My patience finally ran out – Underway again

Anchored off North Sunnyside beach

 

 

After nearly two years locked down in Melbourne, having arrived intending to stay three months, my patience has run out and I have decided to start single handing northwards so that a departure from Australia, via Darwin in June 2022, remains a possibility. All of my efforts to persuade the Australian Government to allow at least one of the crew members, who were onboard on arrival in Australia, to re-enter the country have been met with a stonewall refusal. After two applications for an exemption, two appeals against a refusal, two letters direct to the Minster of Home Affairs, Karen Andrews; plus supporting letters from friends made since being in Australia and from the local Sandringham MP, it all came to nought.

All letters were responded to by an anonymous Civil Servant who signed his letters with an illegible signature and no other identifying information, making it impossible to contact him or challenge his decision direct.

Open-accessible government at work

As a friend Michael put it after receiving a reply to his letter, (which was a word processed version of a letter previously sent to me), “More unadulterated bullshit from cretins”! Eventually they even refused to reply to any further appeals! Open government Australian style! 

Over Christmas 2021 Vanessa, my daughter, and I did a short trip to Refuge Bay on Wilson's Promontory, part of the National Park of the same name. This is the most southerly part of mainland Australia and 100 miles from Port Phillip Bay entrance. The trip down and back was uneventful with mostly good weather both ways.

Refuge Bay, Wilson's Prom

The only downside was that the temperatures at Wilson's Promontory were very much lower than in Melbourne, rather curtailing our enjoyment of mid-summer! The trip down was split in three with stops at Queenscliffe, Cleeland Bight (eastern Phillip Island) and Walkerville. For the return we made a dash direct to Phillip Island for an overnight anchorage and then re-entered Port Phillip Bay at slack water next day, anchoring in Nepean Bay just inside the Heads. Entering and leaving Port Phillip needs good timing, the tidal stream is vicious and sets up steep standing waves in the entrance. Slack water occurs at roughly half tide which can catch you out if you are not aware! 

 

Pre departure supper with Vanessa

After this “trial run” and a few odd nights anchored around Port Phillip Bay I set the 1st of February as my intended departure date only to be confounded by the weather. The first week of February was marked by strong south easterly winds. The worst possible direction! The result was a week's delay and a final couple of nights at anchor in Nepean Bay, again just inside the Heads, waiting for suitable weather before venturing out. Typically the first night at anchor was a sleepless night in a north easterly gale but at least the wind direction meant that the seas outside were benign!

Sailing into the sunrise

Once out I set sail for the same first anchorage as before, off Phillip Island. From here I set sail at 0500 the next morning to make Refuge Cove before nightfall. As it was a favorable wind I arrived in the anchorage at 1800, well before sunset.

Rounding Wilsons Promontory

 

36 hours later, with the forecast favorable for a run to Gippsland Lakes, 120 miles to the east, I set out at 0200 into the pitch darkness of a moonless night. My departure was timed to get me through the entrance to the lakes in daylight and on a flood tide. The trip went well with the exception of a close encounter with a small power boat with two fishermen aboard; they were anchored in 45m of water 5 miles off the coast! At about 0700 I had gone down below to answer a call of nature and was just putting my warm weather gear back on when I heard a shout! Shooting up on deck I saw their boat passing down the starboard side at 5m range. I had obviously not seen them when I took my final look around before going below; it was a close shave! I think they were as surprised to see me as I was them!

Self and crew, David, at Metung

Before departing Sandringham I had been introduced to a novice sailor, David, who was keen to take passage to Sydney but could only join from Metung (in the Gippsland Lakes) onwards. I had arranged to pick him up that evening and all went to plan. I arrived at the Lakes Entrance as planned at 1800, successfully navigating the entrance, and arrived alongside at Metung by 1900. This was just in time to retire to the Metung Hotel (Pub) for supper. With three days of North Easterly winds forecast there was no point in rushing to depart the Lakes and so I spent three days teaching my new crew the rudiments of yacht sailing whilst cruising the lakes. In addition I was able to renew my acquaintance with the Metung Yacht Club and include a visit to Paynesville where an old sailing chum, from my Navy days, Hugh, and his wife Julie, have their house. They very kindly entertained us to a BBQ supper and Julie took passage with us to Metung the next day. 

