{"id":2635,"date":"2020-02-16T10:48:13","date_gmt":"2020-02-16T02:48:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hinchy.org\/travels\/?p=2635"},"modified":"2020-02-16T10:48:21","modified_gmt":"2020-02-16T02:48:21","slug":"eyre-peninsula-coffin-bay-2020","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hinchy.org\/travels\/eyre-peninsula-coffin-bay-2020\/","title":{"rendered":"Eyre Peninsula – Coffin Bay 2020"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The grand plan consists of towing the boat over the Nullabor Plain to the Eyre Peninsula in South Australia, meeting Bill and Mary, whose boat (Larsen Cabrio 27) is currently in storage in Gawler SA, and spending a month exploring the many beautiful coastal locations that dot the triangular shaped feature. We have sailed many of the locations on our trailer sailer, Sandpiper, back in 2012. This time around, we have a power boat in the form of a Whittley Cruisemaster 700 called Lesueur<\/em>, a seagoing caravan with lots of mod cons. The ability to move quickly when the southern coast\u2019s fickle weather takes a turn for the worse will be a huge advantage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We had a planned leaving date of January 27th<\/sup>,\nafter cooking an Australia Day breakfast for 46 at the caravan park in\nKingsley. However, a huge heat wave cell developed and the projections were to\nmake the entire 1900km trip to Ceduna in 40 degree plus temperatures. No way!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We made the 150km trip to Dowerin and holed up for three\ndays, staying inside and watching the Australian Open Tennis for most of the\ntime. To go outside was to get a lung roasting, the temperature on the back\npatio peaking at 47 degrees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By January 30th<\/sup>,<\/strong> we were able to set off, cutting through to Great Eastern Highway at Merredin and then heading east to Coolgardie and south to Norseman. The first night was spent in a woodland camp about 15km east of Norseman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Our overnight camp outside of Norseman.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The second day was one of admiring the Western Woodlands,\nfor hour after hour. These huge extensive woodlands  To quote DPAW, \u201cIt is regarded as the largest remaining area of intact\nMediterranean-climate woodland left on Earth and contains about 3000 species of\nflowering plants, about a fifth of all known flora in Australia. It includes\nnearly a quarter of Australia’s eucalypt species, many of which grow nowhere\nelse in the world, and its varied habitats are home to a diverse array of\nmammals, reptiles, frogs and birds.\u201d<\/em> Wow! We actually saw no wildlife;\ndrove through many kilometres of burnt out woodland and saw huge piles of human\nrubbish in every roadside stop we utilised. Despite this, the Woodlands are\nbeautiful, the variety of vegetation and the enormity of the area demands\nacknowledgement. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We pushed on, putting in a 700km+ drive for the day and over\nnighting in the Eucla Caravan Park for the princely sum of $25 a night. Along\nthe way, we were \u201centertained\u201d by an idiot in a light coloured 4WD towing a\nlarge van who passed us (80km\/hr) at a considerable rate and proceeded to lose\ncontrol when pulling in front of us. We kept up the conversation of \u201cOh Oh..\nthey\u2019re gone.   Oh no, this is it!!\u201d  as we watched them fish tail down the road\ntrying to regain control. They managed once, before returning to the fish tail\ndance before finally backing off the speed and getting control. Idiots!! I\nreally think we need a special licence for towing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our third night on the road was on the SA side of the Nullarbor, in Streaky Bay. Bill and Mary had picked up their rig in Gawler, SA and headed to Port Pirie to wait out the heat cell that had preceded us across the Nullarbor. They suffered 46 degree heat, 50mm rain storms and more before heading west to overnight in Tumby Bay ready for a rendezvous with us in Coffin Bay, at the bottom of the Eyre Peninsula. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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On day four, we pulled into the caravan park at Coffin Bay\nto find Dawsons parked up at reception, having beaten us by only 15 minutes or\nso, an amazing rendezvous after a four day drive across the continent. We spent\nthe rest of the day checking out the launching facilities, changing a tyre,\nswapping anchors to the locally favoured \u201cMarsh Anchor\u201d. This anchor is\ndesigned to dig into the weed beds that are so predominant in SA waters. Bill\nand Mary had our 8kg model that we had bought in 2014 when we were here with\nSandpiper, as well as a new 13kg beast that Bill worried was too big. I looked\nat our Marsh anchor and worried it would not be enough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By February 3rd<\/sup>, we were ready to launch,\nalthough we rose late, fluffed around getting fuel and topping up water tanks.