aboard sengo december 2018 - wordpress.comtravelling south 1000 nautical miles to melbourne! eden...

Rye

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Ifwehadn’tstoppeditwouldhaveonlytakenaweek!

AboardSengoAboardSengo December2018

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Southerlymigration

AbitoflocalexploringaroundSouthWerribee

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Tiedup…

Ashortwalkaroundaseasidetown. TravellingSouth

1000NauticalMilestoMelbourne!

Eden

DryingoutinRye

©TrishEbertwww.purringalong.com.au 2

AboardSengo December2018

GoldCoasttoMelbourne1000nauticalmiles!!A newmonth! Thankfully the last onewas over!WhilstNovemberturnedouttobefrustrating,anda timewewould rather forget, Decemberwasn’tgoing to be totally relaxing either. Timelines arekillersinthesailinggame,butwehadplannedonspending the ‘Christmas Break’ in Melbourne.Melbournewasabout1000nauticalmilessouthoftheGoldCoast(giveortake)andatthestartofthemonth the weather wasn’t really playing ball.Wouldwemake it?Withoutputtingourselves,orSengo,atrisk,onlytimewouldtell.

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SouthportandMainBeachSouthernGoldCoastwatersThe advantage of being anchored off theBroadwater Parklands in Southport on the GoldCoast is the access to the shops (including theAustralia Fair complex), cafes and publictransport,andadelightfulwalkingtrackforsomedistancealongtheforeshorebetweentheNerangRiver and Loders Creek at Labrador. The maindisadvantageisthenoise–thejetboatsareloudbutspecifically,itisthemanytouristhelicopterswho circle above, we assume in a predefinedroute so as not to run into each other, whichmaketheareasoundmoreliketheoccupiedhillsof the Vietnam (American) War than a popular

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touristdestination.TheyweresoloudthatthatIhad to cut short my final conversation with afriendwhowasabouttoembarkonanindefiniteoverseas jaunt, simply because I couldn’t hearher!Butone can’t stayanchoredhere forever–there are stipulated time limits around thesouthern end of theGold Coast - andwe foundourselves being filmed twice by the authoritiesto ensure compliance; firstly by a barge nearAustralia Fair, and secondly by a GCWA vessel(Gold Coast Water Authority) when we wereanchored outside ‘BumsBay’ (Marine Stadium)atMainBeach.

When we did move, we found the helicopternoiseoutsideMarineStadiumseemedsomewhatless than when anchored across the channelnear Australia Fair, probably because of thedesignated aerial routes, not because of thelocationofthebase-whichis technicallyclosertotheBum’sBayanchorage.Infact,thebarkingof the seals in the afternoon and evening fromSeaWorldwereamorememorablesoundatthisanchorage, than the howling of the helicopterengines.

The Marine Stadium Anchorage is busy andthings we had to watch in this anchorageincludedthefollowing:

• anadjacentboat(whohadcomeinlaterthanus) drag slowly out toward the channel; thetraverse occurring over several days andwhilst they worked on other issues on theboat,theydidn’tseemtowanttopickuptheiranchorandreset.

• a large motor boat who anchored a bit tooclosetousonourportside.Fortunatelyaftersome interesting swinging directions, thathaduswithina fewmetersof eachother,hemovedalittlefurtheraway.

• a 60-plus foot motor yacht using his bowthrusters tobackoutof a tight spacenext tous (in the dark). He seemed lost, and triedagaintopenetratethethrongofyachtsonlytoput his anchor down right next to ouradjacent dragging yacht. He was probablywithin10orsometersof thedraggingyachtandthisengendereda ‘colourfuldirection’ tomove along. The skipper of the motor yachtwouldhavebeensober– therevellersat the



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back of the boatwere probably not and thetwo individuals at the anchor seemed to beslurring theirwords. I don’t knowwhere heeventually ended up but several yachtshearingallthecommotionputfulllightsontoindicatetheirposition.

AndofcourseDecemberisthefestiveseason,soparty boats full of revelers also weaved theirway amongst anchored yachts; unfortunatelyproducing uncomfortable bow waves and loudheckling. One vessel even had a stripper and Iwas surprised to see a toplesswoman emergefromamongstaraucousbunchofblokesononeparticular top deck. Jet boats scooted throughtheanchoragenearAustraliaFair(ignoringthe6knotsigns)butonlytouchedthesouthendofthe anchorage outside the Coast Guard nearMarine Stadium. Jet skiswere everywhere andthey didn’t care how close they got to you orhow fast they were going. A couple of fishingcharter boats near Marine Stadium alsoproduced bow waves of less than comfortabledimensions. But despite all this, we weren’tmoving-theanchorageoutsideMarineStadiumwaswell protected from the south-east winds,windswhichwere responsible for our delayeddeparture.WhenwefinallylefttheGoldCoast,thejourneysouth was initially fast; an 18 hour sojourn inPort Stephens (to sit out southerly winds)betweenone36hourandone44hoursegmentin which we traveled approximately 600nauticalmiles.Thenwehadtowait.WhilstEdenis a nice spot, we didn’t spend much timeashore, the weather being the predominantcause. Severe weather warnings were in forcealongtheentireeasternseaboardofAustralia;acycloneaffectingweatherpatternsupnorthandan ‘east coast low’ affecting weather patternscoming across from South Australia.Subsequentlywe hunkered through three daysof rain and thunderstorms before we couldeventually stretch our legs on dry land.Fortunatelywegotnohail…havingjusthadourdints in the gel coat fixed (not cheaply Imightadd)wecertainlydidn’twantanymore.

