Arrived at Lake Macquarie

On leaving Sydney we took down our only Chrissy deco (thanks Karen for the pressie) in case it got broken and headed to Pittwater, anchoring at Brisbane Waters. We can't believe this is the first time we have been here! We have had Samurai moored in Pittwater for the last three years and never explored this area and will definately be back.

This morning we woke to a grey day at 6.30am ready for our next jump to Lake Macquarie, 40 nautical miles up the coast. Being back in familiar waters and the experience gained sailing to Eden and back had lifted our confidence and we now intended to cross two bars, navigate a narrow channel and pass through a bridge! No problem!!
I'm writing this in Wangi Wangi a small bay in Lake Macquarie: we never imagined how huge the area was with several sailing clubs, RSLs and Marinas so we won't be spoilt for anchorages.

Below is Swansea bridge that we called the coast guards to open for us in order to get through to Lake Macquarie.

Happy New Year 2010

Happy New Year to everyone following our blog. We have spent a very relaxing few days with friends in Sydney and are now back on the boat heading to Pittwater later today.
Over the next 5 months we will be sailing to new destinations and reaching our ultimate goal, the Whitsundays, around 1000 nautical miles up the coast. Our rough aim is to do two moves a week which should see us in Brisbane by the end of February.

Heading back to Sydney for New Year

On Boxing day we headed to Jervis Bay excited there was a small chance we would see the Sydney Hobart fleet pass and jokingly shouting 'starboard' on Wild Oats. Our excitement changed to being slightly concerned as the weather closed in and visibility became poor, it was one thing spotting the fleet quiet another if we hit anyone! As it turned out they were miles out to sea nowhere near us. A quick overnight stop in Jervis Bay then a short hop up to Shoalhaven River requiring us to cross a sand bar at high tide so planning our arrival time was critical. Shoalhaven is a pretty little place where everyone seems to own a tinny and fishing rod so tonight fish is on the menu, again :)
One thing we have noticed south of Sydney is the lack of facilities to refuel and refill our water tanks. To fill up with water in Shoalhaven we would need to tie up against fishing boats that have bits of apparatus sticking out. We decided against that plan as could see our rigging getting tangled up so will wait till Port Hacking. Filling up with fuel would involve transporting two 40 litre tanks to a garage and doing a few trips. Someone kindly let us borrow a trolley in Jervis Bay allowing us to do this, so we should be OK till Sydney.

Broulee Island - Heading North

Its not a traditional Christmas Day for us as we are anchored at Broulee island about 80 nautical miles north of Eden waiting for a gale to pass. We are currently hunkered down watching videos, reading and listening to Jonathon Ross podcasts which we highly recommend, very funny. We knew the front was coming and sailed overnight to miss it having our Christmas dinner yesterday when the sun was out before the wind and rain arrived.
We wish everyone a happy and safe Christmas and if you're in Manly at New Year give us a call as that's where were headed setting sail tomorrow for Jervis Bay.

Eden

We are anchored in Snug Bay at Eden, a little holiday and fishing village, and indulging in the freshest fish and chips money can buy. We plan to head off tonight back up the coast aiming to be in Sydney for New Year. We were going to go to Tasmania but have realised it would take alot of time to do it justice, there is no way Archie could make the trip, and David and I would benefit from a bit more sailing on the high seas before attempting the Bass Strait. So its north we go, destination sunny Queensland and wave these big weather systems goodbye!!

Vrooma to Narooma

We have just spent a few days on land visiting Mogo, a historic gold rush town where you can

pan for gold and cruise the cafes and art shop's, and also Milton which had fantastic restaurants, galleries and countryside. Now we have returned to Samurai refreshed and ready to go!
We woke to calm seas at 6am this morning and headed 30 nautical miles south to Narooma which leaves us another 50 nautical miles to cover to get us to Eden which we're planning to reach tommorrow.

The first picture shows the dolphins in Batemans Bay which we saw almost every day.

The pictures below, shows what we thought was a seal sun-bathing which we spotted en route to Narooma. Apparently this is how they cool themselves down by sticking their flippers out the water.

Kicking back at Batemans

We've had a relaxing few days sailing around the bay visiting different anchorage sites and being visited by the local dolphin's. Archie's turned out to be a very good dolphin spotter and squeaks loudly when they surface then spends hours patrolling the boat searching for more.
We met Harry, a local coastal patrol volunteer, who very kindly offered us the use of his mooring so we have decided to spend a couple of days exploring in land and rented a cottage outside Batemans Bay leaving the boat tomorrow.
For people following us that don't know the Australian coast we have posted a picture that shows our passage so far and will update periodically as we continue along the coast.
We have also posted photos showing our living quaters on Samurai showing the saloon and the cabin where we sleep, we also have a galley, aft cabin that sleeps two, a large head with shower and nav table.