Monday August 4th Yamba Tavern to Yamba Marina

We caught up on washing and considerable showering “It’s my body and my soap and I’ll wash it as long as I like.” (Sparrow)

Peter Sutton who with wife Kay own and operate the Yamba Marina very generously loaned us their car. We shopped, bought a giant beetroot, had a bit of a poke about Yamba town, then, at you know who’s suggestion, lunched on the beach at ‘Pippis’ “It’s my body and I’ll feed it as much as I like!” (The Admiral)

The crew topped up the water supplies then refueled Twin Spirit and the dingy for the return trip to Broken Bay. Lil who, unlike her life partner can count without using fingers and toes, calculated, with some assistance from Sparrow, who was using his, Twin Spirit’s fuel consumption at 5 litres per hour since leaving Sydney. This is mercifully light given diesel prices of over $2.35 per litre at some marinas.

The day was topped off with a wonderful meal shared with Kay and Peter at the old Pacific Hotel high on the headland overlooking the entrance to the mighty Clarence River; not that we could see it because it was pitch black; more of a luncheon venue perhaps.

Tuesday August 5th Yamba to Coffs Harbour

The crew is still recovering from dinner with Kay and Peter. Some will take more time than others. Not mentioning any names but a certain female person whose nick name had up till now been ‘Curvy’ is now being addressed as ‘Hoover,’ say no more!

Met Kay at 8.30 for a pre-departure tour of her gallery and magnificent sculptures then slid out over the Clarence bar and turned right. At least we got that bit right.

Having read Lucas in Afloat Magazine on the subject of undesired contact with whales and their occasional reported aggressive behaviour, the science department of Twin Spirit undertook some computer simulations on the implications for the cruising fraternity.
Based on the number of near misses we’ve had, we have determined that there is currently a 1 in 32,000 chance of ending ones days due to whale activity on the East Coast of Australia. However, once we factored in the 15% p.a. increase in whale population and the 25% p.a. increase in the number of boats cruising the coast, things started to look a little different. It becomes even more complicated; it’s necessary to allow for the deterioration in skills of your average boating type with age and self-abuse AND the genetic changes in whales. Your average humpback still has a 'species memory' of whalers, harpoons and bloody deaths. This has served us ‘yachties’ well over the years ensuring your whale has an inbuilt nervousness concerning large floating things with drunken, bearded men on board. Despite the best efforts of the Japs this memory is fading. On the mariner’s side, careless navigation is increasing exponentially due to the proliferation of sailing aids, GPS, auto helm, and set and forget waypoint instructions. We were going to call this the ‘Fuckwit Factor’ but demurred on the basis of the fact that we have yet to return safely to Pittwater and will be using all aforementioned aids in our efforts to get there.