When the time came to depart the lakes we planned in an overnight victualling stop at Lakes Entrance and thus we were ready for our morning departure, on the top of the tide, heading for our next stop, 130 miles away, at Eden. The winds were initially light southerly but soon settled to a brisker south easterly. I set Kurukulla up to sail herself on a close reach and a few hours later, once I was comfortable David knew what to look for and when to call me, went below to prepare supper. Half an hour later it felt as though we had gone aground on soft sand; Kurukulla slowed rapidly, I immediately looked at the echo sounder, 55m, and then leapt for the deck. Kurukulla was again picking up speed but in our wake was a large marine animal thrashing around. Whether it was a sun fish or a shark we weren't sure, (David opted for shark); discretion being the better part of valour we did not go back to find out! I fear it may not have survived the impact with almost 14 tons of yacht travelling at 6+ knots.

The now complete swimming pool at Bermagui

Our call in Eden was designed to allow me to make a call at the Australian Border Force office to report my arrival in New South Wales and get my papers stamped and signed. Unfortunately the harbour facilities at Eden are totally unsuitable for a yacht to go alongside in anything but a flat calm; a rough piled jetty and no fendering or batter boards suitable for a yacht! They have however spent a fortune on a cruise Ship jetty! The consequence was we spent the night at anchor, half a mile from the ABF office, but didn't make it ashore. It wasn't worth the effort of inflating and re-stowing the dinghy! On arrival in our next port, Bermagui, I was due to visit friends, Rik and Kate, at their house at Mallacoota, for a 48 hour stay, and they very kindly offered to divert via Eden on the return journey. The Senior ABF Officer at Eden, Simon Hannaford, is definitely the most helpful official I have met in Australia and was happy with this arrangement!

Two years after the bush fires.

 

After an overnight stop in Eden we set off on our next passage from Eden to Bermagui, only 40 nautical miles but, as our previous passage had been, we were fighting the east Australian current which runs at one or more knots southwards down the east coast of Australia; hence, despite the log reading over 6 knots for most of the time we averaged only 5. There was a navigational balance to be struck between going inshore to pick up any counter currents in the bays and getting too close to a lee shore! On arrival we berthed on the pontoon on which I had spent six weeks during the passage south in 2020. it all seemed very familiar and it was not long before I also renewed my acquaintance with the Bermagui Gelato Clinic with Francesca and her Italian family who run it. Theirs is still the best ice cream I have tasted in Australia!

View from Rik and Kate's balcony

The following day Rik arrived to whisk me off to Mallacoota for the stay with him and his wife Kate whilst David looked after Kurukulla. The stay with Rik and Kate was a very welcome break, spent in their fantastic house with views to die for!

Friendly Goanna

The only downside was that my liver took somewhat of a beating but that was well compensated for by the superb food that they served at the dinner party they had arranged for my visit! Thank you both for your fantastic hospitality! Mallacoota suffered drastically in the bush fires of 2020 and it shows. Many houses have yet to be rebuilt, the trees in the surrounding areas are well blackened and many of the less mature ones are failing to come back to life. What is amazing is that the undergrowth on the forest floor is verdant and growing like mad, worryingly, as this is potentially the source of the next round of fires! During a lunchtime picnic at Sandy point, on the Mallacoota inlet, we were lucky enough to have two Goannas dance attendance on us in expectation of the BBQ'd chicken remains which they rapidly devoured whole, bones and all!

