Our second attempt to sail to Port Stephens was a lot more successful. Setting out bright and early we had some nice weather with good winds and were making good progress. Next thing you know though, there was a bang behind us and we turn around to see a storm heading right for us. Thankfully it just blew over with some rain, but it also killed our wind. But hey, as those crazy Norwegians apparently say, “there is no bad weather, only bad clothing”.
As you approach Port Stephens, you round Fingal Island and Point Stephens Lighthouse and then start heading in between Mt Tomaree and Yacaaba Headland. It’s really an awesome way to enter Port Stephens, so different than arriving by road. We headed straight to Fame Cove to moor for the night and it took us about 8 hours from start to finish. Totally worth it though!
We stayed for a couple of weeks, and had a few visitors while we were there. We were finally able to take both of our parents out for sails which was great. Hopefully we’ve put their minds a little more at ease that Macky-Ro (my pet name for our boat) is a safe and solid boat. We were also treated to an amazing BBQ lamb roast and hot showers at a family friend’s house seriously only 1 minute walk up the road from where we were anchored. (Thanks Peter & Georgia!)
The rest of our time around Port Stephens was spent in the best possible ways that we could think of. LOTS of lazing around, walk up Mt Tomaree, snorkels around the boat, jumping off the bowsprit into the water, attempting to fish, spotting turtles, having visits from dolphins, reading, and eating lots of good food (namely red wine and cheese). We were sad to leave, but our trip home to Newcastle was a nice, easy and relaxed one with so many dolphin visits that I’m pretty sure we’ve now seen all the dolphins in the ocean. And we hope to see more of them again soon!
5 thoughts on “Cruising Port Stephens”