Year 2 –14 January 2024 -Arrival in Sydney- Day 8

Kevin and I had the 8-11.00pm shift and we were trying to slow Stormbird down a bit. In the distance we could see lots of flashes of lightning from the shore although we could not see it. There were several cargo boats just drifting some 60 nm from Sydney and we had to navigate through them. We were on the lookout for rain and storm clouds but luckily they all passed down our side.

The moon was out illuminating the sea and sky and we could now see a lot of the ships’ lights of those that were drifting as it was too deep to anchor. We sailed on slowly and the lightning seemed to stay on shore.

We went off at 11.00pm with instructions to maintain 7kts to get to the entrance to Sydney Harbour by about 7.00am. When we came on watch at 5.00am we were about 16nm away and the engine was on as the wind had died. It was a grey misty morning and there was a band of cloud over what we assumed was the land which we still had not seen. At 6.09am Kevin saw the land and there were some cliffs. As we came closer you could have mistaken it for the white cliffs of Dover!!

We motored on toward the entrance and the cliffs grew larger and not only did they look like the cliffs of Dover but also the cliffs in the Algave near Lagos. We came to the entrance and slowly entered the harbour which had lots of ferries zooming about like bees. We slowly entered the channel to go into Middle Harbour and we used up as many eggs, bacon and sausages we could eat to have a cooked breakfast before going into Neutral Bay and customs.

We had to collect all fruit and vegetables left, any meat and eggs we had not used to give to the Biosecurity officials. We motored slowly up the middle harbour and saw the Opera House, city and Sydney Bridge although the ambient weather was a bit grey. We went to the customs wharf and moored to it and the customs and Biosecurity officials were there. They looked inside and checked our fridges and freezer and were looking for any termites or insects etc. This took about an hour and they took all our rubbish away.  Customs checked our passports and entry papers etc.

As we finished the sun came out and we motored away from the wharf having taken down our Q flag (yellow) as we had now been cleared into Australia. We motored under Sydney Bridge and around a bit, then back again and passed the Opera House which was amazing. We had done it -we had got here!. We then went round to Rose Bay where we found an anchorage near the Sea Plane waterway so we had a number of seaplanes land and take off near us during the day. We found an anchor point and got our anchor well dug in as we are expecting very stormy conditions tonight and for a few days.

Once anchored we had a celebratory drink. We had travelled to the entrance some 1,328 nm in 7 days and 18 hours at an average of 7 kts. This would have been a bit higher had we not been trying to slow down for a few days. In addition, we feel lucky with our timing as the weather has been good and we have managed to arrive before this storm arrives. 12 hours later and the end conditions would have been very different.

Once we had a drink we had some lunch, showered and rested and got the dinghy and outboard down. We decided to go ashore and walked into the Rose Bay suburb and found a Sports Bar. We then bought a couple of things from the supermarket and walked along the shore to the seaplane wharf which had a restaurant and then decided to go to the restaurant there called Catalina. We could see Stormbird in the bay and she did not appear to have moved.

The meal was enjoyable and then we headed back in the dinghy into the waves that had begun to grow and we all got quite wet from the splash of the waves. Never mind we all laughed and had a hot drink. Some were too tired and went to bed early and others played cards etc.

As I finish this I can see lightening in the distance and the wind is howling as is the thunder and we are due apparently 36mm of rain in the next 24 hours. We all need a good night’s sleep and in relatively flat water.

We look forward to exploring Sydney more and let’s hope the weather does not stop this. I am thankful we all got here safe and sound. A big thanks to Stormbird who carried us and looked after us all the way.

The picture of the day is the iconic Sydney Bridge and Opera House.

Need/Opportunity Year Two

I am in need of more crew from April to September so if of interest do email me at  hine.nick9@gmail.com  

In year two I will be going from New Zealand to Sydney and hen up the Eastern Australian Coast, Indonesia and then through Bali, Singapore and on to Thailand to end year two about the end of November 2025.

The blog will continue as we continue the journey. If you have any comments or suggestions about the blog then do email me on hine.nick9@gmail.com