 The photo was taken at Brushgrove on Saturday 12 October where I launched and we sailed up to Grafton ready for the start of the cruise the following day. See how peaceful if was on Saturday morning before wild winds hit us at the same spot on Sunday night. There were some estimates of wind gusts up to 40 knots. I wish I had a photo showing how different the river was on Monday morning to Saturday morning. We chose to stay at Brushgrove all day and wait for the wind to abate rather than venture out into the raging river. |
 My crew Rae Wills enjoys a sun downer - well it is a nautical pub crawl.
On the subject of pubs we stopped at Ulmarra's picturesque pub en route to Grafton but only drank tea. We dined at the historic Brushgrove Pub for 2 consecutive nights. The wind on Monday meant we had to forego lunch at Lawrence pub and head straight to Maclean where we only drank a morning coffee. Then we waved at the Harwood Hilton as we milled around waiting for the bridge to open, having missed out on the scheduled dinner there. Our final pub was Sedges at Iluka, a bit run down but a superb location and it lays on decent tucker.
|
 |
| It would have been bad manners to let Rae drink alone |
 |
| Our totally undeserved spot prize for arriving last at Brushgrove |
 The iron headsail proved its worth but we do prefer to sail and did most of the time.
There was a butcher's dozen in this year's fleet and we enjoyed the camaraderie of fellow trailer sailor enthusiasts. Thanks to Paul and Margie of the Clarence River Yacht Club for organising such a successful event. Thanks also to Rae for agreeing to come along as crew, you were great.
|
 |
| Brief coffee stop at Maclean. |
 |
| The fishing comp. Look hard and spot Helen's catch, |
 |
| Sunrise while motoring from Brushgrove to the 10.30 am bridge opening at Harwood |
Bridge opening at Harwood on Tuesday morning.
We sailed from Harwood to Iluka in record breaking time hitting quite a fearsome chop caused by a stiff head wind against a full ebb tide around Browns Rocks. Rae quickly learnt the arcane art of shifting her weight and getting the jib in at the critical moment when we tacked . Yet again we were the last to arrive in the shelter of Iluka Bay and were met by slightly concerned enquiries of "are you ok?". We had had a ball.
My trailer was waiting for us at the boat ramp ramp near the Iluka ferry terminal and we ended a most agreeable cruise there on Wednesday morning after a final evening of congenial company at Sedges.
We were safely home on Thursday but I spared a thought for the rest of the fleet racing back to Grafton. As happened the year before the wind turned ugly on the day of the race and I am still waiting to hear if there were any breakages, presumably nothing serious as I would have heard by now.
|
