We left Newcastle and had a lovely sail down to the Hawkesbury River, picking up a mooring in America Bay early in the afternoon. Busy with locating a public mooring, we had not yet logged off with Marine rescue and it was 20 mins after our estimated time of arrival. G’s brother Dave was frantically trying to reach us as marine rescue had called him and was about to send out a search party. Quickly we logged off and then let Dave know we were perfectly fine. Oops.. Our new anchorage was one of beauty, with wooded hills reflected on the calm water and the delightful sounds of kookaburras nearby.
We spent three nights in the beautiful America Bay, with some exploring, reading and watching Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. There were several moorings in the bay with most belonging to local and Sydney based yacht clubs, a few public moorings are maintained by marine parks NSW.
We eventually moved and went to Hallets beach, spending the afternoon lazing about before going to shore for a swim. The next morning we went for a nice walk along the beach before moving to little Jerusalem bay. We were going to spend the night but we were exposed to the mild fetch and there were about 200 jellyfish surrounding us so we decided to move to Yeomans bay. En route to Yeomans we passed by Castle Lagoon, which was very pretty. We would have stopped in there but there were already 6 boats, two of which were rafted up together. This could mean a noisy anchorage (not us for a change) so we went a bit further into the head of the bay where we picked up a mooring. Another pretty anchorage was enjoyed with some lazing about in the hammock with a beer and a book before watching the sunset light bouncing off the cliffs around us.
Keeping an eye on the weather to ensure a comfy downwind passage to Sydney, we decided to head to Pittwater for a night in readiness to leave the next day. On the way we stopped briefly at Dangar island to see if we could get a coffee, but unable to land the dinghy anywhere that wasn't covered in rocks or someone's front yard, we kept going. We checked out the railway bridge over the Hawksbury before returning to the boat - the boys delighting in the trains crossing above us.
Our next plan had been to stop off at Patonga for some lunch as recommended by Laurie and Eden, a couple we had met at Hallets beach and said they did the best fish and chips EVER! Now J especially loves fish and chips and has them almost every time we eat out so we thought it best to try and get to Patonga. We motored in and checked out the anchorage but given the wind had increased and we were on a lee shore, Skipper G wasn't comfortable to anchor so we kept on going until we reached Coasters retreat in Pittwater. The kids were a bit dejected about missing out, as we had nearly a year without your typical Australian fish and chips, our usual take away food of choice, but the boat comes first, not their stomachs. In the end we went across to Palm beach and found the local club where they got to have fish and chips anyway. Later in the afternoon P, S,E, H and J went to the little beach near the boat for a swim. It was to be our bath for the day, so in need of a hair wash, we dinghied over with our shampoo, conditioner and soap (all natural and biodegradable of course).
Wednesday morning saw us dropping our mooring and motoring out of Broken Bay, bound for Port Jackson, or Sydney harbour. The trip was only a few hours and once we passed through the heads we navigated our way up the channel avoiding all the ferries going back and forth.
Whilst heading towards the iconic harbour bridge we spotted a couple of Sydney to Hobart race yachts and one actually used us as a practice mark, sailing circles around us. It was fascinating to watch the dynamic team as they tacked and gybed close by, working together brilliantly. As we neared the bridge P was a little anxious given the amount of boat traffic but G helmed well, keeping us safe and fulfilling the dream of sailing our own boat underneath the harbour bridge. Lots of winch work for the crew!
Once passed the kids all looked longingly at Luna park, hoping to visit. After tacking around we sailed back under the bridge and made our way to Athol Bay near Taronga Zoo, where we picked up a mooring. It's fair to say we spent the afternoon and evening just enjoying the view. Several boats came for the day and then left again, with more coming in the evening to watch the sunset before returning. Sydney is such a different city to Melbourne in this way. There are so many boats for hire in Sydney and it seemed every business was having their Xmas party on the water that day. Whereas in Melbourne the bay is mostly frequented by racing yachts and from various clubs and the odd fishing charter. The kids were super impressed when the "Mr Whippy" type boat came by selling ice creams so we just had to buy one. Where else can you get ice creams delivered to your boat? Whilst they were enjoying their ice creams, another gent came by in his boat, this time selling coffee and ice cream! So P and G enjoyed a cappuccino from "The Coffee cat" and wondered if there would be another boat in the afternoon that came around selling cocktails? As the sun set over Sydney we relaxed with a sundowner (no, cocktail boat didn’t show) and kept enjoying he beautiful view.
The following morning we headed across to Farm Cove which is right next to the Sydney Opera house and P went ashore to get a couple of things before moving over to Spring Cove near Manly.
We had thought the previous day was busy with boats but Thursday afternoon on Sydney harbour was downright chaos! It seemed every yacht club was having afternoon races so as we motored directly into 20 knots of wind we made our way around the edges of their race circuits as well as keeping out of the way of the ferries and other motor boats zooming past us. Suffice to say P and G were both constantly keeping watch at the helm as we tried to predict the movements of all the boats around us. We arrived at Spring Cove by mid afternoon and dropped our anchor off Store and Collins beaches. Again there were about 20 boats in the anchorage but by nightfall only a handful remained.
After initially planning to spend a week in Sydney, we had been monitoring the weather and changed our plans to leave after only two days. This decision was made as we are now on a bit of a deadline to get home and when the weather is right to get south we need to make the most of it. Friday morning we enjoyed a trip to shore and then a swim in the afternoon. On our way to Store beach the kids excitedly noticed that Plastik Plankton was anchored so we dropped past and said a quick hi and goodbye to Kathy and Wolfe before we left. After dinner we picked up our anchor and headed out of the bay, passing through the heads before dark and Sydney and all it's activity faded away in the background as we went out to sea, bound for Jervis Bay.