Sydney

Thursday - 20/03/2014

As we neared Long Bay the wind vanished and the sea glassed out, we entered Sydney Heads and into the harbour, Nancy contacted Janet at RANSA (Royal Australian Navy Sailing Association) to see if we could pop in and say hello, Janet said we could come alongside the dock. RANSA is in Rushcutters Bay , we arrived there and Janet was there to help us tie up, we went inside and had a chat and bought a new burgee. We also dropped some books into their library before leaving.

(One of the outstanding lights on the harbour)

(Passing 'Young Endeavour'  as we enter the harbour)

(Inside RANSA, in my early days in the Navy this used to be HMAS Rushcutter and was used by the clearance divers, still the old shed it used to be makes it unique, Nancy at the exchange book library)

(The 'Coat Hanger', the Sydney Harbour Bridge, one of the many sea planes in top left there are a number of them around the harbour)

We left there and headed further up the harbour under the coat hanger, Sydney Harbour Bridge, and went on to White Bay where No. ^ dock is where there is a fuel base to top up with fuel.  It is a 24 hour self service, however, although the machine accepts all banking cards if you are not registered with Baileys you have to get the attendant to authorise the sale, we just phoned the number on the machine and he came straight away.

(North side of Garden Island Dockyard and No 1 & 2 mooring buoys, this place used to be packed with naval ships now many of them are stationed around Australia and at the other Garden Island in Western Australia)

(Garden Island Dockyard the new commissioned HMAS Canberra is in the background)

(Fort Dennison  in the middle of the harbour convicts were put on this island in the early days for solitary confinement)

(The Sydney Opera House)

(Circular Quay where the Sydney Ferries operate from and the city behind, in the 1960's the AMP building third from left was the tallest building in Sydney)

We left there and headed to Athol Bay near Taronga Park Zoo and picked up a mooring, they are supposed to be a 4 hour limit but by the time the 4 hours is up it will be near sunset so we will stay overnight.

We watched a lovely sunset and the night lights of Sydney .

(Sydney sunset from Athol Bay)

(Night lights of Sydney)

Friday - 21/03/2014

A beautiful morning on the harbour the ferries starting their runs and other ship movement, earlier before light we awoke to a noise which was a passenger liner arriving with all its bright lights shining across the water.

After breakfast we slipped the mooring and headed for the Spit Bridge with its first opening being 1015 hours.

(Passenger ship arrives early in the morning)

The sun had gone behind the clouds and the wind picked up a little. We were lucky enough to pick up one of the moorings at the bridge to wait out the opening once through the bridge we headed to Sugarloaf Bay and hoped one of the moorings were free. As we went along looking at some of the waterfront homes, they must be worth a fortune. Houses on the lower levers have stairs from the road at the top some have a spiral staircase. They  would have to be very fit people climbing those steps every day.

(The Spit Bridge in Middle Harbour)

(A yacht ahead of use making the approach to the bridge waiting for the green light)

(Our mast as we go through the bridge opening)

We arrived at Sugarloaf Bay and fortunately there was one mooring available the other three were taken. These moorings are 24 hour use times. The bay is very nice, quiet with some homes but mainly National Park Lands. Being Friday a few other boats arrived and anchored overnight. We had a quiet time aboard.

Saturday - 22/03/2014

We headed for the d'Abora Marina by the Spit Bridge, the only marina that had space for us and a very expensive marina at $175 per night. We needed to go into a marina to give the boat a good clean and so that Nancy's sister could visit us. They do provide a good service at the marina there were two young men waiting to help dock us and the person in charge was very helpful.

As soon as we settled I started scrubbing the boat and Nancy headed for the laundry, we had just both finished as Nancy's sister Marge arrived and we had lunch at the cafe at the marina. Marge left after a couple of hours and I went for a Nanna nap.

Later we went for a walk and called into Plonk Beach Cafe, (don't know what attracted me to the place), we sat and had a refreshing drink a nibble of sour dough bread and balsamic and olive oil before heading back to the boat for dinner.

Sunday - 23/03/2014

We had breakfast whilst listening to Macca on Australia All Over had showers and got ready to be picked up by two lovely friends, John and Kim Chong at 0900 hours. They had offered to pick us up and take us shopping and then we were going for lunch.

