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PostPosted: Tue Dec 31, 2013 7:36 pm 
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Slaughter wrote:
Sounds good Tony. See that small beach on the mainland NE of Boondaba Is. which is just north of Soldiers point. It's about 20m long. That looks ( on Google Earth ) to be a top camp spot. We have got all day to find a spot. And if locations look a bit suss, even with tents we don't have to erect anything until nightfall.

Gotcha Slaughter. I will do the three days. I hope to be able to meet you guys some time around 9am tomorrow.

Now I have to up the catering ante 8) (not in terms of haute cuisine I stress, only volume :lol: )

BTW, neither Nige from Maitland, nor Bazza from Forster can make it, so I will be on my todd (got to keep those Shermans guessing! :mrgreen: :mrgreen: )

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PostPosted: Wed Jan 01, 2014 3:10 am 
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tonystott wrote:
I hope to be able to meet you guys some time around 9am tomorrow.


I won't be up there before 10am Tony and then loading and set up takes takes awhile. 11am on water is probably a more realistic time.


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PostPosted: Wed Jan 01, 2014 4:08 am 
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Location: Wantirna South VIC Australia
Guys, Doris is not feeling 100% so I will sail alone direct from fenninghams. But I'm not sure where to? Given the north wind forecast my guess is it will take about 1 hr to reach soldiers point. I'll call Stringy on the mobile when I am north of the point.
Regards Ian

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PostPosted: Wed Jan 01, 2014 4:22 am 
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By the way. Doris is still very keen to do the Fingal bay to shoal bay and return trip on the 4th. The weather looks like it could be okay. Southerly 20 to 25 knots in the early morning dropping to 10 to 15 during the day and turning easterly. We can discuss it further tomorrow.

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PostPosted: Sat Jan 04, 2014 4:18 am 
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Firstly, I offer my apologies - to all those who were unable to attend!

I have no photos or vids, but it DID happen! On Thursday I launched at an almost deserted single ramp at Pindimar South, which was saving my 135kms return trip to Salamander Bay where we were to meet up. I noted that the ramp led to a tidal flat more than 100 metres across, and that whichever day I returned would not see high enough tides til about 11pm...

I headed out into Port Stephens on a very humid day with my destination upwind (but hardly any of it). I called up Russ (Slaughter in his AI) but being unfamiliar with local landmarks, I finished up taking almost three hours to catch up with him and Ian (P14WD, up from Victoria in his TI) as we sorta chased each other. It was a good omen that all Islands were the correct colour (dune :lol: :lol: )

Eventually we reached Salamander Bay, to meet Mark (Stringy in his hibiscus AI) and Doris, Ian's wife who had stayed ashore due to a cold. Doris had bought some delicious fish and chips, and also had an Esky of ice water, which was really really welcome, as we had all drained a lot of our onboard supplies in the heat.

Call us woosses, but the thought of leaving the shade to drift around in the heat didn't appeal, so our lunch hour kept getting extended. I had walked into the water fully clothed to cool down, but my gear dried out in no time.

Ian tested his MOB recovery system, which was a rope loop with a soft foam "step", and was easily able to climb back onto his TI.

A yum yum yellow AI appeared, and the owner was pleased to see four other Islands alongside his 2007 AI.

In due course, the wind arrived again, so we sailed off again, with Ian joining us before sailing back to his accommodation site in Lemon Tree Passage. So the three of us had a great sail, eventually finding Fame Cove as a possible overnight stop. This cove was perfect shelter (and had been used many years ago by sailing ships), although there were a few gin palaces making nuisances of themselves (do you really need a 42" TV on your boat with mega volume speakers? I don't think so), trying their best to destroy the otherwise lovely serenity of the cove surrounded by national park.

Mark set up his brilliant onboard accommodation, which consists of FOUR hakas which come together completely covering the AI hull, then erecting a bimini (like many powerboats use these days), and THEN erected a tent beneath the bimini! He then fired up his butane stove and began a flow of fresh coffee for everyone during our outing. Classy!

Of course, Russ, who had earlier apologised when he discovered the pavlova shell had turned to sugar the night before the trip - (bugger, but full points for the intention mate!), set up his awesome hammock system, which needs a photo to explain, but works like a charm.

Meanwhile, I set up on the shore, where there was no beach at high tide, so I erected my small tent over 15 inch high grass, hoping there were no rocks under the grass. Soon all three of us had our butane stoves going ($12 a pop at Kmart - how good is that, with 4 cans of butane for only $6) cooking dinner.

By the time the others were ready to turn in, the tide had come is so much that water was up to their waists by the time they waded out to their AIs!

The night was so hot that I had to sleep with my tent opened, partly reassured by Russ's words that the only animals likely to be around were bush rats, but I had no trouble sleeping.

In the morning, I felt something between my eye and my sunnies, and brushed it aside. Can you imagine my concern when a few minutes later, something crawled across my other eyeball! I could see its shape as it blocked the light. YUCK!!! I flicked it off, and Russ identified it as a 10-15mm black spider. It took me a while to stop shuddering at the memory of its little feet literally walking on my naked eyeball...

The guys headed off exploring (and frankly I misheard them), so when I had packed up, I headed out to look for them. In fact they had headed UP the creek looking for potential campsites, but I had headed out into Port Stephens. By now we had plenty of wind, so it was fun whether alone of in company. In due course they appeared from Fame Cove, and we sailed off in great weather.

Around lunch time we came ashore near the Soldiers Point Sailing Club, and once again, Mark produced some lovely coffees. The day kept getting better!

