Logbooks:
Sydney - Pittwater - Sydney
Last visit to Sydney
| Date: | Feb. 16, 2016, 10:41 a.m. |
| Position: | 33 51.81 S, 151 16.03 E |
We arrived in Sydney on Saturday, unsuccessful in getting business class seats yet again! None the less, the seats were good, as we had 3 seats to share between the two of us!
On our arrival at Tunks park (cammeray marina), Roger and Julie were there to greet us and run us out to Singita. All appeared good externally but I did note that the wind turbine driveshaft coupling had failed, consequently, the blades were spinning rapidly but none of this motion was transmitted to the generator. On hopping aboard, all was good, except for the flat house batteries. First time this has happened to us. 15 minutes after running the Honda generator to get some charge into the batteries, we were able to start the diesel generator and get some charge into the batteries. Anyway, to cut a long story short, the batteries have not really recovered, it seems one has given up the ghost and is dragging down the other 3. These batteries are only just over 4 years old. Bummer. Time for new batteries then.
On to nicer things, Roger and Julie had us over for dinner, and a nice night was had by all! Sunday morning saw us all up at 7 am ready for a 7:30 departure, to catch the opening of the Spit bridge at 8:30am. For once, Singita was in the lead, as Clawdette has issues with excessive growth on the propellers, they can only get a maximum speed of 4.5 knots out of her.
We made our way to Birkenhead point to go provision shopping, food and alcohol all stocked up, we were almost good to go.
Monday was spent fitting the new alternator to the main engine that was sent out from the US. This turned into a right pain really, as the alternator arrived damaged in the box and was totally unusable. I had to pinch the regulator assembly from this damaged new one and fit it to my old alternator to get the old one working. I will be complaining to the supplier about this!!
Batteries - the afternoon was spent researching replacement batteries, and there is a supplier who has what we need in Brookvale, that is close to Pittwater where we will be going when we leave Port Jackson for Broken Bay. So, there is a little win anyway.
But alas, getting away was never going to be that easy was it! We pulled anchor this afternoon and the up switch failed, causing the anchor to rack into the bow roller and stall out the windlass and then blow the 100 amp fuse. So, we picked up the local Balmain police mooring and repaired the up switch and replaced the 100 amp fuse. All good again, however we will be ordering two new foot switches for the windlass. As time was running out to actually get anywhere today, not to mention the southerly was fairly piping out there (20-25 knots), we decided to stop at Rose bay and pick up a courtesy mooring. Tomorrow, the plan is to leave Port Jackson for Broken Bay, where we will spend a couple of days before heading further north, perhaps to Lake Macquarie.
Back to work again!
| Date: | Jan. 10, 2016, 1:26 p.m. |
After Katrina returned home, we had planned to leave Sydney and perhaps go to Lake Macquarie, however, the weather had different ideas and we eventually decided to leave Singita in Sydney again, this time in Middle harbour at Cammeray.
So, yet again, we tuck Singita away and fly on home to Perth, back to work again for another month!
Katrina visits Sydney!
| Date: | Jan. 1, 2016, 1:25 p.m. |
Katrina flew up from Melbourne this morning to spend some days with us, we loved having her with us and all had a great time!
In position - for NYE, Farm Cove
| Date: | Dec. 30, 2015, 7:21 a.m. |
| Position: | 33 51.56 S, 151 13.19 E |
Back in Sydney, now anchored in Farm Cove and ready for tomorrow nights new years eve celebrations! We anchored there on the 30th, the day before new years eve, the cove was a little crowded, however, we still managed to anchor up in a decent spot! The weather was great, mostly sunny, a little cloud, while we settled in for some R n R until the big event on new years eve. And what a show it was, Sydney really knows how to celebrate!
Lead up to new years eve
| Date: | Dec. 29, 2015, 1:20 p.m. |
21st December 2013
Well, another trip away at work is complete and time to head home and make preparations to head for Sydney again and back on Singita. We spent the first 3 days at home catching up with family, friends and packing what turned out to be yet again, another huge load for the trip to Sydney! How does this happen I hear you say? Well, I don’t know, but this is the last time we hope! From the next trip on, it’s pack light!
