Harwood to Iluka at last

The next day the wind had dropped to a fine sailing breeze and when Noella arrived at Harwood we prepared for an overnight venture. We inflated the Zodiac, loaded up, rigged and launched. It was a much slicker operation than 6 months ago. It took a very hefty shove from Noella to get us off the lee shore but we made it. Well done Noella.

After that it was a magnificent reach almost all the way to Iluka (took around 2.5 hrs). We did the last little bit under motor as the wind had swung round onto our nose and the tide was against us. It runs pretty fast in the Clarence River. Pat and other readers accustomed to crowded waterways will find it hard to believe that throughout the day we only saw one yacht underway. We had the river to ourselves.

The small yacht anchorage at Iluka is an inner harbour entered through a gap in a rock wall and tucked behind the trawlers. It took us a while to discover all its desirable features. First and foremost we were very well protected. There was a sandy beach less than 100 metres away which was being used as a dinghy park. We went ashore and found the the Fish Co-Op (sells fish and chips), a toilet, the pub and a newsagency within even my limited walking distance.

We sat eating fish and chips with a drink (just one!) watching the sunset over the river. Life seemed pretty good. Noella, like Jan, knows her birds and pointed out a family of plovers and worried that the babies often get taken by kookaburras. Then it was back to Little Dragon and we turned in for an early night. The zodiac had proved very handy.

Next day was again fine with a stiff breeze. If we left around noon we anticipated a run with the tide all the way back to Harwood. Just before noon we started the outboard as we thought that we would motor out of the entrance to the harbour and set sail in the main channel. The motor started fine but cut out after about 3 seconds. We tried several more times and it did the same thing. I cursed my inadequate mechanical skills and I am making a new year resolution to learn more about outboard maintenance. We checked that the fuel was turned on and the breather open. My hunch was a fuel blockage but I didn't know how to clear it, if indeed that was the problem. We had a conference and decided that Little Dragon was a sailing boat - so let's sail.

We hoisted the sails and sailed out of the harbour with great applomb (why had I been stressing?). The dolphins put on a fine display in the main channel and followed us for a way up the river. As well as dolphins there were also some fearful looking brown jellyfish, enough to deter us from any thought of swimming. While on the topic of wildlife a huge sea eagle circled above.

It was an exhilarating run most of the way back to Harwood. I was glad I had the depth sounder as it made it easy to avoid a few sandbanks. I was a bit worried about sailing onto the lee shore at Harwood but all went well and we timed the dropping of the mainsail just right and glided ashore under jib. For once it looked as if we knew what we were doing.

Next came the pack up, it is the least desirable aspect of owning a trailer sailer. We were both surprisingly weary but pleased with ourselves. We had sailed from Harwood to Iluka and back.