Russ decided to call it a day and head back to his car, Mark decided to camp out another night and explore more, while I decided to head off too, as my ancient bones were feeling a bit tender from all the physical effort.

Not surprisingly, my destination was to windward, and by now a nasty chop had developed, 2-3 feet high but only about 10 feet between peaks. With half the sail furled, I was able to average about 5 knots, but it was REALLY wet, as it was impossible to avoid plowing through waves, bringing over a foot over water past the mast. I headed across to the northern side where the waves were slightly less hectic, and so I tacked away when depth got less than 4 feet and again when it got more than 20 feet.

Soon I returned to my launch point (where soon is actually defined as two hours of wet sailing after lunch!) and by then the sand flat had less than 6 inches of water on it. I was unable to get closer than 50 yards from the dried out ramp, so grabbed some supplies and settled in under a tree for a long wait (expected to be about five hours until the tide came in).

After an hour or so, the residents of one of the local houses came out, and very kindly grabbed my dry bags and Esky, and then carried my TI onto its trailer. Wow, that was a nice end to a top two day outing!

I can hardly wait til the next overnighter...

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PostPosted: Sat Jan 04, 2014 2:04 pm 
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Great trip report Tony! 8)
Sorry, I hadn't realised you misheard the "UP" creek explore destination. We had to make use of that incoming tide and we got about 2.5km's upstream.
Here are some pics:
Image
Meeting up for lunch with Ian and Doris

Image
Ian leaves us as we search for a suitable sheltered spot to overnight at.

Image
Moored at Fame Cove.

Image
Tony's campsite

Image
Russ discovering that it was indeed waste deep (maybe deeper) by the time we got back to our "beds"!
Good thing it was a warm night.

Thanks Tony and Russ for a very pleasant couple of days. I had a great time.
Track and more pics to come.


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PostPosted: Sat Jan 04, 2014 3:20 pm 
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Thanks for posting the pics Stringy.

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PostPosted: Sat Jan 04, 2014 5:48 pm 
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Looks great guys. Sorry I couldn't make it. Why did you moor so far offshore at Fame Cove?

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PostPosted: Sat Jan 04, 2014 7:10 pm 
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We were sorry you couldn't join us as well Chris. :(
I had hoped you might get there for a day trip. in fact while we were eating lunch and that Papaya AI could be seen in the distance I thought you'd been able to get away and catch up with us.
Re: Fame Cove ....it was low tide when we first pulled up and the closest we could get to shore was much further out. Not knowing how far the tide would come in was the problem. We did move closer in as it got higher but we wanted to avoid the rocks that line the entire shore close in (some still submerged in this pic):
Image


The next night I returned and I was hoping for a quiter night. To lessen the noise from the other moored boats I went much further in and ended up here:
Image
I had a much better nights sleep. It was quieter, but also being grounded for a few hours meant less rocking when the 20+knot winds hit early next morning. :)


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PostPosted: Sat Jan 04, 2014 7:38 pm 
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Quote:
Image

Thanks for that Stringy. The wife is having what we hope will be her final surgery tomorrow, so I am hoping to be able to get back into it.
That's a humdinger of a photo. Candidate for first entry in Photo of the Year 2014?

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PostPosted: Sat Jan 04, 2014 9:21 pm 
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Thanks for that trip report Tony, spot on. That would have been a struggle getting up the coast to Pindamar in those winds. Lucky you have a couple of years sailing experience under your belt. :wink:
Agreed Chris. That's a cracker of a photo. Stringy's Island has to be seen to be believed. It really is an island. The only reason you would ever need to go to land is for supplies.

In fact while I was peddling up the creek, I couldn't work out who he reminded me of :?: :?: :?:

Image

Then, all of a sudden it came to me :idea: :idea: :idea:

Image

P.S. Chris, all the best with tomorrows surgery mate.

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PostPosted: Sat Jan 04, 2014 11:21 pm 
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:lol: :lol: :lol:
I hope it was just the wide brimmed hat that reminded you of KH and not any of my mannerisms!
Or was it the conversation we had in the morning before heading out to explore the river? :wink:

Slaughter: All this fool talk about goin' down the river...

Stringy: What do you mean?

Slaughter: I mean we ain't goin' to do nothin' of the sort.

Stringy: Why, of course we're going! What an absurd idea!

Slaughter: What an absurd idea! What an absurd idea! I may be a born fool, but you got ten absurd ideas to my one, an' don't you forget it!


"Goin' down the river:"
Image



PS @Chris... x2 what Slaughter said for tomorrow.


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PostPosted: Sat Jan 04, 2014 11:44 pm 
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Thanks guys. I think Stringy looks a lot more like Humphrey than Katherine myself.

Image

This could be him launching from the mud flats at Fame Cove.

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PostPosted: Sun Jan 05, 2014 2:24 am 
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chrisj wrote:
I think Stringy looks a lot more like Humphrey than Katherine myself.


:lol: :lol: :lol:
Thanks for that Chris!
Kathy thinks so too. Here are a couple of pics she's snapped on earlier trips:
Image
Image

Now back on topic.
Here is the track from the our trip:
Image

More detail of Fame Cove:
Image


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PostPosted: Sun Jan 05, 2014 2:45 am 
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Yeah, have to agree Chris, he is more like Humphrey but if I said that, I would have to have been Katherine, so I thought I'd get in first. :lol:

Stringy - Could you tell me what distance the blue and red lines add up to be ? I'm guess'n about 30km's. And while you're at it could you search the internet for me to get me the best deal on a 2 way radio. :roll:

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