The Dromedary at Tilba - favourite pub

 

The time with Rik and Kate was all too short and after two days I was back in Bermagui and planning our departure northwards. With adverse winds for 24 hours we decided to delay our departure and took up an offer from Greg, a friend that David (my crew) had made during my absence; he very kindly offered to take us on a trip to the most original and picturesque village in the area, Tilba, which also happened to be his family home. With morning coffee in Tilba's French cafe, “La Galette”, followed by a walk around the village, which seemed not to have changed much for 100 years other than the stores all changing from selling life's essentials to “Bric a brac” and “Objets d'Arte”. Eventually we fell into the local pub for lunch, 'The Dromedary Hotel'; established 1895 and renamed after the nearby Mount Dromedary in 1936. I have to say this immediately became my favourite pub in Australia, it oozed old world charm. Not a gaming machine to be seen! 

The following day we set sail for Bateman's Bay, another 40 mile passage and another repeat visit from the passage south. On arrival we picked up the visitors mooring in the shelter of Snapper Island, in the centre of the bay, before moving across the next day to the visitors mooring in Chain Bay. Australia has a very good policy of laying and maintaining free visitors moorings, available for 24 hours maximum, in many of the coves and bays in Australia; the idea being it saves boats anchoring and damaging the sea bottom ecosystem.

Jervis Bay at sunset

After 36 hours in Bateman's Bay it was off again, this time heading for Jervis Bay which is 50 miles further north. On arrival we anchored off the same beach as two years earlier and opted for a late evening swim; our first opportunity since Bermagui and very welcome. Our departure was set for 0200 to allow us to make Sydney in daylight and before an approaching storm system reached our latitude, we hoped; hence it was an “early to bed” evening! At 0200 we set off from the anchorage, exiting the bay and rounding Cape Perpendicular 45 minutes later. For the first two hours, despite being close inshore, we battled a current which at times reached 3 knots, reducing our speed of advance to 3 knots or less. Given the forecast this was not good and indicative of things to come. By 1700 we had made it as far as the entrance to Botany Bay, 11 miles south of the entrance to Sydney Harbour. By this time we had two reefs in the main and the No2 Genoa partially rolled up, doing 6 knots but in rough and unpredictable seas.

En route to Sydney!

At this time David, who amazingly had not been seasick throughout the whole voyage, poked his head up from the cabin, and with a worried look on his face, reported he had just looked at the Bureau of Metrology website and they had broadcast a strong wind warning for the Sydney area. He looked rather amazed when I asked him what he thought we could do about it! We pressed on! Two hours later we surfed through the entrance to Sydney Harbour, hung a sharp left and picked up a visitors mooring in Watson's Bay, it was almost the nearest available sheltered mooring to the entrance! Here we stayed for 36 hours whilst we dried out and rested, after which we contacted the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia (CYCA) and booked a berth in their marina, in Rushcutter's Bay, for the four days leading up to David's departure.

Arriving in Rushcutter's Bay, Sydney

To our amazement, as we motored south west towards the bridge we passed at least a dozen surfers, surfing a 2m swell breaking on the beach at Shark Bay, Nielson Park. This beach is 1.5 miles inside Sydney Harbour and faces inland, i.e. west! It just demonstrates how large the swell was that was entering through the Heads! 

Thursday to Sunday was spent catching up with various friends of David's, who were resident in Sydney, before his departure for Melbourne; he was committed to escorting his niece up the isle at her wedding only days later. In addition we were celebrating the fact that after almost two years of arguing with the Australian Government they had at last issued a visa for Yiorgos, my crew for the return leg to Europe, to re-enter Australia.

A beer in the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia

These four days proved to be a bit of a social and celebratory whirl but very enjoyable none the less. On the Saturday night David and I went for his pre departure supper at Claire's Kitchen on Oxford Street. A great choice, French cuisine with a “Prix fixe” menu, which represented excellent value. By the time we departed the restaurant the Mardis Gras parade at the Sydney Cricket Ground had ended and we found ourselves swimming against the returning tide of rainbow coloured humanity, surging down Oxford Street, creating a great street party atmosphere. Rather shamefully we opted to search for a quiet bar on the route back to the boat, failed miserably, and ultimately finished the night with a glass or two onboard! 

