Annie at the helm sailing north – read more later.
What better way to start October than joining the CCCA members on the 5th, for an Octoberfest at America Bay. For the princely sum of $10/pp, Pam, Phil and Steve provided us with typical German fare aboard Nahli, rafted up with two other yachts for enough seating space.
On Labour day Monday the 7th October, Ron and Michelle, Russell and Helen joined us at the Basin for a long lunch until 6pm. After my bi-annual skin check and annual visit to the dentist with no problems detected, I was ready for the 98th opening of the RMYC sailing season on the 19th October.
RMYC and RAN flag officers.
This event with its usual pomp and ceremony, band, drinks and canapés, followed by a fleet sail past the RMYC flag officers and visiting Royal Australian Navy officers, is a popular and well attended event.
Clan MacLeod pipe band.
A long standing tradition.
Our daughter Michelle, gave a presentation on the UNICEF programmes in the Pacific Islands, at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Samoa and flew back to Fiji via Sydney. We hadn’t seen her for months, so it was great to walk the annual “Sculptures by the Sea” exhibition with her, between Bronte and Bondi on the 28th October.
Michelle being introduced by Chief Justice Nelson of Samoa.
Sculptures by the Sea: A bull made of car body parts.
Quite an extraordinary sculpture – one of many.
This was followed by dinner at her sister Karen in Summerhill. Annie was overjoyed to have her daughters together for an evening.
Michelle, Annie and Karen.
The first week of November was quite busy: Esprit was slipped again, this time at Mac Marine, to have her rudder bearings replaced. We had to do this before sailing to Port Stephens with the Sail Cruising Division.
Lift out at Mac Marine.
The rudder comes out.
The shipwright with the cleaned composite rudder stock and polished bearings.
We had a test run to the Basin afterwards to do a coastal walk with the Smith’s at Coasters Retreat and have a pleasant lunch. We dropped off our friends at RMYC and filled the water tanks and loaded provisions for the sail up north.
Gavin, Frances, Annie, Graeme and Jenny.
On Saturday the 9th November we set sail from Barrenjoey lighthouse in a steady 18 knot SE wind, having a fast sail to Lake Macquarie. We picked up a mooring at the Swansea lake entrance bridge at 2pm, to stay overnight.
Annie sailing past Bird Island.
The following day we had a disappointing 5-10 knot SE wind, which combined with the south flowing east coast current, forced us to motor sail the 35 nm to arrive at Port Stephens at 5pm. We picked up a public mooring in Shoal Bay.
Shoal Bay beach and Tomaree Head.
The overcast weather on Monday was ideal to climb Tomaree Head at the entrance to Port Stephens, up to the summit, to enjoy spectacular views out to sea and inland over the vast Port Stephens waters.
Dense ferns on the lower slopes of Tomaree Head.
Halfway up, looking out over Shoal Bay, with Esprit on a mooring near the beach.
Walkways near the summit.
Looking out to Fingal Island and Fingal Bay beyond the spit..
Looking North with Broughton Island in the far distance on the right.
Trees at the summit, weathered like me.
On Tuesday, a break in the rainy weather allowed us to do a 6 km coastal walk to Nelson Bay and back. At 5 pm, Ian and Lyn from a 40 ft. Jeanneau, “Blue Tango” joined us for sundowners. They were on their way back to Sydney after spending five months of our Sydney winter, cruising in the Whitsundays.
Next day, we motored to Soldiers Point jetty to pick up Eugene and Adelaide for a cruise around Soldiers Point, Cromarty’s Bay and North Arm Cove, before picking up a mooring in Fame Cove for lunch. After dropping them off later, we picked up an overnight mooring at Salamander Bay.
Historic Wangi Queen ferry passing us in Fame Cove.
Eugene picked us up the following day at Shoal Bay jetty to go sightseeing by car to Boat Harbour and have lunch at their house in Anna Bay. Karen and Evan arrived for a visit and lunch and later dropped us off at the boat in Shoal Bay.
Lunch at Anna Bay with Eugene, Karen and Evan.
