Sailing Lincoln National Park

18-24 February – Sailing in the Lincoln National Park

The Lincoln National Park covers a large peninsula just South of Port Lincoln township. It is a very scenic area with some wonderful coves, beaches and rocky headlands. It is easily accessible by both road and sea and, of course, we chose the latter method.

We launched only a couple of days after retrieving the boat at Tumby Bay. A visit to the mechanic to again address the problem of the engine cutting out proved successful, with the problem finally being found to have nothing to do with the fuel or mixture but a very touchy stop button on the end of the tiller handle. Once disabled, the motor behaved perfectly, making docking a relatively easy process once again.

We sailed across Boston Bay to Spaulding Cove, a very beautiful bay offering protection from all winds except the North. The sail was wonderful, with the breeze steadily building, a sign of things to come. After exploring Spaulding Cove, we chose to anchor in Surfleet Cove, giving wonderful protection against the now mounting SW wind. We were to spend the next three nights here, all thoughts of leaving squashed by the site of the seas outside our little haven.

Surfleet Cove proved to be a wonderful place to be stuck. There were enough fish on tap to keep us fed, with King George Whiting, Herring, Salmon, Snook and Squid. The first time I cleaned some fish and threw the heads overboard, several very large blue swimmer crabs appeared under the boat. We were swinging too much to hang crab nets from the boat so the next day we used the dinghy to put out some pots. Unfortunately, the only crabs we caught were small rock crab like things. It became a source of great frustration as we saw the big blues arrive if we threw fish scraps over but seemed unable to catch them in nets. Eventually, on a low tide, I lowered the keel enough to ground us and we managed one crab in a drop net. A single crab has never tasted so good.

Ashore was a well appointed camping ground, with two or three camps on most days. There is also a well developed walk trail around the National Park and we went ashore on one occasion to walk the 5km return walk to the next camp area at the Southern end of Spaulding Cove. Despite the cold blustery wind, the walk through the pristine woodlands was beautiful.

At no time did the temperature break 25 degrees and light rain was a constant problem. All this time, a check of the weather back home showed that Perth was going through an exceptionally hot and dry spell.

Eventually, the weather system moved on and we were able to sail back to Port Lincoln, electing to anchor in front of the Port Lincoln Yacht Club. We had arrived for the weekend of the Adelaide-Port Lincoln Yacht Race. This prestigious annual event sees a fleet of over 60 boats complete the 150 nautical mile run, sailing through the night to arrive early Saturday morning. The rest of the weekend seemed to consist of celebrations, especially Sunday, with a loud party and presentation ceremony keeping us amused from our close vantage point. A number of large yachts were anchored near us and we couldn’t believe just how many people they managed to fit into an inflatable dinghy to go ashore or return to the boat.

 

Near the end of the town jetty, a local farm and sea produce market was set up on Sunday, with stalls selling snacks and offering wine tasting etc. It drew a good crowd of visiting yachties and locals alike and we bought a pack of delicious Spencer Gulf King Prawns.

The weather continued its run of low temperatures and drizzle, sapping us of the energy to sail further. In the end, we opted to pull out and head home a week or so early. This meant that the boat could stay in Port Lincoln, safely stored at our new friend Richard’s place.  We will return at the end of April to head further East in search of new sailing adventures.

The trip home across the Nullabor was a mirror of the trip in, except not towing meant that we could go a lot faster. Most of the Nullabor itself was driven in rain. We only stopped at one Great Australian Bight lookout because it was so bitterly cold. We had to pack the tent away wet. All around us were rolling fields of green from all the Summer rain the area has received.

We managed the drive with two overnight stops, one at Nundroo in SA and another at a bush camp about 50kms out of Balladonia. We pulled in to Dowerin just after 4pm and immediately turned the air conditioner on, the temperature being over 30 degrees. We will have to re-acclimatise.

It is good to be home, but the next 8 weeks will go quickly and we’ll be back with Sandpiper before we know it.