Port Hacking
Port hacking
April 13th – 15th 2022
I have invented a term, I call it “perception deception” and an relates to our (or maybe just my) inability to judge distances and the alignment of the things at sea. This might relate to how close one boats is to one another, or the distance to land or the alignment of two islands. We experienced this coming into Port Hacking. The seas were very messy the wind just increased to 28 knots and it was driving rain, that made it difficult to see where we were going. The last 6 to 7 hours had been very testing particularly for Nola with a following sea, and the wind up our bums, steering was hard, progress was slow and was blowing 18 to 20 kn and so were running just that the headsail right on the verge of collapse. Although our plan was to keep going at the Port Stephens there was no way we could endure this for another 24 hours and so we made the decision to call into Port Hacking for some relief and a discussion about what we can be doing next. As we approached the entrance all we could see in front of us were breaking seas, there did not appear to be an entrance that we could navigate through and we were somewhat confused because it didn't relate to what our charts are saying. The perception deception was in fact we were looking at about 100 m breaking seas off the southern point, and about 2 miles away on the opposite shore was Cronulla Beach with its famous surf break - it all looked like one big breaking surf. What we couldn't see, from where we were, was in between these two breaks was about 1.5 mile of beautiful flat water. We just needed to go a little further along and there it stoodbefore us. It is easy to see how you can make a mistake when you are tired and the conditions are not ideal. Believe the maps and stay of course and keep going.
As you go past the headland on the south side of Port hacking, there is a little cove called Jibbon Beach. In here were saw there were moored three catamarans, two of which we have been following up the coast. We set our anchor and finally had a chance to rest. It was only 10:30 in the morning!!!
For the rest of Wednesday the 13th, we had our now obligatory hot bread rolls and crawled into bed. Nola slept for about three hours, me however got about 30 min and got up to survey the land and have a fish. The wind started to slow down, the rain became intermittant and we started to feel somewhat human again. JIBBON Beach is a tight little cove, with the circular beach and excellent protection from both wind and waves, even for us being a little out from the corner. There continued to be dark clouds on the horizon but they seem to go around us – what a spot..
Thursday the 14th showed us the sun. After consulting the maps, we discovered that there is a small little settlement called Bundeera, not far away and headed there, along the beach and through a small group of a mixture of beach and full time houses. It was good to get our feet on the ground time. Bundeena is a cute little place with an IGA and seven cafes. That's about all. Surrounding the settlement is the Royal National Park, which abuts Jibbon Beach. As is now the tradition, the rest of the day was spent having a snooze, having a fish and just resting up. I caught a couple of small snapper but too little to be bothered with. One of the mooring balls became available so we decided to give it a go and hitch up. First time for everything. We pulled the anchor up and ran the mooring line up through the anchor roller. Using dual ropes we attached the mooring ball loop to the front and mid ship cleats. The general advice is not to attach the mooring line directly to your boat just in case you need to get off fast, and by using two ropes were able to stabilise it into the middle
of the boat. It worked like a treat, and there was no buoy bashing, when the buoy hits the hull. My goodness are we getting good at this? There is a sense of security being on the mooring ball as your swing is very small.
The weather started to break with beautiful sunshine peaking through. We decided that we want to take Little Pus and have a bit of a look around further up the Port Hacking waterway. Who knew!!!!!! literally hundreds and hundreds of beautiful waterfront properties most with private jetties and beach houses and boats parked out the front. Both Nola and I were astounded we never imagined that this even existed in Australia. The houses were beautiful with spectacular trees and gardens as well as envious beach houses on their docks. We meandered our way up the first channel called Gunnamatta Bay, with a lovely cup of tea (of course coffee from me) admiring the wealth.
It's Good Friday. We awoke to an armada of boats heading to our little beach. From small runabouts to enormous multi-storey powerboats. There was even a few monohulls and cats in amongst the mix. We were glad we were on the mooring ball as we had a set radius and people appeared to respect this.
Today was the day we were going to explore Jibbon Head, the most northern extent of the Royal National Park. We noted that there were some aboriginal art in the area and were keen to get some more land time. Typically rather than follow the track we clambered around the headland on the left side of the beach. Sydney sandstone is a very special rock it has beautiful colours magnificent form and appears to naturally forming steps. In lots of spots, just above the rock are the beautiful natural manicured lawns that had the appearance of being carefully tended but in reality is just one of nature's gifts. Every so often you come across a little waterfall and another patch of beautiful grass. We've rock hopped around to Little Jibbon Beach, climbed the rock face and found a beautiful spot with a natural rock seat, perfect morning tea. It didn’t matter that we had only been walking to less than 20 min. A further 30 m and came across the aboriginal artwork. Which consisted of outlines of local animals of the land and sea and spirit world ground out of the flat sandstone. To me it highlighted that this is an area where for 1000s of years people have enjoyed its beauty and had time and security to spend time there. The walkway and viewing platforms were excellent access and visibility easy.
From here we followed a very wet and muddy stream a short distance to the ocean side of Jibbon Head, the seas were flat apart from the gentle rolling swell which was markedly different from what we had faced three days earlier. There were lots of boats around with people playing and fishing and enjoying this beautiful part of Australia. We continue around to Shelley’s beach, in reality only a few kilometres and stopped for another cup of tea on another natural seat. Who knew this was here. We certainly didn't having only recently heard of Port Hacking from some other sailing folk, this is a place is a real treasure and would not hesitate about coming back.
Saturday April 16th
We headed back to Bundeena to get some groceries and gelati. We both agreed the passionfruit was to die for and in reality the only one to eat. We spent the rest of the day on the boat and watching the passing parade of daytrippers with quite a few taking advantage of the gentle weather and staying overnight. Nola cooked up a big plate of nachos, but ended up being both lunch and afternoon tea and dinner. We were treated to a magnificent sunset, that you never seem to get tired of stopping and watching.
Sunday 17th of April
The parade of boats from Port Hacking started early and by about eight o'clock we had lots of neighbours. We decided we would take Little Pus further up the Port hacking waterway to Port Hacking itself. One beautiful place after another, with more spots of natural beauty the further up the water way we went as well as more magnificent waterfront properties, with boats, boathouses, beautiful gardens and magnificent views. The waterways was busy with lots of boats moorings. It was disappointing to note that quite a few had been there for a long time and that is more determined that when we are finished with this adventure that Nauti Kitty wouldn't end up as a boat on the mooring looking for love. We headed back to Bundeena for more gelati but was somewhat disappointed to see that it wasn't open on Sunday, but the walk was good and lots of people around also enjoying the area. The weather is favourable for us to leave here tomorrow and heading to Port Jackson and Sydney Harbour itself.
