YELLOW PATCH

We couldn't wait to get to Yellow Patch as we were all looking forward to the next bout of crabbing & fishing so when we sighted the familiar scenery of the huge golden sand dunes, we all had a smile from ear to ear. Normally we arrive in this area around late April to early May when all the cruising yachts are slowly heading north, but this year, because we're so much earlier, there was hardly another boat to be seen & it seemed so strange to be able to anchor wherever we chose.

We'd beaten strong southerly winds to the area & although there were only two other yachts at anchor & we thought we'd picked the best anchorage in the protected corner of the creek, we soon changed our minds & location. As soon as we dropped anchor, the mozzies arrived in the hundreds so we soon realised that we actually needed more breeze if we were going to stay any length of time in comfort, so within an hour, we'd re-anchored below the beautiful sand dunes. However, once the strong southerlies hit the following day, we found that although we no longer had a mozzie problem, the boat was covered in fine orange sand.

With only two other boats at anchor it didn't take us long to get to know one & other & soon the invitations for "Happy Hour" were being passed around. Mum & Dad have come to love this side of our yachting lifestyle & really look forward to either having the extra company onboard our own yacht, or having a look at someone else's boat. It certainly makes life more interesting when you hear of other people's stories.

Surprisingly, although we didn't have mobile range at Yellow Patch, we did have television reception so we were shocked one evening whilst watching the news, to hear that our home town of Coffs Harbour & surrounding areas had been experiencing major flooding. We hadn't had a drop of rain in weeks & felt very lucky to have been out of the path of destruction. We'd experienced a few days of strong winds, which had made the fishing uncomfortable, but we weren't really complaining as the fish were still biting & the crabs were still being caught.

Our daily routine consisted of pumping yabbies for bait, fishing, setting the crab pots, eating, showering before 4.00pm in preparation for "Happy Hour", playing card games, having dinner, watching a bit of telly & retiring by about 8.00pm. They were long, tiring days, especially when we had two sessions of fishing, so after 7 days we all felt that we needed a rest & used the fact that it had rained one morning, not to go fishing! Instead, we lounged around reading & sleeping as the rain drummed steadily upon the cabin top. It was heaven!

We'd thoroughly enjoyed our time at Yellow Patch as the fishing had been great & over the 8 days that we'd remained there, we'd caught 18 crabs. Needless to say, crab was on the menu for lunch every day & although that didn't impress me much, as I'm not really a seafood eater, Rees, Mum & Dad sucked & picked their way through every last one of them.

Our plan is for Mum & Dad to travel through to the Whitsundays with us this year so after Yellow Patch, we'll go through to the Kepple Bay Marina where we'll restock the larder, get the laundry up to date once again in preparation for the next major stop of Island Head, another isolated spot where we know we'll have good fishing, crabbing & the extra bonus of the big, black-lipped oysters. A seafood haven!!