Monday 25 March Camden Haven

It was a beautiful day for a gentle motor sail along the coast. We left Esmerelda bay on Broughton at 5am and picked up the first sea breeze up to Seal Point. When we sailed down the coast from Brisbane before Christmas we had up to 3 knots on the 100m contour of south setting current to push us along. Going the opposite way we planned to hug the coast and keep inside that current. For once the theory worked and we didn't have any adverse current. The winds were light, sometimes to light for sail alone so we had to motor more than half of the 70 miles to Camden Haven. On the plus side the sea swell was less than a metre, dolphins joined us for the trip and we arrived at the barred entrance at the optimum time of a flooding tide and in daylight.

Camden Haven has break walls constructed to protect the entrance from sea swell and a leading line to bring you in but the leading line seems to bring you very close to the southern wall and the waves breaking on it. But as we came closer we saw the line and had depth under the keel for a clean entry and then it was a steady motor up river between the two sea walls – without these the channel would silt up and become too shallow. It was into town turning left at the pelicans, right at the oyster beds and then we were in the middle of town, Laurieton, half an hour before the sun set.

We might have gone alongside at the free public jetty but there were already a couple of boats there so we anchored in the river and enjoyed a very peaceful night.

approaching Laurieton