SYDNEY TO MELBOURNE - Royal Yacht Club of Victoria › ... › 03 ›...
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SYDNEY TO MELBOURNE Eila Yarnall 2016 Brian, Ciarin Mara, Ian McGrath and Robin Warlond left Royals on the 19 th December to take the boat up to Sydney, they pulled into Eden overnight due to a strong northerly, otherwise it was a good trip up. They arrived on the 22 nd to a wet welcome, leaving the boat at a private marina in Balmain and flew home. Thanks guys. Brian, Steve and Karen Lanyon and I flew out on the 29 th December and meet Marg and Ian Lloyd at Sydney airport. Once we were organised we headed up the hill to the main street and found a lovely Italian restaurant for dinner, a calm night so everyone slept well. Woke up to a sunny day, perfect to go for a sail around the harbour, work out where we should drop anchor for the following night, found a spot not too far away from where we were staying. Sailed onto Manly for lunch, a great Vietnamese café down a side street then a leisurely sail back to Balmain. Back up the hill for dinner, decisions, found a fantastic Turkish restaurant called Efendy on Darling street; the food was amazing, as was the service. New Year’s Eve and time to go shopping for tonight’s festivities, Mark and Merryn arrive early afternoon, we head off to our spot opposite Luna Park, the other side of the Opera House. A few attempts at setting the anchor and it’s time for nibbles and drinks, a few more boats arrive but it’s not crowded like we thought it would be. A BBQ for dinner and settle in with music playing to wait for the fireworks. Between the 9.30 and midnight fireworks a group of tall ships with their rigging lit up sailed past, they looked like ghost ships. At 11.30 the wind direction changed to a slight north westerly which turned the boat around so that the cockpit was facing the bridge, we got to enjoy the brilliant display without having to move. A must do! Everyone should tick it off their bucket list. New Year’s Day it’s another beautiful day, breakfast on board and then we say goodbye to Marg and Ian, back home for them. Brian, Steve, Karen and I leave, next stop Pitt Water. A nice easy sail to the heads, turn left it takes 4 hours to get to Pitt Water, boats, boats and more boats. We have arranged a mooring at Royal Price Alfred Yacht, they have a tender service to get you to the club. How good is that? The place is busy as the Coffs Harbour race is staring the next day, a beautiful Yacht Club with everything that you could wish for. We leave on the 3 rd to head to Refuge Bay which is only a short sail away. There are heaps of
Transcript of SYDNEY TO MELBOURNE - Royal Yacht Club of Victoria › ... › 03 ›...
SYDNEYTOMELBOURNE
EilaYarnall2016
Brian,CiarinMara,IanMcGrathandRobinWarlondleftRoyals on the 19th December to take the boat up toSydney,theypulledintoEdenovernightduetoastrongnortherly,otherwiseitwasagoodtripup.Theyarrivedon the 22nd to a wet welcome, leaving the boat at aprivatemarinainBalmainandflewhome.Thanksguys.
Brian, Steve and Karen Lanyon and I flew out on the29thDecemberandmeetMargandIanLloydatSydneyairport.OncewewereorganisedweheadedupthehilltothemainstreetandfoundalovelyItalianrestaurantfordinner, a calmnight soeveryone sleptwell.Wokeup toa sunnyday,perfect togo fora sail around theharbour, work out where we should drop anchor forthefollowingnight,foundaspotnottoofarawayfromwherewewerestaying.SailedontoManlyforlunch,agreat Vietnamese café down a side street then aleisurely sail back to Balmain. Back up the hill fordinner, decisions, found a fantastic Turkish restaurantcalledEfendyonDarlingstreet;thefoodwasamazing,aswastheservice.
NewYear’s Eve and time to go shopping for tonight’sfestivities,MarkandMerrynarriveearlyafternoon,weheadofftoourspotoppositeLunaPark,theothersideoftheOperaHouse.Afewattemptsatsettingtheanchorandit’stimefornibblesanddrinks,afewmoreboatsarrivebutit’snotcrowdedlikewethoughtitwouldbe.ABBQfordinnerandsettleinwithmusicplayingtowaitforthefireworks.Betweenthe9.30andmidnightfireworksagroupoftallshipswiththeir rigging lit up sailed past, they looked like ghost ships. At 11.30 the wind directionchanged toa slightnorthwesterlywhich turned theboataround so that the cockpitwasfacingthebridge,wegottoenjoythebrilliantdisplaywithouthavingtomove.Amustdo!Everyoneshouldtickitofftheirbucketlist.
NewYear’sDayit’sanotherbeautifulday,breakfastonboardandthenwesaygoodbyetoMargandIan,backhomeforthem.Brian,Steve,KarenandIleave,nextstopPittWater.Aniceeasysailtotheheads,turnleftittakes4hourstogettoPittWater,boats,boatsandmoreboats.WehavearrangedamooringatRoyalPriceAlfredYacht, theyhavea tenderservicetogetyoutotheclub.Howgoodisthat?TheplaceisbusyastheCoffsHarbourraceisstaringthenextday,abeautifulYachtClubwitheverythingthatyoucouldwishfor.Weleaveonthe3rdtoheadtoRefugeBaywhichisonlyashortsailaway.Thereareheapsof
moorings and a nicewaterfall in front of us,happy sailors. We take the tender and goexploring,nexttoRefugeBayisAmerica’sBaywhich also has moorings, nice part of theworld. Thenext daywehead toBrooklyn tohave a look around and to get supplies.Wefind a nice little seafood café tucked awayamongst the trees. Brooklyn also has fuel aswellasatrainstationandonlyanhourfromSydney.HeadbacktoRefugeBayandpickupa mooring just as the rain starts, it rains allnight.Stillraininginthemorningsoit’sawetdrop off and farewell to Steve and Karen atthe train station. Back to Refuge Bay in therainwhichdoesn’tstopforanother2days.Itfinallystopsandwecangoexploring,headofup Cowans Creek which is 23 meters deep,stoptohavelunchatthecaféatCottagePoint,alsorefuel.Weexplorefortherestoftheday,upSmith’sCreekandthenbacktoCowansCreektopickupmooringatWaratahBay,allthebayshaveafewpublicmooringsinthem.Thisplaceislikesailingthroughaforest,justneedtokeepaneyeoutforlogsetcaftertherain.Arelaxingnightonboard.
