Wednesday 6th Coffs to Trial Bay

Lil and ‘Hoover’ trekked down to the shower for a pre departure drenching and just after turning on the water Lil was heard yelping that her eyes had gone foggy……..helps to remove one's sunnies before showering.

Had a great display of whales breaching and slamming for a full 10 minutes about 4 miles off the coast as we journeyed south in calm waters and abundant sunshine.

The wind slowly built through the day till we were experiencing gusts of up to 33 knots which again was well over the forecast 13 to 18.
All hands nimbly up to bring the main down and batten down the hatches and shorten sheets. The only casualty during the exercise being Lil, who copped a big greenie over the bow, returning to the cockpit looking like an unhappy entrant in a wet T-Shirt competition, “Nice Tits,” Quipped the Admiral, not improving her mood at all.

We made Trial Bay about 2.15 and then jilled around trying to find the best place to anchor for the evening as it was still blowing hard from the west and we were a little exposed. We finally dropped the pick just off a spot where the charts indicate 3 shipwrecks; nice one!

The winds began to ease as Lil cooked the best lunch of Korean Beef….life ain’t bad when you can sit in trial bay, chardy in hand, surrounded by beautiful hills and sparkling, clean azure water, not a soul in sight and be presented with a gourmet meal. Lil seems able to do such feasts so ably and so often we all consider ourselves very fortunate to have her with us.
As darkness fell, The Admiral fed the fishy inhabitants of Trail Bay. He was determined and persevered for some hours without success. When his fingers froze around the line; we dragged him inside and prized them free; a disappointing result for a man who regularly boasts of having once caught crabs around ‘The entrance.’


Thursday 7th Trail Bay to Laurieton/Camden Haven

Up early were the Admiral and Sparrow getting us underway at first light with a strong wind warning for the area later in the afternoon. We wanted to be safely tied up in Laurieton before the squall arrived.
Lil and Curvy decided to luxuriate in their cabins as Twin Spirit made her way down the coast and didn’t surface till 09.00. Lil said she felt like ‘The Queen of Sheba.’ The Admiral said he felt like her too and was quite disappointed when Sparrow pointed out she’d been dead for some time. ‘Hoover’ compensated for her indolence and prepared a delightful breakfast for the crew complete with champagne cocktails to compliment the champagne sailing. Three fabulous hours under sail at 8.5 to 9.5 kts on a flat calm sea. It doesn’t happen often.

Highlight of the day; observing a place named ‘Delicate Nobbies’ indicated on our GPS around midday.