After a pleasant four days in Port Stephens, we set sail at 10:00 on the 15th, in a 10-12 knot N-E wind and a 2 metre swell on the beam, to reach Lake Macquarie at 16:30. Overnight, the windpicked up to 20-25 knots from the east, so we made a 7:00 start the next morning. We set off with two reefs in the mainsail and a 50% furled jib to fly back to the Pittwater at more than 8 knots average speed, to pick up our mooring at 12:00. A good time was had by all!
Sailing back past Catherine Hill Bay.
On Friday the 22nd November the SCD boats assembled at the Basin at 11:00 for the annual Patonga Pub Cruise. This popular event is now held on a Friday to avoid all the weekend day trippers. Leaving lunch, the VW Kombi below was parked outside – iconic!
A well used classic VW Kombi.
By the way, we thank our friend Cath Adelbert for creating a new Blog Archive page for our site. Click on “Blog Archive – Start here” at the bottom of each page, to view all our posts by year from 2016 until the present. This is much faster than my previous static pages. When opening a year, the oldest posts can be found at the bottom of the page, working up to the latest for that year at the top of the page.
That’s it for now. We will post again early in the new year.
1982: Transatlantic Race Start, from Cape Town to Uruguay on a Farr 38, “34 Degrees South”. Annie and Dirk on the right.
Annie and I decided we should do something about all the hundreds of old photos in boxes and albums cluttering up our cupboards. We bit the bullet and ordered a Plustek photo scanner that scans a 6 x 4 photo in 2 seconds. After two weeks of work in the July winter evenings, the digitised photos are now on a solid state drive – hopefully for posterity. The exercise brought back long forgotten memories with some sailing pics – above and below. Now, what about the hundreds of 35mm slides still to do?
1987: Beachcomber Race crew, from Mauritius to South Africa on a Farr 40, “Andromeda”
1975: Launching our first “Esprit” a Henderson design, Theta 26 ft. two tonner
So, here we are at last – the beginning of September – the start of spring, or so they say. Many lifelong Sydneysiders have told us that the past winter was the coldest and wettest, they can remember. I must admit the cold and wet kept us off the water, added to the fact that we were without a boat for a month due to the repairs to the heat exchanger of Esprit.
Annie and her new, old bike.
When the sun did come out, we made up for it by walking and cycling, Annie bought an old bike from friends for $50. After a morning’s work on it, inflating the tyres, lubricating the gears, treating the rusty chrome bits and repainting it, it goes like a bomb. We have been around Narrabeen Lakes and down to Bayview. Annie finds cycling less painful on her hamstrings, than walking.
We attended the SCD Hot soup and Gluhwein long lunch at the Basin mid August, but as expected, it was a chilly event. Frustrating too, as news reached us of the fun and parties at the SICYC Rendezvous up at Shag Island in QLD, which we planned to attend. We were also planning to sail up to Newcastle and Port Stephens with the RMYC Sail Cruising Division from the 12 – 17 September. We had to cancel our participation due to Annie getting another pair of PRP injections into her damaged hamstrings earlier in the week with instructions to take it easy for six weeks. We therefore spent a quiet weekend on Esprit, enjoying a BBQ, wine and stunning sunsets.
Sunset from Esprit’s mooring, looking west across Scotland Island.
Around this time, Michelle our daughter working in Fiji, managed to tick off another item on her bucket list. She went diving with the whales in Tonga! How she fits this into her busy work schedule, I don’t know – the previous month, she attended Burning Man in the USA, again.
Michelle above a male Humpback whale.
The following weekend things picked up for us with a Beach Boys tribute show at RMYC and a SCD cruise to Hallet’s Beach for a BBQ.
Beach Boys tribute show at RMYC 20th September – these guys are good.
We were fortunate with the weather and wind cooperating, to sail down to Hallet’s beach on Saturday the 21st September. We joined our friends from the Sail Cruising Division for a Viking BBQ and some beach activities after lunch. Lots of fun with food, drinks and laughter.
Viking invasion of Hallet’s beach.
Vikings and non Vikings.
Finals of the Tug of War
David and Marcia, the winners of the wine.
Sue, John and Annie.
The last event: Rape and Pillage.