Boatsaren’ttheonly‘vehicles’usingthisanchorage.

Makingsurewedon’toverstay!

Artimitatinglife–seetoprighthandcorner

BridgeoverNerangRiver



Southport/MainBeach1st December 2018. The Mayors Christmas Carols. Upon our firstsojourn onto land after our slipway experience lastmonth on theThursday afternoon (29th November) we had discovered that theopen area adjacent to our Southport anchorage was hosting theMayorsChristmasCarolsonthe1stDecember.Thehighlightedstarswere tobeKateCebranoandAnthonyCallea. I thought Ihad readthat the programwould start at around5pm (for the kiddies) butwedidn’tenduphearingmuchof this.Wewere initiallyanchoredjustnorthofthejettyandhadbeensurprisedthatnoexclusionzonehadbeenmappedoutforthefireworksthatweretooccuraftertheevent.AsBumsBayhadbeencordonedoffforacoupleofdayspriora wakeboarding event, we then concluded that perhaps thefireworkswere going to be activated from the tops of the nearbybuildingsinsteadofourinitialassumption,thewater.However,thiswasnotthecaseandataround1600on1stDecemberalonebargecamebyandhailedus.Thiswasthefireworksbarge.Hisexclusionzone fromhis chosen set up location only encompassed one boat.We were it. Really! The boat next door that had arrived an hourearlierwasnotaffected.Wehadtomove.Wewerenotamused!

Thisofcoursemeanttryingtofindaspotattheotherendoftheanchorageandnotendupinthemainchannel. Our back cockpit at the time ofmovingwas facing the concert area. If wemoved south andconditionsstayedthesamethenwewouldbefacingawayfromthemusic,andwhilstnoisetravelsoverwatereasilyatnight,wewouldbefurtheraway.Intheendhoweverthetidechanged,ourbackcockpitfacedthemusicandAndrewandIsettleddowntoenjoytheshow.Wecouldn’tseeanythingofcourse,andtheearlierentertainerseitherdidn’thavetheprojectionofvoiceortheiracousticsetupwasnotasgoodas itshouldhavebeen,buttheexperience improvedmightilyoncethetwofinalactscametothestage.Andyes,thenightdidhaveotherdistractions,theoccasionaltrafficnoisecamethroughinthelullbetweensongs,andthepartybargestotallyinterruptedtheflowbyblaringoutpopmusicastheypassedwithinafewmeters,butforfreeentertainmentitwasapleasantevening.The fireworksassuchweremoderatebutenjoyable,butasthewindwasblowingnorth-eastwegottheresultantsmokeaswellasthelightshow.

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4thDecember2018-Stretchingthelegs!The2ndand3rdDecemberwerewindydaysanditwasjustaseasytostayonboatthangetoutintheroughweather.Onthe4thhoweverwestartedtomakeupforoursedentaryactivitiesofthepreviousmonth.Itwasadelightfulmorning,thesunwasoutandIconvincedAndrew thata strollbeforea shopping runwould ensure thatwegot someexercise, just in case theplannedafternoonstrolldidn’thappen.Asitwaswedidboth.

ThemorningstrollleadussouthalongtheBroadwaterParklandstotheNerangRiver,underthebridgeandback toAustraliaFair.On thewaywe discovereda smallWoolworths in the bottomof anofficetowerandacoupleoflovelylookingcafeswithBroadwateroutlooks.Wedidn’tstopatthesehowever,choosing a café in the Australia Fair Complex for our morning tea instead. Accessing this was anadventureinitself.Becausewehadcomefromadifferent,previouslyunknown,direction,wefollowedafellow pedestrian up a laneway and into the side of theAustralia Fair building.We expected to findourselvesintheshoppingcomplexbutinsteadfoundourselvesinthecarparkandtherewasalongerthanexpectedwalktotheliftwell(throughthecarparkandpastalargeareaforbikeracks(includingapolewithbikerelated‘fixit’tools)).Theliftheadedupintoofficesandwehadtoaskwhichfloortoget

FireworksfromthewateraftertheChristmasCarolsatSouthport



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outof, inorder toget to theshopping levels.Whenwefinallyleftthecomplex,afterourshoppingrun,weleftusualway.

