Mr Sockie

It wasn't long after The Bloke had dropped me and Bullet ashore to travel to Perth that he realised that there had been a pair of socks left on board. I promised to post them back ASAP but The Bloke had other ideas. Ever since, Mr Sockie accompanies us to every coffee outing and Bullet is sent a text with the latest whereabouts of his socks.

     

Mr Sockie popping up everywhere.

For a coffee, a read of the paper, a trip to Brisbane and selecting a red...

I think you get the idea!

Silver Bullet

What a special treat, the Bloke's best buddy made a flash visit and we were able to share a few of our favourite spots in and around the Pittwater Pond.

We combined a washing and provisioning trip into Mona Vale to collect Bullet which ensured there would be some cold beers on hand for the official welcome aboard ceremony.

Bullet only came for 2 nights but we managed to cram a lot in, visiting Refuge Cove, Castle Lagoon, Cottage Point and our very favourite  - Smiths Creek. This, as it's turning out, is the 2 night package we are currently offering for visitors aboard SV Zofia.

Coffee at Cottage Point

Bullet was under instructions from his war office not to return home from Pittwater without a photo of author Susan Duncan's home overlooking Lovett Bay. We were happy to help him out. It was also formerly the home of poet Dorothea MacKellar who penned the famous and beautiful poem My Country in 1904. Here it is in case you've forgotten it -

My Country - by D MacKellar

The love of field and coppice
Of green and shaded lanes,
Of ordered woods and gardens
Is running in your veins.
Strong love of grey-blue distance,
Brown streams and soft, dim skies
I know, but cannot share it,
My love is otherwise.

I love a sunburnt country,
A land of sweeping plains,
Of ragged mountain ranges,
Of droughts and flooding rains.
I love her far horizons,
I love her jewel-sea,
Her beauty and her terror
The wide brown land for me!

The stark white ring-barked forests,
All tragic to the moon,
The sapphire-misted mountains,
The hot gold hush of noon,
Green tangle of the brushes
Where lithe lianas coil,
And orchids deck the tree-tops,
And ferns the warm dark soil.

Core of my heart, my country!
Her pitiless blue sky,
When, sick at heart, around us
We see the cattle die
But then the grey clouds gather,
And we can bless again
The drumming of an army,
The steady soaking rain.

Core of my heart, my country!
Land of the rainbow gold,
For flood and fire and famine
She pays us back threefold.
Over the thirsty paddocks,
Watch, after many days,
The filmy veil of greenness
That thickens as we gaze ...

An opal-hearted country,
A wilful, lavish land
All you who have not loved her,
You will not understand
though Earth holds many splendours,
Wherever I may die,
I know to what brown country
My homing thoughts will fly. 

Special visitors mean special treats and the boys made short work of the home made sausage rolls.

Taking advantage of the chance of company for the trip to Sydney airport, the Bloke was left to his own devices while I made a flash visit home to Perth. The Bloke was very brave as we left him on the dock refueling and taking on water before heading out to Coasters Retreat to commence a 10 day stint as a solo sailor.

The bloke heading off aboard Zofia for a lone spell in 'the wilderness'.

 

Looking down on Port Lincoln at sunset on the way to Perth.

What About a Sausage Roll?

Shore time provides some unexpected opportunities for The Bloke to sample some more Sausage Rolls. He hasn't had a single one in a long time so it's time to re-calibrate. If you can believe it, he needs to re-tweak his sampling and rating skills. 'Use it or loose it'....as the saying goes!

The Bloke can't believe his luck ... another sausage roll. This time in Kirribilli.

Verdict:Fail

Another sample in Rose Bay.

Verdict:Fail

A Rose Bay defining moment - promoting a gym.

Brad's, Barbies and Princesses!

Veuve and Sausage Rolls

There aren't many establishments that would pair Veuve Clicquot with Sausage Rolls but when you are among friends you want the best of everything. Our stay in central Sydney enabled us to share my birthday gift of bubbles with Ronnie and Peter (who had given me the VC for my birthday) and also to share with Andrew and Carolyn, our sailing mentors who happened to be in town. Luck! Luck! Luck! The only way it could have been bested was if we'd been able to sit out in the cockpit but a 'Sydney Southerly Buster' blew in at 4:30 am and hadn't let up all day.