They arrived and after hellos as we have not seen them for 4 years we headed for Chatswood shopping centre, we got the shopping done and went back and unloaded it on the boat then we set off for lunch, Kim had picked out a Tai Restaurant for lunch which was very nice, we chatted and caught up with the times. After lunch we went to John and Kim's home, they have this large unit on the edge of The Rocks area and from their 23 floor you can see the harbour up towards Cockatoo Island, the bridge and the Luna Park and where the passenger liners berth at Circular Quay. The units have their own gym and swimming pool on the second floor, very nice.

(Lovely couple John and Kim where we had lunch at a Thai Restaurant) 

(Pictures of The Rocks area as we walked to the Orient Hotel for dinner)

(Eating again with John and Kim they organised dinner at the Orient Hotel)

(The old and the new in The Rocks, John and Kim's unit is on the 23rd floor)

(The night view from John and Kim's unit)

Kim and John had also organised to go out to dinner and took us along to The Orient Hotel in The Rocks which is a splendid old hotel. We had a great dinner and after went back to John and Kim's for coffee before returning on board. Thank you John and Kim for a wonderful day and spoiling us.

(Nancy and I having our photo taken by John on the north shore)

(HMAS Sydney WW1 Memorial)

(The old dock areas being converted to units)

(Another view of Sydney)

(Sydney Opera House from the north shore)

Monday  - 24/03/2014

We had some time before we could go as the bridge opening is at 1015 hours during the week that is the earliest time, so we filled the water tanks rinsed the boat off and did last minute things and had a shower before leaving. At 1015 hours  we went through the bridge and headed out to Sydney Harbour Heads and turned north.

Cheers

Eden to Sydney via Jervis Bay and Crookhaven

Wednesday - 12/03/2014

We set off at 0710 hours after waiting for the wind to change we will have a tail wind going north which is not always good for us but a lot better than being on the nose. As we progressed further north the winds strengthened . Two other yachts followed us out of Eden these being monohulls worked the wind a little better than us. One of the yachts was 'Honey Bee' the other was a French yacht. These yachts were wing on wing  where we just relied on our headsail.

('Honey Bee' and I think the French yacht working hard with the wind)

 ('Alana Rose' under headsail, photo taken by Peter on 'Honey Bee')

The seas were getting a little lumpy but not too bad, we reached Batemans Bay late in the night 'Honey Bee' turned in to the entrance but we continued on, not having an anchor winch and not having been to Batemans Bay before I did not want to get myself in a position where we anchored and then for some reason had to move quickly, the fact is once the anchor is down we can't move quickly it can take up to 20 minutes to bring the anchor up by manual system.

We sailed through the night and entered Jervis Bay at first light, as we were going to get strong NE winds for the next few days we decided to go to the north of Jervis Bay to Callala Bay, if we are lucky we may be able to pick up a public mooring. It has been many years since I have been in Jervis Bay, I think the last time may have been in 1967 on HMAS Attack.

Thursday - 13/03/2014

As we approached Callala Bay we contacted VMR to let them know we had arrived and we asked them about the moorings, they gave us the Lat/Long for its location and we found it amongst other moored yachts, it is a large pink coloured buoy.

A friend Simon informed me that some insurance companies will not insure your yacht on these moorings, Club Marine is one of these. Fortunately we are with Panteanius and we are covered. The problem is that this bay is not protected against any southerly winds and they are some of the strongest winds in this area, we have all heard of the "Southerly Buster " that comes up the NSW coast. It is always best to check with your insurance company or read your policy thoroughly to see what you are covered for. Club Marine have got a few areas where they will not cover insurance on moorings. When we arrived at Callala Bay there was one yacht already on its side on the beach where it had come off a mooring in the winds yesterday. Fortunately it was not a large yacht and it was retrieved by sailing club members at high tide.

These moorings are regularly inspected it is just the holding and the high winds from the south whip up quite a bit along the open waters of Jervis Bay.

Once we were secured on the mooring we had a feed a shower and a rest. Nancy contacted her brother and sister that live about 25 minutes away and Keith came to visit in the afternoon and tomorrow Phyllis and Ernie will pick us up and take us out to their place.

