Summer's End - March 2015 - Time for Fete's bum scrape . . .

Port Macquarie to Laurieton/Camden Haven

     Wednesday 18th March 2015

Fete heading down the Hastings River Past Port Macquarie CBD - Pic taken by Sheryn Spletter (Nic's mother)

It was time for Fete's bi-annual lift out and bum paint. So we collected a new crew to these blogs and as you can see from above, headed down the Hastings River towards the bar for the 4 hours sail down  to the beautiful Camden Haven Region. Our destination was the Laurieton Slipway run by the Laurieton Fisherman's Co-Op.

One of the Port locals who works around the Marina, Warwick Wells, who was supposed to be on the trip was ill, but he did have the opportunity to take the video below of us going over the bar, so have a look at his video below.

As you have just seen, it was a bit rough but that was due to the fact that a strong wind warning was broadcast to be setting in later in the day, so we headed off earlier than planned and encounted the last of the run-out tide. For those who know the region, the Hastings river runs very fast and due to the sandy outcrop at the mouth, can be quite dangerous.

 Above is the crew for this little journey: Left - Stevie Jourdain, Centre - Mal Fairweather & Right - Nicola Spletter - a more than able crew!!! all residents of the d'Th(u)ird Finger - "C" Arm Port Marina.

So off we go - over the bar and heading south with Port Macquarie with Town Beach falling away behind us,  as you can see from above.

Ahead is Tacking Point where the famous Tacking Point Lighthouse is located and from there another 2-3 hours sail down past Lighthouse Beach, Lake Cathie, Bonny Hills/Grants Head and onto Perpendicular Point, the mouth of the Kattang Nature Reserve and the Entrance to the Camden Haven Inlet.

The above pic and the overview below were uploaded from the Camden Haven Tourism Authority's website

Just half an hour south of Port Macquarie you'll find the seaside villages of the Camden Haven strung out along the mouth of the Camden Haven River. On the north side of the river, you'll find North Haven with its alfresco cafes, shady barbecues, riverside picnic areas and crashing surf beach. Sleepy Dunbogan is opposite with its sheltered swimming beaches and traditional boatshed, and bustling Laurieton nestled at the foot of North Brother Mountain, is the home base for the local fishing fleet and one of the best fish co-ops on the coast.

Dominating the skyline is majestic North Brother Mountain, in Dooragan National Park. Enjoy grand coastal views from the mountain summit, which is accessible by sealed road. Kattang Nature Reserve Located at Camden Head, three kilometres east of Laurieton, the beauty and natural diversity of Kattang make it ideal for bushwalking, photography, birdwatching and fishing.

Located at the base of North Brother Mountain in Dooragan National Park, Laurieton is one of the villages that make up the Camden Haven area on the North Coast of NSW. Laurieton is 30km south of Port Macquarie and offers an idyllic holiday spot for families, nature-lovers and anyone who enjoys a holiday by the beach.

As we drew closer to the entrance,  Perpendicular Point jutted way out of shoreline. I had been told by a local that the bar must be entered from the southern side due to the northerly swell and sand banks that create some great surf, but can be deadly to boats. As I said earlier, we left Port on a full run out tide and now that we can see the Inlet entrance in front, it appears that we are in for the same type of crossing as when we left Port.

As you can see here, the entry was narrow. In the background you can see North Haven, one of the little villages that make up the Camden Haven Region and North Brother Mountain in the background.

Going thru the entry was pretty rough and once inside, the crowd watching from the northern shore all clapped as if to say they didn't think we would make it . . .

 Once inside the river it was a very calm so we slowly  motored  up to the Slipway past some quaint waterfront cottages, and a picturesque  little village called Dunbogan. 

On arrival at the slip's overnight berth, we could see Argos still up on the slip and her owner, Tom, working furiously to finish her annual antifoul as she was due to come off in the morning before we were to go up and commence our work.

The next morning Fete was hauled up on the slip as you can see at left, and the work began. I employed a local shipwright, Dave Castleton, to help as I had hurt my back and couldn't do much to assist. Dave and his mate Tom got to work .


As you can see from this pic and the one below, Fete's last antifoul was still good after over 2 years - Jotun Seaguardian -  great stuff!!!




The Slipway was in a very picturesque setting and as I said before was part of the Laurieton Fisheries C-Op. There is no Travelift here  and you are guided up into the cradle by ropes and then winched up into position as you can see.
Now that we were up on the slip, Dave Castleton, a local shipwright and his mate Tom set about doing the work. He found that the anodes were still in good order with only one fully eroded so he replaced them, gave Fete a bum wash and set about preparing her for a new antifoul.
1st coat went on that afternoon and the final coat went on the next day and the price was astounding. For Dave and Tom's labour and supply of anodes etc they cost $600.00, the slip haul out and back in with the pressure wash was $625.00, Jotun Antifoul $550.00 = Total of $1775.00 where I had been quoted an estimate in Port Macquarie of starting from $2980.00.



Whilst on the hard and between coats of antifoul, Dave took off one of the forward inner shrouds and the staysail boom, both of which were damaged way back when we got knocked down on the way from San Francisco to Hawaii back in October 2009.
At left you can see the repaired boom which was re-built and finished off with Kevlar - so I know is not going to fall apart again.

Laurieton is a small village which is quite nice and as I sais earlier well worth a few days stay for a look around if you are passing thru and as the weather was playing up and a strong wind warning was out, I stayed a few days on the FREE pontoon owned by the Laurieton RSL Club.

Sunday 22nd March - Left Laurieton with able crew as you can see at left - Stevie Jourdain, again, came on board for the trip back to Port Macquarie.

We left at the dead bottom of the tide and the exit thru the bar was smooth sailing - a lot different to when we came down.

