Broughton Islands 13th & 14th September

The weather forecast looked good for us to make a trip to the Broughton Islands. Broughton is NSW's biggest mainland island. There are several islands in this group. The currents between Boondelbah, Little and Cabbage Tree Islands, as we left Port Stephens, made for a very bouncy ride. The swell rebounding from the cliffs added to the discomfort and we were glad to get past these off-lying islands. It is only an 8nm trip NE from Port Stephens entrance so two hours later we were rounding Providence Point on the northern end of Broughton Island and heading for the courtesy mooring at the eastern end of Providence Bay. It was close to the beach and behind an unforgiving looking patch of reef. The swells coming around the island from the SE were broken down on the reef and the light SW winds blowing across the island meant the anchorage turned out to be quite comfortable. There are another couple of anchorages on this island, but they are only useable when the wind is in the north.

Providence Beach

Peter and I thought this bay looked much like Turtle Bay, on the Abrolhos Islands in WA, except for a high hill on the eastern end. Instead of low scrub the island is covered in long grass and low wind swept trees. A path lead over the island to the southern side where we found a row of neat huts at Esmeralda Cove. The cove is full of empty moorings. It must be a hive of activity during the holiday season. We noticed that large patches of the sandy island were mined with active Mutton Bird nests. We walked as far as we could along the white sandy beaches until we were stopped in both directions by low cliffs.

Esmeralda Cove

During the night we began to hear the 'Boi-oi-oing!' of birds flying into our rigging. Not a nice sound reverberating through the hull. It was such a dark night with no moon at all. The mast light made no difference and so we had to lie there and listen to the Mutton Birds thumping into the boat. After a while things settled down as the birds made it home for the night, but before daylight they all flew out and began colliding with the boat again. I was glad when daylight arrived.

The forecast alerted us to the fact that a strong NE wind was due so we made a decision to sail back to Port Stephens. It would have been nice to spend another day or two here, but it is not a sensible place to be in adverse weather.

Any snakes here????