February 2022
The day we left the Gold Coast through the Seaway Bar we had the perfect weather and winds to head south. We had spent a total of nine months in Queensland and we’d had an amazing time enjoying the warmer weather and water of the tropics. However since the beginning of the summer and subsequent “wet season” we had been longing more and more for the cold temperatures and the cooler climate of Tasmania. So with this in mind we decided that it was time for us to turn south officially and leave Queensland behind. When we left to Gold Coast we had a forecast that had the potential to take us all the way to Tasmania, however as usual the weather had other things in mind.
From the Gold Coast to Tasmania’s Flinders Island it was 800-900nm, a distance we knew we wouldn’t be able to make in one go with the fickle weather. So the first leg of our journey took us from the Gold Coast to Coffs Harbour. This first leg was fairly uneventful, we had light winds which meant motor sailing, clear skies and a full moon for the overnight part of our sail. It was the perfect weather, other then the lack of winds, after nearly a month of no sailing.
However even with the light winds Allagai achieved speeds we’d thought impossible as she broke her sped record when we entered the East Australian Current. For most of the daylight hours of that first day we averaged 5kts, two of that being current. Although after dark and during my watch the wind picked up slightly and Allagai flew. I helmed in absolute awe as we raced along watching the speed creep up from five knots to six and then seven and finally to finish on a lively 8kts with a full main, stay sail and jib. This was an incredibly invigorating sail which I handed over to Hugo just before midnight. Although according to Hugo he wasn’t able to enjoy the incredible speeds for long and by the time my second watch came around the the motor was needed once more. As although we were still sailing at 4-5kts the previous winds had whipped up a rather unpleasant sea and without the boat speed created by the motor Allagai had a very unpleasant wallow as she bobbed her way down the current.
With such amazing speeds we reached Coffs Harbour in 31 hours after travelling a whooping 150nm which gave us an incredible speed average. When we arrived at Coffs we were especially glad for our good time and we wouldn’t have wanted to arrive a moment later with large and dangerous looking storm clouds brewing along the coast and directly over the harbour we were aiming for. The reason we had decided on this first stop was because we were forecast for a brisk southerly wind change that night and it was as we approach Coffs Harbour that we could tell the change was imminent.
Coffs Harbour was the centre of a huge thunderstorm cell and as we approached we could see lightning and rain in the distance. The show the clouds were putting on was spectacular but thankfully the worst of it missed us. Instead of high winds and lightening all we had to contend with was a deluge of rain about a mile from the breakwater. But once that passed we were able to enter through the breakwater in a nice calm and dropped anchor in a relatively swell free anchorage.
We ended up spending two nights in Coffs Harbour and spent every minute of that second day wishing we had stayed in the marina rather then on anchor. This was because the southerly front had whipped up a 2-3m sea which was barrelling in through the harbours entrance, making for a very unpleasant anchorage. Thankfully though the wind was short lived and by midnight the wind and subsequently the waves died out which meant we managed to get a semi restful nights sleep. However we had no intention of staying longer then necessary so first thing the following morning we were up early visiting the fuel wharf before leaving the harbour to continue our way south.
At sea once more we couldn’t believe the change in weather from the previous day. We had a clear sky and a light 10kt breeze meaning all sail was set. But unfortunately with our grubby hull the engine was still needed if we wanted to go faster then 2kts. Again the next leg of our journey was dictated by the weather with yet more thunderstorms and squally conditions on the way. So with this in mind we set sail for Port Stephens which was another 150nm down the coast. For this leg we had a mixture of calm and windy conditions and although we didn’t set any more 8kt records we did spend a good amount of time sailing or motor sailing at 6kts thanks to the EAC.
The most we wind we had during that sail was overnight and in fact we had so much wind that night that by the time Hugo handed the watch over to me around midnight we needed a second reef in the mainsail and even decided to hand the staysail and rely on the jib which can be easily doused single handed. This was the most wind we’d had during an overnight sail in a very long time, however after so much motoring in calms we weren’t going to complain and had an invigorating downwind sail at 5-6kts which lasted most of the night. Although by the time Hugo came back on deck three hours later I was exhausted from hand steering the entire watch and rather then die out the wind had increased further. So with both of us on deck we reduced sail once more by pulling in the third reef. Although thankfully from then onwards the wind settled down and stopped increasing and began a slow easing so that by the time it was my watch again I didn’t have to wrestle the tiller quite so much and could even set the staysail again.
When we arrived in Port Stephens it was yet again under the developing heads of thunderclouds but this time at least the anchorage was flat and the clouds stayed well away from us. By the time we arrived in Port Stephens we only had an hour before sunset and so decided to anchor just beyond the heads on the bays northern side off Jimmy’s Beach.
This was just only an overnight stay as first thing the following morning we headed deeper into the bay with the incoming tide. Due to a few days of windy weather we had decided to spend a few nights in Port Stephens recovering from the last weeks worth of roly overnight sails and anchorages. So with that in mind and using the last of the tide we weighed anchor and headed for Fame Bay about half way into Port Stephens vast bay.
When we arrived in Fame Bay we picked up a free public mooring and were awed by
the beautiful little bay we’d found. We were essentially in a valley with tall heavily wooded hills on all sides. This was exactly the kind of flat anchorage we had been looking for as it reminded us of the southern anchorages we were longing for.
While in Fame Bay we spent most of our time aboard Allagai however at low tide a rocky beach became exposed which we did spend our second morning exploring. However with little else to do in the tiny bay and the arrival of our next window to head south approaching we decided to leave the bay after our walk ashore.
That day we decided to head to Port Stephens Nelsons Bay so that we could explore the town a little and buy a few groceries before moving on. We ended up spending two nights here waiting for the weather but as soon as the forecast northerly arrived we continued south aiming for the Hawksbury River.