Monday arrived, and we were at the airport again, ready to wing our way over to Sydney and again, we got lucky and scored business class. Thank you Jemma! May your employment with Qantas continue, ha ha! After a pleasant trip, we arrived safely and quickly gathered the huge pile of luggage, caught a cab, and made our way to the Gladesville bridge marina, arriving at about 10pm. Of course, it was raining on our arrival and we got a little wet by the time we got on board. It was nice to be back again though.
22nd December
Today saw the rain continue and quite heavily as well. As the rain did not look like it was going to let up, we decided to spend another day in the marina and hope we could head off in the morning tomorrow. The day today was spent charging batteries and generally packing all our gear away.
23rd December
Finally the rain begins to ease! We say goodbye to Matt and Cathy and thank them for looking after Singita while we were away at work etc. and now its time to move on! We made our way back to Blackwattle bay again and anchor up for what will be our home for the next few days over christmas. For the rest of the day, we walked around to the Sydney fish markets and bought some treats for christmas, a whole snapper, some sashimi and other goodies! Sashimi for lunch!
24th December
Today we heard from Roger and Julie on Clawdette, they have finally arrived in Sydney and are up in Broken Bay, Pittwater, where they plan to spend Christmas day at Rogers brothers place. We are looking forward to seeing them, they plan to be in Port jackson on boxing day! Cooked an amazing snapper on the BBQ - thank god I salvaged the BBQ from the bottom of the harbour!
25th December
Christmas day! First christmas for what feels like ever that it was only myself and Sonja! Jemma is in London having christmas with Isaac and work mates, Katrina is having christmas at my aunty’s place in Melbourne with Aaron and the rest of the family.
26th December - Sydney to Hobart!
Well, at least the start anyhow! We timed the arrival adjacent to the start line among the spectator fleet to perfection! Great atmosphere and so many boats! We witnessed several damaged race yachts who were involved in a collision whilst tacking to windward - gut wrenching for them :(
Bantry bay - Blackwattle bay
| Date: | Nov. 13, 2015, 12:21 p.m. |
| Track to here: | Download |
| Position: | 33 52.35 S, 151 11.19 E |
Today we went up another side arm of Middle harbour to Roseville bridge marina and coffee shop, anchored up in the creek and went ashore for coffee and then Sonja and Leanne went shopping in her sons car, so we could be re-provisioned with dry goods etc. for our return to Sydney in December.
That done, in company with 3rd Wish, we made our way to the Spit bridge for the 1.15pm opening time and into Port Jackson and around to Blackwattle bay. Along the way, we got some great photos of Bruce and Linda's Cat, 3rd Wish, in front of the opera house and sailing under the harbour bridge, their first time in Sydney harbour.
We arrived in Blackwattle bay and anchored just before the southerly change hit, with accompanying thunder storm and rain etc. It is a very good anchorage this one, with great holding, so no concerns here!
There are about 7 boats here now in the anchorage, pretty full. We heard from Roger and Julie today, our friends from Clawdette, and they are currently sailing just south of Cairns. This afternoon, we caught up with Wayne and Janelle, who came aboard for dinner (BBQ salmon, very nice!) and a few (more) wines. Great to catch up with them, and we are looking forward to their company again.
Broken Bay - Port Jackson
| Date: | Nov. 12, 2015, 11:26 a.m. |
| Track to here: | Download |
| Position: | 33 46.75 S, 151 13.90 E |
Well, all good things must come to an end, we are moving down the coast to Sydney again. The forecasted NW wind was correct, though just a bit light for Singita to sail by herself without engine assistance, being around 10 knots with only 4-5 knots of apparent wind. The swell was around the 1.5-2 meter mark from the ESE and subsequently, the trip down was a little uncomfortable, with Singita rolling somewhat.
Linda and Bruce on 3rd Wish were just ahead of us and had there code zero, or screacher, out and were making 4-5 knots under sail. We both entered the heads at around 11am and the breeze picked up enough to give us a nice sail in through the heads and around to Store beach, where we dropped anchor and had some lunch on 3rd Wish.