Callala Bay has a small jetty that has fresh water tap nearby along with a boat ramp, toilets, rubbish bins and a BBQ area. It is about a ten minute walk from the jetty to the small shopping centre that has just about everything. There is a hardware store that is packed with all sorts of goodies and does gas bottle top ups, close by is a Cafe, be warned do not order a hamburger and chips unless you are really hungry, I was about to order a burger with the lot and the lady that owns the shop talked me out of it, so I got the plain burger and could hardly finish that, the chips were left on the plate. Very nice and plentiful. There is a Post Office, Bakery, IGA supermarket, Coffee Shop, Fish and Chip Shop, Pizza Restaurant for evenings, Hairdressers, Newsagents, and many Real estate offices.

(Jetty and boat ramp at Callala Bay)

(Callala Bay)

Nancy's brother Keith came over in the afternoon and we spent some time with him, Keith lives in Nowra and is writing his third book, he is retired but helps out at the local museum. We had a quiet night aboard watching the water Police carry out some exercise.

Friday - 14/03/2014

Nancy's sister Phyllis and partner Ernie picked us up in the morning and we called into Keith's house and then all went for lunch at the RSL club, then we went to Phyl and Ernie's place for the afternoon before coming back to the boat. We had a good drive around the countryside. We returned on board for a quiet evening.

Saturday - 15/03/2014

Very quiet day did a water run and washing. Went for a walk into the shopping centre and had coffee and a look around.

(Sunrise at Callala Bay)

(Callala Bay nice sunny day)

(Stingray near the jetty, the jetty is its home)

(Water Police appear to be doing exercises)

(Evening sky at Callala Bay)

Sunday - 16/03/2014

Another quiet day had a visit from an ex-work colleague Simon May, Simon is the one we missed seeing in Batemans Bay he brought us a nice bottle of red wine, he said he did not know what our stocks were like. Thanks Simon, very nice mate it is a shame we did not get to see Tracey but one day we will catch up again.  I picked Simon up in the dinghy and he came over for coffee and a chat.

After Simon left we went for a walk then checked the weather, the seas are still well up around the 3-4 metres and winds from the north it looks like Tuesday if we leave early in the morning we may be able to head up to Greenwell Point at Crookhaven before the north winds strengthen later in the day.

Tuesday - 18/03/2014

We set sail at 0315 hours under a moon lit night with light winds. As we exited Jervis Bay the waves picked up a little after changing course north the waves started to rebound off the cliff faces and this is the norm for this area so it is a little uncomfortable when close to the land. A couple of fishing boats were well lit up and working. Some fishing boats have their floodlights on but they don't always have their navigation lights on this often makes it difficult to guess the direction they are heading as the floodlights are on each side and on the stern  and even if they have the navigation lights on they are difficult to identify against the bright lights so it is always the best to give them a wide berth.

(Sunrise as we approach Crookhaven)

As we neared Crookhaven I found that there were many small boats out fishing not many of these had any lights on whatsoever, it was just on first light and they were hard to identify. There were more than a dozen boats out there and more coming out as it was near high tide when the fish bite.

We entered Crookhaven and made our way up to Greenwell Point and anchored behind 'Honey Bee'  where Peter and Chris had anchored after coming up from Batemans Bay.

(The Crookhaven River)

Later in the morning we headed ashore and on the way called in to see Peter and Chris, Peter said it is a nice place here but he would be pleased to leave because of all the small motor boats, they go passed at full speed and rock the hell out of all the anchored boats. We will be both heading out tomorrow.

We went ashore and had lunch at a small restaurant, very nice seafood platter for two. There are a couple of eateries here and a small shopping village with small supermarket and Post Office. There is also a swimming pool and outside are showers and toilets.

The anchorage is quite good holding and the river has a strong flow so basically we turn with the flow of the tide, the small boats do go by at full speed but not really a worry to us in our catamaran, we rock a little but not to concern us but a monohull does rock a little more.

Wednesday - 19/03/2014

We headed out at first light at 0550 hours at first the winds were light and we hoisted the sails and motor sailed for a short time until the winds kicked in we are expecting some strong southerly winds. We had a good sail north sometime after we left we saw the sails of 'Honey Bee'  but this time they did not catch up to us we sailed wing on wing and was sailing at a good speed.

