Pittwater to Coffs Harbour

Pittwater to Coffs Harbour

After two nights at RPAYC in Pittwater to refuel and take on water, plus make Maajhi-Re shipshape after the 5 day passage from Melbourne, we motored back down Pittwater to Stokes Point and picked up Adam and Tuula Hudson for a day up the Hawkesbury. Beautiful weather for a day up in Refuge and America’s Bay. We picked up a mooring and had a most pleasant and relaxed lunch.

On return we took advantage of an empty mooring belonging to one of the Hudson’s neighbours and spent the next 4 days catching up on some maintenance and enjoying the shore at night after a long steep climb up the garden path to Adam and Tuula’s.

Pittwater is magnificent as we recall from spending a week there on a Halvorsen when Chris and Laura were 1 and 2 years old.

Friends from RBYC, Martin and Sue, were in the vicinity so we made contact and they dropped by the next morning to raft up and show us over their Perry 43 catamaran. They are sailing back to Melbourne and have taken 6 weeks to enjoy the experience. Both were impressed by David’s hot cross bun making that was in progress at the time. Chris and Erica had left a little package with the ingredients weighed out and instructions for making them – a delightful Easter present.

On Friday Chris arrived and we prepared to depart for the trip to Coffs Harbour. The weather looked good but in hindsight (always a wonderful thing) we underestimated the effect of the swells. Leaving at dusk, we sailed out of Pittwater and past Barrenjoey Heads into a magnificent sunset. The wind picked up to 20-30 knot southerly but the SE swells added significantly to sea conditions and it was a very “rolly” night. Chris succumbed to mal de mer and we all felt rather dodgy. When morning came conditions started to improve but Chris has decided to cross ocean racing off his list from now on!

Sunday morning saw clear skies, light winds from the west and a pod of dolphins playing under our bow for an hour or so. Arrival in Coffs Harbour in time for a beautiful sunset on Sunday.

What a delightful place is Coffs Harbour: friendly people, small enough to walk around (if you have the time and energy), good services for sailboat needs and generally a very pleasant experience. We stocked up on some extra swimmers, wetsuits and rashies, and spent the time finetuning our sailmail weather report capacities and finishing any number of jobs around the boat that will make life more pleasant as we look towards our next destination - New Caledonia. Expected departure Saturday May 13.