\nIt was around 10:30am by the time we actually got to the ramps and launched.\nBill and I drove the cars back to the caravan park to a fairly secure location\nout the back and a very kind chap camped nearby drove us back the 1.2km back to\nthe ramp.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We motored off to the shelter of a small headland strangely named Point Misery at the start of Mount Dutton Bay and anchored up to fish. Between us, we caught enough for dinner, with 4 nice King George Whiting and a dozen or so herring. Then we headed north up Mount Dutton Bay to seek an overnight anchorage in Little Mount Dutton Bay, a shallow but fairly protected inlet. On our first night on the water, we dined on Dawson\u2019s boat with Bill cooking up the day\u2019s catch. As the wind picked up, it was obvious that our 8kg Marsh Anchor was not up to the job of holding a Whittley 700 and we swapped out to our normal 20lb plough anchor. Bill\u2019s 13kg marsh proved more than adequate for the job on his big Larsen. That night, we had a grand feast on the proceeds of the day in wonderful surroundings with good company. What more could one ask for?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The sun setting over the Dawson’s Larsen<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

February 4th<\/sup> \u2013 The boat motor, which had previously\ngiven trouble by cutting out on a regular basis, decided to revert to this\nannoying behaviour when we went to raise anchor. After about four restarts, we\nwere underway and things went beautifully for the rest of the day. Still, it is\na worry and we are grateful that we have company. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We spent the day fishing, mostly in Mount Dutton Bay. The King George Whiting proved elusive, although Bill and Mary managed one big one each. I contented myself with collecting a bag full of mussels and huge oysters. Coffin bay is famous for its oysters and their cultivation forms the main industry of the town. Wild ones are not common but can be found in enough numbers to make collecting a dozen possible without a great deal of effort. As the afternoon wore on, the wind tended to shift away from SE to more S and we headed away from Mount Dutton Bay to seek a more protected overnight spot between Rabbit Island and the back of the township. It was our turn to host dinner and Christine cooked up Spaghetti Chilli Mussels so it was another night in paradise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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February 5th<\/sup> \u2013 Today was another day of trying to\nfind the King George Whiting, but not before we had a repeat of the engine\nissues when first raising anchor. It seems the engine is not happy when cold.\nThe fishing didn\u2019t go much better, with plenty of herring available but only\none whiting. Bill tried crabbing but he had no joy, feeding all his bait to a\nseal that happily followed him around as he dropped his nets. We spent most of\nthe day in the Port Douglas area. There were quite a few other boats around and\nwe tried fishing near them, but without luck. It is still wonderful to be out\non the water and we certainly don\u2019t lack for food. As the wind came around to\nthe SW we shifted and made our way around all the oyster farms and on to anchor\noff Little Port Douglas, a small hamlet surrounding a tidal inlet. It was a big\nbouncy but had good holding.  An\nafternoon nap was definitely in order but I snuck in a catch of two good sized\nsalmon before retiring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the bouncy part increased as the wind shifted to true S and so we pushed on towards the open ocean and around into Farm Beach, where there were a half dozen or so boats moored and a scattering of small buildings on the beach. We anchored over what looked to be wonderful squidding water but the squid were either elusive or missing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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6th<\/sup> February \u2013 We woke late and had a lazy breakfast. We were all feeling the effects of life afloat and needed a walk somewhere so we decided to go back to Little Mount Douglas and explore the village. With the tide low, we had to take the long way around and so the trip took longer than expected. As we anchored up off the tiny mouth to Little Mount Dutton Creek, a couple of oyster boats appeared and charged towards the inlet at a huge rate. We were anchored a couple of hundred metres out because the water is only a foot and a bit deep but the oyster boats simply tilted their huge outboards and hit the throttle. Spewing an enormous rooster tail, they belted over the shallows and found the sanctuary of the slightly deeper water of the creek. It was an amazing feat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The lagoon at Little Mount Dutton<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, we putted in with the rubber ducks scraping the\nbottom, anchored them on a pretty