Cape Jaffa MarinaTues 6/4
Cape Jaffa ( & Robe)
Tues gave us a chance to settle & rest after our uncomfortable o/n from Wirrina, but that did not happen as CJ Marketing & Sales manager Mark Hayward dropped by to kindly offer us a lift to Robe for a couple of hours to check out this ever popular SE port and tourist locale. For us it was a great chance to check out the Robe marina & arrangements for yachts to visit. Mark comes from an extensive sailing background, some of it with Peter Page at the CYCSA. As it turned out, stories of Robe being unwelcoming to visiting yachts were totally without foundation. We met Michael Wilkin the Harbormaster (who also doubles as dogcatcher & General inspector) & he showed us the new visitor facilities - there were lots of berths and for $39/day visitors get access to showers etc at the yacht club. This is a fraction of what you would pay per night in SE's latte land and for that you get front row marine seats. Robe is an absolute delight and we resolved to call in if we could. By the time we got back to CJ there were further rain squalls and our plans to do the CJ tour by foot were shelved. A feed of local flake in the warm confines below supported by a glass or regional product saw us soon in a land of slumber.
Wed 7/4
Cape Jaffa - Robe
After Tues am we were wary of potentially changeable weather, but although a "weak change" was due later Wed pm the morn dawned so settled that we opted to do the 4hr passage to the Robe Marina. Mine Host, Lindsay Gilchrist, the CJ marina manager bade us a warm farewell & as we slid out of harbour we marvelled at the extent of the limestone stonework that is the hallmark of the marina. Not quite Machu Picchu, but remarkable nonetheless. There are grand plans for CJ and we wish the prponents well. We were just glad that CJ was there.
Leaving the marina, dodging some recrecreational craypots off North Rock saw us soon leaving Margaret Brock Reef to port and bound for Robe. There is always something enticing about approaching a new port, checking the entrance and navigation info, the tides, entrance depths, "leads" into the harbour etc. In this case Robe has a shallowish approach, and when the breakwater is rounded care is needed to stay parallel to the breakwater or the shoal ground to port comes in to play. Nature has given the Robe harbor a wiaf-slender entrance and this was further restricted for us by tethered professional fishing visitors from Geelong and King Island. We were glad to get in and not to meet a local boat on the way out. Soon we had HM Michael on board and with marina keys in hand it was latte time. By nightfall the change had come sputtered and gone and we resolved that if the Met info looked good an am departure on the long haul to Portland or Port Fairy was a chance. It looked as though we had to leave Thursday or run the risk of having to wait util some ugly weather passed post-weekend for us to make east. If it was possible, we were keen to go.
