October 2006 Archives

Last Weekend, Joy and I spent the weekend visiting ports south of Sydney in preparation for our Christmas cruise. A few years ago when we were returning from Jervis Bay, we pushed on to Port Hacking in tough conditions when we should have diverted to another port such as Wollongong or Port Kembla. So we thought we'd survey a few alternative ports. First up we dropped into Wollongong Harbour, where we were surprised to find "Duyfken", a replica of the Dutch ship which explored part of Australia's northern coastline 400 years ago this year.

In another place, I have expressed some views about the (lack of) celebration of this event. I can't help feeling that the story of the Dutch discovering Australia interferes with the James Cook mythology and therefore hasn't captured the imagination in Australia. Of course it didn't help that the Dutch saw Australia as little more than an obstacle on their way to the present Indonesia. They saw nothing worth trading or pillaging down here, which is ironic in the present context when Australia thrives on the back of exporting the mineral resources found in the regions which the Dutch explored in those days.

Whatever the reason, the celebration of the 400th anniversay and the journey of Duyfken around Australia hasn't had much attention this year, which is a pity. Duyfken is well worth a look when it comes to a port near you. The schedule is on the Duyfken website.

Lagoon Construction

Here is an album which gives us an inside view of how and where the Lagoon 380's are built. Congratulations to John and Coralia Hamilton on the birth of hull #411 [Thanks to Caju from Vicsail for the photos]

We were on our way back to Pittwater from a relaxing and successful weekend on Sydney Harbour, when from around Barrenjoey, there appeared a Cable Ferry, the kind we still use in a few places on the Hawkesbury River.

For a moment it appeared it might have been a new service to New Zealand, until we realised its cable was attached to a tug. It was probably heading for Sydney Harbour, perhaps to a maritime museum? Anyway, not the usual traffic you find offshore.

We enjoyed walking around Woolwich Dock again yesterday. One of those precious reminders of Sydney past as a "Working Port". As the working part of our harbour disappears, we're left with an expensive set of suburbs on a gorgeous natural harbour. Impressive but somehow it doesn't feel complete.

We did the right thing by leaving early for Sydney Harbour yesterday. Later in the day, the Southerly whipped up the seas and about half the "fleet" had to turn back or wisely decided not to set off. This morning we awoke to a beautiful spring morning in "the suburbs", together with the other six boats that made it. Around eight o'clock "Jack's back" arrived after what must have been a pretty early start from Pittwater.