little beach and wandered up into a\nsurprisingly large collection of well made beach homes. At the top of the pathway\nwe met a local bloke, a retired whiting fisherman who was born and raised in\nLittle Mount Dutton. He bemoaned the coming of the oyster fisherman and\nsuggested that they were responsible for many of the things that are now wrong\nwith the place but we saw little to agree on and remained silent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We walked for a bit and explored the limited area. There are\nno shops or pubs or anything of that nature but there is a whole heap of\nevident pride in the little location. Everything is incredibly neat and tidy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Back on the boats, we decided to head back into the confines of Coffin Bay and followed a path around the massive oyster leases. The sight of some long stretches of white beach over towards the Black Springs area beckoned and we changed course to explore. With the wind in the south, there were any number of possible anchorages to try and fish and to settle in for the night. We settled on one small bay that was fine unless things went too far east. After a wonderful meal of fresh salmon with basil peso (don\u2019t let anyone tell you Australian Salmon are poor eating), we settled in for a long game of \u201cPhase 10\u201d (an addictive but frustrating card game) with Dawsons. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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By the time Bill finally won, it was starting to get a little rolly. By the time we woke up around 11pm, it was extremely rolly. For some reason (probably a tide flow), both boats hug across the waves, which were bigger than expected because of the ESE wind. We swung, lurched, banged against a wave, rocked then settled to a brief calm, before repeating the whole process. It was horrible. Both Bill and I separately considered the merits of a midnight move and rejected the idea. It was really horrible, but not dangerous so we all put up with a night from hell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

7th<\/sup> February \u2013 The wind and waves finally abated around 4am, and everyone got such much needed sleep. That didn\u2019t stop me getting up at 7:30 and announcing that it was a quick breakfast and leave to seek the comfort of numerous anchorage choices closer to town. We motored off through Port Douglas and back to Point Misery for a short fish. Only the herring were biting so we didn\u2019t stay long, electing to go to town for a spot of shopping and a pie (such indulgence). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Anchored off the Yacht Club at Coffin Bay townsite<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Both boats anchored off the yacht club, the tide being far\ntoo low to contemplate using the jetty, and we went ashore in the rubber ducks.\nUnfortunately, the supplies of block ice at Beachcombers had not been\nreplenished so we made do with bagged ice and a few other supplies. Then we all\nsat outside and devoured some truly wonderful pies. It\u2019s not as though we\naren\u2019t eating well on the boat but somehow the thought of purchased food made\nit all the more exciting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the way through the channel, we noticed a local fishing\nalone right on the edge of the channel. He seemed to be pretty cagey about us\nseeing whether he was catching anything so we decided that spot was worth a go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sure enough, it yielded quite a few king george whiting, of\nwhich four were size for us and five for Bill and Mary. Plenty of quality fish.\n At 30cm size limit, a legal sized king\nGeorge is a respectable fish and yields a lot of flesh. We settled back into\nthe shallows between the back of town and Rabbit Island for the night, which\nwas very comfortable and quiet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

8th<\/sup> February \u2013 We had a fairly lazy day, getting\nup late and lingering over breakfast until around 9:30. Bill and I headed off\nto the sand flats on the falling tide and collected some cockles for whiting\nbait, easily managing enough. Once we had them opened and ready for the hook,\nwe headed back to the spot on the edge of the channel and picked up some more\nnice fat whiting. Served as crumbed fillets with some fried rice they should do\nthe trick. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is almost time to consider pulling out. We have explored a lot of Coffin Bay and pretty much experienced what it has to offer. As with our last visit, finding enough seafood to live on is not hard, the water simply teems with life. Water supplies are holding out but need watching, fuel is still good, with about 100 litres of 200 litres used having covered around 65nm. The toilet will need emptying soon, not something that can be considered in a big inlet where oysters are cultivated. Perhaps we will go to Port Lincoln tomorrow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