 Birthday lunch at Barrenjoey House last week.

Ronnie and Carolyn agreeing that the home made sausage rolls were an epic pairing with the bubbles.

We've been sharing bubbles with Ronnie for a long time - she and Peter were wedding guests!

 

Andrew and Peter enjoying the combo too! 

We can still have Harbour views. In fact, we are a part of them!

 

Mountain Goats

Next month will be our 2 year anniversary of our life on the water so it was a special joy to have a first time hosting opportunity of #1 son on board. The stars had aligned. The RPAYC cruise delivered us back to Sydney Harbour over the week-end,  the Bloke was booked for some tests later in the week and Viv was to be in Sydney overnight in between times. Almost too good to be true!

The RSYS were kind enough to allow us to stay on their collector jetty. This facilitated shore-time plus our reunions.

   

The Bloke excitedly waiting for Viv to rock up. 

 

Being introduced to a new beer label, it was only reasonable to down a couple with your son. 10pm and it was still close to 30C, definitely beer o'clock.

Little did we know that in a couple of hours we would be like Mountain Goats walking Viv home to his hotel.

 

Two big kids having a beer and a chin wag.

Eventually, it was time to get Viv back to his hotel at McMahons Point. As the crow flies it's no distance from the yacht club except that Lavender Bay is in the way. No matter, the walk would do us good we decided. On one level, this was a brain snap. We departed at midnight and completed the round trip by 2am.  WHAT were we thinking? It was very warm and we barely saw a soul which is quite a surprise seeing as this is 'inner city' and it is Sydney, our largest city! After leaving Viv at his hotel we took some risks and short cuts through Lavender Bay Parklands which significantly sped up the journey even though it entailed A LOT of steps and stairs. Luckily we had the sense to bring a torch. It's now on our 'Must Do' list to return in daylight. The parklands are fantastic and without really intending it, we'd just stumbled through some of Sydney's most iconic parks including Wendy's Secret Garden (created by Wendy Whiteley) - proof that we are just a pair of big kids at heart.

Thanks for visiting Viv. It was a cracking night!

Visiting Casablanca

Recent communication between the Bloke, Bob and Marg had established that they would be in Sydney Harbour for New Years Eve. So near but yet so far. We intend to be in Brisbane for Xmas 2015. Meantime some information was requested on anchoring around Jibbon Beach, Port Hacking, Gunnamatta Bay and Cronulla since we had already passed through there. Bob and Marg planned to call into en route to Sydney from Jervis Bay.

As with so many sailing plans, theirs changed rapidly when the weather lords gave a 'Green for Go signal to proceed onwards and slip into Sydney Harbour beyond. A golden opportunity emerged. We were also going to be in Sydney Harbour with the RPAYC cruisers and surely a rendezvous could be possible. We'd not seen Bob and Marg for over 6 months, since Tassie, although we had remained in touch.

We were aiming for the Spit Bridge raising at 11.15am to exit Middle Harbour and that would give us just enough time to slip over to the moorings at Quakers Hat Bay to visit Casablanca for a quick catch up and cup of coffee.

 Ahoy, Casablanca!

 Marg and Bob aboard their spacious Lagoon Catamaran, SV Casablanca

Marg and Bob informed us that the d'Albora Marina at The Spit manage their mooring in Quakers Hat Bay and rental includes a complimentary tender service and access to personal care and laundry facilities at the Marina. That's worth knowing in case we need an extended stay in town! (02 9486 3000).

Flash Flood in the Afternoon

Our visitors were returned to the shore and we were in the afterglow of a most pleasant day in good company. Did I mention it was hot.? Really hot. Suddenly summer has arrived 33C. Hot NE winds barreling down the gullies. We were glad to return to Bantry Bay where the winds gusts were less than 20Knots. Oh joy! As we motored in The Bloke spotted a power boat owner securing his tender as if preparing to throw off the mooring lead. YESSSS! We slipped into the barely vacated spot. A moment of triumph. I hosed off the bow using The Bloke's salt water wash before heading back to the cockpit with the mooring stick to stow it below.

