Year 2 – 4 February 2025 -Cowan Creek

We woke anchored off Hallets Beach and there had been a bit of swell during the night but it was not uncomfortable. It was going to be a very hot day, which you could tell from the sky and temperature early on. Trevor made some smoothies which was nice (thank you Grant for the recipe) and some had cereal.

We needed some provisions and I had heard from the electrician who said that he had the parts and could fit them at Bobbin Head – which is where we were ironically yesterday. We therefore agreed to meet him there tomorrow morning.

I did some planning and came to the conclusion that entering into Lake Macquarie was going to be a challenge for Stormbird bearing in mind the depths and tide heights. We will therefore go on to Newcastle instead probably on Thursday. We therefore decided to go into the Hawkesbury River (which we had not been into yet) and anchor as near to Brooklyn where there was a shop and liquor store. Supermarkets and shops cannot sell alcohol here so it must be sold from a liquor store. After we then planned to go to a beach and have a swim and then either go to Bobbin Head for the night or nearby so that we can be in Bobbin Head early.

I disconnected a battery sensor at the navigation station which was no longer functional and was taking up unnecessary power. Mark cleaned out the 12-v charger in the cockpit which was a bit corroded and then he set about cleaning and sorting out the fire hose, whose end was not turning off and cleaning the shower head at the rear deck. I checked the engine room and cleaned some old oil from under the engine. My crew did a load of washing and by the end Stormbird looked like a laundry!!. There is always something to do each day.

We upped anchor and headed down river from Cowan Creek into Hawkesbury River. We saw hundreds of the blubber jelly fish in the water. We came into the river and saw the railway bridge which we cannot get under. We got as near as we could to Brooklyn and anchored in about 4.5m of water. There were shallow patches nearby and we could see an old tree stuck in the shallow area.

We got into the dinghy and went ashore and found the store and provisioned with what we could. It was not a large shop but will do us for a few days. We returned to Stormbird and then upped anchor and retraced our steps and then went to Fisherman’s Beach opposite Hallets Beach. Once anchored we had a light bite and a rest. We then headed to the beach. There were quite a few jelly fish around but luckily not near the beach so we could have a refreshing swim.   

Once we had swum and got back on board we upped anchor and headed down Cowan Creek again to Bobbin Point. Trevor had got all the fishing gear out and sorted out the rods and then we were trailing one line. We then caught a reasonable size fish – we are not sure what it was but think it was a Kingfish or some form of Wrasse or Bream.

We got to Bobbin Head and anchored and I had to join a zoom call about the Indonesian Rally which was interesting. In addition to what was online they went through the outline and when we are going to get further details etc. It seemed well organised and gave me some reassurance. Once done we got out the Cobb- my barbecue and got it going. We then cooked the fish which was delicious as a starter and then we had sausages with mash and broccoli. As we were eating the cicadas were in full song and the moon came out.

It had been a good day and we hope to resolve the AIS issue tomorrow and to have a new external GPS aerial. We will then plan further with a view to going North to Newcastle on Thursday morning.  

The picture of the day is Mark guarding the Cobb which is cooking the delicious fish on the rear deck.

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