Lovett Bay Boatshed

We had a nice week long stay in Port Macquarie waiting for the south winds to abate. Christmas eve we had some boaties over for drinks and miscellaneous food and drink stuffs. Then we took advantage of the light northerly wind that set in and headed out off the bar a few hours before high tide on Christmas morning. Lots of incoming current, not much in the way of waves. As soon as we got to the deeper water (300ft+) we picked up the East Australian Current again and were making quick time south (often at 10kts+).  After a long day we headed back in toward shore for an anchorage in Broughton Island. As we approached we had some very playful dolphin elves come by the boat to wish us a merry Christmas.
We picked up a mooring ball just before dark. I think it must have been reserved for us as it said Private Keep Off on it. The picture above is sunrise from Emerald Cove, Broughton Island the next morning.

We headed out early the next day to make Pittwater. Pittwater is a busy boating area north of Sydney. On the way we passed a lot of shipping, leaving and approaching the port of Newcastle. They export a lot of coal from here to China and India. There are a lot of freighters (bulk carriers) anchored in the ocean in front of Newcastle. There are also a lot just drifting offshore like this one pictured above. Their AIS status reads NUC (not under command) which used to mean in the old days that the captain and officers were dead or so sick they couldn’t run the ship. The ship is moving at about 1 – 1.5 kts with the wind and current. Odd - must be saving money while they await new orders.

We entered the main entrance to Pittwater Bay and took the finger that goes toward the Hawkesbury River. Pulled into American Bay and grabbed a mooring near friends on Fairwinds just at sunset. This is a picture of Fairwinds in the bay early morning. It looks like the white is washed out in the photo, but that’s just because they have a new, shiny paint job. Nice bay, but lousy cell connection.

Next day we motored over to Pittwater Bay to try and find a paid mooring for a week. Our plan was to spend until after New Years in Pittwater then head to Sydney Harbour when the crowds lighten up a bit. We lucked out and got a mooring from Michael at Lovett Bay Boatshed. The small ‘marina’ is located in the Ku-Ring-Gai Chase National Park. Access is by boat or bush trail only.

The boat yard has been here for over 100 years. The current owners have lived in the beautiful house behind the boat shed and rails for the last 14 years or so. It is a really wonderful setting, except perhaps for the non-stop squabbling of the Sulphur Crested Cockatoos and the harassing laugh of the Kookaburra birds. Check out their famous laugh here (scroll down to the audio clips).
We are leaving the boat on the mooring and taking a ferry, two busses and a train up into the Blue Mountains west of Sydney for a couple of days over New Years.
Paul

A Day Closer to Xmas

Being in an advanced country we are one day ahead of the US and Europe. So today is Xmas eve. We are spending it in Port Macquarie, New South Wales. That’s about half way from the Gold Coast to our next destination Sydney.
We left the Gold Coast about 10:30am, giving our friends on Fairwinds a 4 hour head start. Being the first time we have crossed the bar at the Gold Coast Seaway entrance we decided to go on an incoming current closer to high tide. We are not in the mood to test any more of the entrance bars in this country. The ride out was a little bumpy, but all over 15 feet plus deep. At this part of the coast the Eastern Australian Current comes in close to land and heads south at 2-4kts, giving anyone going southbound a major boost.
We picked up the current and started sailing south often making 9-10kts over ground with the push. Nice. In the wee hours of the morning the deluge rains started. This made the winds go up and then go down, leaving the boat with a very uncomfortable motion. To make things worse there was a lot of big ship traffic going to or from the port of Newcastle up and down the coast – pretty much on our course.
At about one in the morning Chris got me up because she was concerned about how close the CPA (closest point of approach) was for a northbound freighter. The boat was about 3 1/2 or 4 miles away, but not visible in the rain. The CPA was bouncing around .1 miles – way too close for comfort. As I shook the sleep out of my eyes the CPA slowly changed to 1 mile. 1 mile is typically the standing orders given to the bridge officers on freighters as a minimum clearance. When I see the change to 1 mile CPA I am pretty confident they know we are there. They either see us on Radar or AIS.
Just then the VHF radio crackled with a call Georgia, Georgia this is Corona Infinity. It was the captain of the Japanese northbound freighter letting us know he had opened up the CPA and wishing us a warm watch.  Then we only had to dodge two or three more freighters before we were clear for awhile.
As the sun came up we were fairly close to Coffs Harbour. No one on the boat was feeling good, as the night had been really sloppy and wet. Coffs does not have a bar entrance so we turned westerly and headed in. The anchorage was rolly as the swell makes it past the break water. Not really comfortable, but a shower and nap helped.
Next morning we sailed down to Port Macquarie, again with a great push by the current. This was fast, pleasant sail – the way they usually are after you had a sucky sail the day before. The bar at Port Macquarie is pretty dangerous and needs to be taken carefully. There is a daylight visible sector light that aligns your entry. If you are too far south it shows red, too far north it shows green and if the porridge is just right it shows white. We rode one set in and headed to the marina’s moorings.
We’ve been here for a week now waiting for the weather to turn back to a northerly wind. Probably a good thing as the Sydney area has had wicked storms with hail, lightning and excess wind.

