" we all adjourned to the pub for dinner.
But, in the morning, things felt smooth and we motored out of Eden's broad bay in gentle conditions with a small swell.
Fortunately, just ahead of the Korean bulk carrier's departure, and also just ahead of the Navy ship HMAS Melbourne, which was heading into our anchorage and would've chucked us out anyway.
While it was a slightly uncomfortable run North, with a following wind making it awkward to get the right sail combination, and being a bit "rolly" with swell. But it proved an easy run, and we romped along, motorsailing up to 7 knots at times, with lots of dolphins and sea birds keeping an eye on us.
We arrived into an idyllic Bermagui not too long after the high tide and enjoyed a soft, gentle swell entry.
Settling down to an afternoon nap, we were surprised to receive a text from our Geelong friends, Kerryn and John Peirce, aboard "Esoterica", to let us know they'd soon be arriving from Bittangabee Bay and had been advised to raft up to our boat. So that was a pleasant surprise, and with friends of theirs from the catamaran "Gemini Lady" we all adjourned to the pub for dinner.
The Bermagui bar entrance, the day after we arrived. That's a six-foot wave. Barrelling.
"Esoterica" readies for departure at dawn.
So, while I did have a headache in the morning, I wasn't prepared for the sight of the harbour entrance, which was exactly what I'd been dreading during my awful sleep the night before leaving Eden. Solid waves with a raucous new swell, closing out across the bar. I couldn't even convince myself to surf, it was just a little too wild looking. (Wooss!) If we had've arrived with that swell running, it would've been a nightmare crossing.
Fortunately it was it's normal benign self again the next morning for our friends to depart for points North, while we settled into the rhythm of the harbour. We're due to meet our old friend Bill Shum here later in the week, so are content to wait for the next burst of Southerly winds for our own departure.
Fortunately it was it's normal benign self again the next morning for our friends to depart for points North, while we settled into the rhythm of the harbour. We're due to meet our old friend Bill Shum here later in the week, so are content to wait for the next burst of Southerly winds for our own departure.
Morning squawkers!
It's a beautiful little place, tucked away off the main Pacific Highway, and we're rafted up to an old trawler on the main Fisherman's Wharf with a ready supply of tasty fish n chips, hot showers and all the luxuries of town close at hand. I did manage a little surf around the corner after the swell had dropped, too!
Drying out the nets.
Local colour!
It's a busy, working port so there's ready access to power, fuel and water on the dock, and we're right in the middle of a very industrious little fleet. Longliners head out for a few days at a time, laying their deadly hooks outside of the Continental shelf and hauling in big striped marlin, shark and yellowfin tuna. All destined for the Sydney Fish Markets.
So whether it's our native forests or the ocean's bounty, there's always somebody ready to harvest it and bring it to market.
So whether it's our native forests or the ocean's bounty, there's always somebody ready to harvest it and bring it to market.
Fresh off the boat. Sashimi, anybody?
The Blue Pool.
Our original plan, which had been stuck on the wall in the boat's cabin for the past year or so, had been to arrive in Bermagui at the end of January. Well, now it's almost the end of March and we've only just arrived. I wonder if there's a medal for the Slowest Cruisers?
We're happily wandering around town and generally just soaking it all in. Took the bus into Bega yesterday for the princely sum of $2.50 return, and today took a walk to the Blue Pool. It's a beautiful, naturally-fed rock pool at the base of the cliffs facing the Pacific Ocean. (Why can't Torquay have one of these?)
And I was pleased to win Second Prize in this month's "Cruising Helmsman" magazine's photo competition with a shot from Refuge Cove.....after getting the cover shot a couple of issues ago.....which, coincidentally, I'd shot in Bermagui during our delivery trip two years previously.
We're happily wandering around town and generally just soaking it all in. Took the bus into Bega yesterday for the princely sum of $2.50 return, and today took a walk to the Blue Pool. It's a beautiful, naturally-fed rock pool at the base of the cliffs facing the Pacific Ocean. (Why can't Torquay have one of these?)
And I was pleased to win Second Prize in this month's "Cruising Helmsman" magazine's photo competition with a shot from Refuge Cove.....after getting the cover shot a couple of issues ago.....which, coincidentally, I'd shot in Bermagui during our delivery trip two years previously.
February issue....with my cover shot!
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