'Sécurité, sécurité, sécurité! All ships! All ships!'

Solo sailor Owen Moorhouse recalls having to make quick contingency plans at night while battling fatigue

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Crowdy Head is an artificial boat harbour on the north coast of New South Wales. It was built in the 1960s and designed to provide a haven for a small fishing fleet and is now also home to a permanent Volunteer Marine Rescue vessel.

The harbour's relentless swell makes it uncomfortable for cruising yachts and at best it's an overnight stay. I stopped there on arrival from Port Macquarie, 26 miles further north, but was glad to set sail the next morning on my journey south. My plan was to pick up a mooring buoy at Broughton Island, an uninhabited island about 55 miles south of Crowdy Head and named after Commander William Broughton who surveyed the area in 1795.

If I made better time than expected, I'd head for Port Stephens which is a safe, snug place to berth. However, given that's some 10 miles further south, it makes for a rather long sail, especially for a single-hander like me. My destination was Pittwater (north of Sydney Harbour) which is another very full day's sail further south. Port Stephens and Newcastle are the only all-weather ports between Crowdy Head and Pittwater. Cape Hawke is another marginal possibility although one I'd rather enter in near perfect conditions and only on a making tide.

Navigational hazards

The passage from Crowdy Head south to Sugarloaf Point was most enjoyable as an offshore westerly provided a smooth sea reach. The welcoming light on Sugarloaf Point became visible just as darkness fell, signalling that I was about 15 miles off Broughton Island.

Sugarloaf Point is more popularly known as Seal Rocks, for Australian fur seals are sighted here on occasion. However, sailors know the area more for the number of unlit rock hazards that extend a couple of miles to sea.