21st to 23rd November Yamba
Now at Yamba revisiting the Pacific Hotel with a great view of the ocean and generally having some well needed R and R.

20th November Tuesday Byron to Iluka/Yamba
Another early start from Byron with the sun rising and off to Iluka some 51 nautical miles south. Great weather and current and ended up playing Rummy for most of the trip while Ray did the steering.
Breezed in through the Yamba Bar and eased our way round to the lovely little fishing settlement of Iluka and the most peaceful and calm bay. Walked around to the Coast Guard and had a chat and found out what the weather was doing for the next four days. What makes it even better still is the Sedges Reef pub which we spent a great lunch time in and a visit to the Fish co-op for a prawn dinner was even better still.

19th November Monday
Southport bar presented no bum clenching and now only three more bars to go over before home. Had a very pleasant motor down to Kingscliff and then hoisted the sails and motorsailed to Byron Bay. Nick saw a shark at one point and a school of dolphins passed jumping clear of the water. The 2knts of current we had with us was magical and to get to Byron at 3pm with the rest of the afternoon to relax made a real difference. A whale feeding her calf welcomed us into the Bay where we anchored for the night.
After anchoring Nick said I’m hot and said are you coming for a swim off the back of the boat. “Not on your life I said, don’t like the prospect of fronting a shark, don’t be silly he said and jumped in. After climbing out and pouring a gin and tonic he said “what’s that” pointing to something in the water a few meters from the boat. It turned out to be a 10foot White Pointer and swam lazily around the boat for at least an hour. Radioed the Coast Guard to let them know as there were a lot of swimmers beyond the breakers and not far from us. He said he would phone the lifeguards but nothing happened, no bells ringing or boats coming out to chase it away….glad I was in the boat and not in the water as it looked evil and just looking for a tender morsel..

Speaking from a personal point of view I doubt I shall ever jump off the back of a boat again. No matter how Paul Getty under the Warwick Farms it is. Not even in a freshwater lake in Sweden.
Referring to our ‘What shark was that?” reference guide and with the help of Pam’s 86 photos we reckon it was a Great White. That’s the colour I turned when I saw it. Yes even from the safety of the deck. The most worrying thing was then Pam rushing about the boat taking photographic evidence.
The Coast Guard was amusing. He wanted to know what sort of shark it was. “A big one” apparently wasn’t enough. The sucker fish were about the size of the mackerel Pam caught and this thing was about a third the length of the boat. The really creepy thing was that it circled the boat for 45 minutes before moving on.
Bollocks to anyone who thinks we’re at the top of the food chain.






18th November Sunday
Next moring we took up the anchor and gingerly proceeded to the port marker.
More bum clenching as the depth sounder spiraled down ward and when it got to 1.4 (we go aground at 1.4) we waited for the bump but slowly managed to inch forward and actually got past the port marker and proceeded very cautiously to the east cardinal mark with more very shallow depths recording before we got to deeper waters then it was a battle not to get mowed down by the stream of motor boat of all shapes and sizes and jet skis hurtling headlong at you and just swerving at the last moment. The Broadwater is no place for Dancing Light and genteel folk like us and we were extremely glad to arrive at the Southport Marina in one piece avoiding shallow depths and Kamakazi boat owners.
A most enjoyable evening was spent at the yacht club with our friends of boating fame 26 years ago.(they now drive a Prado and and caravan and only have to worry about the next camp site)……sounds relaxing to me!!!!!!!