Sailing the Sapphire Coast
Sydney to Bermagui: By Trailer Sailer!
After a three sensational weeks on Sydney Harbour/Broken Bay region, the time came for the trip proper: NSW south coast!
As the lads arrived, I bid farewell to by beautiful family, then got straight into the important pre-cruise convention of a big night on the sauce, which culminated in a Kebab at the Cross.
Some of us (not me fortunately!) were feeling a little poorly as we set of late morning from Rushcutters Bay. By now the wind from the North was starting to build, so we motored up the harbour, and set sail near the Heads (well, a single reefed main). This proved ample sail area, and we were more than a little surprised to find that we easily making an average of 7.5 knots. As we cleared the heads, it was blowing a solid 20 knots, and the rebound seas were (as put by Alan Lucas) “quite disconcerting! It wasn’t long before one of our member started feeling poorly, and the efforts of the previous night, combined with seasickness, took their toll on the poor soul. Sympathy, being a “boy’s trip” was somewhat lacking!
The first destination was Port Hacking. What a sensational spot. Almost as soon as we entered the region, the turmoil of the previous few hours was left behind. While the wind was still up, the water was extremely calm, and clear, white sand beaches, kids playing. A great spot.
Our night was spent in the SW arm, adjacent to the Royal National Park. Utilising a stern line to tuck us in close to the shore offered us sensational protection from the wind, and no sooner than we set anchor, the BBQ was lit up, and cold beers procured. The days highlights were discussed late into the night, complete with the anchorage booming with the resident doof boat moored nearby cranking out various hits of the 80’s!
Day 2 began a similar pattern of moderate Northerlies increasing as the day went on. The sailing was much more pleasant, as although the winds were a similar speed, the seas were much more regular due to the shape and nature of the coastline. The 30 odd miles to Wollongong took us just under 4 hours, again, averaging over 7 knots!
Wollongong Harbour proved to be a fantastic little spot, a scene replicated down the coast. Fishing boats were more than happy for us to raft up, and shore power, water, and fish and chips were all in easy reach. A big bonus of rafting up was that we in effect had our own floating pontoon, which was quite handy considering the tidal range and the robust nature of the wharves.
Our next port was Crookhaven Heads. The Northerlies were still up. We still managed regular mid 7’s, and topped out over 9 knots on the GPS. These speeds blew me away. Part of the pace was from the current, but even still, it made for busy sailing, and far quicker than I’d anticipated. Two thumbs up for the low weight of a TS I say!
Inside Crookhaven was a nice little spot. It felt a lot like the Southern Queensland mangrove rivers, very different to Port Hacking. Unfortunately, the mossies liked it too, so we spent a rare night inside with mossie nets up. The tide comes through at quite a clip, and we found to shelter from the wind we needed to head just inside orient point and tied up at the boat ramp. Great spot, with extremely friendly and interested locals.
The next day was slightly shorter, to Huskinson inside Jervis Bay. The Cliffs of Point Perpendicular were sensational, quite the iconic part of the coast. Once inside the bay, the smooth water made saiing easier than it had been for days, and with reefed main and small jib, we close reached across the bay. An awesome sail.
Getting through the bar at Huskinson was a little difficult as we somehow managed to come in at the near the bottom of the tide. We followed the line of one of the large Dolphin Cruisers, but still bumped bottom a few times. Minimum depth was about 3 feet, but with a fresh onshore wind, this was a little nervous.
Once in, we managed to raft up at the public jetty, which was good news with a southerly change forecast, which arrived that evening, and prescribed two nights there.
High tide on our departure made the exit much easier, with keel at full drop with no problems at all. In lightish winds we motorsailed about 20 miles to Ulldalla. Seas were small, but very confused until we cleared the cliffs of Jervis.
Ulladulla, from a distance looks very improbable, even ridiculous! But as you come in, you find it to e one of the prettiest harbours on the coast, with breakwaters enclosing a beautiful little cove, and offering great comfort and shelter. That night we rafted up with AFR Midnight Rambler on their way back from Hobart. We managed a great trade of two bottles of red for a slab of Cascade, (we got the beer!) which was good news, given that the supplies of beer were desperately low, I think down to the last box….