David departed, as planned on Monday morning but the forecast was still dire. Rain, rain and more rain. As a consequence I opted to stay put in CYCA until Thursday, when the weather was forecast to improve; this also had the added advantage of allowing me to meet up with Michael and Helen, friends from the twice weekly Zoom group I joined whilst in Sandringham; they live in Sydney. They came for drinks at the CYCA on the Tuesday afternoon at which time Michael also offered to crew for the next leg to Pittwater. An offer I was very happy to accept! Company is always welcome. Having re-victualled, topped up with water and paid my bills I set off on Thursday, at midday, to head down to Balmoral Bay which lies under HMAS Penguin, a local Naval shore establishment.

Cruising towards RPAYC in Pittwater

The bay had two advantages, firstly free public moorings and secondly it was an ideal place to pick up Michael on the Saturday morning. The local boathouse runs a water taxi service, for free! By Saturday the seas outside the Heads had subsided somewhat from the day of our arrival and at 1030 Michael and I set off to sail for Pittwater, 20 miles further north. It was an ideal day. 10-12kts of wind from the NE giving us a very heavily biased beat to make the entrance at Pittwater. In the end we spent all but 20 minutes on starboard tack of what was a four hour sail. By 1500 we were rounding Barrenjoey Head and sailing south again the 4 miles to the Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club at the southern extremity of Pittwater. The club is named after the second son of Queen Victoria who was a keen sailor and almost lost his life to an assassin when visiting Australia in 1868.

Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club at sunset

It was here that I had booked a berth for 48 hours and from here that we set off back to Michael's home in Sydney, Helen having kindly come to collect us. 

Michael and Helen have a fantastic apartment on the north shore with great views of the harbour, looking across towards Rushcutter's Bay and the Garden Island Naval Base. A superb meal was accompanied by Michael's own vintage wines, he and Helen having been prize winning vintners in an earlier existence. It was another superb evening in the company of good friends!

The view from Michael and Helen's apartment

Next day we all headed out to lunch with some of their family and friends before Michael and Helen's daughter and son in law very kindly dropped me back to the RPAYC and Kurukulla. The following morning I set off to explore Pittwater. In all the publicity I had seen it was an idyllic sailing area with succession of wooded, almost fiord like, bays, sandy beaches, and deep blue water. This is, in the most part, true but at present the water is deep brown, the colour of Turkish coffee, discoloured by all the silt coming off the flooded areas of northern New South Wales.

America Bay, Pittwater

Following the past weeks of torrential rain and disastrous flooding the quantity of silt and detritus in the water is frightening. At times Kurukulla has been surrounded with logs, plants, plastic and the occasional dead animal. Not a great environment. In some areas the rivers are 3-4m or more above their normal level and the result is very clear to see. In addition the popular “anchorages”, such as Refuge Bay (said to be the best anchorage in Pittwater), are filled with moorings at such a density that if they were all occupied you could almost walk from one side of the inlet to the other!

Detritus drifting down river, Fisherman's Beach

Fortunately, at this time of year, most are empty, including some of the free public moorings. These are supposed to be subject to a 24 hour stay limit but it is clearly evident that some boats have been secured to them for weeks if not months; my next door neighbour at Fisherman's Beach included! However, I cannot complain. He very kindly offered to collect any stores I required from the local general store and on his return absolutely refused payment for the loaf of bread I had requested. 

Given the current conditions in Pittwater once Yiorgos, my joining crew member, gets here we will not be prolonging our stay; that is unless conditions change very rapidly, which I doubt!