Themove over to ‘Bums Bay’ was non eventful but the inletseemedawfullyfullfromtheoutside.Wedidn’tbothergoinginforreconnaissance.Everyothertimewehaveanchoredinthisareawehaveended rightup thebackof thewaterwaywhichturnsouttobesomewayfromtheboatrampandjetty,sothistimewe decided to anchor out the front instead. Therewerefiveboatsinthisanchoragewhenweanchored.Therewere14bythetimeweleftseveraldayslater.

The afternoon stroll was a good stretch of the legs; a totaldistance of around 6 kilometres. Heading straight into thenarrowsectionoflandthatseparatesMarineStadiumfromtheoutside ocean we took the Ocean Walkway south to MainBeach, stopping at the Main Beach Pavilion Cafe for a drinkbeforereturningviathesouthsectionoftheFederationWalk;quicker than I’d hoped because of impending storms. Thebirdlifewasactive(althoughnotprolific,itwasearlyafternoonafter all), and the main species seen were fig birds and barshouldered doves. Other birds seen on this stroll included abrushturkey,willywagtail,Australianmagpieandgreyfantail.

7th December 2018. The 5th and 6th December were againwindyandwestayedonboat.Onthe7thDecemberwetookasmall stroll to the Seaway to check out the conditions for animpending departure on the 8th. Despite the forecast theseawaylookedreasonablybenignbuttherewasnoboatintheright place for us tomake an accurate judgment.We noticedTake it Easy sail past toward the south and waved – now iftheyhadonlyturnedleft...Theswellpredictionswerearound2meters, as they were going to be for the following day. Theheight of the swell wasn’t bothering us, but after discussionswith two other boats, we were convinced that perhaps itssouth-easterlydirectionwasn’tsoconvenient.Accordingly,wedecided to postpone our departure and after a cuppa at thekioskwewalkedbacktotheboatrampviathenorthsectionoftheFederationWalk.AfternoonteawasonTakeitEasy(afterrescuing a couple of young kids (and their tinnie) from asandbank (their brand new boat leaks and the engine hadstoppedworking)).

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8th December 2018. I had just begun to fully relax after ourstressfulslipwayexperienceandfinallygotthenoustogoandstart a rust runonour stanchions.Unfortunatelybefore I gotfar I discovered that the epoxy overspray (mentioned inAboard Sengo 2018) had not been cleaned off these and asearch of Google indicated that a heat gunwas the onlywaylisted to remove it. You can imagine I was ‘a bit beyond NotHappy’.Thecontractorhadn’trespondedtomyearlierrequestfor advice for the hatches so I suspect he wasn’t going to

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acknowledgehismistakehere.Thishasleft us with a monumental clean upoperation….thankfully I haven’t gotanything else planned for the nextyear!!Torelievesomeofthetensionfromthisshock, I decided perhaps a good walkwas in order.We tied the tinnie up tothe boat rampdock andwalked south.Anotherboatiehadtoldustherewasamarket on somewhere but we didn’tfind it. We continued down southpassed the Main Beach Pavillion andafterseveralkilometres(pastwherethefirst trans pacific telephone cablelandedonAustraliansoil)stoppedforacuppaatRhapsodyBeachsideCafé.Thetime was ripe for an early lunchhowever the kitchen was closed foranother20minutes. Insteadofwaiting,aftersomeadviceastowherewewerefrom a local, we headed south foranother 800 meters or so. Here wefound ourselves in Cavill Street; themain tourist area for Surfers Paradise.Having previously perused a touristbrochure we sought out Shiraz, thePersianRestaurantonSurfersParadiseBoulevard. Twenty minutes after wegot there the place was full. Sadly theother restaurants around it werelackingpatrons.Clearlywehadchosenwell.Thefoodwasdelicious.

Now to get back.We foundwewere abit foot sore so initially we hadconsidered a tram for an easier triphome. Except the tramonlygetsus soclose to our destination and then itwould be a bus or a further walk. Aquick chat to a transport officersuggested the bus - the 705 - goes allthewaytoSeaWorld.Itwasthenonlyashort walk back to the tinnie fromthere.Nexttimewearehere,IwillextendthewalktoPacificFair–-ashoppingcentrearoundtwiceasfarasSurfers’Paradise.They provide a courtesy bus to gethome!



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GoldCoasttoEden9th - 11thDecember 2018We finally exited theGold Coast Seaway at around 0840 on 9thDecember and raised the sail after getting pastthebar.Wehaddiscussedraisingthesailbeforewe left – other boats did– and in hindsight thiswouldhavebeeneasier–Andrewwasbouncingaround on the top of the boat swearing at therigger–whohadputafewextraknotsinthelineon top of the sail that Andrew initially couldn’tgetundone.SailupandreefedweheadedtowardPoint Danger, tacking into the wind (andsubsequentlysailingawayfromourgoalbecauseof thewind angle). Andrewwas hoping a shortstintathandsailingwouldallowhimtoangleupwith minimal tacks to get around Point Dangerbut it wasn’t to be and two more tacks wereneededtogettheline.Becauseofthewindangleour speed wasn’t great but after we roundedPointDangeritwasmuchbetter.OurSOG(speedover ground) was reading 8s, 9s, 10s and thenfinally11’s,whichweheldforseveralhours–butthe price was distance off shore – we werechasingtheeastcoastcurrent–whichseemedtobe in predictions around the 154 degree mark.Wesettledaround the153plusdegreeareaandhad a roaring sail. Eventually the wind anglechanged and the speed dropped. Our SOGdecreased to 7s and 8s and eventually droppeddownto6s(andabitlessonoccasion)whenthewindswingaroundtoalmostdirectlybehindus-and the genoa came in as it was floppingunceremoniously out the front. At around 0300on the10thAndrewdiscovered the reef linehadbrokensotherewasaconcertedeffortatthetime

