Our new sailing season begins! Peter has been working hard on autumn cleaning Rene, antifouling her hull, checking all systems and sailing south for two weeks to Broken Bay with his mate Bob. They apparently had a good time. Marmong Point Marina boat yard turned out to be very good place to haul Rene out and work on the yearly maintenance.
Peter met me in Sydney, at Circular Quay, and we spent two days with Greg and Leisha and our beautiful little five month old granddaughter. She is delightful. Thanks for having us Greg and Leisha.
Jessica Abigail Scott
The two and a half hour train ride to Lake Macquarie set me up for our new sailing season. It is a lovely ride with the scenic beauty of the northern area of Sydney sliding past. No electronic gizmos for me with so much to see. We went straight to Coles for our reprovisioning, dumped everything on the boat and then set off for dinner at Roger and Carols. The evening was spent catching up on news and Roger cooked a delicious roast. Thanks Roger and Carol for everything you have done for us. Our sojourn on the lake has been wonderful and something we will always remember with pleasure.
At 7.30am we pulled the anchor and made our way over to the Swansea Channel to await the 9am opening of the bridge. We arrived 40 mins early and were luckily first there so hooked onto one of the two moorings until opening time. By the time the bridge opened there were about a dozen other craft waiting to steam through, mostly big 'stink' boats. They quickly left us behind with two other sailing yachts putting out of the channel. Once out we set sail for Port Stevens. The day was gorgeous. A perfect day for my first sail of the season. Even so I felt a little queasy now and again and could not go below much, so Peter was on sandwich duty. I could not help marvelling at the superb day that nature turned on for us - a steel blue sea sparkling with silver sequins under a cloudless autumn sky. Unfortunately little wind accompanied us and we motor sailed the whole way then we entered Port Stevens at 4.30pm, just in time to settle down for our first sundowner.
19th April Port Stevens to Tuncurry/Forster
Over night a big swell built up along the east coast and began affecting Shoal Bay, where we were anchored. Swells rolling around Tomaree Head began to invade our anchorage and Rene held by the current, started to roll 'like a pig in shit', quote Peter. We looked out into the dark and noticed breaking waves just behind us and roaring surf across the Entrance Shoal. What an uncomfortable night. Most of the other dozen or so visitors pulled anchor, and left at first light, probably with little sleep, like us. Shoal Bay is not pleasant in a 2.7m SE swell. I'd advise sailors to make way further in to Salamander Bay or Fame Cove in these conditions for a better nights sleep.
By morning the surf seemed to be even higher so we decided to leave for an overnight sail to Coffs Harbour or a shorter sail to one of the navigable harbours along the way. A 10kn SW breeze was forecast so there was no excuse to stay. We decided to exit Port Stevens via the southern part of the channel near Tomaree Head. Breaking surf crashing on the entrance shoal came surprisingly close as we motored out and even the little shallow patches produced breakers occasionally. Finally past all the white water we set a course south of the Broughton Islands then headed north east for a destination not yet decided.
The swell gradually fell during the day and as late afternoon approached we thought that calling in to Cape Hawke Harbour might be a good idea. Peter contacted the Forster Marine Rescue and they told us that the bar was behaving well, but to slow down and wait for the ebb tide to change. The bar is deep and we had no trouble motoring over, but the current is certainly swift here. We motored between the rock walls lined with sightseers and fishermen, in a swirling, heaving mass of water escaping to the freedom of the ocean. Our motor was up to the task and a short time later we were anchored just inland from the Fishermen's Co-op in flat, fast running water. The anchor is stuck tight and this morning we are set to explore the towns of Tuncurry/Forster.
Anchorage, upstream from Fishermen's Co-op
A perfect day in Foster
No comments:
Post a Comment