Examining the Bar

River Bar crossings do cause the Bloke a loss of sleep and studying what they look like and how variable conditions manifest themselves has become a new project. The crew of Nautilus considered it their duty as locals, to further acquaint us with some of their favourite spots in Port Macquarie. So this is how a Sunday tour panned out.

Coffee at Social Grind. A hipster cafe with GREAT coffee.

While having coffee every firefighting asset in the district; professional and volunteer alike, came screaming past. Sirens, lights and speed. Reports came in that the Rydges Hotel on the foreshore was on fire. So what do you do in a provincial town? You go and have a 'sticky-beak'. Setting up an incident centre wasn't a problem because the Police Station was right opposite. The Air conditioners were to blame and the fire quickly isolated but a week out from Easter, there was sure to be lots of angst.

Seeing as we had got to the sea wall by this time, we took yet another stroll out to check conditions at the bar. The local yacht club Sunday racers didn't seem to care about the adverse tide situation (strong outgoing current) and motor-sailed out to their ocean course with the tide fairly tearing out and some selecting visibly 'less optimal' exits. their destiny was dictated by the starters gun. Conventional wisdom is to use the leads and exit close to the northern wall (see Left). The water is very 'active' at the southern (R) side and those that chose it looked like they may have loosened their dentures.

 

 

We checked the beaches and general surf conditions and noticed the love locks at the lookout.

We've had a good look around. Next time we visit we'll anchor in the Hastings river. Southerlies are promised by the Bureau of Meteorology for 4 days. Time to point our bow north.