Wednesday 6 March 2013

Lyndenne Voyage Part 4 (final part)

I left the vessel over the weekend and ventured by train and bus to Pittwater to check over another yacht and meet the owner and crew with the view to some future work aboard.
I returned to Wollongong harbour on Sunday evening as the forcast looked good through to Broken Bay for Monday.
We woke at 5am and after a leisurely breakfast, departed at 6am (first light). The 1.5m sea now from the East along with a 15 knot breeze made conditions rolly so we hoisted a headsail which helped a lot to reduce the roll.
We weaved through the anchored ships that await their turn to enter Port Kembla and decided to head closer in steering towards Cape Solander to avoid the curent. I mentioned to Tom that he needed to look left and right for ships before crossing the Botany Bay entrance, he thought I was kidding until we saw 2 ships come and go, then got a VHF Radio call from Sydney VTS to ask our intentions then give clearance for us to proceed accross!
We came around Barenjoey Head at 1530 and tied up at the Royal Motor Yacht Club at 1620, the voyage completed.
We logged 767 nautical miles (GPS)
Wayno

Saturday 2 March 2013

Lyndenne Voyage Part 3

We departed House Bay at 0700 having decided the weather would allow us a sooth crossing of Bass Strait, my 15th.
About half way across the strait, a roll of cloud appeared from the West heralding the expected change in weather.  We were to ride this change all the way to Broken Bay according to the grib files, with no more than 20 knots.
We made land fall during the night and many ships were encountered as we neared Cape Howe the turning point for the run up the NSW coast. The latest grib however showed the wind backing and increasing in strength as we went north. We continued on and kept inshore between the 20 & 50 metre depth lines to avoid the southerly current. On reaching Jervis Bay the seas were building along with the wind so we came around and anchored in Crookhaven bight off Currarong to reassess the weather and enjoy a quiet breakfast.
It was decided to push on for Wollongong Harbour 30 mile North. So we got underway again and kept a safer distance off the now lee shore since the wind had now backed to the SE. The short seas were peaking at over 4 metres as we came around 5 islands with a strong current against the wind. Lyndenne handled the conditions really well, but it was time to postpone the voyage here at the Gong for a few days.
Wayne