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tosee ifwecould fix this.Wecouldn’t.Ontopofthis issue, that pesky car that has given us jiptwice before, was also noted to have dislodgedfrom the mast again. We raised the sail to fullheight and continued on, until, after an emailexchange with another boat, a few hundrednauticalmilestothesouth,promptedustochecktheweatheragain.Thewonderfulwindowtogetus to Melbourne had been blocked - there wasnow a southerly on the way, and somethingwedidn’t want to sail into. Looking at our options,and seeing that we were so far off shore, wedecided to drop the main whilst we still haddaylight(droppingthemain in themiddleof thenightwasnota lookedforwardtoprospect)andmotoreddirectlyforPortStephens–afurther60nauticalmilessouthwest.Itwasrainingwhenwearrivedandwethankfullyheldatour first tryatanchoring(ShoalBayhaslargepatchesofweed),wayoff shore sowedidn’t get tangled up in themooring buoys further in. Two other boatsarrivedafterwewenttobedat0300.

11th–13thDecember2018.Itwasovercastat0730and there was a band of rain to the north, butnothing over the Port Stephens waterway.Andrewslept in foranotherhourwhilst Igotupto look around.Wewere indeed a fairway out!The southerly predicted wind was still forecastbutitwasduetoeaseuplateafternoon.ItwouldbeamotordowntoPittwater,nearSydney.Inthemean time we took it easy, caught up withTemptress when they moved around to ShoalBay,andlateintheafternoonmanagedtoputthecar back into themast and the batten back intothecar.

WeleftPortStephensundermotoraround2000.Whenwe reached the outskirts of Sydney and Igotupforthe0600shift,themainwentup–fullof course, as we couldn’t fix the issue with thereefuntilwegottoMelbourne.Thisworkedwellfor several hours, until the wind dropped andtherewasastintofmotorsailing.Thewindcameup again and the engines finally went off. Thewinds were mainly north-east, and almostdirectly behind us, but the strength was goodenoughforadecentsail–weweretravelingagainat10-12knotsSOGintotheevening.Theseawasfortunatelyrelativelyflat.Finally,onthisstint,we



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actually saw some wildlife -being visited by threepodsofdolphins; at sunrise, atmorning teaandatsunset.And then thewind picked up another notch. Truewind speeds read 20’s to 25’s.Thatwasn’t sobad.Thentheyreadhigh20’s–30’s(True).Thathadourattention.Andthenwhenthetruewindreadinthelowthirtieswethoughtittimetodropthemain.Ofcourse by this time it was 2200 and the seas hadpickedup sowe foundourselvesdropping the sailinthedarkandagainstthetide.Ofcoursethisalsomeant that Andrew ended up bouncing around onthe top deck tidying up the sail bag – at the sametimewewerealmostinabeelinewithacargoship.Wedidhaveourforedeck lightontohelpmakeus‘more’ ‘see-able’ – and fortunately the ship passedusinshoreathalfanauticalmile.Wespenttherestofthenightsailingwithadouble-reefedgenoaonly(plusa littlebit as thewindpulledthe furleroutabit) and the seas gradually increased. And so stilldid the wind. By morning we had made greatprogress – without the main sail our SOG was ofcourse down a bit – butwewere still doing 9s to10s.Listening to theweatheronVHF fromMarineRescue Eden the wind warning forecast waspredicted to be up to the 20-25’s knot range. WewereatthisstageeastoffBermagui.Andourgaugeswerereading38!Theswellwas in the2.5-3meterrange, but fortunately not excessively