After lunch, it was up anchor and move on into middle harbour, making for Bantry Bay. The spit bridge opened for us at 1.15pm and we motored through, in company with Bruce and Linda, as well as with an Oyster 725 that was making for the Spit bridge marina. This vessel was called Spirit of Phantom, and was a charter yacht that by all accounts is a new yacht to Sydney, She was built in 2012 and is on the British register of ships.
After picking up a NSW maritime mooring in Bantry bay, all the crew came over to Singita for sundowners, dinner and guitar session and sing along. Bruce on guitar and Linda on vocals. Back up singers were Scott and Sonja, What a hoot was had by all.
Cottage point - Coasters retreat
| Date: | Nov. 9, 2015, 9:18 a.m. |
| Track to here: | Download |
| Position: | 33 36.21 S, 151 17.68 E |
We awoke to some great weather today, nice to see the sun after what seems so many overcast days! Decided to perform a little boat maintenance and installed a new port light seal to one in the aft cabin. That done, we made our way to shore for another coffee session with Linda and Bruce, and also we met some new friends, Gale and George, from Southern Belle, a Bluewater 420. A nice time was had, that also extended into lunch. Plenty of support for the local business!
We decided that we would make our way around to Pittwater and explore Coasters retreat and the Basin. It was a very leisurely cruise around the corner, and we pulled up another mooring for the day/night. The day was rounded out with a walk on shore, exploring the basin and seeing some wildlife (Wallaby, Pelicans etc.) and also had a crack at fishing. Yes, burgers for dinner tonight then......
Bobbin Head - Pinta Bay
| Date: | Nov. 7, 2015, 5:52 a.m. |
| Track to here: | Download |
| Position: | 33 35.63 S, 151 12.16 E |
Whilst moored at Bobbin Head, we met a chap named Miles Flannigan from the yacht Sowelo from Tasmania. She was a Mapleleaf 42, originally from Canada, he purchased her in Tasmania 3 years ago. It transpired that Miles used to work for Qantas in human resources and knew of our good friend, Grant Pitman. Miles is cruising North, the Whitsundays being his eventual destination. We may see him up there next year.
We left Bobbin Head this morning for some further exploring of the area. Motoring was the order of the day again, wind was on the nose of course, for a journey down stream.
After deciding to explore Waratah Bay, we boarded the dingy and set off to see the remains of a vessel and all that remained was a rusting hulk. She is all that remains of Edward Clarke Windybank's boating enterprise, started in 1887 and sold by his sons in 1959.
The vessel was a paddle steamer called the General Gordon, a ferry that transported passengers between Brooklyn and Gosford.
The next stop was Jerusalem Bay, where we set the anchor and did some more venturing in the dinghy. Here a group of young fellows were jumping off the high rocks into the water below, all having an absolutely wonderful time. All I could think of, was I hope there were no rocks below the surface, as that would not have been good! Thinking that, I am either getting sensible or old, one of the two!
Following lunch, we pulled weighed anchor and set off, deciding to pull into Pinta Bay, as there was a free courtesy mooring, a pretty rare commodity on the weekends around here.
Broken Bay NSW
| Date: | Nov. 5, 2015, noon |
| Track to here: | Download |
| Position: | 33 39.48 S, 151 9.80 E |
After several days with no internet or phone reception, its time to catch up on what has been happening over the last few days.
1st November - moored in American Bay. Busy weekend, plenty of boats in anchorage.
2nd Nov - Met with the following people - Linda and Bruce from 3rd wish (Grainger Catamaran) in Refuge Bay, and John from Nutshell (40 foot cat hull boat that had a flat bottom, that dries out on the sand flats at low tide. Refuge Bay.
3rd Nov - Met Geoff and Sharon, friends of Linda and Bruces, enjoyed Melbourne cup luncheon and helped celebrate their (Linda/Bruce) 31st wedding anniversary. Cottage point cafe, owners name was Trent, nice guy who along with his wife, has only had the business for a year. We also met two guys (father and son) in Refuge bay, feeding an eagle (falcon or osprey?) with pilchards after whistling and calling over to their house boat, Sonja has some good IPhone footage. We won some money on the Melbourne cup sweep with Bruce, Linda, Geoff and Sharon, 20 bucks down, ended up 5.50 in front! The winner was the first female jockey to win Melbourne cup in 150 year history.