Anotherlovelydaytogoexploring,walkeduptoanicewaterfall,thereareplentyofthemaroundthankstotherain.PickedupamooringatWinsonBay,afterdinnerdecidedtoturnthemotorontochargethebatteries.AllgooduntilBrianseesblacksmokecomingupfromthe campionway, he rushed down and I turn off themotor but neither one of us had achancetoseeiftherewasstillwatercomingout,sowedon’tknowifthemotoriscooked.Decidedtoleaveittocooldownovernight,itwillbefineinthemorning,famouslastwords.Morning arrives, turn the key…nothing, try again…nothing, there is no wind so we can’tattempttosail.WeradioMarineRescueatCottagePoint,theyarriveinabout20minutesandtieupnexttous.TheytakeustoBobbinHead,greatserviceandanicebunchofguyswhoaremostlyvolunteers.OffcourseitsSaturdaysonooneisavailabletohavealookatwhat the damage is, at least we are in the right place as everything is here, MarineMechanic,Electrician,Shipwrightetc.Theonly thingmissing isa supermarketwhich isupthehill throughtheNationalPark,soyouneedacarora taxi. Problemsolved,Markthemanageroffers todriveus,hewaitsand thendrivesusback, I thought thatkindof thingonlyhappened inTasmania.Webuyhima fewdrinkstosaythankyou.Sinceweare inaNationalParkwedecidetogoforabushwalk,3hourslaterwearrivebackattheboat,abitlongerthanwethoughtbutwellworthit,stillcan’tbelievethatweareonlyanhouroutofSydney,feelslikeamillionmilesaway.Monday…timetofindoutwhattheproblemis,Craigtheelectricianarrivesand finds theproblem.Thestartermotorstayed ingearso itburntout,YAYit’sonlyasmallthing,anewoneisorganisedandput inplacebytheendoftheday.
We head off on Wednesday to start the trip back home, first stop Wollongong, lightnortherlysoit’sacomfortablesail,arriveat7.30pmandraftupagainstafishingboatwhichwehadorganisedontheway,agreatplacetobewhenthereisastormonitsway,whicharrivesthefollowingafternoon.Wespend3nightssafelytuckedin,it’sthefirsttimeinover20yearsthatwehavehadnofamilytostaywithasmybrothermovedafewyearsago,feelsstrange.
Timetomoveon,windisaSouthtoSSE15to20knotswitha2mtrswell,headingtoJervisBay, and the coastline isbeautiful.Wearriveat4.30andpickupyet anothermooringatDarlingRdwhichisatthetoplefthandside, it’sgorgeouswithpurewhitesandandaquacolouredwater,dinneranddrinksinparadise.Thefollowingdaywegoforawalkalongthebeach, have a swim and then take the tender to have a look around,we end up seeingalmostthewholeBay,wishwecouldstaylonger.
NextstopBermagui,againweraftupnexttoafishingboat,nicespotwithallnewfacilities,wehavedinneratthepub,greatfishandchips.LeaveinthemorningforEden,thesunisoutandjusttherightamountofwind.ThedayisalmostperfectsowedecidetoskipEdenandcontinueontoLakesEntrance. A nice sunset, dolphins saying hello, life’s good.The night starts with a clear sky, as the nightwears on itgets darker and darker until you can’t tell the differencebetweentheskyandtheocean,atleastitsflat…Istilldon’tlikenightsailing.WetakeitinshiftsandarriveoutsideLakesat 6.30am, could have been earlier but Brian wanted tohavedaylighttomakesuretherewouldbenoissues,greatleads,welldredged,upthecutandturnright toa floatingpontoon,niceandeasy.Oncewearetiedupitstimetohaveasleep.
EarlystartforthelongsailtoRefugeCove,ittakes14hoursandtheweatherisnothingliketheBureauofMeteorologypredicted,notahappysailor.Wearriveanddropanchorandit’sasniceasweremembered.Thenextdayisovercastanddrizzly,weheadtoshoretoplaceadriftwoodplaqueforMikaontheboatwallandlookforRedSky’swhichwefound.Headedback on board as it’s no longer drizzle. The following morning we head off, destinationClevelands,onceagainit’scompletelyoppositetowhatisontheBureau’ssite,webangintoit fora fewhoursuntilwegetpastSkullRockandthen itsettlesdowna little.Arriveandpickuponeofthe4publicmoorings,nicetobeabletobreakupthetrip.Sundayandit’sontoQueenscliff,apleasantsailandarriveearlyafternoon.
Hometime,arriveatRoyalsintheafternoon.It’sbeenagreattrip,wepurchasedMikatodoalotmorecruising,sothistripisthestartofmanymoretocome,bonuswecandoittwohanded.