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uncomfortable, and it was raining. It was alsosqually and we did get wind readings duringthistimeofupto42knotsTrue.IcalledMarineRescueEdenandloggedon;perhaps,underthecircumstancesitwasagoodideatoletsomeoneknowwewere out here in this. At the time ofthecallourspeedovergroundwasbackto11’sbut around an hour or so later the windinexplicably dropped to 15 knots True – 15knotsbehindusdoesn’tgiveusenoughwindtosailfast.Weweren’tgoingtoraisethemainsailjustincasethiswasonlyatemporarylullsoweadjustedourarrivaltimeatEdenandcontinuedon.Theironywasthatthelast10orsonauticalmilesintoportweretravelledundermotor-thetrue wind speed had dropped again – to 10knotsbehind us–which left anapparentwindwe just can’t utilize (not without a spinnakeranyway – and under the circumstances weweren’tgoingtoraiseours).TheEdenVMR (VolunteerMarineRescue) toldus that there are now two public moorings inEden–nearCattleBay.Circlingtheonethatwasfreewediscovered the ratingwashighenoughfor our boat, but we thought we might try toanchor instead. Our attempt unfortunately putus tooclose toanotherboat (ironically theonethat had dragged near Bums Bay) and so wecircled back and picked up the mooring; mealmostlosingboththeboathookandmyfingersin the attempt. With engines finally off it wastime fora cuppa– the trip fromPortStephenshadbeencloseenoughto44hoursandwewereexhausted!

Lasttimewewereherewewereanchoredveryclosetothisspot.Thecallofthebellbirdsfromshore is prolific; there are several patches ofbusharoundoccupiedbyavarietyofbirdlife.In2015 there was also a ‘million’ swallows thatinvaded our lifelines. We waited for them toarrive.

Eden14th December 2018. The peaceful night sleepovernight that I had expected was not to be.Becauseofthewindandtideandthewaywesatinthewater,thenightwaspenetratedwiththebumpingof themooringbuoyonthehull. Igot



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up just abouteveryhour andadjusted the ropes,sometimes in the rain, sometimes not. And justwhen the two plastic entities weren’t dancingtogether and all was quiet, Tiger decided it wastime for his early breakfast! I probably got lesssleephere than I had theprevious fewnightsonthemove!

Theday itselfwasasheetofuniformgrey.Anditrained. And it drizzled. And it rained. And itdrizzled.DidImentionitrained?Boyarewegladthewindowsandgunwalerubbingstripwerenowsealed. The plants, having been kept inside forseveraldays,wereputoutsideforafreshwateringandwere drowning inH2Obefore I pulled thembackunderthebackporch.Tostopthe incessantnoise of the banging buoy we jury rigged somefenders around the pointy bit of the boat so thebuoywouldn’t keep hitting our hulls. This didn’tstopthebangingonthefrontoftheboathowever(thealuminiumcrossbar), and that ineffectwaslouderthanthehullbumps-butatleast liabletodolessdamage!

15th December 2018. We woke to fog and rain,whicheventuallycleared.Acoupleofotherboatshad come in to the anchorage overnight but theboat that had had picked up the police mooringmoved late morning. Looking at bom.gov.au thepossibleoptiontocontinueourjourneyonSunday

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haddiminished,andtheoriginalideaofmovingonTuesday now seemedmore probable. During themiddle of the day the sun came out, a bit, and itwasalmost inviting togo to shore.Butmorerainwas on the way. Grey clouds gathered from midafternoon and we watched a band of rain travelsouth on the bom.gov.au rain radar. At 1730 theworld started to grumble. At 1735 a bolt and acrack and a boom occurred simultaneously nearus. The same happened at 1747. Thunder,lightening,andrain.Andmorerain.Morethunder,more lightening and more rain. The previouseveningwassupposed tohavebeen theoptimumtimetowatchthegemalidsBut thenightskywascoveredincloud.Sowasthisevening’ssotheonlything notedwas thewaves rocking into shore ontheadjacentbeach.16th December 2018. We dropped the mooringthis morning (having hogged it for two nightsmorethantherules)andputdowntheanchor.Wenotedthecloudcoverhadclearedforashortwhilebut in the afternoon life was dominated by rainagain. At 1515 thunder and lightening againcracked at the same time making heartsmetaphorically rise throughourmouths. Chattingto localson the17thDecemberwediscoveredthelightening had actually hit the water next to thecrane involved in the building for the new cruiseship jetty. This was someway from us but,relatively speaking – it was still way too close!Anotherlocalcommentedthatshehadn’tseenrainandconditionslikethoseofthepreviouscoupleofnights in this area for twentyyears! Inanoverallsense we were however lucky – areas north ofSydneyandinSouthEastQueenslandhadharsherstorms…andlotsofhail.



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17thDecember2018. Sunshine. ‘Theepitomeof a sunnyday;blueskieswith fluffy cumulous clouds.The internetpredictedminimalchance of rain and for most of the day, and minimal winds. Weheadedtoshore–wewereagaindesperate forsomeexercise,butmore importantly we needed to restock the larder. Landing atCattle Bay we took the short cut to the main street (up theexceptionally steepeasement)before rewarding ourselves for ourefforts at the bakery. We were hoping that the vanilla slice wasgoingtobeasgoodastheonewe’denjoyedin2013!Thebakerhasbeenhere38yearssofarsowehadnoreasontothinkotherwise.Awindow shop and a few sundry purchases around town before areasonable larder food shop (wedidn’t go too far ‘overboard’,wewereafterallhopingtobeinMelbournewithinaweek)andbacktoboat (via the less steep, and more dignified, road). Plans for amarina inCattleBaymight justmake this access inaccessiblenexttime we are here – as this development proposal is private.However a government marina in Snug Cove where the currentwharves are may get built first. I am sure there is plenty ofpolitickinggoingonaroundinthistown.

