Year 2 – 30 January 2024 -Departing Sydney – Broken Bay - Pittwater

I had an early morning message that the electrician will come about 8.15am so I got up and had a bit of breakfast before leaving to get the electrician. He came back to Stormbird and prepared what he needed for fixing a new tricolour/anchor light which was in one unit when up the mast. He gathered all the fittings, screws, bolts and connectors he needed and Trevor and I hoisted him up the mast. This took a bit of effort as the winches on the mast are not electric.

He was up for some time but got it all working and secured everything and then came down. However, he forgot to do some sealing so up he went again with Mark and Malcolm helping wind up this time. It did not take long. Once done he then changed the speed and depth log and we tested it by spinning it before it was put through the hull and it worked. I then took him back to the pontoon and thought we were then done.

We prepared ourselves to leave to go to Broken Bay (it enjoys National Park statues around its shoreline)which is some 18nm North of Sydney Harbour and the bay there provides access to four areas and rivers. Pittwater, Cowan Creek, Hawkesbury River and Brisbane Water. Pittwater is a sort of dead-end and is the first on the left as you enter the bay. I had read about Careel Bay which has a few marinas and we should be able to get ashore there and apparently you can anchor. It has a mangrove forest and is the largest bay in Pittwater.

We prepared the boat and I think it was about time we left Sydney and began to move North. Sydney has been great and we have been here just over two weeks and done a lot in that time. We turned all the instruments on and started to bring up the anchor when it jammed and the fuse went which I then had to change. Then it was ok and we started to head out of the harbour. The new speed and depth log was working well and I knew the anchor light and tricolour (red, green and white navigation lights at the top of the mast) were working. However, suddenly our AIS (Automatic Identification System) was now not working!! This system identifies a lot of boats on the plotter and also tells them we are here.  I think the electrician may have affected the aerial. It is not essential but very useful. I therefore text him to see of he could come back?  Two steps forward one step back. We shall see or I will have to get someone else to look at it.

We put up the sails as we left Sydney Harbour and unfortunately it was a grey drab day. There was about a one meter swell and the wind was coming from the Southeast to South. We set our best course and were on a broad reach with the wind strength about 12-14 kts which as ok, but meant we were only doing about 5-6 kts and the sea rolled us a bit. However, we were not in a rush and so we carried on and it was good to be on the water again and sailing.

I put on the generator and over the next few hours filled our tanks with water. I tried to look at the AIS but no joy and so we sailed on. The weather became greyer and then it started to drizzle. I put on the radar. We were off course and we knew we had to gybe back towards the coast to get into Broken Bay. We gybed and looked out for vessels nearby and the radar picked them out as visibility was quite low barely some 1-2 nm. One contact was a cargo/oil ship which passed down our starboard side and we sailed on into Broken Bay. Pittwater was on our left and the depths at the entrance are quite low. We were just after low water so I put on the forward-looking sonar as well as our depth gauge. I thought the depth may get down to about 3 meters which only allows about 0.5 of a meter under our keel. We went slowly and it got as low as 3.1 but no lower and the shallow stretch is over about a quarter of a mile. We got over that and then were into deeper water.

It was such a shame it was so grey and drab as we were not able to appreciate the beauty of the bay. We came to Careel Bay which had a lot of boats moored. We looked around and decided to anchor outside all the moorings in only about 6 meters of water.  We were secure and we decided to have a welcome beer.  We noticed a lot of large jelly fish in the water which were quite large about three quarters to a foot across the crown with a cross inside and with about 6-8 conical feet. Malcolm looked them up and apparently they are Blubber Jelly Fish. I am not sure I would like to swim with them!!

I then cooked chicken and chorizo with red wine, mashed potatoes and broccoli. This went down with everyone as I think they were quite hungry.

It was good to have moved on and we had a good supper and all cosy inside. I checked the anchor light and it is working which is a relief.

We look forward to exploring tomorrow and hopefully to get an electrician back to check the AIS. The picture of the day is of the 4 of us sailing out of Sydney Harbour.  

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