3/11/2015 - Tonight in Smiths creek (Stingray Bay) - (offshoot of Cowen Creek), dinner and drinks at Linda’s and Bruce’s boat.
4-11-15
Took tender up stingray bay under oars, explored a cave that had signs of early aboriginal habitation, blackened roof of cave, remnants of shell fish etc. Quite a few small stingrays in the bay, mangroves and birdlife. Signita off to cottage point again, met up with Linda and Bruce for coffee, and filled our gas bottle and 5 litres of petrol for the outboard. Returned to Smith creek, this time travelled all the way to the end, expecting some foul weather for Thursday. Bruce and Linda coming to ours this evening for Pizza and sequence. More wine and song, a good evening was had.
5th November
Today we went back to Cottage Point cafe and enjoyed more coffee with our new friends. After that, we took our boats down to Bobbin head marina, picked up another courtesy mooring, and for tonights activity, went over to 3rd Wish for games of sequence and dinner, sans alcohol tonight. More thunderstorms forecast along with rain, we are in a very sheltered spot, so should be another comfortable night. Fingers crossed!
Fitted up the BBQ and gave it a test run this afternoon, following its dunking in Sydney harbour, all good and it works a treat!
So far, the best bays in Cullen Creek have been as follows
1. Smiths Creek - good courtesy moorings
2. Refuge Bay - busy with lots of moorings, best during Monday-Friday
3. America Bay - as above with Refuge Bay
4. Cottage point - small motor yacht club, cafe and courtesy moorings (2 plus one owned by the cafe. Gas, fuel and water available.
Morning Bay, Pittwater - America bay, Cowen creek
| Date: | Oct. 31, 2015, 1:30 a.m. |
| Track to here: | Download |
Time to escape the maddening crowd of Pittwater locals in this small bay with vessels rafted up on moorings and partying into the night. We are heading for America Bay, a slightly quieter anchorage (considering it is the weekend). It turned out to be a very nice spot, packed with moorings, so no anchorage available. There were no courtesy moorings available that we could find, so we pulled onto a private one and hoped for the best.
BBQ's, mast lights and Pittwater
| Date: | Oct. 30, 2015, 9:07 a.m. |
| Track to here: | Download |
Well, yesterday was quite a full on day, with more maintenance on Singita, we replaced the tricolour and anchor light assembly, there were some hairy moments there when the Sydney fast cat ferry's went past the marina. The ground swell these vessels generate certainly get all the vessels in the marina rocking, and today was no exception. It was legs clamped around the mast, hanging onto whatever was solid to prevent me swinging around on my halyard and bosuns chair like an acrobat. I can understand why marine electricians refuse to do such work unless the mast is out of the boat, as it was a devil of a job, but, we got it done. None the less, I say Pussy's!! Drink some concrete and harden up :)
Now, to the BBQ. We had the day before, done a mock fit up of the BBQ on Singita and were very proud of its new location at the port stern. It was while I was up the mast replacing the masthead light, and Sonja was down below on deck standing by waiting for the bosuns hoisting and lowering instructions, that she was distracted by some commotion on shore. She leapt of the bench seat to see what was happening, and caught herself on said BBQ. As it was only really mocked up in position, it neatly flipped up and over the side in quick order, sinking to the depths of Sydney harbour (ok, maybe only 4 1/2 meters). From my lofty position, I only heard a gasp followed by a slash and saw something shiny sinking alongside Singita. She was sunk......then it was time, in between journeys to the mast top, that a quick dive with a halyard to recover said BBQ, was effected. Not an experience I care to repeat, the visibility in the harbour was less than 1/2 a meter at best. Very disconcerting.
None the less, it was a success, a thorough rinsing with fresh water to get the salt water and mud out, and she looked good as new again. Still to see if it works though....
Now, back to the present. We cast off the lines this morning at 8:00am and made our way to the Sydney heads, then onwards to Broken Bay, Pittwater.