Sunday was a day of recovery with tea, coffee and pastries on Esprit. We then had an even better sail back to our mooring off Taylor’s Point. Annie and I decided the weather was so good, we may as well relax, read and suntan on board for the next two days, as we had enough food and wine. So we returned home on Tuesday, feeling totally refreshed and invigorated.
On Saturday the 28th September, the PBS 2024 Jeanneau Rendezvous event for Jeanneau owners took place. The 23 yachts raced in three divisions from RMYC to Akuna Bay, where we attended a long lunch at San Martin from 1:30 to 4:30pm. A great time was had by all participants. This annual event is a great way to meet old and new Jeanneau friends, catch up with news, sharing boating tips and have a fun sailing competition.
Sailing to Akuna Bay, “Joss” a Jeanneau SO41DS to port.
The very sheltered Akuna Bay marina.
Some of the friendly Jeanneau sailors at our table.
We look forward to Spring arriving and will report again on our sailing and social activities, as more news come to hand.
Esprit was lifted out at Quays Marina on the Pittwater on the 8th July. We were quite shocked and embarrassed at the amount of marine growth and barnacles on the hull, keel and rudder after not sailing her for two months. The guys at Q-Service assured us that most of the boats lifted out at present had similar marine growth.
First, the “After” photos – it’s easier on the eye.
Saildrive cleaned and serviced, Propspeed applied and new anodes fitted.
Evidently, an increase in water temperature and the heavy rains we’ve had this year, produced run-off with lots of nutrients for growth. This resulted in additional sanding to clean the surfaces. With the bottom cleaned, it was antifouled, the topsides polished and the engine and saildrive serviced.
Now, the “Before” photos – shocking!
The saildrive – no wonder we crept along at a snail’s pace!
Jason the marine mechanic, informed us that the heat exchanger next to the exhaust manifold was cracking and needed immediate repairs. This resulted in additional engineering work, with accompanying expense. I guess that after nine years of hard travel, wear and tear, this was to be expected. She was back in the water at Quays Marina on the 10th, but we are still waiting for the repairs to be done.
Crack and leak on the heat exchanger – a potential disaster.
Karen and Evan visited us before flying to Alice Springs for a campervan trip in the Outback and a visit to Kings Canyon, the Kata Tjuta Valley, Ellery Creek and Uluru amongst others.
Thirst things first – the Alice Springs Brewing company.
Karen – Kings canyon rim walk.
Evan and Karen – Uluru sunset.
Annie had an appointment on the 12th July with her Sports Medicine Doctor to receive PRP therapy for her damaged hamstring tendons. Platelet Rich Plasma therapy involves taking blood from the patient, putting it through a centrifuge to separate the platelets and plasma, before injecting this into the injured areas to help alleviate painful symptoms and promote healing. We are hoping for a successful outcome, as she has been battling this injury for more than a year. Clearly, her hectic gym routine and the purgatory of the Camino trail in Spain didn’t help.
Australia may not have big game dangers, but there are other small creatures that sometimes make life challenging for suburbanites. At our previous house, I waged war with the possums living in our roof, culminating in me falling off the roof and spending three days in Manly hospital with three cracked ribs and a collapsed lung. Since moving to our new abode and getting serious with gardening, two new pests have appeared to test my sanity.
A cute Possum family.
Long-nosed Bandicoots, often confused with rodents, are small, omnivorous marsupials.They are nocturnal and do a fine job of digging up your gardens, lawns and flower beds looking for grubs and worms. Every morning, I have to fill and repair their substantial holes in the garden, but being a protected species, all I can do is ask them nicely to leave us alone – or as Google informed me, by spreading “Dynamic Lifter” in the garden. The stench of these fertilizer pellets not only keep them away, but also the neighbours and visitors.
A cute long-nosed Bandicoot.
As a previously endangered species, but now a proliferating species, Bush or Brush Turkeys, have colonised our suburb. The male of this species builds huge 1-2m high nests from the leave litter and mulch in your garden. Arriving home a week ago, I was confronted by a 1.5m high mountain of what looked like mulch, which I assumed was dropped off by Joe, our arborist friend, for our complex gardens. Two days later I spotted Mr Brush Turkey putting the finishing touches on his new love nest.
A not so cute Brush Turkey building a nest.
