Jan and Ian arrived in Sydney in November 2007 and stepped on board their new home, Rebel, a 45 ft Formosa and are slowly cruising the east coast of Australia.
Aussie mobiles: 00 61 424 74 86 95 and 00 420 494 096. SA mobile not working.
From Jervis Bay we made a short 20nm hop on a lovely reach to Greenwell Point so as to shorten the trip up to Port Hacking. The Marine Rescue guys let us use their swing mooring in the river. It is a small peaceful little place where not much happens….As the river is shallow, our departure the next day had to coincide with high tide, so we had to wait until 14.30 before we could leave. This meant getting to Port Hacking at around midnight after motorsailing the entire way as fresh southerly seemed to have passed up the coast before us. As we got closer to Port Hacking I kept on seeing what I thought were the masthead lights of another yacht and could not understand why they kept on disappearing. As time went by I realized they were airplane landing lights for Sydney airport. It is so strange having airplanes buzzing overhead again and seeing city light reflections on the clouds.
When we woke up the next morning we were really chuffed to see Patricia and Alan Lucas, whom we had last seen 18 months ago at Great Keppel Island, on a mooring not 50m from us. So we caught up over morning coffee, and then they plus Janet and Geoff Warren from Pegasus all came to Rebel for supper. Surprise surprise to find Geoff is an ex Pietermaritzburg boy!
From there onto Blackwattle Bay in Sydney, opposite the fish market. Since we were last here a jetty has been built on the Wentworth Park side of the bay, making it really easy to go ashore and into Glebe, while on the other side we leave the dinghy at the fish market and walk into the CBD.
From Sydney we migrated north in stops and starts – a night in Spring Cove off Manly, then the next day zig-zagged our way along the coast until the wind filled in from the south west. On arriving at Broken Bay we headed into the Ku-Ring-Gai National Park to Refuge Bay and managed to find a spare mooring despite the fact that it was a long weekend. Possibly predicted bad weather kept many boaties at home. On Sunday we moved around to Morning Bay in Pittwater (on another free mooring) and then on Monday we dropped anchor off the Church Point ferry station, where we can get ashore and get the bus to Mona Vale, and more importantly, receive visits from friends!
We are now at the Royal Motor Yacht Club where this afternoon we had six new batteries put in (not without the normal unexpected problems....). Ian is changing oil and filters and looks like a grease baby while I managed to use the free washing facilities here to do three loads. Luxury!
Sadly this is likely to be our last Yotblog post. Last year the bloghost said he was going to close down the site, we started posting on Tripsailor and since then have been running two blogs. This has become too time consuming and tho the Yotblog host now is apparently expanding and continuing his services, the map and photo facilities on Tripsailor make it more attractive for us. So please log onto www.tripsailor.com/rebel and you will get all our news plus way more photos!
Before leaving Eden we hiked around the south peninsular, taking in the amazing rock formations and swatting mosquitoes to death. Our trip from Eden to Jervis Bay had wind pretty much from behind the entire way which, coupled with a huge sea generated by a SE swell, made the trip very unpleasant with Rebel rocking from side to side for 24 hours. Needless to say sleeping was not easy. Luckily we found a pick up swing mooring in Jervis Bay off Huskisson Beach, attached ourselves to this and promptly went to sleep for an hour or so!
Then we made our way ashore, dragging the dinghy over mounds of soft seaweed, to meet up with my school friends of 40 years, Marcelle and Linda and other halves. They were in Jervis Bay for an Easter break. Easter Monday Ian and I made the most of the free laundry facilities in their holiday house (!!), and then fetched them for sundowners on board, with Ian playing taxi man.
After two aborted attempts to leave Tasmania we finally got underway on Tuesday. The St Helens Marine Rescue guys guided us through the narrow waterway and over the very shallow bar into freedom….and no wind! Added to which was a confused sea and which made motorsailing very uncomfortable with the boat wallowing from side to side. Then come midnight the wind kicked in to a wonderful 20 knots on our beam. With the swell now in our favour, a clear sky and full moon, one could not ask for more. The wind stayed with us throughout the next day and only halfway through the next night did we have to motor again.