(Winging it with a strong tail wind to Port Hacking)

(Entering Gunnamatta Bay)

(Gunnamatta Bay and Cronulla)

We arrived at Gunnamatta Bay, Port Hacking at 1450 hours and picked up a friend Barry's mooring which is very handy when the anchor winch is broken. When Barry came home from work we went ashore to meet him and we went to the Cronulla RSL club for dinner with some of his friends. This club has recently been renovated and it is a beautiful club and very nice meals. The view over the beach and sea is terrific.

We returned on board and got ready for another early start tomorrow.

Thursday - 20/03/2014

Well we did not get away until after breakfast there is little wind, we let go of the mooring at 0715 hours and made our way out the channel and out to sea, we hoisted the mainsail as we left the narrow channel  as we may get some assistance from it but it looks like another motor day.

(The boat sheds that are along the narrow channel into Gunnamatta Bay)

We passed Botany Bay, Captain Cook would not recognise it if he were alive today in fact I hardly recognised it, my last time here was on HMAS Moresby as we participated in the Cook landing enactment in 1970 we were the escort for Britannia. Botany Bay is now Sydney's main shipping port.

(Nearing Sydney Heads looking at some of these homes atop of rock cliffs that may fall one day)

(Approaching Sydney Heads)

(The Coat Hanger, Sydney Harbour Bridge)

Cheers.

Flinders Island to Eden

Wednesday - 05/03/2014

As I mentioned in my last scribbles that we left the dock at 1700 hours and drifted in the harbour of Lady Baron to stow fenders, fender boards and ropes ready for sea. The local Police Officer Matt had given me some information regarding exiting the bar on the eastern side, and that was to favour the red side slightly as the bar has moved, he said we would see it when we got out there and we did. Where the leads indicate the waves are breaking quite well but just to the port side on exiting there is calm reasonably water which we went through and some as shallow as 3 metres.

It is a fair way out to the sand bar but the ebbing tide pushed us along at 9 knots. When got out there the predicted ESE winds of 10-15 knots  was there which pleased me although I am expecting a short burst of strong easterlies later tonight for a short period.

We passed Babel Island at a good distance just on dark and dolphins came out for a play at the front of the boat then the night settled in and a dark night no moon. Then the wind changed to ENE and came in strong 20-25 knots. I checked Meteye on the net and it still indicates we should be getting ESE 15 knots. As we went on the winds got stronger and eventually we had 35 knots and the waves standing up quite a lot, to get any benefit from the sails I had to change course to head for the Victorian coast, I figured if we had this wind all the way when we got close to the coast we could then change course and the wind may not be as strong.

Come the time of change of watch I did not wake Nancy, it was a little scary for me out here, it would be very scary for her to be here and besides I would not sleep worrying about her out here. Nancy got up a couple of times and I told her to go back to bed. She finally took the watch at first light, things had calmed down some we now had 20-25 knot winds still from the same direction and very uncomfortable. It is not often in a catamaran we lose books and stuff off shelves but we did last night.

Thursday - 06/03/2014

The day brought rain squalls and strong winds but not as bad as last night, I am on my third set of clothes the others being very wet. Last night we had waves coming over the top of the boat as we crashed into them. I was looking out the side checking for any other ships when one wave hit and I ducked under cover, thinking I was smart that the wave missed me I stuck my head out again just as the boat rolled and all the water on top of the bimini went down the back of my neck.

We are still get water over the bows and spray over the top occasionally but today the rain is coming in with it. We kept our normal watches today and I got a bit of sleep, we still have today and tonight to go before we get to Eden. We are still on the same course for the Victorian coast and hoping for the wind to give us some favour tonight when we get close to it.

(This short video is of the second day from Flinders Island when things had settled a little)

On these overnight runs Nancy always makes a big pot of stew or alike in the Shuttle Chef, so we have plenty to eat and can grab a feed whenever we feel a bit hungry. The food also warms you when it is cold and it is cold.

Friday - 07/03/2014

The weather has not changed but at least now the predictions are showing what we are getting in fact that did occur yesterday morning to be fair. As I mentioned before weather this time of year in Bass Strait is very unpredictable with so many low pressures over the mainland.