The Port Macquarie coast with the two entrance break waters center top.
Looks like we’ll be off on Xmas day to continue moving closer to Sydney.
Hope all our family and friends on land have a good holiday season, as well as all the ships at sea.
Paul and Chris

Back In The Water

We spent a week in the yard at The Boat Works up the Coomera River, south of Brisbane. This is really a great yard. The most comfortable yard to live on your boat while on the hard that we’ve ever seen. And trust me, living on your boat while it is on the hard usually sux. They use airplane style steps instead of ladders, free loaner cars, clean and private showers and heads, a nice AC lounge, plus they are very careful while hauling and blocking your boat.
We had some great help on a few items from Ryan and crew at 143 Boat Building. Also got the Yanmar engine mounts swapped out by MMC. New galley seacock, new lower rudder bearing, 18 liters of Blue Carboline bottom paint and a shiny buffed hull.
After we dropped back in the water we headed down the river toward the Gold Coast. This place looks like Miami or Ft Lauderdale without the charm. Really nice beaches, jetskis, helicopter rides, Sea World and high rises. We installed our new Spectra Cape Horn watermaker and tested her out while at anchor and only sprayed salt water all over the cabin twice.
We’ve  been lucky enough to re-connect with friends Judy and Sherman, on Fair Winds, and will be following them down to Tasmania.
We plan to leave the Gold Coast Seaway in a few hours. Sail south down the coast for about 2 1/2 days or until the north winds change direction, with the goal of getting to Pittwater, a good anchoarge just above Sydney.
Paul

Off the Dock and Southbound

We finally got off the dock at Bundaberg. It wasn’t a great start. We headed out of the river in the early hours and pointed toward the Great Sandy Straits. Rolled out our staysail and had a bit of a rolly run south. All day the winds kept picking up. By the time we started to enter the top of the straits the winds were blowing 40kts gusting to 45. Chris and I were looking at each other with that look that says Why are we doing this?
By late afternoon with made it into the SW anchorage on the unfortunately named Big Woodie Island (25*19.93S, 152*59.23E). It was at least flat waters and some protection from the north winds. Bed time came early. The sun comes up around 4:40am here, so we woke early. The winds were now 6kts from the west, the sun was out and there were turtles in the bay. Life was not near as depressing as yesterday. A days run timed so we hit the high tide while going through the narrows of the Sandy Strait saw use make it to the Inskip anchorage near Wide Bay Bar before dinner. Since we’d done this whole area last year we weren’t in our tourist mode, just wanting to get south.

We spent the night in the Inskip Anchorage, outside Tin Can Bay, which is just around the corner from the Wide Bay Bar exit (25*48.85S,153*02.47). This night image was of the Tinnanbar fire. There has been a brutal heat wave in Queensland and hundreds of bush fires to go along with it.

2017

2018

Before exiting the Wide Bay Bar the prudent seaman (or seawoman) calls the Tin Can Bay VMR (Voluntary Marine Rescue) group to get the latest ‘recommended’ bar crossing coordinates. You can see the significant difference between the route in 2017 and the route in 2018. In 2017 when we went across and the shallowest we saw was about 10 feet. This year it was 21 feet.

Our crossing was benign. But……

they can be exciting (photo from the blog of S/V DreamTime).

After our bar crossing we did an overnight passage to Moreton Bay (aka Brisbane area). We arrived at the main ship channel at about 1:30am, just in time to hit large traffic rush hour. At this point of the inbound and outbound transits the big ships have pilots onboard. We ended up in radio conversations 4 times with the pilots on various big ships working out safe passing scenarios. We didn’t want to get run over and the pilots didn’t want to limit their careers. All very friendly and handled over the VTS (Vessel Transit Service) channel 12. The picture above is the cruise ship Pacific Dawn passing close by our port side after contacting us on the radio.

Paul