We are now tucked away in wood chip bay in Eden and will be catching up on some sleep, as no matter how gentle the sailing, the interrupted sleeps takes it out of you a little.
The St Helens coast guard met us in the bay and guided us over the bar and through the shallow channels to the fishing wharf where we tied up in front of a huge police vessel – probably the one we saw in Jamieson Bay. The guys from Fishgrip assessed the problem and will be here Monday morning to fix it. Fortunately it should not be necessary to take Rebel out of the water for the repair but we have just taped plastic sheeting over the cupboards in aft cabin to try and keep the fibre glass dust out as they will be working beneath our bunk....
We have been making the most of endless water and power and generally chilling out and replenishing our stocks. Yesterday we went to the local movie house (very retro with couches to sit on) to watch Nowhere Boy, a good movie on John Lennon's teenage years. If the weather pattern holds we hope to leave on Tuesday morning for Eden.
Our passage up Tasmania’s east coast had us anchoring in Bicheno (very roly), Long Point (a local swum out to say hi …), the south side of Eddystone Point, and finally the north side of Eddystone Point, where the anchorage is sheltered but tricky to leave in a hurry. On Thursday the 18th we sailed the 30nm across to the Furneaux Group, where Flinders is the largest island. We headed for Jamieson Bay on Cape Barren Island, the second largest, to get protection from north – north/west winds. We were comforted to see three fishing boats anchored just off the beach. On Saturday, after talking to a fishing boat, we re-anchored behind the sand dunes as the wind was forecast to swing to the west. The gales finally stopped blowing late Tuesday night.
The weather bureau always cautions that wind speeds can be 40% higher than forecast. Unless our wind indicator is grossly over reading, the past few days have proved this to be a understatement deluxe…. Our wind dial has maxed out at 59 knots many times and consistently over 40 knots. 30 knots now seems like child’s play! Just when you think the wind is dying down, it returns with added fury, like a child having a tantrum. Luckily there is no major wave/swell action, with the wind totally flattening whatever tries to build up from the beach 100m away.
The weather has been so adverse that we have not even been able to go ashore. The most exciting part of the stay so far has been a visit by a big powerful police motor cruiser seemingly policing fishing boat catches, as they launched a powerful dinghy from behind with two guys on board. These guys boarded the fishing boats and generally poked around. The ‘mother’ ship came within two metres of our stern to ask where we were from and commiserate on the weather.
At this point in time my most favourite thing is our anchor…. As you lie awake at night because of the fury of the wind, you start wondering what would happen if the chain snapped…… leaving you even less able to sleep than before!
Well… next leg of the saga….. Yesterday (Wednesday) the wind finally seemed to have settled sown so we thought we would head for Babel Island, for the night and then today (Thursday) cross the Bass Strait. As we got going the wind strengthened (typical) and as we were hard on the wind and into swell, we heard these new different noises. So we returned to Jamieson Bay and on inspection Ian saw a small crack and some water seepage. We decided we had to head back to St Helens (50nm south) where hopefully we can have it fixed. Fortunately the wind has been in our favour to get there and we have had a lovely sail all day. As the wind has not been ‘hard on the nose’ we have not had trouble with the rudder and the marine rescue guys are going to meet us outside St Helens and guide us in, as it can be a tricky entrance. That’s all for now.
What does trouble always happen at night!!! Had a good run up from North Bay and were happily motorsailing along when the engine cut out at 17.30hr. Ian pinpointed the problem to the electric fuel pump…. Hitting it with a hammer did not bring it back to life as my engine course lecturer said it would… With telephonic input from Chris on Westwind Ian bypassed the pump by rigging up a line straight from the plastic diesel canister lashed to the binnacle… Much relief was felt by both of us when the engine started. However, the best option seemed to stand off Bicheno instead of going back south, so we basically lay a hull the entire night and just drifted a little with the current. Luckily for us there was the gentlest of winds and virtually no swell, and only two other boats to worry about. It was very peaceful sitting on watch listening to music on the Ipod.