The sad fact is that we are not going to get any change in the weather until we start heading north for Eden so we have to stay on course for the Victorian coast and then change to an eastward course when we are a few miles off and bash into these east winds until we can turn north.

I change to the eastward course during my watch after 0400 hours and was pleased to change course northward some two and half hours later, daylight came and although there were a few squalls the sea was calmer than it had been it poured rain for a few minutes at a time as the squalls came by us. After the squalls the seas settled and we just motored along into Eden.

(Cape Green as the rain squall goes by)

We arrived at Eden at 1130 hours going alongside the dock for a couple of days.

Eden

07/03/2014 cont.....

It  is quite a long approach into Eden  and it is rather a large harbour taking in the different bays, we had contacted the harbour master to go alongside the dock, unfortunately it is on the side that has the swell pushing us onto the dock but conditions were good at this time, the cost of the dock is $25 per day for vessels of out length. Again the dock has pylons so the fender boards were required  and we have to watch the tide levels with the length of docking lines. We soon learned to also take an anchor  45⁰ off the bow away from the wharf naturally. We did this by me lowering the dinghy and taking our large Bruce anchor out and dropping it in the appropriate spot and then tensioning the anchor rope this helps to hold the boat off the dock.

(Alana Rose alongside Eden Dock)

(Fisherman behind us repairing nets)

Just after we got settled a fishing boat came along the other side of the dock from us and people started arriving, one of the guys wives told us that they go out getting prawns and when they get alongside they cook them and sell them from the boat as well as to the fish shops. So that is what we had for lunch, 1Kg of cooked prawns as fresh as $20. A nice lunch of beer and prawns.

Fortunately the harbour master told us to get settled if we did not catch him today see him Monday, by the time we went for a walk ashore he had gone home so Monday it was.

Whilst we got our prawns organised along came Peter and Chris off 'Honey Bee' a monohull yacht, they had been looking out for us as we had them having been told about each other by three sets of mutual friends, so we finally met each other, they were anchored out away from the dock. They were heading off to town and we told them about the prawns  so they bought some and we stored them in our fridge until they came back.

We also talked to a couple from Victoria that was walking the docks, they love looking at the waterfront and boats, so we had a chat and as they were interested in what we had done I gave them a card so they could check out our blogs. They thanked us and asked if we needed a lift into town to do the shopping and we said we are fine.

We had a quiet night aboard as we were both a little bushed from the last couple of days.

Saturday - 08/03/2014

We decided after breakfast we would head into town so off we went  as we got to the end of the dock the couple we were talking to yesterday were there to meet us and ask if they could drive us into town. What a nice gesture,  again the Aussie spirit comes forward, there are a lot of nice people out here. We took their offer and they drove us up the steep hill to town, we thanked them and they asked if we wanted a lift back and we said we were fine and they realised we were used to doing what we do.

 We had a look around town and checked where things were and on the way back we called into an important shop to get a few bottles of red wine then we headed to the Whale Museum, a very interesting place, Eden has a lot of history not only being the first place in Australia to start shore based whaling but also maritime events and political. It was first thought that this is where the houses of parliament would be. I bought a book from the museum called the Two Fold Bay Story, great little book.

(Eden Killer Whale Museum)

(A painting that shows how the men chased and killed whales)

(The skeleton of 'Old Tom', you can see the damage by the infection on the top of his right side jaw and the damage to his teeth on the left bottom, this damage was caused by Tom helping the whalers by grabbing the harpoon line and dragging it down to drown the harpooned whale)

Australia's first shore based whaling station started in Snug Cove in 1828 when Captain Thomas Raine sent a party of 25 men who stayed for 3 months and others followed after them. Many of the places and streets are named after the men who started whaling in the area, fortunes made and fortunes lost. There were  many aborigines worked the whaling boats and the man they worked for treated them fairly and they were paid well which was different to many others and the incredible part is that the killer whales (Orca's) that worked with the whalers. They would round up a whale and drive them in the bay and it was known for one of the killer whales to come into the bay and let the whalers know they had a whale and would lead them to the whale they had rounded up. You may ask why the killer whales would do this, well it was for reward, killer whales like to feed on whales lips and tongues, they learnt that the whalers once they had harpooned a whale from a whaler boat not a ship and once they had tired it they would then kill it and tie a buoy to the harpoon rope the whale would sink, this is when the killer whales would feed on the dead whales lips and tongue, some day later the body of the whale would start to decompose filling the body full of gases and the whale would float and that is when the whalers would tow them in.