After lunchwemovedover toNullicaBay, past the SeaShepherdvessel, the Steve Irwin, and anchored off Torarago Point.Technically,EastBoydBaywouldprovidemoreprotectionfromthecomingsoutheasterlybutifthereisamilitaryammunitionpickupandwemiss the call out,wemay be stuck there; and the comingweatherwindowtoMelbournewasnottobemissedifwewantedtomakeitbytheChristmasDay!



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18th – 20th December 2018.Spending2.5hoursintheafternoonof the 20th December wallowing in2-plusmeterswell in20plusknotsof wind outside the Port PhillipHeadsinordertomakethecrossingof the rip as close to slack tide aspossible,was,quitefrankly,justnotcomfortable! The official time ofslack tide was around 1950. Wecrossed the rip at 1900. Officiallytherewasalittleoveranhourandahalf of sun left but it was overcastandtherewasrainintheair,eveniftherain radaronbom.gov.audidn’thave it touching the ground.Therefore, it was darker than itshouldhavebeen,andanhourandahalf was probably not enough timeto get to our original Plan Adestination, Portarlington – whichlies on the Bellarine Peninsula onthe way to Corio Bay and Geelong.Because we were running out ofdaylight the decision was made toheadforSorrentoonthesouthsideoftheBayinstead,whichwasmuchcloser. Sorrento has five pubicmooringsbutonlytwoareofficiallyfor boats our length, but in thewindy circumstances I decided itmight be safer to anchor (havingnearly lost my fingers in Eden, thelasttimewepickedupamooringindecentwinds).However,mychosenanchoring spot (away from theotherboats)wasafairwayoutandwasfullyexposedtothewind,therebeing a fair fetch coming from adirectionwewerenotexpecting.Ontopofthis,Sengojustdidn’tseemtowanttoreversefacingintothewind(itwasblowing25-oddknotsbythistime). So with a skipper notparticularly happy at being soexposed, Plan C was enacted inreducing light,andweendedupoff

EdentoPortPhillipBay

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the end of the Rye Pier. The anchor was down a few minutesbefore dark, dinnerwas had tenminutes later (thawed-out pre-cooked chicken curry) and we both fell into bed shortlyafterwards.Makingupforlostsleep,Isleptfor10hours.Andrewsleptfor11.

The most uncomfortable part of sail from Eden had been thewaitingoutsidethePortPhillipHeads.Therestofthejourneyhadbeenrelativelybenigninthegrandschemeofthings,withonlyafew really awkward moments. There was a mixture of motorsailing (at a slightly wider angle than preferred) from Eden toGreenCape,sailingfromGreenCapetojustwestofWilsonsPromandthenashortstintofenginesonandoffuntilwegotastraightsail to The Heads. The wind angle changed from north east tosouthduringthislastsectionbutthestrengthwasstrongenoughforus tokeepthegenoaout(and in theendperhapsa little toostrong).Thiswasunexpected,wehadexpectedtomotorfromthe‘Promtothe‘Heads.ItwasjustunfortunatethatwelandedattheHeads several hours early; with the side on swell in wallowingmodeattimescomingoverthetopofthedeckandsplashingontothecabinroof.Tigerwasnotamused!

Somewhere between Gabo Island and Wilsons Promontory themainhad letgoofhersheetagainandsheendedupback in thebag.Itwasfrustratingthatithappened,butperhapsitwasjustaswell.We had been, of course, running fullmain (aswe couldn’treef) and the wind was such that the genoa provided enoughmomentum.

OtherboatshadleftEdenaroundthesametimeasusbutwelostthemaroundGaboandintheeasternendofBassStrait.OuronlyradiocontactwasaresponsetoCobia–(oilrig)whowastryingtogetaradiocheckfromhisfellowmetallicbehemoths,butnoneofthemwouldrespond…soitwasalowlyyachttotherescue.

Wildlife seen on this journey included Australasian gannets,shearwaters (spp not deduced), shy albatross’, several pods ofdolphins, andone crested tern,who rested onour cabin top.Heleft after 45 minutes but only because we had scared him byadjustingthemainsheetinordertopackawaythemainsail.

Allup,thisledhadbeena60-hourjourney;wehadpickeduptheanchoratEdenataround 0900 onthe 18thDecember 2018.WehadputdowntheanchoratRyeat 2100 on the20th December2018, a full twoand a half dayslater.

SengoofftheendoftheRyePier



What a wonderful securityguard! Apparently there areatleasttwoofthesebeautiesthat live around the pier. Alocal tells me however thatthe local fisherman cut offthe tail ofone so itwouldn’tstingthem!Howhorrible!

