Broken Bay to Sydney Harbour

Happy New Year

 

Pittwater is the first bay on the left after entering Broken Bay. We were motoring there when Louise telephoned. She told us Careel Bay would be more sheltered than Avalon Sailing Club, and we would be most welcome to meet the family at her house later on. We managed to secure a mooring at Careel Bay Marina. From there is was a 25 minute walk to Louise and Charles’ house.

Jeremy's Australian Family

We met many Australian Spencers of three generations plus the offspring of Judy’s sister, Denise. Everyone we met wanted to hear about our sailing adventures. We found it interesting to hear about them. We had a lovely evening with delicious food and lots of it. In between courses we walked about 300 yards to the beautiful Avalon beach, which remains unspoilt by the encroaching high rise apartments of Manly.

Avalon Beach

The wind was blowing from the north and set to strengthen in the next few days, so it made sense to depart for Sydney Harbour the next day - 27^th December. First, we took on water at Careel Bay Marina. Then we motored out of Pittwater, rounding Barrenjoey Head and passing Avalon beach, where we had been standing the evening before. The seas were rolly and uncomfortable but not too big. Three and a half hours later we anchored in Manly Cove with a fair number of other boats. The ferries from Sydney come in and out but it’s not too rough and there’s plenty of anchoring room. There are five courtesy moorings but these were all occupied.

Port Jackson entrance, North Head

The next day we went ashore and found a laundry where we could leave our clothes and bedding to be washed, dried and folded. We shopped at Coles Supermarket, having visited charity shops and a bookshop. We bought a queen size throw/thin quilt for our stern berth. Lunch at a Thai restaurant in an arcade was good value and good food. In the afternoon, we walked to Fairfax Lookout on North Head to have a look at our entry to Sydney Harbour and the Tasman Sea beyond. It was the hottest part of the day, but it was an interesting walk, which took us through the Precinct Barracks and up to the headland. There was plenty of evidence of former military installations on the way. The views were worth the effort, but we were glad of the bus ride back down to Manly.

Kathy on parade

On Sunday 29^th December we motored towards Sydney Harbour Bridge. What an amazing sight watching the bridge and the Opera House grow larger as we approached. We continued under the bridge avoiding ferries, yachts, motor boats and even a man rowing a dinghy. The navigation beyond the bridge was a bit more tricky but still well marked, so we continued into the Parramatta River and picked up a courtesy mooring in Hen and Chicken Bay. A brownish, smoky haze lingered over Sydney from the awful bush fires, but the air quality further upstream seemed a little better.

After a calm and peaceful night, we motored further upstream to Ryde Road Bridge, the end of the navigation for us as the bridge is too low for our mast. There were many rowing and sailing clubs lining the banks. We turned around and headed back towards Sydney Harbour, stopping at the relaxed Drummoyne Sailing Club, where we picked up a mooring, with the Club’s permission, and went ashore for Seniors’ Lunches. Afterwards, we shopped at Coles in the large mall nearby.

Sydney Harbour Bridge

We had to move to another mooring when the owner returned. A local told us there was a courtesy mooring so we picked it up and spent the night there. A second trip ashore found us walking to the post office and to Whitworths, a large, well-stocked chandlery, where we bought bits for SD including a new solar vent, a solar shower and cockpit cushion.

The Opera House

Now it was the day we had sailed all this way for – New Year’s Eve. We had been advised to anchor early so we motored to Farm Cove, next to the Opera House and anchored in 12m just after 0830. There were already quite a lot of yachts and motor boats including some international boats. By lunchtime the madness had started as many vessels tried to find a place to anchor and some behaved as if they had never anchored before. We had all our fenders out. Perhaps all would have been well if there hadn’t been a gale warning.

Into position for the fireworks

The wind was going to increase from the north before switching to the south with gale force gusts. We took turns to be on anchor watch. A small yacht had anchored close to us and when the wind blew, SD was over their anchor, so we had to move before we hit each other. Jeremy pulled up 40m of chain using our manual anchor windlass and his hands as the wind rose to 26 knots. We had to lay the anchor twice more and we were still rather close to a Canadian yacht called Good as Gold. Many boats had to re-anchor at this time. The strong southerly wind arrived in the early evening. All the boats turned around and many more dragged – not SD this time. Calmer conditions prevailed when the fireworks began.

OOOOOOOHH

Spectacular! Amazing! Stunning! Superb! I’m sure there are many more adjectives to describe the fireworks, which were not just on the bridge but on barges anchored at various places in the harbour. There were two displays – one at 9.00pm and the big one at midnight. Both were wonderful and it was worth putting up with all the worries of the crowded anchorage to see them. We felt privileged. Well done, Sal Darago, our trusty Westerly.

AAAAAAAAHH