Cruise 5 - Soldiers Point, Port Stephens

Report by Les Kemp

Originally set down for the long weekend in October this cruise was moved to accommodate the trip to Lake Macquarie. In hindsight this may have been a good move, since the weather turned out to be quite magnificent after some heavy down pours on Friday afternoon.

We, the Kemps, were intending to travel up to Soldiers Point early on Friday morning, but alas the tennis on Thursday evening was just too exciting to miss so we didn't arrive till about 12:30pm. We had to set up camp quickly to beat a sudden shower of rain, which came from nowhere and bucketed down for about 10 minutes and then as if by magic, cleared as quickly as it had arrived.

We met up with Malcolm, who was staying on his boat in the marina, around 6pm and sat down to a delicious dinner of grilled lamb chops with vegetables with a few light drinks while watching the sun set slowly in the west. We noted, "the red sky at night - was a sailor's delight". About 8pm my mobile sprang into life, when Roger Murphy rang to say that he and Janine had just arrived and parked their boat and trailer on a site for the night. It turned out that were only two campsites away, so after getting set up they joined us for a 'cuppa' and some discussion on our plans for the next day.

Steve Read had been in touch with Malcolm to let us know that he & Rosalind and their son Alistair would not be arriving until sometime Saturday morning. A possible new member had also indicated that he might meet us at the ramp on Saturday morning so the plan was to spend the morning preparing, have an early lunch and go cruising down to Nelsons Bay in the afternoon. With all the decisions made and after such a busy day, we all retired for the night, around 10pm.

Saturday morning dawned and Malcolm joined us for a hearty breakfast of bacon and eggs, we eat well don't we, before getting Malcolm's third boat, a Tasman 26 ready for the afternoon sail. Steve and Ros arrived mid-morning and after booking into one of the cabins joined Malcolm, Veronica and myself for lunch.

By now, Roger and Janine had launched their boat; the possible new member had not turned up, so we joined Malcolm, Steve, Ros and Alistair for the sail down to Nelsons Bay. After leaving the marina around 1pm we caught up with Roger and Janine and headed ESE across Port Stephens bay. The breeze had got up to a good steady 10-12 knots from the Southeast, which was just enough to give us a pleasant and comfortable sailing conditions, afterall we weren't racing! Ros took the helm of Malcolm's boat, while the rest of us kept watch for dolphins. Alistair thought he saw a couple but alas we were not able to confirm the sightings. The Tasman performed very nicely and it would be very interesting to see what might happen if Malcolm ever raced it in the Hawkesbury.

We reached Nelsons Bay around 3pm and we decided we had better turn around and head for home, particularly since we have decided to have a "happy hour" before dinner. There was quite a swell running near Nelsons Bay, which made for some interesting "sailing/surfing" conditions on the way home. On the way home we took a short diversion to a place called Fame Cove, which is directly opposite Soldiers Point on the northern shore. It was a lovely anchorage spot being sheltered from all weather except for a westerly.

Happy hour started around 6pm, it was simply amazing to see where all the nibbles came from, it seems we had all come prepared for it. The next hour or so was spent with a drink in hand and nibbling away while watching the sun sink slowly in the west. The agenda for Sunday was discussed and set before Roger and Janine set off for the serenity of Fame Cove for the evening while Steve, Rosalind, Alistair, Malcolm, Veronica and myself set off for dinner at the local bowling club.

The forecast for Sunday was for 10 to 15 knots from the SE, but in true Port Stephens style the breeze didn't come in till around 11pm. Unfortunately, Steve and Rosalind had to head back to Sydney early on account of their son Alistair becoming sick during the night, so that just left Malcolm, Veronica and myself on his boat along with Roger and Janine to enjoy what turned out to be a leisurely sail around the western reaches of Port Stephens. We broke camp about 3:30pm and were back in Hornsby by 6pm after what I would say was a most enjoyable and relaxing weekend.