Rye21st December 2018. The irony! The wind gauge read0.00! Where was the 15-20 knots that was originallypredicted? This would have been perfect weather tocomeintodockbut,with25-plusnauticalmilestogettothe marina and a strong wind warning predicting 30knotsinafewhours,weweren’tgoingtopushourluck.Although we hadn’t got up early enough to be ready to takeadvantageof thezerowindconditions,wedideventuallyheadtotown late morning in slight winds to have a walk and a lookaround.There is apath that runsalong the coast andweheadedeasttostretchourlegs.Thepathismostlybehindtheteatreehere,protected from the beach, and there were a few birds flittingaround the vegetation, themost interesting ofwhichwas a littlewattlebird.Unfortunatelytheavianfaunaherewasdominatedbyintroducedspecies;starlings,pigeonsandIndianminers,althoughinthebackgroundwethoughtweheardwrenstittering.Therewasa high percentage of rain predicted and as the first drops camedown we turned around (at about the Tootgarook sign). Weneedn’thavepanicked,thosefirstdropswereallthattherewas.ThetownshipofRyewasgazettedin1861,andcattlehadbeenrunin thearea since1837,but themain ‘industry’ earlyonwas limeburning.Accesstothetownduringthiserawasbysteamerandthepierwasoncealotlongerthanitisnow,andheldahightideandalowtidelanding.AfterWorldWarIIholidayhouseswerebuiltandaccording to one of the ‘interps’ boards, tourism remains thestalwartofthelocaleconomy.Thenorthsideofthemainstreetinthevicinityofthepierincludesthehotel,severalcafes,several‘fishandchip’shops,clothesshops,twoop-shops,giftshops,realestateagentsandhousesthatrangefrom historic dwellings built in the early 1900’s to modernarchitecturally designed mansions. The locality also has apharmacy,aheathfoodshop,delicatessenandsupermarket.On the beach side, immediately behind the tea tree on the southsideof themain street (the tea tree isonly prevalent apparentlybecause the early settlers cut the she-oaks down to fire the limekilns)arepicnicareasandcaravanparks.Thebeachesareeitherdog friendly or they are not, or only during specified hoursovernight.Aftera lunchof fishandchips,eaten intheparkandoverseenbyseveralhungry,(withoneparticularlydemanding)silvergulls,wetook the foreshore path west for a short while, behind anothercaravanpark,beforeloopingbacktotheboatramp,pickingupourtinnieandheadingback toboat just as thepredicted25knotsofthestrongwindwarningcamein.Theafternoonwasspentquietlyonboardwaitingforthewindandtherain.

Asnoopintoanopshoponspectaught me the lesson that ‘youhave to be quick’. A set of fourcushions looked like theywouldlook good in our back cockpit. Ipicked up one to show Andrewand then went back to pick uptheotherthree.Inamannerofaminute,theotherthreehadbeenpickedupby someoneelse,paidforandhadheadedoutthedoor.Iranafter thepurchasertoofferher the fourth – but she wasnowheretobeseen.Iboughttheone I had in my hand anywayand vowed never to leaveanythingthatIwasinterested inontheshelfagain!

Dryingoutonourbow



22nd–31stDecember.2018.Afterapleasant five-hour sail toPortarlingtonandabriefovernightstop(withamagnificentmoon)wefinallyheadedintodoatWyndhamHarbourforanextendedstayfromthe23rdDecember.AnattemptatfillingupSengo’sfueltanksbeforedockingwasnotsuccessful(thepumpwasnotworking)andImanagedtoleavemypurseontopofthebowser(theothersideoftheharbourfromthemarina). Itwasoneofmanydippythings Ididthatdaybut fortunately Igotbetter(a lovelystaffmemberatWyndhamHarbourretrievedthepursebyboat)Iamblamingthefullmoon!.Onthe24thwepickedupahirecar,wespentthe25thupinthehillswithfamilyandthenspenttherestofthemonthexploringthe localarea;GrahamsConservationReserve,WerribeeSouth,CheethamWetlandsandtheRAAFMuseum.NewYearsEvewasspentatfriendsinthe‘burbs.

The ‘Monument to Migration andAspirations’ stands as a viewing ‘WetlandsTower’ over themarshesof theCheethamWetlands, adjacent the historic Point CookHomestead.Aplaqueprovidinginformationonthetowerprojectisattachedtoarockonthe approaching path. There were onceother plaques on the monument but wedon’t knowwhat these were about – theyhadbeen‘commandeered.’

Melbourne lies to the north-east, PortPhillipBaytotheeastandencroachingveryclose to the west is the housing estate ofPointCook.Althoughwecouldseethiswaspotentially good habitat, we didn’t noticemanybirdshere,andonlya fewmigratoryshore birds. Evidence of pest mammalshowever was obvious; a bold fox crossedour path and rabbit holes threatened tocollapsethewalkwaytothetower(wedidreportthistoParksVicanditwasrepairedsoonafter).

