We made good progress motor sailing down the coast doing 7 knots with the current.
We should be in Sydney first light on wed morning.
24hr run: 146 n/m
Monday, 19 October 2009
19th Oct, Coffs Harbour to Sydney
After a lazy morning we left the marina again at lunchtime. Today we had the light headwinds and a much calmer sea.
We made good progress motor sailing down the coast doing 7 knots with the current.
We should be in Sydney first light on wed morning.
We made good progress motor sailing down the coast doing 7 knots with the current.
We should be in Sydney first light on wed morning.
18th Oct, Coffs Harbour, Australia
After a walk round the market and having Scott, Bonito and then Jane and Matt, Lissa over for coffee we headed out into the harbour.
The weather forecast had said that we would have light headwinds so we decided to leave and motor overnight to get going on our trip to Sydney. Outside the harbour the winds were much stronger than forecast and the sea was huge. After 1/2 an hour pounding into the wind and sea at 3 knots we turned back to Coffs.
As we didnt have a marina key anymore we spent the afternoon on the boat. Jane and Matt came over to find out why we were back!!
An early night ready to head off again tomorrow!!
The weather forecast had said that we would have light headwinds so we decided to leave and motor overnight to get going on our trip to Sydney. Outside the harbour the winds were much stronger than forecast and the sea was huge. After 1/2 an hour pounding into the wind and sea at 3 knots we turned back to Coffs.
As we didnt have a marina key anymore we spent the afternoon on the boat. Jane and Matt came over to find out why we were back!!
An early night ready to head off again tomorrow!!
Saturday, 17 October 2009
17th Oct, Coffs Harbour, Australia
We spent the day getting ready to leave tomorrow – we went to the supermarket to get some fresh food and then filled up the water tanks.
Matt and Jayne, Lissa, came over to say hello whilst we were cooking tea so we invited them for a drink after dinner. We had a great evening with them. They are a similar age to us and have spent the last 6 months sailing the Australia east coast. They are thinking about going further so were keen to hear our experiences.
They are heading down to Sydney on their way back to Victoria so hopefully we will cross paths again there.
The weather looks good tomorrow to do the final 250 miles (48 hours) down to Sydney. We will hopefully be sailing under the Harbour Bridge on Tue morning!!
Matt and Jayne, Lissa, came over to say hello whilst we were cooking tea so we invited them for a drink after dinner. We had a great evening with them. They are a similar age to us and have spent the last 6 months sailing the Australia east coast. They are thinking about going further so were keen to hear our experiences.
They are heading down to Sydney on their way back to Victoria so hopefully we will cross paths again there.
The weather looks good tomorrow to do the final 250 miles (48 hours) down to Sydney. We will hopefully be sailing under the Harbour Bridge on Tue morning!!
16th Oct, Coffs Harbour, Australia
Today was a day for boat jobs – the saloon cushions got a scrub and Jonny went up the mast to tidy up the padding on the spreaders.
Thursday, 15 October 2009
15th Oct, Coffs Harbour, Australia
We walked out to Aldi this morning as there was a steam cleaner and toaster on offer. The saloon covers have been getting abit grubby recently and thought a steam cleaner would be useful. We normally walk to the mall and get the bus back but by the time we had finished in Aldi it was half an hour til the bus so we decided to walk back with the steam cleaner (no toasters left!!).
After lunch back at the boat we tested the steam cleaner but it didnt seem to have the right attachements for upholstery cleaning - never mind apparently Jonny can use it to clean the engine!!
Jonny went on 'Slippery When Wet' to do the Twilight race and had a good time (apart from a little collision!!) - finishing 2nd on the water.
After lunch back at the boat we tested the steam cleaner but it didnt seem to have the right attachements for upholstery cleaning - never mind apparently Jonny can use it to clean the engine!!
Jonny went on 'Slippery When Wet' to do the Twilight race and had a good time (apart from a little collision!!) - finishing 2nd on the water.
Wednesday, 14 October 2009
14th Oct, Coffs Harbour, Australia
We walked out to the mall this morning to do some clothes shopping. After a walk round the mall and a stop at the supermarket we got the bus back to the boat.
After a late lunch we had a lazy afternoon on the boat.
After a late lunch we had a lazy afternoon on the boat.
Tuesday, 13 October 2009
13th Oct, Coffs Harbour, Australia
We looked at the weather first thing and decided we weren't happy with the system coming through – we have still got plenty of time to get down to Sydney so we decided not to risk it. The weather at the weekend looks like a better option but we will have to see what happens as the week progresses (the weather info is normally only accurate for about the first 4 days so the weekend is a bit too far away).
We decided to have a lazy day on the boat as since we left Fiji we have been going non stop with a 5 day passage to New Caledonia, 4 days in Noumea fixing the engine mounts and then a 7 day passage to Australia and since we arrived here we have been busy doing jobs.