Being a protected species, I again consulted with Google, who advised that this will become a bigger problem when the Brush Turkey kiddies arrive. Their advice: destroy the nest and spread it, but this may need to be done a few times to get the message across. So two hours later, after spreading two cubic metres of litter, I had a beer and a lay down for a rest. Over the next week, I had to spread three new nests in the making. The joys of gardening!
Halfway there, demolishing and spreading the nest mound.
In winter, sailing activities slow down and on land activities for the sailors pick up. On Saturday the 13th July, 44 members of the Coastal Cruising Club of Australia gathered at the RMYC for a long lunch. The following Saturday the 20th, we had a similar number attend the Sail Cruising Division’s Spanish Fiesta Paella lunch at PAC. After our absence of two months, it was great to catch up with our sailing friends.
The plan was to sail up to the Whitsunday Islands end of July, to get away to warmer Queensland for the rest of winter. The PRP therapy injections Annie received, knocked that plan on the head. The doctor advised that she had to take it easy for the next six weeks, to let the treatment take effect before another consultation to determine if more injections would be required. The southerly weather window for sailing North, would have passed us by then, possibly resulting in a difficult sail against the northerlies. We will instead, join the CCCA and the SCD on their shorter cruises up to Lake Macquarie and Port Stephens in the coming months.
Christmas in July at Ross and Heather on the 20th July.
Our former Allambie Heights neighbours organised their annual Christmas in July dinner and invited us to join them. We were able to get up to date with news from Madison Way and chew the fat with this lovely group of friends.
On the 25th July, our daughter Karen’s obstetrician confirmed that she was 12 weeks pregnant. Her blood tests and scans were good and her due date for delivery is early February 2025. At her age of 36, we thought we may not have grandchildren, so this is good news. Imagine me an “Oupa” at 78, and Annie an “Ouma” at 70! We will just have to hang in there for at least another decade – or more.
The Muller-Quinn fetus.
On the weekend of the 27/28th July the Northern Beaches council laid on the free “Creative Open Live” concerts at the Corso in Manly. There were twelve acts over the two days, giving new musicians a chance to be heard. Two acts that stood out for us, were Roshani, a multi instrumentalist with a voice that gives you goosebumps and Black Bird Hum, a nine piece band with a blend of roots and big-band reggae.
Roshani.
Black Bird Hum.
Enjoying a beer at the New Brighton Hotel between acts.
At the same time, our daughter Michelle was in Hawaii for work, taking the opportunity to indulge in her passion for freediving with a friend. I just don’t understand how they manage to stay underwater for so long, with only huge flippers and no scuba gear. A bit of a worry for us.
Michelle (right) with her friend.
Surfacing after her dives.
On a more positive note, we look forward to spring and say cheers until our next post.
An Easyjet flight flew us from Milan to Schiphol airport on the 18th June.Amsterdam Airport (Schiphol), built on the site of the former Haarlem Lake, is 4 metres below sea level – it is the second largest airport in the world.
Our hosts, Elin and Rick.
From here we took a train to Utrecht, about 50km south of Amsterdam where our Aussie friend Elin Powers, met us at the train station. Elin and her husband Rick Nothard spend their Aussie winters in Europe cruising the canals and rivers on their barge. They recently sold their 12m riverboat and then upgraded to an 18m steel canal barge.
Douwe, the barge.
Utrecht is a University town, so is bustling with young people. It was a short walk from the station to where “Douwe” their barge was tied up on a canal. Dutch regulations require the skipper of a 15 – 25m vessel to pass an exam for a skippers licence (Kleinvaart Bewijs) in Dutch, for which Rick had been preparing since the previous week.
Utrecht street scene.
Canal scene, 100m from where Douwe is tied up.
Now, Rick hails from Natal – the last outpost of the British Empire and his Afrikaans vocabulary is limited to a colourful list of swear words, picked up while doing his National Service in the South African Navy. Most Afrikaans speakers understand Dutch and Flemish, but Rick contracted a translator for the exam, to ensure success in this important matter. The translator pulled out at the last moment, but Rick still aced the exam the following day!
Suburban Utrecht.
