Cruising the Clarence

We left Coffs Harbour just after sunrise, pulling out with several other boats. There were six of us all heading north towards Iluka and Yamba. The weather conditions were lovely; calm water with some swell but no waves, light winds and a clear and sunny sky.

The bar entrance into the Clarence River at Iluka/Yamba is a potentially dangerous one and needs to be timed precisely, so a bit of planning is involved. When entering a new port, particularly with a difficult bar crossing, we like to arrive in daylight. This means looking at tide times and ascertaining on what day the preferred crossing time is both in daylight hours, but also late enough in the day to enable us to sail there in time.

With a distance of 55 nautical miles from Coffs Harbour to Iluka/Yamba, we estimated a sailing time of approximately 9 hours. Since there is only around 10 hours of daylight at the moment, this leaves a pretty small window if we don’t want to be sailing or arriving in the dark! Fortunately, the tide times and the weather on this Tuesday all lined up perfectly, and was probably the reason why there was a small fleet all heading up on the same day.

We had a pleasantly uneventful sail, motor sailing the entire way. Humpback whales were everywhere around us, but very passive; we mostly saw their spouts or the top of their backs as they swam along. Apart from one whale.

When we sail long distances, we have the radar displayed on the screen of the chart plotter next to the chart. Glancing at the radar on a regular basis is a safety measure and enables us to spot objects around us; mostly other boats or navigational aids; things we don’t want to hit. It’s probably most important at night, but I like to have it on all the time, just to be sure! Anyway, I was sitting in the cockpit, when I saw a big splotch splash across the radar out of the corner of my eye. Holy ****! I jumped up to see the massive body of a humpback whale what seemed like only metres in front of the yacht. I grabbed the throttle and jerked it back, slowing the boat. I couldn’t believe we’d almost crashed into a whale. Within seconds he was gone, back down below the water, and I was left feeling as if maybe I’d imagined the whole thing!

We arrived at Iluka/Yamba right on time and had to circle for about twenty minutes as the local fleet of trawlers headed out for their evening of fishing. With the bar clear, we passed through safely and headed into Iluka Bay to drop the anchor. That evening we dined at the iconic Sedger’s Reef Hotel with Chris and Anne from Horizons. There has been a hotel at this site since 1874, with this particular hotel built in 1928, and apparently still full of asbestos. Conveniently, there is a lovely big pontoon right out the front to tie our tender up to, and we thoroughly enjoyed the generous home-style meals.

With just over three weeks until the proposed 10th July date for the QLD border opening, we had a bit of time to kill. We decided to explore Iluka and then head up the Clarence River. We spent several days wandering in Iluka, including walking out to the Bluff and back through the Iluka World Heritage Rainforest. There were some interesting plants in the rainforest, particularly the Strangler Fig, which begins life as a seedling lodged in the fork of a host tree, and eventually engulfs and kills the original tree, creating a beautiful lattice/braid type of pattern over the trunk. I also caught the little ferry across to Yamba to explore and do some grocery shopping.

The Clarence River is nice and wide and very deep, making it an ideal cruising ground. Apart from a few shallow spots there is good depth pretty much all the way up the river to Grafton. We planned to spend a couple of weeks heading upstream, stopping at all the towns and villages along the way.

In order to travel up the Clarence River, you have to pass under several bridges at Harwood. The new one is high enough, but you have to ring and organise to have the old bridge opened for you. We booked an opening time for 2pm on Saturday, so on Friday we slowly made our way up the river and anchored just before the bridge. We were adjacent to the sugar mill, which looked really cool all lit up at night.

At about 2.15pm on the Saturday, the traffic on the bridge was stopped and a section of the bridge began to raise. Under and through we went, following Horizons, who were also heading upstream.

Our first stop along the river was the town of Maclean. Maclean is known as the “Scottish Town of Australia” and has hosted the annual Highland Gathering for over 100 years, which is a celebration of Scottish culture and customs. It is a really quaint little village, with a heritage feel Main Street containing some lovely cafes. The Maclean Scottish Town Association has painted over 200 power poles with different tartan designs representing many different clans. We found the pole representing my clan, the McArthur’s. My Grandad would have been delighted!

We anchored in the river here for three nights on the way upstream, and stayed for another three on the way back downstream. On the return trip we tied up to a free pontoon where we could access power and fill our very empty water tanks.

On Sunday we hiked out to a local brewery, the Sanctus Brewing Co, and spent the afternoon listening to live music, eating delicious food and of course tasting a beer or two. We invited Chris and Anne to come with us, and it was a lovely, lazy way to spend a Sunday afternoon. The courtesy bus that was advertised on their website wasn’t running due to Covid, but Matt charmed us a lift back in it anyway.

We also walked up to the Maclean Lookout, a short but very steep walk, which gave us an incredible view of the Clarence River snaking through the sugarcane fields. On the way back, we passed a house advertising an upholsterer. Since our sail bag and dodger needed some stitching repaired and replaced, we approached the upholsterer and he said he might be able to do the job. So we left them with him for a week and picked them up on the way back downstream.

Some of the Scottish themed banners throughout Maclean:

Lawrence was the next stop and it is an incredibly small little village, with just a Tavern and a General Store. We had a short walk onshore here and lunch at the Tavern. The mornings were very cold but mostly blossomed into clear and sunny days. We relished just chilling out in the sun, reading books. The river was incredibly silky smooth and I practised yoga on the bow and took the SUP out for a paddle. The night sky was incredible, as with so little light pollution the stars were extremely bright. Matt got out his camera again for some night photography.

Brushgrove was perhaps even smaller than Lawrence. Once again, we had spectacular sunny days and flat flat water.

Heading upstream to our last stop, the heritage town of Ulmarra, Horizons was motoring next to us. We took some photos of them, and they took some photos of us! The water was so flat and clear that the reflection of the clouds could be seen in the water, as well as the reflection of the yachts.

The little heritage village of Ulmarra is very cute, and mostly full of antique, collectible and craft shops. It also has an amazing second hand book shop that I got lost in for several hours.

The stars seemed particularly bright here, and Matt took some gorgeous, very creative star shots.

We thoroughly enjoyed our fortnight of cruising the Clarence. Apart from the chilly mornings and evenings, the weather was sensational, with sunny days and very light winds. With the water so calm and flat, you could forget you were on a boat, and we slept like babies!

We headed back to Iluka, and with still a week to go until the QLD border opened, we prepared to do a four day, three night coastal hike. I might do a post about that later.

But right now, just so you know, we are in Queensland. We made it across the border on the 10th July, arriving at the Gold Coast Seeway at 10am, just a few hours before the border officially opened. Suffice to say, feelings of relief and excitement abounded.

To our family and friends in Melbourne, who are enduring another lockdown, our hearts go out to you. We’ve realised that we are living a very different reality and probably can’t quite understand what you’re going through. Nevertheless, we are thinking of you all. We never forget just how fortunate we are and how incredibly lucky we’ve been in the timing of our trip. Stay well, stay happy and stay strong.

Choosing stillness in the midst of chaos is the path toward living in peace.     

Deepak Chopra