With much discussion over the past few days, we decided with Della Rue & Fly South that we would leave. We were unsure as to whether we would stop at Coffs Harbour & anchor or continue on to Yamba/Iluka. This decision would be made while we were underway.

When we came out over Camden Haven bar, all was going well. We headed out to the south as there were waves breaking to the north. As we had already crossed the bar and were heading out slowly, we had a 6 foot wave right in front of us. Not once did we see waves break in this area, but guess what? This one decided it was, with a few expletives from me, Dean put more into the motor and we were on top of the wave just as it started to break. Time Flies came down with a big thud! This followed with another one but this one was kind to break after we were over it. My comment to Dean was “I don’t want to do that again, I didn’t like it”, Dean’s comment was “did you get that on video?” Um “nope I was too busy holding on”. This was our first undies changing moment.

Coffs Harbour unfortunately was hit hard by the ECL back in early June and is currently closed to visitors. The anchorage didn’t sound appealing as it is swell prone. We decided to anchor for a few hours in Trial Bay and have dinner & a rest before the 93nm sail to Yamba/Iluka. We estimated 18 hours so we lifted anchor at 9pm.
The sea state was horrible washing machine like conditions. We had perfect wind 15-20kn SSW with 2 swells and waves, however the sail from Laurieton to Trial Bay was made better by the fact we had whales breaching & dolphins doing acrobatics. The best was the whale that breached just off our bow & then slapped its tail 20m away from us.

Trial Bay to Yamba/Iluka gave the same conditions and as “Harry” our auto helm does a great job, he doesn’t like washing machine conditions, so Dean & I helmed most of the way both days. We had one big gust of 25kn which caused Time Flies to jibe, we decided to bring the main down & pull the head sail out. We still sailed averaging 6+ kn.

When we were less than an hour away from the bar, Dean called Marine Rescue to discuss the bar conditions. We decided that we would come in from the south. It’s a little scary when you see big waves breaking near the entrance. But it becomes clearer when you get in closer. We entered easily and were happy to anchor in Iluka Bay.