The 4 hour dock, where we stayed 3 days...
Lakes Entrance
After spending most of our first day resting and recovering from our passage, we welcomed a 35' mono onto the dock. They had just arrived after a 54hr passage from Triabunna on the east coast of Tassie, weary but elated. By the time they made it to the pub the forecast southerly, that we had both run from, had kicked in. Coupled with a big east coast low off southern NSW, lets just say conditions were pretty ordinary for the next couple of days. We stayed put on the Cunninghame "4 hour" dock over the weekend, doing a few odd jobs on board and a bit of shopping.
Much bigger area than we expected
The sun reappeared on Monday and we decided to head west and explore a little bit ahead of our lift out on Thursday. We pass by the channel of Lakes Entrance, where we came in on Friday. Even from a distance we can see big waves breaking across the channel. No wonder the fishing boats have been staying put!
Waves breaking across the entrance!
 Oh those buoys!
First stop was not very far, a tiny little bay on the edge of the channel called Harpers Bight, where we had our first encounter with the public moorings. These are large, round, flat floats with a 50cm high post and ring on top, and a thick coating of hull-scraping mussels on the float and the anchor line. Unfortunately the post is not tall enough for my short arms to reach from the cross beam at the front of the boat and you can't lift the buoy out of the water either. This means Keith has to manoeuvre the boat so that the mooring buoy is adjacent to the transom, avoiding fouling our prop on the mooring anchor line, then I can reach it to pass a line through the ring. Once that is done I have to walk the captive buoy forward while Keith reverses the boat. I can then take the buoy around to the front of the boat, lead the mooring line under the seagull striker and two sets of furling lines, and attach the line to the forward cleat. Simple! Keith can then lean far enough over the side to get a second line through the same ring to attached to the other side, so we have a bridle arrangement. Difficult to do in high winds and with a strong tide pushing you around, but not too bad in calm conditions. Particularly if no one is watching...
Above: Duck Arm Anchorage
From our lovely anchorage we do some exploring, with a "drive by" of Metung as well as Paynesville. There are lots of great facilities here, free docks and moorings but we head further west to an area called Duck Arm - who knew ducks had arms! Anyway its a lovely, protected nook and we do our thing with the mooring buoys and spend a very calm evening. It must be school holidays or last week of term, and there are quite a few school camps in the area. The high pitched voices of kids having fun! In the morning there are kayakers and dinghy sailors abuzz in the bay.
We head over to a spot called Ocean Grove (or Steamers Landing) for a lunch stop. There are more free moorings here and the tidal effect makes the pick up "interesting" - only took 3 goes... We go for a walk ashore, across the spit to the surf beach which is still pumping! Quite a bit of ocean foam, a few bluebottles and loads of cuttlefish washed up on the beach.
Below: Ocean Grove
The next day its back to Lakes Entrance in the afternoon as our haul out is tomorrow at 7:30am. By the time we get there its blowing 25+kts, and all the good spots on the docks are taken. Picking up the mooring buoy in those conditions was really challenging, Keith can't hear me yelling instructions at him... Still it only took 3 attempts to finally wrangle the buoy, and as a bonus we did not prop the boat on the mooring! I wonder if the people who design these things have actually ever used them!
Early morning haul out
We have lift off!
We are up early and head straight across to the Bullock Island boatyard. Fortunately the strong winds have abated and its nice and calm. Keith carefully manoeuvres us into the lifting dock and the boys use some grapple hooks to help us line up. Very quickly the slings are slipped into place and we are ushered off ITIKI. She is carefully lifted out of the water and out onto dry land. The hull is not too dirty as its not long since the diver gave her a bum clean. Nevertheless the pressure wash is underway as we head off for a walk. Aldi is nearby and its been a while since we have had a trip down the centre aisle...
We couldn't stay on the boat so chose a motel in the town. Its quite a walk but that will do us some good as there has not been enough leg stretching lately! We did not have any major work to do, but it had been a while since we lifted out. One of the main reasons to lift out was to take a look at the keel repair that Keith did in Fiji, after we discovered an uncharted reef... Turns out it was pretty good so nothing to do there! Some other jobs we ticked of the list:
We are back in the water before we know it, and pleasantly surprised when we got the bill! Yes I know you don't usually hear boat owners say that! The team at Bullock Island were a pleasure to work with. As a bonus, this is the first time ITIKI has been in a travel lift that could give us her weight! Guesses anyone? You know you should never ask a lady her age, or her weight...
Sunday Rest Day
The boat yard was closed on Sunday and so we had an enforced rest day. Its lovely weather so after a well deserved sleep in, we walk across the footbridge and across to 90 Mile Beach, the nearby ocean beach. The swell has backed off quite a bit by now. We follow the beach all the way along to the breakwater at the entrance and watch the seals frolicking in the swirling currents. On the way back you can take a walk through the trees, past the Flagstaff and jetty. We reward ourselves with a late lunch at a local cafe.
Paynesville On the dock at Paynesville
We have a few more days in the lakes before a weather window opens for our trip north so we decide to explore a little bit more. We spend a night on the Cunninghame public buoy in Lakes Entrance, making a meal out of picking it up in 27kts! After a quick provisioning run in the morning we head west again, past the entrance and on to Paynesville. We need to get some water and fuel here so stop at the Paynesville fuel dock, dodging the chain ferry which crosses the channel to Raymond Island. After a stroll around town and along the shore we get invited to drinks with some fellow cruisers we have been crossing paths with. A couple of hours of tall tales at the Paynesville pub in great company.
In the morning we board the chain ferry and head across to Raymond Island for some wild Koala spotting. We had our doubts about this, however our first sighting was in a tree right by the ferry wharf! A small specimen who was of course asleep and oblivious - possibly a plant... Following the "Koala trail" around the streets with our necks craned upwards like we must have looked ridiculous, but I guess the locals were used to it. We found a couple more Koala's high up in the trees but it wasn't until we came to a small nature reserve that we found at least 6 of the little beasties, some in quite low branches, and one or two of them were actually awake! They really remind me of the sloths we saw in Columbia and Panama.
After that exciting morning we motor around to Metung and avail ourselves of another "free" dock for the night. Although the pub has a great reputation we have been recommended an interesting sounding Cafe Chez Joe - combination of Egyptian and Malaysian food - Yum! It didn't disappoint!
We have a weather window
We have a weather window to head north. After a strong wind warning on Monday, Tuesday settles to lighter southerly winds so we will head to Eden, or maybe on to Bermagui. In the meantime we are back to (you guessed it) the 4 hour dock at Lakes Entrance (Cunninghame Wharf). We drop by to say hi to some fellow cruisers we have been crossing paths with and end up coming aboard for drinks. As we were sitting chatting, two other cats headed out of the bay, bound for Bermagui. When we get back to ITIKI we hear from an "old" Sydney friend that just happens to be in Lake's Entrance and has been stalking us. He joins us for dinner and we watch a beautiful sunset on our last evening in Lakes Entrance. Tomorrow's departure is set for 8am!
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AuthorAfter more than 7 years of (minus time off for Covid) and more than 30,000nm Lynda has finally got the hang of this cruising life. Now back in Australian waters, with a home base in Tasmania, ITIKI and crew are enjoying coastal cruising. Archives
April 2025
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