THE RIGHT WAY ROUND (6th Edition)

CURRENT LOCATION

LATEST GALLERY (PORT MACQUARIE TO COFFS HARBOUR)

2 months after departing Melbourne ‘Fair Finkum’ has now crossed the border into northern waters.

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 The skipper and crew continue to meet people who are supporting ‘Fair Dinkum’s fundraising with great generosity……our sincere thanks to all those who have supported and donated. 

SPECIAL THANKS & ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS to people for their generosity

‘MACCA’ for his continuing support via radio interviews at various ‘ports of call’

David, Manager of the Port Macquarie Marina

Scampi’s Seafood Restaurant

Elise & staff at Coffs Harbour Marina

Our waitress at ‘Wild Harbour Seafood Restaurant’ for her donation

Elaine & Mike for their generosity – inviting us to a BBQ at their home

Coffs Harbour Marina

Southport Marina & Yacht Club

Coffs Harbour – NSW to Southport - Queensland.

Our trip to Coffs Harbour was a little exciting to say the least!  We punched a 3 knot tide all the way from Port Macquarie to Trial Bay with the diesel running at 1500 – 2500.  It was dark when we arrived in Trial Bay with the Young Endeavour also anchored there…no doubt their crew were also learning what rough, wet weather sailing is all about.   

The skipper decided the diesel wasn’t getting enough fuel, so made a few adjustments!  We left early the next morning for Coffs Harbour and had a great 4 hours sail.  The skipper eventually discovered that blocked fuel filters were the problem (apart from the tide) and he now has a log note to change them every 4 weeks.

 

‘Fair Dinkum’ bounced across the sand getting into the marina.

Records rains and floods…..more of that water we thought we had left behind, and the storms were ‘eventful’.  If you would like to see just what they looked like connect with the videos posted on the ABC site at -

http://contribute.abc.net.au/_Coffs-Harbour-marina-in-storm-may-2009/video/662000/32422.html?b

Another ‘Gem’ from Gerr..ard the Gent.

‘Six metre waves broke boat moorings and crashed into the northern break wall.  The concrete blocks you see in the video above are 10-12 ton and 10 of them were picked up and dumped over the wall into the marina.  2 marina fingers were also severely damaged and broken.  The video on the ABC site doesn’t do justice to the power of the sea that day’…we were at least on the right side of the wall!’.

 

 

Quote of the Week is from Dom Degnon –

‘The lovely thing about cruising is that planning usually turns out to be of little use.’

 

Did you know #6?

'Created to be the ideal safe haven, Coffs Harbour Marina has suffered from the direct onslaught of massive waves.'  Coffs become the evacuation point for people in the region during huge rainfalls experienced in the region, as the Clarence River level rose to record levels, threatening houses and businesses in surrounding towns’. 

Southport in the Broadwater - Queensland

Lat. 29deg 58" 32'South
Long. 153deg 25" 32'East

We had an overnighter from Coffs Harbour to Southport with very little visibility and rain.  We came over the bar at Goldcoast Seaway into the inland waterway at daylight - masquerading as a ‘tonnage surfboard’.  This bar is usually either ‘dead calm’ or ‘white knuckle stuff’ – depending on the weather.

Southport is considered the central business district of the Gold Coast and continues to experience massive growth which underpins the modernisation of this historically significant location. 

Claiming its name from the fact it was the southern most port for the colony of Queensland, the beautiful parklands along the Broadwater providing visitors with great picnic areas and water-lined walkways.  Being the largest expanse of calm water in Australia the area north to Brisbane is particularly popular for boating and other watersports.

Did you know #7?

From the Gold Coast hinterland the Nerang River snakes its way eastwards to a point just behind the ocean then winds northwards, following the coastline until it reaches that body of water known as The Broadwater.  Just south of The Broadwater, and on either side of the river (an area now full of artificial canal developments), is that portion of land known as Surfers Paradise.

The history of Surfers Paradise is fascinating.  It seems that the pre-colonial occupants - the Banjalang people - knew of the delights of the area long before Europeans arrived.  The area around Surfers (as it is commonly known) was renowned for its excellent fishing grounds.

The coastline here was traversed by Captain Cook in 1770, by John Oxley in 1799 and 1802, and the opening of The Broadwater was noted in 1822 by John Bringle.  White settlement of the area commenced with timber-getters in the 1840s and agriculture in the 1860s.  The American Civil War created opportunities for cotton-growing at that time, though sugar was being grown by the late 1870s. The district was surveyed in 1869 and Southport was established in 1874.

The Southport Hotel was built in 1876 and traffic increased when a ferry service across the Nerang River was established that same year.  Cobb & Co coaches started offering a service to and from Brisbane in the mid-1870s. T he pier, now long departed, was constructed in 1880 and the area known as Main Beach (where the Sheraton Mirage is located) was sold in 1885.  The railway arrived in 1889 and a coastal road was completed in 1923.  The development of the area since World War I has been continuous.

The origins of the modern town really date to 1923 when James Cavill paid £40 for a block of land and proceeded to build his famous Surfers Paradise Hotel. Two years later the bridge across the Nerang River was built, improving access to the hotel which boasted a small zoo and excellent gardens. During World War II the hotel was used by convalescing soldiers, some of whom later returned with their wives and families to enjoy the beach and the excellent climate.

The great change in the area occurred in the 1950s. Today the beachfront for most of the Gold Coast (and Surfers is now a suburb of the larger city) is just endless rows of high-rise development, all catering for the tourism which occurs on the coast throughout the year. All the buildings, many 20 or 30 storeys high, are cheek-by-jowl with the beach.

No one ever seems to have taken into account the inevitable victory of the sea. All that is required is a couple of really savage cyclones to drift too far south and to lash the coast with huge seas and torrential rains for a few weeks and there will be disasters of major proportions in this area which is built too close to the beach. In any contest between man and the sea, the sea will always win.