This year, again we joined a Prince Alfred cruise for the holidays. The destination was Lake Macquarie, 5 hours sailing north of Broken Bay. We left the club on December 30 to celebrate New Year's eve at a the "Blue Swimmer", a restaurant attached to the Gwandalan Bowling club.
On a visit to Japan ten years ago, Joy and I experienced their custom of celebrating New Year by rising early on the first of January to watch the first rays of the sun introduce the new year.
We are not party-animals so, again this year, after a very nice dinner with our fellow cruise companions we didn't wait until midnight to see out the old year. And we rose with the sun to have a glass of champagne and reflect on what the new year might bring. I love sunrise and the first one of the year is always special.
All in all, we spent 10 days pottering around Lake Macquarie. It's terrific: grassy shores, lots of public jetties, barbeques and conveniently located shops and restaurants. The sailing is good with flat water and predictable wind. There are some shallow spots but they are easy to avoid by observant sailors. Mind you, they say there are two groups of sailors on Lake Macquarie, those who have run aground and those who haven't yet run aground. Needless to say, we moved from one group to another (nothing serious, we spent some time anchored by our mini-keels at "the drop-off", no harm done).
Along the way we enjoyed having some visitors on Te Moana. Craig and Mel joined us for a day and it was terrific to see very good friend, Andy again. He joined us for an afternoon with his wife, Jilly. Andy hasn't changed much, he still provokes me into heated argument. I'll have to learn to ignore him while we're sailing, though. I almost made a dramatic mistake because I wasn't paying enough attention to "buoyage". No matter how casual and relaxing a sail might appear, total calamity might only be moments away.
Gradually, most of the other boats returned to Pittwater and last Sunday, we were with the last group of boats (Breakaway, Misty Blue and Southern Cross) to make our way back. With a forecast S-SE wind at 15-20 knots, I thought we might have an uncomfortable trip, but the wind was East enough for us to only have to tack once. We left the twin Volvos humming along to make sure Breakaway didn't get too far ahead of us and we had a quick and reasonably comfortable trip back.
[ More pictures on the CoastalCruising site]
On a visit to Japan ten years ago, Joy and I experienced their custom of celebrating New Year by rising early on the first of January to watch the first rays of the sun introduce the new year.
We are not party-animals so, again this year, after a very nice dinner with our fellow cruise companions we didn't wait until midnight to see out the old year. And we rose with the sun to have a glass of champagne and reflect on what the new year might bring. I love sunrise and the first one of the year is always special.
All in all, we spent 10 days pottering around Lake Macquarie. It's terrific: grassy shores, lots of public jetties, barbeques and conveniently located shops and restaurants. The sailing is good with flat water and predictable wind. There are some shallow spots but they are easy to avoid by observant sailors. Mind you, they say there are two groups of sailors on Lake Macquarie, those who have run aground and those who haven't yet run aground. Needless to say, we moved from one group to another (nothing serious, we spent some time anchored by our mini-keels at "the drop-off", no harm done).
Along the way we enjoyed having some visitors on Te Moana. Craig and Mel joined us for a day and it was terrific to see very good friend, Andy again. He joined us for an afternoon with his wife, Jilly. Andy hasn't changed much, he still provokes me into heated argument. I'll have to learn to ignore him while we're sailing, though. I almost made a dramatic mistake because I wasn't paying enough attention to "buoyage". No matter how casual and relaxing a sail might appear, total calamity might only be moments away.
Gradually, most of the other boats returned to Pittwater and last Sunday, we were with the last group of boats (Breakaway, Misty Blue and Southern Cross) to make our way back. With a forecast S-SE wind at 15-20 knots, I thought we might have an uncomfortable trip, but the wind was East enough for us to only have to tack once. We left the twin Volvos humming along to make sure Breakaway didn't get too far ahead of us and we had a quick and reasonably comfortable trip back.
[ More pictures on the CoastalCruising site]
Hi Marius
A belated happy new year...it has been a while since a last took a vaguely voyeuristic voyage on the Te Moana. I just love this site. The photography is going from strength to strength. You're really getting some great shots..and dolphins at last...excellent.
It is ten years almost since I roamed barefoot on the empty Australian beaches...the last place was Port McQuarrie (sic) where we went down to a deserted stretch to see if any dolphins were playing. No dolphins...but to our amazement we arrived to find whales...so close to shore and leaping in tandem, again and again...and I too dumbstruck to take so much as a photo but the memory will persist longer than any celluoid. On returning to our host to say we had seen whales they stared in disbelief. They said hardened whale-watchers had never seen whales at the beach in that area. I later discovered that a fierce storm had disrupted the navigation of many whales at that time...hmmm indulge my reminisces
Any way, keep up the wonderful log and should all you mates jump ship and you are left alone to drift with a tin mug of sorry grog and the cry of a lone gull remember this: there's a near anonymous pom back in Northern Hemisphere whose childhood spirit stirred by the tales of R M Ballantyne and coral isles and turquoise seas who stand with you...
Peter Sherwood
Peter, Good to hear from you. Come for a sail anytime you're in the neighbourhood!
Hello Marius,
I have had a deep trawl on the WWW and appear to have found the owner of Maniaia Moana. I am delighted to let you know that I have chartered the Lagoon 410S2 from 16th - 23rd May 2005. I plan to retire in a few years time and aspire to buying a Cat to live on it. This is my first multihull experience and I cannot wait. Rest assured I will take good care of her.
Warm regards Dave Phillips