Gulf Harbour to Sydney. The First Leg

Well we finally left Gulf Harbour only to find the HF radio was not working. Nine days later with a new radio, modem and satellite phone to boot, we finally cleared  customs at Opua on 9 Nov.

The first 36 hours were pleasant, either motoring between the Cavalli’s and North Cape or sailing with light winds behind. Once clear of the Kings we made northwest and were progressively knocked north as the wind veered NW – wanted to get well north anyway to avoid the worst of the intense SW’ly airstream that was to grip NZ later in the week. Got to within an overnight sail of Norfolk Island before the front passed through and the Force 5 NW’lies gave way to Force 5/6 SW’lies with a heavy SW swell that built over 48 hours before progressively backing SE to give us a beautiful day of gentle or no breeze during which we motored west for 18 hours. Everyone came out of their shells and for a while the cockpit gatherings became quite a social affair! But it didn’t last – the high moved rapidly over us and the winds built from the NW to give us another 36 hours of sustained Force 5/6 forward of the beam as we struggled to hold height to clear Middleton Reef and a couple of seamounts with only a couple of hundred metres of water over them. Most of the crew reverted to their holes, and the cockpit once again became a lonely outpost with no happy hours! Finally the wind backed S to SE to give us a fast broad reach back down towards Coffs over the last 24 hours. Although we had no sustainable winds over 30 knots during the trip the sea was rough and the conditions very unpleasant with peak gusts of 38
knots in squalls.

Clearing into Coffs Harbour was a doodle with a pleasant Customs and Quarantine man. His biggest concern seemed to be potential for termites in the woodwork – a bit of a laugh really when you consider Australian termites. Still he assured me there were much worse – he reeled off a list of countries, most of which we had sailed to, which apparently have termites big enough to demolish the Sydney Opera House! Fortunately there were no signs of termites aboard MS and he commented very favourably on the standard of finish on the woodwork.

We only spent a couple of days in Coffs before sailing overnight to Port Stephens in a building northerly – no more winds forward of the beam now as a matter of principle – we are cruising. We stopped overnight in a delightful little cove up the harbour but left first light the next morning for another downwind sail to Broken Bay (Hawkesbury River) where we found a very attractive anchorage in Refuge Bay.  There was a waterfall that tumbled over the cliffs in a corner of the bay onto a golden sandy beach, flooded at high tide but a great place or kids with shallow clear water and gold sands as the tide dropped. From there it was a half day sail  to Sydney in a sea fog that reduced visibility to ¼ mile and had us glued to the radar and all other eyes peeled. It lifted as we rounded North Head and we made our way to Cammeray. Absolute bedlam on a beautiful hot Sunday fternoon dodging yachts, motor boats, sailing dinghies, speed boats towing fun craft and kayakers – quite a challenge navigating through all that.

Cammeray marina is a small 20-25 boat marina with no direct road access.  We met the owner’s son, Kel, ailing across the Atlantic with us in 2004. He has been very accommodating and found space for us for 6 weeks despite being “full”. We decided to stop over a while to regain equilibrium after a very hectic 5 weeks and will continue south in the new year after Warren comes back from doing the Sydney Hobart on a friend’s boat. It’s a very relaxed place – live aboard and cruiser friendly. Morganeen a little trooper – spent most of the time on passage across the Tasman in the back cabin with me sleeping or watching videos. He was quite frightened of the slamming and banging and constant heel as we made our way north and west in the stronger winds even though we tried to make the ride as easy as possible for both boat and crew. Mustang Sally is a hard boat to slow down!! He chucked a few times but was quite nonchalant about that – the Gravol was great Vikki, made him dopey and allowed him to sleep through the worst stuff. So if anyone is venturing to  Canada or the states pls grab some for me.He only said he wanted to go home twice! On the 2 pleasant days of the 8 day passage he was as cheerful and full of life as ever. He misses his mates from Monty esp Nico. He became quite confident in the dinghy during the 9 day stay on anchor at Opua. He can now start the 8 HP (when its warm), climb into the dinghy from the water and steer a pretty good course (when not distracted). However we won’t let him venture out alone yet – still waiting to purchase that 2 hp! Now he is the little Cammeray dock rat on first name terms with everyone and always hanging out for a tender ride (a service provided to the moorings and nearest road head 300 metres away at the head of the bay. Its lovely hot weather here and a great little community, we are just relaxing and catching up with friends.

love trish warren and morgan.