We made it! So good to be home

The day just kept getting better! We continued to enjoy some calmer seas and the wind even turned around towards the end and we got to put some sails up! We saw seals and HEAPS of dolphins! This video was taken just off Lake Tyers Beach, only an hour out of Lakes Entrance.

It's amazing how narrow the bar actually is. It is the only entrance to the Gippsland Lakes - the largest inland waterway in the southern hemisphere - including Lake Wellington, Lake Victoria and Lake King.

But look how tiny it is...the blue dot is us, just after seeing the last pod of dolphins off Lake Tyers Beach, and we just need to make it through that little entrance and we're home inside the Lakes again!

Here it is zoomed in...I've just checked and it has recently been widened to 160m...don't know what I was worried about??

I've got to say, as we approached, it was a little daunting! Pete had brought Gradiva through the bar once before, when he first brought her home from Noumea. And gone back out in Gradiva as well obviously, on his way up to Sydney this trip. We'd also been out and back through the bar in our friend's (the Barlows) boat but that was a very calm, flat day. I had just read on Facebook that The Pelican had just left after doing another great job of dredging, turning the notoriously dangerous bar (apparently it has claimed over 150 lives) into a much safer one! But there were some big waves crashing to the beach either side and even though we had timed it perfectly with the full tide, it looked dodgy to me!

I've just done some research and I'm glad I'm only reading this now and not before we went through because there are a lot of variables to contend with. Apparently the wave action, shifting sand, and currents are all subject to a variety of influences, including lunar ocean tide, swell generated a long distance away, current flowing through Bass Strait, local wind, outflow from the four rivers that flow into the lake system and atmospheric pressure. Jeepus!!

Anyway, we had to steer right over to the port side and line up the two markers that have been set up by Gippsland Ports and follow that line in. Gradiva was surfing the waves and the alarm warning us that it was too shallow continued to alarm the whole way through! But it wasn't just smooth riding down the waves as we'd done before out at sea...we were all over the place! It was weird. Pete said it must have been the sea water mixing with the fresher lake water (or a whole combination of everything in the previous paragraph!) but whatever it was, we made it through no worries by about 1pm Saturday afternoon!

We took another 2 hours to motor around to our jetty, giving us time to pack everything up...

And there she is - a sight for sore eyes - our Raymond Island!

We came up McMillan Straight just behind the 3pm ferry and reversed into our jetty berth. Charlie from across the road was there to welcome us at the jetty, along with Greg from down the road, Johnny from around the corner and Dave who owns the berth next but one to ours. It was nice to have a welcoming party - even if half of them were only there by accident, having a quiet fish off the jetty!

Home, sweet home!! Let's go and get Nelson :)

I would just like to thank my lovely Pete for providing this amazing adventure. Sailing is still something I have so much to learn about but I'm so grateful that I loved the whole being out on the water thing. I've always loved the beach and the sand but now being out there at sea I think I'd actually love those long hauls where you see nothing but water. I felt completely safe the whole time and I'm sure part of that goes down to Gradiva and her solid structure but the majority is due to Mr Peter Buckley, Mr Safety Boy, who knows so much about so many things. There are so many things to know about sailing and the wind and the water and the engine and SOOOOOOOO many things on that boat that could go wrong, just from flushing the toilet the wrong way or switching the engine off the wrong way. I know I'll never learn anywhere near as much as Pete but as long as he is with me I'll be alright. Love him to bits and so in awe of his ability to "do stuff".

And now begins all the washing...

Gradiva Crew: Peter Buckley, Ayla Buckley, Jacqui Teague