This was a maintenance voyage: I had booked a haul-out at Bullock Island to clean Malua’s bottom and apply antifouling. The route from Bermagui ran past Eden, Green Cape and Gabo Island, then along Ninety Mile Beach. Reflected swell made the first stage uncomfortable and a strong wind warning ruled out my planned stop at Gabo.
Finding the entrance
After a night at sea, I approached the low sand coast at dawn. There is no rocky headland to announce Lakes Entrance, so I watched the chartplotter, waypoints and depth contours. I closed the hatches and washboards, put on my lifejacket and made a VHF call asking for room to enter, given Malua’s draft.
The outgoing stream was running strongly, with breaking standing waves near the breakwalls. I lined up the blue leading lights and kept Malua’s bow into the current. Progress over the ground slowed to about two knots as she passed between the entrance markers. Once beyond the wall I made a careful turn into calmer water and secured to a wharf.
The trip had taken about 35 hours. It was time for a cup of tea, dry clothes and then the work that had brought Malua to the Gippsland Lakes.