So off we went up past Bonny-hills, at left and Cathie, right. The trip would be around 4 hours and we hoped we would arrive at the top of the tide in Port.

It was a great day and as you can hear from the video clip above, we were motoring up past some beautiful country. Up past tacking Point lighthouse, Lighthouse Beach Oxley Beach and finally Town Beach before entering the Port Macquarie bar and as you can see below, we timed it just right - it was as flat and a pancake at the top of the tide.

Entering the Port Macquarie Bar with Town Beach on the left hand side.

It was good to get Fete back to Port and as you can see above, one of the resident dolphins came out to welcome us home.

Well its back to work tomorrow and with Autumn already upon us, I am dreading the coming winter, but only for another12 months or so before heading back to the Gold Coast and off on my Pacific Adventure.

So, once again, until next time - Cheers . . .

Port Macquarie - New Year's day 2015

Thursday 1st January 2015 - a Time for Reflection

This is how Fete & I saw in New Year's here in this beautiful part of the world, Port Macquarie. As you can see from the video above, the township gathered right in front of where we are moored to enjoy the delights and festivities of the evening in the Westport Parklands here on the Hastings River. 

With the recent passing of my 95 year old mother Mary Eileen (Fats) Macdonald, I had a chance to catch up with my brothers Greg and Mick (aka Slim), above left and with my daughter Kristian (above right) and with some life long friends Sheree, Wayne (Ralph) & Julie Thompson and Clarie (The Lump) Chappell - the other 2 in the pic below are Slim and Kristian at Fats wake. It would be remiss of me to leave out friends and relatives like my niece Peta Fitzgibbon, Tim (O'Toole) Holmes & (Ugly) Dave Geddy and others but I don't wish to dwell on this subject as this past year has just flown and I am keen to move forward.

So as the sun rose over the horizon this morning, I decided to reflect on the past 12 months down here in Port Macquarie and let you know what the region offers but also to let you know of my thoughts and plans with Fete for the future. I won't apologize if this blog is a little indulgent, but due to the circumstances, I needed to get it out of my system.

Tacking Point Lighthouse, Port Macquarie  

So, last year we saw some spectacular 

Sunrises & Sunsets...

The top right, center and bottom pics I took from the stern looking across the Hastings River and over Sails Resort to the western sky. . . 

We met many new friends . . .

From top right: Rob & Chris, Nicole & Jess at the launch of our last stage at Sovereign Hills, Mal Fairweather -  Engineer/naval architect , Rob & Dancha Tucker off mv Destiny, Jonathan Peebles and Warwick Wells (his helper on sv Blackjack, Scottie the magician who spent 5 minutes on my refrigeration and fixed what 4 others couldn't, and there are others that gather the 1st Friday night of every month for a marina get together like Bill & Pam Oliver, Rick and Marie, Sparra, Bob, Sharon and her 2 girls, Jonathan Peebles partner Hilary ,Marie Lamb & Scotties Lady, Annie.

All of these people made me feel at home from the time I arrived and I am grateful for their friendship.

Found some New

Recipes

Recipes From Left: Spaghetti Bosciaola, Centre: Saltimbocca Chicken & on the Right: Spanish Hola Chicken.

 Had some interesting

dinner guests drop by

but at least one bought her own food

Experienced some 

interesting 

Weather

Shared some great moments with my Family 

 Family shot at my mothers 95th Birthday in May at Easts Leagues Club in Brisbane. Family Shot at left and my mother (Fats) on the left with her 93 yo sister Trixie on the right.

Watched a World Record being weighed at the gantry here in Port

This beautiful Blue Marlin was speared from a spear gun by a Free Diving angler 3 klms off Port Macquarie and weighed 220.06lbs. An amazing feat but you wouldn't get me doing something like that.
Having done a bit of game fishing in my time, it would have been a "Hell of a Ride" - those who know will understand.

Experienced one of the coldest winters I have 

been thru

 in the last 7 years or so . . .

Some mornings on Fete the temp gauge was showing -0.8, -0.5, -1.3 & - 2.1 and as you can see from the outfit at right I was even wearing gloves. But what you can't see is that I had my thermals on as well.

Watched in amazement the happenings in the Port Marina's Hard Stand.

The vessel above is Prego, Craig Gores old boat

before it burnt to the waterline . . . and the boat on the right is the original Ragamuffin, now called Spirit of Koomooloo.

The interesting thing about this is the fact that there is no travel lift here in Port so everything is done by crane. The crane above is a 250 tonne unit as Prego weighs 50 tonne but there are smaller cranes available for  vessels the size of Fete. This is an added cost on top of the normal annual haul out fees so I would suggest that anyone looking to take their boat out, do it before you come to Port.

And the reason Koomooloo was here was that she had a False hull attached to her for some races over in the USA and she needed it taken off before this years Sydney To Hobart. As you can see from the above pic, the scar where her false hull had been removed.

My fascination with Boats grew even stronger . . .

Here is the beautiful sv Nautilus, owned by Steve & Maureen. This magnificent vessel was built in 1927 and the restoration continues nearly every weekend.

So as the sun rose over Port Macquarie (Pic taken from Fete's bow) on New Year's Day 2015 I had made the decision to complete my contract here with the Lewis Land Group in 2016 and finally make that trip back into the Pacific. 

This year will be fairly hectic with work and the new stages coming on line, as well as getting Fete ready for the trip back to the Gold Coast in early 2016, prior to heading out to New Caledonia in the 2nd quarter of 2016.

So here's Cheers from me, Fete and one of my Buddies for the coming year and to the words of Mark Twain:

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. sail away from a safe harbour, catch the trade winds in your sails, Explore, Dream & Discover . . ."

.

So until next time...