We did a load of washing as the wind had finally died enough to peg it out on the boat
and then I spent the afternoon reading my book. Jonny spent the afternoon on the internet researching the best option for transferring some of our money from the UK to Australia. By the end of the afternoon we were glad that we hadn't left as the wind was back up – although as it was now from a different direction it was a warm wind compared to the cold wind we have had since we arrived.
We decided to have a lazy day on the boat as since we left Fiji we have been going non stop with a 5 day passage to New Caledonia, 4 days in Noumea fixing the engine mounts and then a 7 day passage to Australia and since we arrived here we have been busy doing jobs.
We did a load of washing as the wind had finally died enough to peg it out on the boat
and then I spent the afternoon reading my book. Jonny spent the afternoon on the internet researching the best option for transferring some of our money from the UK to Australia. By the end of the afternoon we were glad that we hadn't left as the wind was back up – although as it was now from a different direction it was a warm wind compared to the cold wind we have had since we arrived.
Monday, 12 October 2009
12th Oct, Coffs Harbour, Australia
As we had been in Coffs longer than planned we decided to look into opening a bank account.
We walked into town – we had both decided to wear our deck shoes as it was a 3km walk and both regretted it by the time we got to town with huge blisters – back to flip flops!!
We visited the 4 main banks and got all the information before deciding which one to go with. We now have a bank account sorted ready for when we have some money to put in it!!
Back at Newt we looked at the weather and debated whether to leave tomorrow for a 160 mile trip to Port Stephens. The weather for tomorrow looked ok but as we would be approaching Port Stephens a weather system with 35 knot wind was also approaching and it would be tight time wise whether we made it into Port Stephens before it hit – we decided to wait and look in the morning to see how the system was developing and moving.
We walked into town – we had both decided to wear our deck shoes as it was a 3km walk and both regretted it by the time we got to town with huge blisters – back to flip flops!!
We visited the 4 main banks and got all the information before deciding which one to go with. We now have a bank account sorted ready for when we have some money to put in it!!
Back at Newt we looked at the weather and debated whether to leave tomorrow for a 160 mile trip to Port Stephens. The weather for tomorrow looked ok but as we would be approaching Port Stephens a weather system with 35 knot wind was also approaching and it would be tight time wise whether we made it into Port Stephens before it hit – we decided to wait and look in the morning to see how the system was developing and moving.
11th Oct, Coffs Harbour, Australia
The plan today was to go to the nearby markets. However as we were having breakfast we heard one of the local boats saying they were dressing their boat so we thought we would offer them our bunting for the day – it was the start of the sailing season and they were having a sail by the end of the jetty.
They encouraged us to bring Newt out but we are in a tight berth so they invited us on their boat "Slippery when Wet." The 'sail past' was scheduled for 10.30 so we headed out into harbour about 10.15 and motored round in the harbour with 4 other boats. By 11am Pete decided we needed some beers so we went along side the wharf and Jonny, Kathy and I held the boat off whilst Pete dashed to the bottle shop.
Stocked up with alcohol we headed bac k into the harbour where the other boats had started a small race so we decided to motor along with them.
By midday Pete and Kathys grand daughter, Chloe was starting to feel seasick so we headed back into the marina and spent the rest of the afternoon drinking 3 bottles of champagne and too many beers.
By the time Chloes parents came to pick her up at 4pm and we headed back to Newt we had a very quiet and early night!
They encouraged us to bring Newt out but we are in a tight berth so they invited us on their boat "Slippery when Wet." The 'sail past' was scheduled for 10.30 so we headed out into harbour about 10.15 and motored round in the harbour with 4 other boats. By 11am Pete decided we needed some beers so we went along side the wharf and Jonny, Kathy and I held the boat off whilst Pete dashed to the bottle shop.
Stocked up with alcohol we headed bac k into the harbour where the other boats had started a small race so we decided to motor along with them.
By midday Pete and Kathys grand daughter, Chloe was starting to feel seasick so we headed back into the marina and spent the rest of the afternoon drinking 3 bottles of champagne and too many beers.
By the time Chloes parents came to pick her up at 4pm and we headed back to Newt we had a very quiet and early night!
10th Oct, Coffs Harbour, Australia
This morning we got the bus into town to go to a book swap shop – we took about 12 books we didn't want and ended up with 5 we did!!
After a quick supermarket shop we were back at the boat for lunch.
After lunch we walked to a nearby surf outlet shop and found some new shorts for me – my favourite ones from the UK that I have practically lived in had to go in the bin in Noumea as they had holes in the bottom!!
After a quick supermarket shop we were back at the boat for lunch.
After lunch we walked to a nearby surf outlet shop and found some new shorts for me – my favourite ones from the UK that I have practically lived in had to go in the bin in Noumea as they had holes in the bottom!!
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