WetlandsTower

Encroachinghousingestates!Wetlandmarshes

Wetlandmarshes

TheWetlandTower–MonumenttoMigrationandAspirations



GrahamsWetlandConservationReserve.26th December 2018. Werribee South. ‘Aquieteveningwalktothesettingsunfoundus in a conservation areawith essentiallyno official tracks. Footfalls or old vehicletracks were followed in the main so wedidn’t disturb the wetland heath (officialvegetation type listing not known) but insomeplaces tromping (carefully to ensureminimal damage) on the plants wasnecessarytogettothenextbarepatch.ThereserverunsupstreamalongtheWerribeeRiver fromWerribeeSouthalongthebackofhousesandmarketgardens.Sometracksaregrowingoverandthereiswhatwas/isclearlyaBMXtrackinthemiddleofit(agenot obvious). We spent around an hourandahalfwanderingandlookingforbirds;thespeciesclosest tothehousesbeingtheubiquitous foreign invaders of sparrows,rock pigeons and blackbirds. There waslotsoftwitteringinthelonggrassesandwehoped these would be reed warblers orcisticolas or birds of that ilk but none ofthem showed themselves to be identified.Therewerea few groups of bluewrens, apair of Richards’s pipit (probably), andseveralravens.Closertothewateroralongthe water’s edge were oystercatchers,magpies, mudlarks, intermediate heron’s,whitefacedherons,pelicansandwhiteibis.Surprisingly we saw no waders. Someindividualplantinghasbeenattemptedbutonly a few tree guards had live plants inthem.

WerribeeRiver:GrahamsWetlandConservationReserve

GrahamsWetlandConservationReserve

WerribeeRiver:GrahamsWetlandConservationReserve



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The RAAF Museum at Point Cookwas established in 1952 as a‘repository for preservation ofaircraft, documents and othermemorabilia associated with theAFC [Australian Flying Corps] andRAAF [RoyalAustralianAirForce]’*but itwouldn’t be until 1972whenthe public was allowed access. Thesite consists of several hangers fullof varied aircraft that have beenused across the history of the siteand a ‘museum’ with a briefcommentary on the RAAF (and itspredecessor’s) involvement invarious world conflicts, including ahighlighted history of theinvolvement ofwomen in the force.The‘museum’itselfconsistsofafewgalleries over two levels but Iskipped throughmostof it. Firstly Iam overwar; in the past ten years,I’ve read enough about it and seenenough of where it was fought inEuropeandAsiathatI’vehadmyfill.Andrewhoweverspentmoretimeinthisarea.Whilsttherewereacoupleofinterestingexhibitsinthissection,it was impossible for me toconcentrate; thereareseveralaudiovisual sections on repeat scatteredthroughout the gallery, and whilsteachaudiowassuchthat itwasnottoo intrusive on the rest of thegallery (although they do affect thedisplaysaroundthem)thereisalsoabackground audio throughout fromabove, so concentrating on readingthe panels was sometimes next toimpossible. The interps itself (thepanelsthatIactuallyread)is, inthemain, well written and reasonablyclear and informative (except I gotlost in all the acronyms of thevarious groups within theorganisation). A few however

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should have not passed theeditor.Tworefer todates thatare oncoming, but are nowclose to two decades old. Andinitially, one seems to haveinitially written the wordinitially three times in initiallythreesentences.Itisenoughtomake any writer cringe!LightingwasalsomissingonacoupleofpanelsneartheBellUh-1BHelicopter to the point youwould have had to strain youreyestoreadthem.Theaircraft/vehiclesin thehangersrepresentthevehicles thattheRAAFusedinitshistoryatPointCook,acrossAustraliaandacross the world. Each individual machine either has a directconnection to Point Cook RAAF Base, or is significant in thehistory of its service. A couple are the only examples ofparticular models left in the world and may be originals orcreationsof thepartsof the last several remaining individuals.OutsideonthetarmacareaHawkerSiddeleyandadeHavillandCaribou. The Restoration Hanger was closed. We visited themuseumover twodays, the firstday being quitehot andwe’dstartedthevisitlateinthemorning,soweonlylastedjustoveran hour. The second was better timed but if I go again I willavoidschoolholidaysandweekends–thehangersarelargeandtheechoofsmallchildrendoesnotallowonetoconcentrateonthe information presented. According to airforce.gov.au PointCookisthe‘oldestcontinuallyoperatingmilitaryairfieldintheworld’. The RAAF Base at Point Cook is however nowmainlyused for training. Photos are okay for the museum but notoutside on the grounds (although I think, reading the guide Imay have been able to photograph the outside museumexhibits).There is a caféon sitebut itwasn’t goingtobeopenuntilthe22ndJanuary.

The museum is manned by volunteers and is free to get in.Donationshoweverareappreciated.

RAAFMuseumPointCook

ThispoorgirlmadeonereconnaissancemissionofHeardIslandbeforecrashingin1947.Shewasrescued(andrestored)around40yearslater.

aboard sengo december 2018 - wordpress.comtravelling south 1000 nautical miles to melbourne! eden...

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