Coffs Harbour

Posted 17 January 2012

I'm very happy now that I decided to do a over nigth passage from Tweed River to Coffs Harbor because the weather in the space of a day changed for the worst. It was a good trip with NEasterlys 10 to 15 knots and small seas, but very tiresome for me because I only could sleep 10 minutes at the time. The next day, January,15th was spend resting and on the following day, I wake up in 25 knots of wind from the SE, with a incoming swell of about a meter into the bay. I did not leave the boat in this conditions as it became a lee shore situation. I remained on anchor watch through the day and nigth, using a kichten clock to wake me up every 30 minutes.

It is very tempted to go to the marina which entrance is only 200 meters from my port bow, be comfortable and protected from the elements, with a short walking distance from city life, but instead I choose to remain at anchor for 2 reasons; the 1st is offcourse economics, as you cruising the money goes out and nothing comes in, the 2nd and most important to me to condition my body and mind to the reality off sea travel. In the ocean there are no pit stops and one has to be prepared to deal with the situation at hand.

I suffer from motion sickness even at anchor but that is no excuse to neglect the work that needs to be done to keep Vida Nova in good running order.

My coordinates are 30 18,288 S by 153 8,644 E, check out 'Our Current Position' on google earth.