The killer whales would work in groups and in one group there was a leader and the most famous in the area was a killer whale named Tom, Tom's skeleton is in the museum, Tom was found dead in the bay aged around 35 years it looked like he had an apses  on a tooth which had eaten away part of his jaw, they feel that this prevented him from eating and he died from starvation. Tom was thought to be a lot older as they thought he had been around many years before, apparently they are identified by the shape of their fin, but apparently there must have been two Toms, one replaced the other.

 Whaling ceased in the area for a number of reasons, a gold rush started at one time, then there was the industry of sleeper cutting which many whalers took on outside the whaling season and in the end felt it safer to continue sleeper cutting rather than tackle the monsters in the sea where their lives were at greater risk. This combined with less whales coming to the bays for the simple reason there were fewer female whales, the fact was that the whales that came to the bay were looking for some place to have their young so many of the whales that were killed in those times were in calf this naturally lessened the numbers  of the future whales to be.  The other thing to was that there were now whaling ships and chasers operating, the chasers did the harpooning and the n fill the whales full of compressed air keeping them afloat at the end of the day they would tow them in and tie them to a buoy ready to be hauled ashore.

Some of you may feel disgusted that this occurred but one has to remember that  this was the only oil for lighting and other uses of that day, it is not really any different to what we are doing today in drilling for oil and other products but most drive cars that uses these fuels and oils but every time there is a disaster in the industry we all get up in arms about it, but as I say again we all use these products as the people did in the days of whaling. Whatever your thoughts it is part of our history and a very interesting one. Eden and Two Fold Bay has a lot of history besides whaling , the later days of fishing which is now falling away with new restrictions. This place used to have an enormous amount of fishing boats today they are but a few.

One thing I have noticed in our travels is the many smaller places closing down as the industry has been taken away from them and there is nothing to take its place, empty shops and business premises and the crime rate rises in the way of theft.  I believe we have to protect the environment but sometimes I wonder whether we are going too far the other way, look at the crocodile population, let's face it today they do not have a predator in this country and as the waters warm up they will move and already are moving further south. Food for thought. One fact is that many governments try to encourage people to move to rural areas to reduce the growing numbers in the cities, but the problem is they are also creating much red tape and restrictions that business cannot survive in the rural areas and they are closing down.

(The Cafe I mentioned below is in part of the historic building)

Sunday - 09/03/2014

It is a wet rainy day today so we decided to head into town early with the washing for the Laundromat and whilst the washing was being done head to a cafe for breakfast and there is a great little cafe in town  called 'Cuppaz Cafe'  if you want a great feed this is the place very friendly service and most the locals go there. When breakfast and washing and drying was complete we headed back to the boat and whilst it was calm decided to go and anchor out as the seas were going to get a little rougher today. On returning we got things organised started engines let go of the docking lines and then I pulled the Bruce anchor up which as I did helped pull us away from the dock, we went out just passed the moored boats and dropped the anchor.

(The view from our anchorage of Snug Bay)

(Eden docks Snug Cove)

(HMAS Stuart going into the naval dock at East Boyd Bay, this is where the naval ships pick up their explosives, they closed down the Sydney armoury in 2003)

Eden town has two supermarkets and many other shops to get all your needs. The is also a great fish and chip (plus other seafood) shop near the docks, it is the one that is around the corner from the larger cafes.

Eden is a very nice part of this world and worth a visit, people are friendly and the place is very clean and tidy. For travellers there are toilets and showers down by the docks. Quite  a unique shower it has a preset temperature of around 40⁰C and it has a timer button instead of taps so you have to keep pressing the button whilst you have a shower.

As far as using the dock it costs $15 up to 12 metre boat and $25 for 12 - 15 metres per day. The problem I have mentioned before if there is a surge it can bounce you against the dock, the other alternative is contact one of the fishing boats and raft against one of those or just anchor out.

Cheers