Walking near the helms I noticed some water slurping off the transom. Odd?  Had I really hosed that much that the helm recess scuppers should be draining out such a quantity of water? It was equal to the amount that the engine squirts out. Mmmmm. Something not quite right!

In an instant, The Bloke was inspecting the engine bay while I raised the bilge boards.... where was that water coming from and was it salty or fresh?

The bilge Float Switch at work!
Good but not good.

 Mop and a bucket please!

 

Piling everything out of the way

 

Establishing a problem with the salt water reticulation meant that the manual override switch was turned off and the intake stop-cock shut off too. Water had gushed through our water pump area and was dripping wet. Not hard to located the problem area on that basis!

The break in the pipe at the T piece was luckily, easy to detect but as always, in a devil of a spot for the repairs. While The Bloke set to with his tools, I cleaned out the bilges. Not what we'd planned for a Sunday afternoon but you'd never 'plan' this would you? For good measure the T piece has now been restrained by a clip to prevent any future movement when coming to pressure and chances of a hole been created due to friction. Hopefully this is an improvement.

Totally involved.

Rancho Relaxo Morning

Peter and Deb, our mooring hosts in Pittwater, were invited to join us again aboard Zofia on this month's RPAYC cruise, seeing as they don't currently have access to their boat/s. Although they couldn't accompany us for the jaunt down the coast they made the 20 minute drive down to Roseville Chase from Pittwater. The Bloke was dispatched in Marilyn (the dinghy) to collect them and ferry them around the corner to where we'd anchored in Bantry Bay with the others. What a busy, busy spot. Not only were the 7 public moorings all occupied the but every available inch of anchoring space was taken too. Something like 30 boats crammed in and a bit of a challenge given the 15-20m depth and swing room that would entail! What a difference from the solitude of our previous visit here: almost alone in May.

 The morning dishes the only clue of the fun night we'd had.

The Bloke handing across our mugs to Garry the mobile Cappuccino Vendor.

Since this was Peter and Deb's first ever visit to Bantry Bay this was an added bit of fun.

 

The owners of MV Prometheus partied until 2am.

They were blissfully unaware of the near miss top-side.

 

Epic anchor drag provided entertainment during our breakfast coffee.

The crew on the charter yacht had no idea at all, they were dragging until The Bloke gave them a mighty "HOY"!

 

Another refreshment vendor we'd not seen before.

We girls noted that he was easier on the eye. Shame really not to buy an ice cream!

Where shall we have fun today? Let's go to Sydney.

Spending 4 months in Pittwater and surrounding creeks wasn't really a part of our broader plan but the months scream past in the blink of an eye. While we are still not ready to head north, an opportunity for some more fun with the RPAYC Cruisers presents: A long week-end cruise to Bantry Bay in Middle Harbour. We've been there before and liked it and we will extend the visit to include a catch-up with Viv who will be in Sydney for work this week. Golden - we are excited beyond words!

So here we are once again on the ocean instead of the pond that is Pittwater. There is a lot of buz in the air with fabulous clear skies, a 3 day public holiday and football grand finals to be played.  Water craft of every variety are around including sea planes. They are headed in all directions. We would like a bit more wind, we've tried out all the sails including Big Red, but motor sailing, assisted by a 2knot southerly running current, seems to be the go. Ha ha once again we present as a Motor Yacht with optional sails. While there isn't exactly a timetable, we are mindful of the 2:30pm Spit Bridge opening. It would be a shame to miss it and need to wait for the later opening time.

The Bloke is highly excited too as he knows that the makings for sausage rolls were included in this weeks shopping and his favourite snack is likely to emerge from the galley for all the socialising that is to come!

So our blue dot is on the move again and we'll post some snaps at days end.

And here they are.....

Start of the long-week end. Visitors to Coasters Retreat arriving in a certain 'style'?

 RPAYC cruisers motor sailing up Pittwater

Barrenjoey Lighthouse 

 Boats going in all directions.

 

Following SV Mixed Nutz  around North Head

 

Proof that are loonies everywhere, the Bloke needed to attract the attention of the skipper of this powerboat who was otherwise engaged admiring the 'babes' he'd got on board with him. We had already avoided hitting this idiot who was swimming across a congested and narrow waterway near the Spit Bridge - a candidate for the 'Darwin Award'?