An early start was a good idea with yet more strongish Northerlies forecast. An hour of motorsailing was needed to make good pace, then once the wind picked up, away went the iron sail, and away we went. This proved to be a pretty exciting day of sailing, with over 8 knots being very regular, and the trip to Batemans went quite quickly.
Just as we neared the entrance to Batemans, the rod started screaming, and we were hooked up to something! This got quite “busy” for a while as the crew were much more interested in the fish than the fact that the constant weather helm was pulling us uncomfortably towards the Three Island reef. We put a gybe in, got some sea room, and reeled in a good sized Kingfish. Sensational!
The bar at Batemans was not overly obliging, again, not helped by the emptying tide. We had to pull the keel up a fair bit to get through the shallow patch, and there was a surprising amount of breaking water, albeit with very small waves. Minimum depth seemed to be about 3 feet. Once through, finding a spot to pull up for the night was quite difficult, and we ended up going stern in and keel up just E of the bridge near the caravan park, which proved a great spot. Intersting was just how steep to it was. When placing the main anchor, we were in about 20 feet of water, and this was only 20m or less from the beach.
An early start was called for again for the 40+ miles to Bermagui, with a Southerly forecast for later that night. The day went by fairly swiftly, and without incident, until we decided to have a look at Narooma. Calling through to the coastguard, we were informed that he bar was “choppy but OK”. Getting in close, it appeared anything but, with very confused water, uncertain depths, and a very narrow opening. With visions of the boat reduced to fibreglass splinters, I decided to get out of there! We called through to the coastguard, and let them know we would go through to Bermagui after all!
Reaching Bermagui validated our decision. The bar was flat and benign, with waves doing little more than cresting. It’s a beautiful little harbour, with a big fishing fleet, who were more than happy for us to raft up. Showers and dinner at the country club were made all the more perfect by watching David Warner smash his way into history on the club’s big screen TV.
With a Southerly forecast, and a meeting I couldn’t get out of in Melbourne in a few days time, Bermagui was our final destination. Retrieving the boat and trailer proved simple enough, with a bus leaving for Sydney at 8.00am the next morning, and Mike returned with the trailer about 10pm that night.
The next day we were up and away, and caused quite a sense of surprise when asked where we had sailed from. “Sydney” was clearly not what they were thinking the answer would be! It was with a bit of pride that I looked back on the trip. We had sailed over 200 Miles along a spectacular exposed coastline, seen amazing country, eaten great food, and thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it. Doing all this is a trailer sailer was an added bonus, and totally achievable. With the exception of the Narooma Bar (and that was in average conditions with tide on the ebb ie, NOT the time to have a look!) there was not a moment when it felt that what we were doing was pushing it. The boat literally flew down the coast, and we had a sensational time of it.
That’s not to say we didn’t take things seriously. A standing rule was that all hatches were locked in at all times, as to was the wearing of lifejackets. We carried enough fuel to motor double the entire day’s distance (ie if we had to motor all the way there and then return to the original port), and had a standing rule not to go out if more than 25 knots was forecast. We pre-plotted our courses for the whole trip, and kept on hand Allan Lucas’ “Cruising the NSW Coast”, another invaluable resource. These are little more than common sense, but made things easier if it got busy, and gave us a good margin if it didn’t go to plan
The coastal patrol were a sensational resource, and the service, completely free of charge, in tracking us down the coast and sending our details to the next base station, was fantastic. Thanks heaps to all the crew who give their time to this wonderful service, I really really appreciated all the time and effort you put in.
So what next? I would love to “finish” the trip, and link the Northern Section, from Ballina to Sydney. I really believe, that with the right conditions, time and planning, this would be a viable trip; as day passages are altogether possible. Given twp or three weeks, it could be a goer.
Having said that, our “target” for this trip was Eden, but the sea didn’t let us get that far this time. I always had the framework that we would get as far as conditions and weather allowed us. I fully respect just how quickly the sea can take charge, and will always have a healthy fear, which will hopefully keep me sailing for many years to come!
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Chris
Magnum 8.5
