Leg 50/51 - Bermagui - Broulee - Jervis Bay

Departing Bermagui was with a degree of reluctance. We'd really enjoyed the town and the refuge it provided from not just one, but two East Coast Lows! What we were not going to miss was the tromping of feet across our decks. During our time in Bermagui harbour we first of all had a catamaran with a crew of 4 rafted up to us and later a yacht with a crew of 5. While everyone was very respectful, the daily shore visits for meals, shopping, laundry, ablutions etc amounted to the pitter-patter of a lot of feet. We were already planning on a 07:00 departure but were awake from 03:15 when the yacht crew next to us began preparing for their 04:00 departure to catch the high tide that they needed to transit the entrance.

 

The entrance was looking calm. It won't be long before these new pens are filled.

 The Co-op jetty, our virtual home for close to 2 weeks.

 

The mountain that creates the wind-shadow at Burmagui.

They say if she is wearing a petticoat it will rain. No clouds today. Goody for that!

Montague Island has a lighthouse. Full stop.

The 'Manhatten skyline' was a container ship.

It emerged from behind the island in the shipping lane and really made us look twice!

We mostly motors-ailed for our day-hop delivering us to the back of Broulee Island for the night. Our arrival was filled with nostalgia for The Bloke. When we'd lived in Canberra in the late '70's and early 80's, we were frequent visitors to this bay, camping at the Barlings Beach Caravan Park and The Bloke surfing at the nearby Tomakin Beach. We even saw Hayleys Comet from Broulee.

 

We forgot to take photos except for the sunset. We were well tucked in behind Broulee Island with it's shoaling reefs that act like groynes. The swell still wrapped around though giving a rolly night. We were more than happy to leave by morning. An early start was necessary: miles to cover skipping both Batemans Bay and Ulladulla.

A fascinating geology revealed along the coast.

Shame the visibility was poor.

We sailed with only the jib as a way of avoiding the boom slamming as we rolled with the swells. We were staggered to have encountered 3-4 yachts during the day, all traveling southwards. That is to say we saw them hobby horsing southwards, slamming into an oncoming 15-20kn wind combining with the swell to create a nasty chop.

We were eager to hear the weather updates as we went along because the northern horizon was not looking at all good, prompting us to reduce sail as a precaution.

We were pretty certain that we'd be getting wet pretty soon but we were not sure if what we were looking at contained W I N D as well as rain As it turned out, the southerly that was delivering us into this cloud burst turned into no wind beneath the cloud and then became a northerly as we popped out the other side. This in part explained the appearance of the boats traveling in the opposite direction. The opposing winds pinned this cloud formation to the one position for several hours. We were pleased to motor out the other side revealing the entrance to Jervis Bay.

 Point Perpendicular at the head of Jervis Bay.

Cobargo - Sunday Lunch Date

It's not hard to meet new people as we sail from harbour to harbour. We suspect this may not be the case once we hit more populous locations like Sydney. Dogs seem to be a real conversation starter and so it was with Di and Bob and their adorable miniature poodle Zoe. One thing led to another; some assistance with getting shopping back to the marina, a cuppa and some cake on board Zofia and before we knew it we'd been invited for lunch and a little tour on the way to view the historic township of Cobargo. It was once the major service centre for the district but this has now been replaced by Bermagui. It's a great outcome because it has enabled Cobargo to retain it's old world charm.

Cobargo.

 

Di and Zoe outside a restaurant in an old train carriage.

 

The town did a promotion for the local dairy industry at one stage and liked their 'cow' avatars so much they have become a fixture, even adorning them with seasonal trims for Easter, Xmas etc.

 

After a stroll through 'their' town, Di and Bob took us to their property for a lovely lunch. It was easy to see why they chose this area in which to settle. It's adorable.

More Tuna than Marlin

The local fishermen knew days ahead that the weather was going to be horrid and didn't venture out. They filled their time with net repairs, boat maintenance and putting some sleep in the bank.

Art on the front of the Fisherman's Co-op building.

The Bloke in front of the carving of a fisherman repairing his nets at the Co-op jetty.

A net laid out on the wharf for inspection.

Bermagui is a popular spot for recreational anglers too as it is very close to the continental shelf, just 10nm and the closest point to the mainland of anywhere along this part of the coast. They are after some big and exciting species.

 

The local club has all the facilities for competitions and the weighing and measuring of the catch.

The amateurs aren't always successful as suggested by the morning rescue activities on the first day that the seas were anything like clement.

 

The Marine Rescue crew rushed off at 7am and returned a few hours later towing their catch

The commercial boys were rewarded after being cooped up for a week. One boat created a lot of interest on the wharf and were not disappointed by their catch considering that that they had run out of bait. It was more Tuna than Marlin!