This morning we started the engine and anchored in Bicheno, which is a tiny fishing port. Being a Saturday there is no knowing how long it will be before we get the pump fixed/replaced. However, the weather looks settled and would not have allowed us to proceed further north anyway.
One year to the day after arriving in Hobart we finally departed yesterday at 9.30am in very light wind -on the nose of course. We kept on unfurling and refurling the genoa without much luck. On arriving at the approach to Denison Canal at 15hr a passing motor boat warned us that it was very shallow in places….Well, we touched bottom just before the second set of leads and managed to slurp our way through the mud and turn back and drop our anchor for an hour to allow the tide to rise a little more yet still make the canal opening times of 8 – 5.
We sneaked through at 5pm and gave the gate keeper the customary beer and $1 (we upped this to $2 as we kept him 5mins over closing time!). Then we have to move slowly through Blackman Bay sticking to the channel markers like glue as it is a big but very shallow bay. The depth sounder made its presence known all the way and we finally crossed the bar at around 18hr. As we did not want to get to Maria Island in the dark, we turned south to the first little bay – North Bay, where we dropped anchor and had a roly poly night, fighting off mosquitoes who seemed very attracted to the RID I had smeared over myself. We planning to sail through the night tonight and get to Babel Island, off the Flinders Group, around 15hr tomorrow.
The time has come…. Tomorrow morning we plan to head out early so that we can get through the Denison channel on a rising tide (around 14.00hr) and make it around the corner to North Bay where we will wait out the big blow that is expected on Tuesday. Then we will hop up the coast. Hopefully we will have some internet reception so will keep you posted.
Its gone – the car! On hearing that these people were driving through with the money Ian quickly went to collect the genoa which had to be restitched because the Tassie sun had attacked the stitching, and I went to the supermarket for a last shop for heavy stuff. From now on it will be lug everything by hand or on our little trolley. So once the weather is right we will be leaving Hobart.
A week of setbacks….. Transpires that our car registration and driving licences were suspended cos of an unpaid speeding ticket that we did not even know existed…. Even tho the fine has now been paid the suspension has not yet been lifted, so thank goodness no-one responded to our for sale ad for the car. Seems cars like ours are a dime a dozen so down comes the price and now we are looking for a willing recipient of a free car rather than a buyer!! Ian’s computer finally gave up on Friday, so he bought a Toshiba. The first one would not boot up, so it went back to Officeworks and he is now busy setting up the second ‘new’ one, which appears to be behaving itself.
We were invited to a sailing friend’s birthday barbeque at a hut halfway up Mt Wellington. Gales were forecast for the day but that never scared off a Tasmanian and there they were, lighting fires in the drizzle and huddling in the three sided hut, which fortunately had a big fireplace inside. We were treated to rain, sleet, snow (melted as it hit ground), wind and sunshine, all for varied patches of time. Certainly added to the conversation and with an abundance of good food and dessert, everyone had a good time, including a few frozen looking hikers who came to share our fire.
Another week has buzzed by. Ian has been pre-occupied with all the paperwork needed for his permanent visa application, but also found time to hand stitch the used fireman’s hose around the dinghy cover to act as a scuff shield. The cover is now on and looks in my eyes looks wonderful….. The machine went back on the auction on Friday and I have yet to find if I got my money back or not. Selling the car is going to take a little longer…. I was mis-informed as to the cut-off date for the Saturday paper, so it will only go in this coming Saturday and as yet we have not had one call re today’s add….. These things are always easier to buy than sell! I am getting itchy feet and want to visit all the places friends have told us are not to be missed, like Deal Island (middle of the Bass Straights). Soon, soon, soon.