My Neighbour, Fisherman's Beach, Pittwater

In preparation for his arrival I moved nearer to the RPAYC, into an anchorage called Coasters Retreat. As if the previous detritus was not enough there I was surrounded by a smack of Jellyfish, and large ones at that! Given the water pollution and the jellyfish swimming in Pittwater is definitely off the agenda! On Monday the 28th of March the long battle to get a crew into Australia came to an end. Yiorgos flight was due in at 1245 and Michael very kindly insisted on giving me a lift to the airport and us both a lift back to Kurukulla. Sydney airport was verging on deserted! On the arrivals board there were 16 flights scheduled for the remainder of the day!

A smack of jellyfish in Pittwater

Normally that would be the hourly total. Customs and Immigration were not too tedious, but there was still a 30 minute queue for clearance; staff shortages caused by Covid was the explanation offered. By 1500 we were back at the RPAYC and onboard. 

Unfortunately the weather forecast was not looking good for a prompt departure. Tuesday was relatively benign but we needed that for Yiorgos to recover from jet lag and for us to victual the yacht for departure.

Yiorgos, Refuge Bay, Pittwater

From there onwards it was destined to be rain, rain and more rain again, until the end of the week, and if that wasn't bad enough near gale force winds. Sunday was looking to be our earliest option to make a dash for Newcastle, 50 miles north. In the meantime there was nothing for it but to find a secure mooring and sit tight! That said we were better placed than thousands of residents on the east coast of Australia whose homes were flooded out or even worse forced to watch their homes floating away down river. 

Count your blessings! 

Sunday arrived bright and clear, the only minor problem was that we had missed the time change from summer time to winter time resulting in the alarm clock going off an hour after sunrise, our intended time of departure. Fortunately I woke up anyway at the desired time. Fifteen minutes later we were on our way northwards to Newcastle, NSW, an industrial port but one which I had been informed has been turned into a very attractive stopover. We were out of Pittwater by 0630 and entering Newcastle at 1330, 7.5kts average and against the prevailing current, a very good run on a port tack beam reach. With a berth pre booked at the Newcastle Cruising Yacht Club we were all set.

Sunset at the Newcastle Cruisig Yacht Club

By 1430 we were sitting in the yacht club bar enjoying our first beer! Newcastle turned out to be even more attractive than we had imagined. It really is an industrial port turned into a very attractive city waterfront. They have preserved a large number of the historic buildings whilst building modern structures that are pleasing on the eye, a rare combination in these days of “modern” architecture where everything has to be “different” no matter how impractical or offensive to the eye it is.

Newcastle Cathedral

 

After two days in Newcastle, we had recovered my newish No1 Genoa (made by the Ullman loft in Trinidad) which had been sent on ahead from Sydney to receive a guarantee repair by the Ullman loft in Sydney;

Newcastle City Hall 

a day of maintenance sorting out the Rutland wind generator which had stopped generating some months before (really the biggest waste of money I made when preparing for this trip – solar panels are much more effective even if they do only generate in hours of daylight); a birthday supper at an Italian Trattoria to celebrate my 72nd birthday and a day of sightseeing around the city we were ready to depart early next morning for Port Stephens, our next port of call northwards.

Birthday (72nd) supper

Although only 25 miles away we decided on an early start to avoid the rain which was forecast for later in the day. 

The entrance to Port Stephens is easy but the bay is littered with shallows once you are in. We found a NSW courtesy mooring vacant in Shoal Bay and opted to pick it up.

Memorial Walkway, Newcastle

A quick look at the echo sounder and a tidal calculation soon showed why it was unoccupied. It was laid in a charted depth of 1.3m; there was 2.7m of water under it at the time we picked it up with 0.6m of tidal fall still to go. By calculation we would just touch the bottom, and we did, 20 minutes before low water; and these were neap (minimal) tides.

Newcastle waterfront as we depart

What Einstein lays a visitors mooring in water too shallow for 50% of visitors (i.e. sailing boats) to use it! We moved before going to bed and anchored 100m away in deeper water to get a decent night's sleep rather than be woken by taking the ground again at 0600.

Offshore race entering Port Stephens

 

 

More when we depart Port Stephens ….......