While Rick was writing his exam, Elin, Annie and I cycled out through the woods to the village of Lage Vuursche in the country, where we had pancakes at a restaurant. A pleasant round trip of 32km over flat terrain – Rick and Elin have no less than 5 bicycles on board the barge. Bicycles sensibly rule the roads in Holland, where the cars are modest – none of the monster utes!
On the road again.
Pannekoekenhuis – Pancake restaurant.
The Stijl movement: Schroder – Rietveld house. Designed by Gerrit Rietveld and built in 1924.
We celebrated Rick’s success with a dinner and much wine in a bustling part of the city. The following day, we stocked up with provisions and filled the water tank before entering the first lock to enter the Lek River and from there the Vecht River. We now settled into a pattern – pulling in and tying up in a small village like Oude Zuilen for lunch and a walk afterwards. Motoring on, we stop and tie up at a village like Maarssen for dinner and overnight.
Celebrating Rick’s successful exam.
A bottle of wine and half of a Tarzan strength cannabis biscuit and I want to dance.
Entering our first lock.
In Maarssen, their friends Roger and Shirley, join us for dinner and a convivial evening. Roger, being a dead ringer for Bruce Willis! The weather played along and we enjoyed beautiful sunny days in the good company of Elin and Rick.
“Bruce Willis” casting me for the demented Russian assassin in “Die Hard 14”
Annie and Elin on deck with Rick behind the wheel.
Along the way we passed impressive old castles, houses and windmills. At some of our stops, the ladies cycled to some further afield, like the De Haar castle.
A castle or a house?
A windmill early morning.
A more modest house!
Slowly we made our way north, stopping and meeting other canal boaters in the evening, until we reached the town of Muiden through the ocean lock at the mouth of the Vecht River into the Ijsselmeer Lake.
Rick after having the other half of the Tarzan cannabis biscuit, teaching the neighbours how to Toi-Toi.
Scene along the river.
The Muiderslot, a moated 13th century castle at Muiden is quite impressive, as are the restored barges lying at anchor. After taking on diesel for the barge, we motored back to the town of Weesp to tie up at the marina.
Muiderslot castle.
A colourful restored barge.
The town of Weesp is very pretty and we enjoyed exploring the older part. Annie couldn’t resist taking a photo of a Dirk van den Broek supermarket, found all over Holland. Broek meaning trousers.
Weesp townhouses dating back to 1640.
House along the river.
My namesake – check out my new shorts.
We saw an interesting re-purposing of a church, reminding me of Robert Pirsig the author of the philosophical novel “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values”, where he speaks of the church of the mind. (A church could be anywhere) This particular church has now become a brewery and gin distillery, while the big parsonage next door, is now a childcare centre.
Weesp: Former Dutch Reformed Church.
Inside: Beer brewery and gin distillery.
This was our last stop before catching a train at Weesp train station, back to Schiphol airport and our flight home.
Weesp station – note all the commuter bicycles parked next to it.
After our epic nine day Camino Pilgrimage, which resembled an extended version of Chariots of Fire and another nine days of the Monte Carlo Rally style of driving in a VW camper, we needed to relax, befitting our age, on this delightful cruise: The poor, but sensible man’s version of a geriatric Carnival Princess cruise, down the Vecht River. Thank you Elin and Rick!
We arrived back in Sydney via Dubai on the 28th June, after six weeks away. Esprit will come out of the water on the 8th July for cleaning and antifouling, new rudder bearings, topsides polishing and a comprehensive engine service for an eye watering $8,000.
The plan is to sail up to the Whitsunday Islands end of July, to get away from a cold and wet Sydney for the rest of winter. We will keep you posted.
After arriving at Milan’s Malpensa Airport on the 9th June, we took a taxi to the nearby Indie Camper van depot to collect a VW California Camper. This van would be our home on wheels for the next nine days to travel around the lakes on the southern side of the Alps in northern Italy. Milan, we had visited before, so instead, we headed north to Lake Maggiore, only 25km away.
Map Northern Italy.
The van had an electric pop-up roof with a comfy double beds upstairs and downstairs, a kitchen with gas stove, sink and excellent fridge. It also had an outside shower, porta potty loo, chairs, table and came kitted out with linen, cutlery and crockery, pots and pans. Our first night was spent at the Smeralda campsite on the southern shore of Lake Maggiore.