9th<\/sup> February \u2013 We did our homework on the tides\nand found that we had two key timeslots; either pull out by 9:30 or wait until\nafter 2pm. We rose before sunrise at 6:30 to make sure that we had time to\nprepare for haul out at 9am. The cars and trailers were at the caravan park ($3\nper day storage in a secure spot) which is about 1.5km from the ramps so we\ndevised a plan to drop the girls off near the caravan park so they could drive\nup to the ramps with the trailers while we motored back. All went well,\nalthough the tide was already very low and getting the inflatable ashore with\nthe girls was touch and go. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The tide was hammering out, creating a strong current across\nthe jetties at the ramps. The current was assisted by the breeze so coming\nalongside was tricky to say the least. I messed up the first approach and even\nthe bow thrusters couldn\u2019t rescue me so I pulled back and went about for a\nsecond shot. Bill\u2019s approach looked spot on until something happened at the\nlast minute and he ended up broadside across the space between two jetties. I\nmanaged to slip straight into a berth on the second attempt and went to help\nMary haul on the lines to straighten their boat. By the time we had that under\ncontrol, the tide had dropped more and finding enough water for the trailers\nwas getting harder. I sank mine as much as I dared and drove on but only got half\nway up before there was the horrible grinding of the prop hitting the ramp.\nChristine backed the trailer even deeper and with the motor heavily tilted I\ngot the boat onto the trailer, the prop showing signs of needing a good filing\nto reduce the scars. Bill managed his onto the trailer with the help and advice\nof a couple of locals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We spent about an hour at the excellent wash down facility,\ncleaning some of the salt off, emptying Bill\u2019s holding tanks and our Porta Loo\nand generally readying the boats for the road trip to Port Lincoln. There was\nalso quite a lot of chatting to other boaties around us, something  that always seems to happen when blokes and\nboats get together. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

By the time we had crossed the 47km and booked into the Port\nLincoln Caravan Park it was around noon, so we had been pretty efficient in our\nwork.  Coffin Bay had lived up to\nexpectations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Days on the water – 7<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Distance covered   ~70nm \/ 130km<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fuel used  ~120L<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Water used ~ 100L from tanks + 20L\nadditional<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Issues \u2013 Ongoing problem with fuel\nsupply cutting off until engine reaches operating temperature of 150\u00b0F\n\/  66\u00b0C.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The grand plan consists of towing the boat over the Nullabor Plain to the Eyre Peninsula in South Australia, meeting Bill and Mary, whose boat (Larsen…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":2647,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[261,4],"tags":[240,413,15,414],"class_list":["post-2635","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-australia","category-holidays","tag-coffin-bay","tag-eyre-peninsula","tag-fishing","tag-south-australia","has_thumb","clearfix"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hinchy.org\/travels\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/IMG_20200207_132413541_BURST000_COVER_TOP-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1440&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8sUAc-Gv","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hinchy.org\/travels\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2635","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hinchy.org\/travels\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hinchy.org\/travels\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hinchy.org\/travels\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hinchy.org\/travels\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2635"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/hinchy.org\/travels\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2635\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2657,"href":"https:\/\/hinchy.org\/travels\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2635\/revisions\/2657"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hinchy.org\/travels\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2647"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hinchy.org\/travels\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2635"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hinchy.org\/travels\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2635"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hinchy.org\/travels\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2635"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}