Broughton Islands to Coffs Harbour

Our biggest challenge so far is this leg which was our first night sail 2 handed. Left Broughton Island early with the winds dropping from 10knots to under 5knots so we motored with a headsail most the way. The highlight of the first afternoon was a pod of bottle nosed dolphins that swam several times along side the bow of the boat. They were so close and the water so clear that we had the best view. Can't have enough dolphin photos or dolphin videos. The rest of the afternoon the sea around the yacht was full of dolphins.

The evening and night was mostly fairly uneventful, which is a good thing. We were motoring at 7kts until we hit the Eastern Australian current which knocked the speed back to 4 kts and the seas were just slopping around. We took 2 - 3 hours watches each which became harder as the night wore on. It was terrific to see the sun come up at 5.30 am.

The morning was beautiful, so to order to conserve fuel and enjoy the morning, we pulled out a sail and coasted towards Coffs. You would then think it would be an easy doodle into Coffs harbour, no bar, no drama - no chance! On restarting the engine to enter the Harbour and head to a marina berth (yep you guessed it), after 20 odd hours of motoring the motor wouldn't start. Coupled with this we lost power to the anchor winch and had no confidence in the manual override. Happy days!

After calling Marine Rescue assistance, we then sailed into the harbour on headsail and were then towed by some brave volunteers in a power boat into the marina berth. Good grief, what a way to arrive. 

I was amazed by the generosity of people who helped us out, not only the guys who towed us to the berth (not easy at all), but another yacht heading south into the Harbour offered to help and people on the marina were there to help secure the boat. A lovely retired electrical engineered helped diagnose the problem and the local Volvo diesel mechanic also checked the engine out. With all this help, we now have a grasp on the issues and yes, we will be continuing north on schedule weather permitting.