Eddy Point

Our arrival at Eddy Point harbour was quite uneventful.  A light rain dampened the trip but we were happy to see the weather clear as we got closer to the harbour. Eddy Point is a small circular unmanned harbour with a fairly well  kept wharf.  It is no longer a government assisted wharf so those who have private fishing vessels tied here maintain the wharf themselves. 

 There were 3 or 4 small capers , a dory and one power boat  secured to the wharf  when we arrived and there was room for us.  The only people around were two local fellows fishing mackerel from the pier as we pulled in. They paid us no heed as we glided in to secure Bridlewilde to an inner floating dock.

Both fishermen continued casting their rods in hopes of hitting a mackerel as a school swarmed closer into the wharf.  It was shortly after five when we arrived and once we were securely tied Keith went about preparing a meal for us and I scouted out what was going on.  I went to talk to the fellows on the pier to find out how they were doing. Each of them had 6 or 8 mackerel in their respective ice cream pails – while I continued to chat with them, the older of the two gentlemen received a cell call to come home for dinner and the other man asked me to take his line while he cleaned his fish.  He chuckled as he recounted that his wife had sent him down to the wharf to catch a few mackerel for the following day’s dinner and that he had better have a “good feed” to take back to her. It seemed reasonable to me that he’d  accommodate that request and I was having fun trying to help bring in a few while he cleaned what he had already caught.  But I only reeled in one and he had it in his bucket before I knew it. I confessed to him that I was not particularly fond of mackerel but that all 3 fellows in my family loved them.  He confided that he had a secret hint for mackerel preparation that he felt that if I tried he would be willing to bet that I would eat it for the rest of my life if it was prepared using his secret method.  We laughed as he gave me his secret.  My fishing skills were less than favorable; I was not catching a thing for him.  I suggested that he might do better with the fishing rod in his own hand, he agreed and we chuckled again.  I wished him well as I headed off into the harbour to explore and take some photos.

It is a beautiful little harbour – there are no services here but it is a lovely spot to tie overnight or come in off the water for a lunch stop. There is good protection behind a breakwater at the wharf from the sea; the entry is wide enough and the harbour is deep with ample room to anchor if one chose to do so. And it is not busy so it appealed to us.   The small rocky beach is backed by quite a dense bushland but there is a pagoda at the beach with a picnic table and portable toilet availability.

I walked back to the boat after scouting about the rest of the harbour. Other local people were arriving at the wharf by car and truck to fish from the pier.  The fellow I had been talking with had caught a few more and was on his way home to his wife with his catch for the day.  We wished each other well as we passed and I continued on to our boat as I watched the sun set on the horizon behind me. The captain had our supper ready and after dinner we prepared for our departure further east the following day.