There was some excitement in the harbour this morning, with the Australian navy's newest ship, the City of Adelaide a landing helicopter dock (LHD) ship, entering the harbour with full fanfare, news helicopters and a flypast by the RAAF's new C130J Hercules heavy transport aircraft, came flying through the heads at low level and proceeded to buzz the Adelaide, and us. An absolute buzz! Those pilots must have been thinking, best job in the world!
The (motor) sail up to Broken bay was very pleasant, there was only a very (almost non existant) light NE breeze until the last 90 minutes, when the north easter picked up around lunchtime, to around 15 knots. This afforded us with an opportunity to get a reef in and get the engine off for a sail into the bay.
Coming in and seeing the sheer volume of yachts permanently moored in Pittwater was something akin to entering Rottnest island on new years eve, only busier! Incredible. We explored a few areas of Pittwater, and settled on Morning Bay as it was pretty sheltered from the nor' easter. I ended up spending the afternoon troubleshooting the lack of down function on our anchor windlass, installing the new down switch and discovering the wiring harness for the foot switches was corroded beyond help. When the anchor windlass had been replaced some 10 year ago, the installer used standard copper wire instead of tinned wire, so considering this harness and it's connections live in the chain locker, it is really hardly surprising. Ah yes, once again, sailed to another exotic destination, only to repair the boat!
Back to Sydney again!
| Date: | Oct. 27, 2015, 10:16 a.m. |
After another month at work, it was finally time to get home and make final preperations (read purchase and pack numerous spares for Singita), catch up with family and friends, then fly over to Sydney for up to 3 weeks of cruising and exploring Pittwater, in Broken Bay, north of Sydney.
We arrived at the airport this morning for a 0550am departure, with 40 odd kilograms of spares, BBQ and other assorted sailing paraphernalia, and luckily for us, Qantas made no objections and we were on our way.
After a couple of hours, one movie and a breakfast later, I opened my window to see what I could see of the outside world, and was delighted to see us over the Spencer Gulf with a terrific view of Wedge Island, the Yorke Peninsula, Althorpe Islands and Kangaroo Island.
This bought back memories of exciting times earlier this year when myself and Sonja sailed from Port Lincoln to American River and beyond to Sydney. This particular sail included such adventures as a dragging anchor and a lee shore at Althorpe island with the customary 2am departure for American River, KI, followed by a boisturous passage through the Backstairs passage with a healthy wind against tide and some good old Southern Ocean swell thrown into boot.
We arrived in Sydney at Kingsford Smith airport at 1.00pm and quickly, via taxi, made our way over to the Gladesville marina in Drummoyne, to see how Singita faired by herself over the last 3 months.
The good people at the marina had her in a pen for us and all looked pretty good, some bird droppings on top of the dodger, general dirt and no doubt some extra growth on the hull! All good though, battery voltages were OK, thanks to the duo Gen wind turbine, so, let the cleaning begin!
Tomorrow will be a cleaning and maintenance day, with a expedition up the mast to replace the failed tri colour/anchor light. We also made contact with our new friends Janelle and Wayne, and look forward to catching up with them on thursday night for dinner, looking forward to hearing about Wayne's most recent retirement!
The weather this week looks reasonably OK, ENE around 5-10 knots and hardly any swell to speak of, so we will see about getting up to Broken Bay, Pittwater, on Friday. Looking forward to it all!
Mark Pitman: Congratulations! Great to hear that you are back Singita. We're looking forward to following your adventures! Sydney northwards and over the top is a fantastic run with plenty more (hopefully not so extreme) adventures. xo Mark & Cat Oct. 27, 2015, 2:47 p.m.
Add a commentLooking forward to being on our way again
| Date: | Oct. 14, 2015, 7:36 a.m. |
After nearly 3 months away, 2 months at work and a month in the UK visiting daughter Jemma, we are both keen as to get under way again! We plan to be over in Sydney to perform some maintenance (read cleaning!) and then take a sail up to Broken Bay and explore the Pittwater area, on the 27th of October.
We will be over there for up to 3 weeks, before leaving her yet again in Sydney harbour for another stint at work. Then we will be back in Sydney for Christmas / New year, then start making our way north from Sydney. Destination at this stage is unclear, other than it will be somewhere within 10 days of Sydney, as work will once again beckon. Stay tuned!