Maybe close to setting out for New Caledonia
We enjoyed the stay in Newcastle. Took the long walk to gape at the new attraction, the 40,000 tonne Pasha Bulker grounded on the beach. There were thousands of people watching. That evening we tuned into the VHF radio and had an intimate listen to the salvage efforts. All very methodical and largely calm. They did very well getting the ship refloated.
Monday morning, we set off for Coffs Harbour- about 450Km North of Sydney and warmer.
We got into Coffs Harbour at midnight on Tuesday. The sail from Newcastle started out well, with strong winds from the South West. Then, at nightfall, they petered out to nothing and we motored for a number of hours. Some wind in the morning which then shifted to a totally un-forecast NNE- so more motoring.
Then the East Australian Current kicked in and we had up to 2.2kts of current against us for the final 20hrs or so. This meant that one third to one half of our speed was lost to the current. During the day, we went in close to the beaches in the BAys and escaped some of the current. We had views of the Coast which we have not previously experienced.
There were many positives. We kept dry, which was excellent in the cold weather. We have been wearing four layers of clothing which have kept us warm. However, it would have been a totally different story if we were wet. We had fantastic displays of wildlife. Many, many whales disporting themselves and keeping us interested. We had dolphins with us almost the whole way. About 40NM from Coffs Harbour, just after a beautiful moon rise, there were a couple of very loud "bangs"- like rifle shots. Then some very loud splashes. We quickly discovered four whales cruising alongside only 30 metres away. On e of them leapt right out of the water several times. They each weighed many tonnes and it was good they kept a respectable distance. It could have dented us a bit to have a whale land on deck!
Overall, a slow trip but uneventful.
Here in Coffs Harbour it is very pleasant. Our friends of old, Peter and Ruth, kindly picked us up Wednesday and took us to do some shopping and then on to their fabulous property up near the kalang River. It is about 75Km from Coffs and very peaceful. They have made great p[rogress building a cottage and clearing weeds since we were there at the end of our Solomons trip last year.
There is a gale warning South of here and strong winds for the Coffs area so we are thinking of leaving tomorrow, Friday, for New Caledonia. We will likely have some biggish seas from tinme to time- left over from the current weather system and then there seems to be another one coming through next week. We hope to be moving North away from the second Low as it comes through. So, we are hoping for a speedy passage across the East Coast current and into some more favourable ones a couple of hundred nautical miles offshore.
Bye for now,
Dave, Penny & Will
