A friend mentioned the above when we set out. Well, leaving Port Stephens last Thursday and hitting 11 knots flying past Broughton Island in a fresh South westerly, brought this saying to mind. We hope to have more exciting sails like this 45nm leg to Tuncurry and Forster.
We put down an anchor opposite the Fish Co-op and spotted “Now and Zen” who we have seen on the AIS over the last two days of sailing. We invited them over and met Marty and Sue from Western Australia who had sailed their boat from Adelaide in South Australia to this spot.
The next morning we set sail for Camden Haven and carried the spinnaker for half the 40 nautical miles and motored the rest as the wind died down. We made our way up the river and put down the anchor at the village of Laurieton. The next day was spent exploring this area on foot and attempting to climb Big Brother mountain behind the village – we gave up halfway up because it was much higher than what we expected.
We consoled ourselves over a couple of beers before sprucing up for a Saturday night at the local RSL club. We shouldn’t have bothered – the friendly locals go out dressed very casually. We had an early night.
The following day we did the relatively short sail to Port Macquarie beating into a freshening North easter. By the time we reached the harbour entry, the sea was probably 2-3 metres and we had a hair raising ride in over the bar, trying not to broach the boat in the breaking waves.
We found a quiet little bay next to the Fish co-op and at 4pm, had what Sue describes as a “calming red”. Graeme and Jenny Smith who happened to be in Port Macquarie for the week joined us and Marty and Sue on board for some extended sundowners.
Monday was spent exploring Port Macquarie, which is a delightful town, before joining the Smith’s for dinner.