 

 

ANZAC Day 2015 - Bermagui style

Despite a small opportunity to leave Bermagui on Thursday, we stayed on so that we could attend the Anzac Day dawn Service on Saturday. We might otherwise have missed out while on anchor somewhere. We've attended dawn Services for years, mostly in Perth at the memorial in Kings Park but at Mount Clarence in Albany too. Last year we were attended the Port Lincoln Service, this year the Bermagui Service. Although we don't know where we will attend next year, we think we'll opt for one in a small community again.

We had plenty of time to check out the Bermagui Memorial in advance.

The Bermagui 'Lone Pine'

The plaque was decorated for the day with knitted and crocheted poppies.

Bermagui's Lone Pine aglow against the dawning sky

The President of the RSL Bermagui sub-branch organising his people.

The service we very simple and without a Catafalque Party. Instead, a most magnificently uniformed Piper marched into the memorial apron playing a mournful tune and then stood over the proceedings with his giant bearskin head lowered. The organisers had intended for there to be a beach landing re-enactment accompanied by explosions but they had been prevented from doing so. The MC did not elaborate why. The Surf- Lifesavers participated in the bay below anyway, shipping their oars and standing to attention in the bay below.

A beautiful soft dawn over Horseshoe Bay, as seen from the Anzac service.

There was a moment during the dawn service when the MC had a little 'pensioner moment' and betrayed the aging of of those officiating. Faithfully reading the script "... and now for the medication" was hastily re-announced as " ...and now for the Dedication". He need not have made the correction. We all knew what he meant.

 

The Light Horsemen were a big hit.

This is Gail from the SES. 

One of several volunteering to attend the barricades 

to keep the main street traffic-free for Anzac Day morning.

The Dawn Service was followed by the gunpowder breakfast at the Country Club and then by the 11am Service attended by the local band, school children and representatives from all the groups and organisations that are the lifeblood of any small community. The children read poems and the names of all the servicemen from their district. It was wonderful to see the children standing in front of their own community and participating in one of its rituals.

 

Right on cue at 11:06 a military plane suddenly popped up over the headland and dipped its wings as it made a fly-past and headed down the coast, presumably to do the same at Eden and other rural Services. Although the assembled crowd were warned of the flypast at 11:00am, we'd all forgotten about it and its arrival was so silent that it was already overhead by the time we heard it. It would have been the embodiment of 'Silent but deadly' when in service.

Led away by the Light Horsemen, the servicemen and ex-servicemen marched down the road to the strains of the band playing 'One more kiss before I waive you good-bye'. The group fell out in front of the Hotel and went in to claim their complimentary drink.

LEST WE FORGET

and

THANK YOU TO ALL, PAST AND PRESENT, WHO PROTECT OUR FREEDOM.

Bermagui - Not Just Any Port in a Storm

We have dreamed for a long time of reaching the NSW coast and the opportunity of coastal day hops. Until now most passages have been quite long and frequently strenuous; overnighters and nasty stretches of water. We are not at all unhappy that Cape Leeuwin, The Great Australian Bight, Cape Catastrophe, Backstairs Passage, Bass Strait etc are now behind us. Not only has the choice of Bermagui as a stop-over been a happy choice it's also turned out to be a safe one. Bermagui is in something of a wind shadow.

When the local fishing fleet decided on staying in port for 5 days, it was as loud a warning as one could ever get.  We were definitely taking up the option for a weekly rate at the marina! The forecasts just got worse and worse. We've never seen a forecast with 7 Alerts on it before. A nasty East Coast Low was forming and although we were at the very southern edge of it, forecasts of 5-6m seas and 40knot winds off-shore make more of ones eye-whites visible. Easy Tiger were by this time in Jervis Bay and definitely going to have a worse time. We feel like we've dodged a bullet by lingering in Eden and now here in Bermagui.

 

Something is definitely brewing!

Captive in the harbour for the duration of the weather system, we looked for amusement and escape from the cabin. Luckily it wasn't raining without end which enabled us to trek up the coastal walk along Haywards Beach through the wetland trail as far as Camel Rock.

 

 

It was wild out there.

Camel Rock was named by Joseph Banks and Matthew Flinders

After trekking for 7km, The Bloke rested on a bench before tackling the 7km to return.

We took the inland route back and encountered, abandoned mine shafts. 

Alluvial Gold was found on the beach in the early 1900's.

The Montreal Goldfield is a local tourist attraction with daily tours commencing at 2pm SHARP!

The real attraction though, was the show that mother nature was dishing up. We were just so glad we were in the Bermagui Harbour and not a part of these pictures.

 The entrance to the river and harbour 'closing out'.