Eden to Bermagui 27th June 36' 25.6" S 150' 04.3" E

East Boyd Bay was a very different scene to the one we left four days ago. The beautiful blue/green water was now Cadbury milk chocolate brown and the remains of the ocean swells rolling through the bay crashed onto the beach in such a way that there was no way we could go ashore. Brown foam had built up along the shore making the beach look like someone had been out with the dirty detergent. The anchorage was comfortable and we had a restful nights sleep and were up early to prepare for the trip to Bermagui some 40nm north of Eden.

 

We have an informative guide book called 'Cruising the New South Wales Coast' by
Alan Lucas which we consult and read carefully before we travel to the next anchorage or port. Also our chart plotter has detailed charts of course and a great feature we have found since beginning this trip. There are little cameras dotted along the shore and at first we thought this meant it was a scenic spot. It turns out that if you click on the camera you get a great a aerial shot of that particular place. Very handy for visualising where you are going. After doing all the homework I was a little concerned that Bermagui has is a river harbour and therefore involves crossing a bar. Lucas and several locals told us it was fine, plenty of water and quite safe. Hmmmm!!!

We spent the day admiring rugged headlands and white sandy bays mostly surrounded by forest and tended to forget the swell that was still 2.5m or so since the wild weather a couple of days ago. The wind all day was again on the nose, NE at about 3kn. We rounded the headland ready to line up the leads into Bermagui Harbour when suddenly Peter and I realised the reality of the entry. Waves were breaking right across the entrance and as by now there was no turning back Peter gunned the motor and in we went through a maelstrom of white water and foam. I did the really brave thing and shot below and didn't look. I thought a screeching crazy woman on deck was not a good look for the numerous photographers on the rock wall photographing the proceedings. Two other runabouts followed us in so I guess it was all in a days fishing for them. What an adrenaline rush! Anyway we arrived in a calm little harbour literally full of boats. We were allocated a space on the Fisherman's Co-op jetty and here we are, enjoying being here safe and sound and sipping a glass of wine.

 

Just south of Bermagui. The bar swell was not quite this big.