Waking up at Lake Maggiore.
Annie having breakfast.
This automatic transmission van drives like a car and was the right choice for the narrow winding roads on the mountain sides surrounding the lake. Italian drivers are known for their racing skills, following in the footsteps of Emerson Fittipaldi, which made some of the hairpin bends exciting, with these fellows sharing the road.
Western shore of Lake Maggiore.
One of the villas next to the road.
Park4night is a handy app to locate campsites and free camping areas in Europe, so we used the app extensively to alternate between paying campsites and free parking sites, thereby halving our camping costs.
Our first Park4night free parking spot.
Driving up the western side of the lake to the top at Locarno, which is actually in Switzerland, we went through stunning villages against the mountainsides next to the lake. The Swiss villages were disappointing as the conservation of older buildings seemed non-existent, with bland modern buildings thrown in.
Lake Maggiore looking North.
Coming down the eastern side of Lake Maggiore we branched off at Laveno, to travel through Varese to Lake Como. The town of Como, still pretty, was a shock trafficwise, since my brothers and I travelled through here 50 years ago. To be expected though, as the place has become very popular and the roads and infrastructure became inadequate.
Looking back to the western shore.
From Como we drove north to Bellagio along a hair raising road shared with busses and trucks. Bellagio has also become a popular holiday destination, packed with tourists. We didn’t stay long before heading south to Lecco. From here our route took us through Bergamo, skirting Lake d’Iseo to Brescia and on to Lake Garda, the jewel of all the lakes.
Bellagio on Lake Como.
Our campsite at La Fornace on the east side of lake Como.
I’m enjoying a coffee, but Annie’s trading on the NYSE and ASX!
At this point, Annie was planning to join our Michelle for a hike through the Dolomites, northeast of Lake Garda, with her hiking group, while I rented a dinghy to sail on Lake Garda. Annie was still coughing after our Camino colds and decided to pull out of the hike, which was a good thing judging by the conditions Michelle and her group went through to reach the summit of Peitlerkofel at 2,800m.
For these young women, a walk in the park.
The summit of Peitlerkofel.
Relaxing after the climb. For context, the group summited the peak below the moon.
On the southern shore of Lake Garda is a little peninsula with a beautiful old town Simioni, reached by crossing a bridge. This place is worth a visit – we spent a day exploring the town before driving north to camp at Bardolino.
The entrance to Simioni.
Simioni surrounded by crystal clear water.
Simioni – beautiful courtyards with spring flowers.
From here we drove to Verona to camp at Oro Verde, a wine and olive farm outside town. Italy has many beautiful cities and towns, but in our book, Verona and Venice are at the top. Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juliet was set in Verona. People queue up to see Romeo and Juliet’s houses.
“Agri-camping” at Oro Verde – Porta Potty used as a coffee table inside.
Verona – Piazzetta Mura Gallieno.
First, there are just a few minor details to sort out here. Yes, there is a house called the Casa di Giulietta in Verona, which we passed because of the crowds. But no, Juliet didn’t ever live there. Romeo and Juliet are fictional characters and our sweet Juliet never actually set foot on that balcony looking for her Romeo.
Verona – looking towards Basilica di Santa Anastasia.
Interior Basilica di Santa Anastasia.
The Palazzo Maffei.
The Arena di Verona, built in the first century AD, this is one of the best conserved Roman amphitheatres, whose seating area is made up of 44 levels and can hold up to 22,000 spectators. In summer it hosts Operas and concerts – Aida was playing when we visited.
The Arena di Verona.
What! A Roman Gladiator?
The Piazza delle Erbe.
Verona street scene – so many photos, so little space!
Heading back to Milan, we decided to use the Autostrada and although subject to tolls, was much quicker to travel – albeit nerve wracking with fast moving cars and trucks travelling bumper to bumper. Returning the camper, we had done 800km in the nine days and had a wonderful experience.
So much so, that Annie is now looking out for a second hand VW California camper for the family to use for Aussie outback trips! Our next report will be from the Netherlands.
