The anchorage at Batemans Bay was right up near the township and once again we were the topic of conversation with the locals. Several times that evening the local cruise ferry went around us and he pointed out to them that we were from Lake Macquarie. The supermaket and Restaurants were all on the riverbank and would have been easy to reach by dinghy. After a relaxing night we slept peacefully until the alarm woke us at 5am. By the time we had our breakfast and turned everything on,first the Motor, then the Stabilizers, GPS x 2, then the Autopilots, Chartplotters x 2, VHF radio, AIS. Then due to the low light outside it was necessay to lower the brightness on ALL screens so they didn’t ruin my vision!! By then daylight was breaking and we were able to easily navigate out of the bay.
We enjoyed another great day at sea with only a SE 5-10 knts and 1m swell although once we made it close to Jervis Bay we realised that the bay was closed to maritime traffic and being used by the Navy for bombing practice!! The next viable anchorage was an additional 15nm north at Crookhaven River. After reading Cruising the NSW Coast we decided to head across the protected bar into the river and it was instantly calm and we had the most peaceful evening of the whole trip. It is a sleepy fishing town and the river winds it way several nautical miles inland. At 5.30 the next morning it was like Pitt Street in the river, a lot of little tinnies all buzzing around with Navigation lights on . all going fishing. As we headed out to sea there was a procession of Game fishing boats in front of us and listening to them on the radio checking in they were all going east to the continental shelf. The good weather continued and we made our way 60nm to Port Hacking to visit fellow Nordhavn 57 owner Jack from Speedbird. He is an amazing man to talk to with a lifetime of sea experiences. He part owns the Burraneer Bay Marina and we were treated to a wonderful weekend in a boat filled bay.
The weather forecast looked good for the journey north to Pittwater and Broken Bay, 64nm north past Botany Bay and Sydney Harbour. We attracted the attention of many passerbys in other fishing boats. Nice calm seas all the way to the Royal Motor Yacht Club – Newport. With the help of Doug the bosun, we secured Opal Lady into the berth and almost instantly the rain and wind started.
All week, after our Happy Hour at Burraneer Bay, I spent time trying to contact all Aussie Nordhavn Owners and visitors to attend an impromptu get together in Castle Lagoon, Hawkesbury River the following weekend.
Thanks to a very generous donation from PAE – Nordhavn US, Thanks Dan!!We went shopping for some fluid to keep us all from dehydrating on the weekend. We left the marina Friday morning and as went headed east along Pittwater, off to our port side came another Nordhavn, a N47 Elfrida Beetle owned by Paul and Christy Taylor. They were sitting up in the flybridge sunshine on them and steaming in the same direction. We took photos of each other side by side and continued around the headland port into the Hawkesbury River, and a few miles on, port into Cowan Creek and Castle Lagoon. There are 4 public moorings in the bay and just enough room for a few boats to anchor. The small bay is well protected by steep tree covered banks that form part of the National Park
We enjoyed another great day at sea with only a SE 5-10 knts and 1m swell although once we made it close to Jervis Bay we realised that the bay was closed to maritime traffic and being used by the Navy for bombing practice!! The next viable anchorage was an additional 15nm north at Crookhaven River. After reading Cruising the NSW Coast we decided to head across the protected bar into the river and it was instantly calm and we had the most peaceful evening of the whole trip. It is a sleepy fishing town and the river winds it way several nautical miles inland. At 5.30 the next morning it was like Pitt Street in the river, a lot of little tinnies all buzzing around with Navigation lights on . all going fishing. As we headed out to sea there was a procession of Game fishing boats in front of us and listening to them on the radio checking in they were all going east to the continental shelf. The good weather continued and we made our way 60nm to Port Hacking to visit fellow Nordhavn 57 owner Jack from Speedbird. He is an amazing man to talk to with a lifetime of sea experiences. He part owns the Burraneer Bay Marina and we were treated to a wonderful weekend in a boat filled bay.
The weather forecast looked good for the journey north to Pittwater and Broken Bay, 64nm north past Botany Bay and Sydney Harbour. We attracted the attention of many passerbys in other fishing boats. Nice calm seas all the way to the Royal Motor Yacht Club – Newport. With the help of Doug the bosun, we secured Opal Lady into the berth and almost instantly the rain and wind started.
All week, after our Happy Hour at Burraneer Bay, I spent time trying to contact all Aussie Nordhavn Owners and visitors to attend an impromptu get together in Castle Lagoon, Hawkesbury River the following weekend.
Thanks to a very generous donation from PAE – Nordhavn US, Thanks Dan!!We went shopping for some fluid to keep us all from dehydrating on the weekend. We left the marina Friday morning and as went headed east along Pittwater, off to our port side came another Nordhavn, a N47 Elfrida Beetle owned by Paul and Christy Taylor. They were sitting up in the flybridge sunshine on them and steaming in the same direction. We took photos of each other side by side and continued around the headland port into the Hawkesbury River, and a few miles on, port into Cowan Creek and Castle Lagoon. There are 4 public moorings in the bay and just enough room for a few boats to anchor. The small bay is well protected by steep tree covered banks that form part of the National Park