Wednesday 22nd
After a bit of rain we went into Manly Cove to meet the Ambrosia crew (and some of their friends) on the surf side.
We pulled our tender up the beach next to theirs and set off.
The surf was small, but perfect for the girls. With wetsuits on they lasted a reasonable time. A good mix of body boards and just having fun in the waves or in the sand.
Eventually we all got a bit cold, and the rain came back. The girls had a shower then we walked back to the other side.
I had originally suggested Fish ‘n Chips for lunch, but didn’t see too many good options (when it wasn’t raining). So we ended up at Fellons for a burger and drinks.
We knew there was going to be a southerly change this afternoon so we wanted to be back in Rose Bay when that hit.
No free moorings so we dropped anchor. I was looking at WillyWeather and saw it was 25knt SW at Kurnell (not too far away in Botany Bay), but it was maybe 5knts N where we were.
I had just said to Kristie “We’ll probably need to pull up the anchor when it hits and reset it” when the 25knts hit us!
Bit of a frantic moment to pull up anchor then reset it. We ended up with 60m of chain out, and didn’t drag a bit once that was set!
However, I was still up top on alert for a while, even with our anchor alarm on!
No drinks tonight with that storm going on.
Thursday 23rd
After recovering from the storm the night before, we had a bit of a late start. Ambrosia had been on a mooring around the corner the night before (lucky them), but they motored over to anchor not too far from us.
We were ready to head into the playground, so swung past to say hi and let them know.
The playground was excellent. Lots of different areas for the girls to enjoy: Emma initially refused to have fun because it “looked boring”, but 5min later she was off and about.
Rona then turned up, and they spent the next hour running around.
The Ambrosia crew then left to get a ferry into the city, while we left for the local Woolies.
Did our shop, came outside, then realised with our rewards I could get a free coffee. So back in I went.
While I was in there, Kristie realised we could also get free chocolate bars, so she and Kristina when in when I had my coffee.
Emma then needed popcorn as everyone else was getting something. So back in she and Kristie went.
We finally got back to Lazuli and stashed the groceries.
We’d seen two divers come out of the water at Camp Cove when we were last in Sydney, and after a bit of research Kristie had lined us up to dive there.
We left Rose Bay, and picked up the mooring at the end of Watsons Bay, only a short tender ride around from there to Camp Cove.
Kristie geared up and the two of us headed over, leaving the girls on Lazuli with Minecraft and my phone (and the VHF).
The dive wasn’t great, but diving is diving.
Another bucket list item (for me!) was to sail under the Sydney Harbour Bridge. The wind was there and the right direction, so after the dive gear was stowed we set sail.
Just our luck that a Cruise Ship was leaving at the same time. We probably shouldn’t have snuck behind it, but we did.
My sister Jess was online watching the live feed and sent us a few snaps of us going under and then back out.
Kristie sailed us back under the bridge, then we dropped the main and motored as the wind had dropped a bit and was now coming directly from Rose Bay.
We managed to pick up a free mooring back in Rose Bay.
Quick dinner then over to Ambrosia for our final drinks and say farewell. We’d be off to Botany Bay tomorrow, while they were hanging around for a few days before sailing south (and skipping Botany Bay).
Guy, Cassie & Rona: thanks for being such great boat friends (and our first from this trip!).
Friday 24th
5am wakeup so we could get underway and down to Botany Bay before the strong SE winds kicked in.
Took about 2hrs or so motoring before we were through the head of Botany Bay.
We picked up a mooring at Kurnell as it was close (we needed a break) and it’s good protection for the strong southerly winds.
Kristie had messaged Mark (URGQ member) who lives locally and he came around and met us on the beach.
We did a walk around the beach, checked out various plaques, sculptures, monuments and general exploring.
Mark then offered to drive us into Cronulla for a bit of sightseeing. Thankfully he has a 7-seater Pajaro, so we could all fit.
We got out at a few spots for a walk and some photo opportunities. Thanks for the tour Mark!
Back to Kurnell to get ready to head over to Dolls Point for the Parkrun tomorrow.
There’s lots of shipping going on, and just as we dropped the mooring another big container ship came in through the heads.
So back to the mooring and a bit of waiting before I ended up calling VTS on #12 to confirm we were ok to move.
Motored out and across to Dolls Point. The bay is quite shallow over that side, a few points down to 3m depth.
There is a mooring in the bay, but it was too close to the beach (i.e. too shallow for us to use), so backed out a little and anchored just out of the channel in 4m of water.
We could look out the back of the boat and see the park we’d be running in tomorrow.
Saturday 25th - Parkrun Day
One of the major reasons we came to Botany Bay was for the Parkrun at Dolls Point: Emma needed only a “D” to complete her name challenge.
A bonus for this location was an 8am start, which was much needed after a few big days and late nights.
It’s a nice run along the bay: Kristina and I did it just under 40min, with Emma and Kristie about 15min after us.
Emma has now done 17 Parkruns, and the first of us to complete her name challenge (she also has the shortest name!)
As per our “Lazuli Ice cream Agreement” (only one ice cream per area/region we visit), the run was followed by ice cream / smoothie / iced latte.
We had a lovely swim at the beach at end; a few of the signs saying do not swim… had pictures of sharks… however the water was shallow and clear and too nice not to swim.
Back to Lazuli for lunch and a bit of chill before heading over to La Perouse. No free moorings, so we dropped anchor in about 4m of water.
Sunday 26th - Australia Day
Bit of a lazy morning. Bacon and Eggs for breakfast!
We didn’t get into the beach until 11am or so, and didn’t have that long as we needed to be back on the beach by 3pm ready for the tour around Bare Island.
We had a 45min tour which was interesting (thankfully we didn’t have “Steve” as he had lots of bad reviews :)
Every cannon deserves a Photo. This one had been buried underground for 60+ years to make way for a pool table
None were ever fired in anger, only practice shots.
The fort was completed in 1885, but was only in operation for a few years as the contractors that built it cut corners and instead of solid concrete, had stuffed the walls with small rocks.
A survey concluded that officers would be safer standing on the outside of the fort during an attack than being inside given that the rocks would become shrapnel and kill everyone inside should the fort get hit :|
After the tour we walked around the base of Bare Island. More exploring.
Good view of the bay. No anchoring in here, but this is where the diving happens, especially when there is any swell about.
Back towards the beach there was a “Culture of Country” festival going on. Local/indigenous bands/performers.
The girls (with our help) did some weaving.
Sips ‘n dips (to the accompaniment of some terrible cat strangling sounds coming from the music stage) followed by some lamb for dinner.
There were various locations around the bay doing fireworks, so we all stayed up until 9pm to watch them. The closest would still have been 3km away, but had to be done.
Monday 27th
Bare Island also has a bit of a reputation for being a great dive site. It’s certainly accessible in most conditions and an easy shore dive (after lugging gear a long way!).
Thankfully we could just tender from Lazuli around the headland and bypass any walking.
Kristie was underwater at 10am, and the girls and I had a 40min or so snorkle. We saw quite a few fish and a small school of squid.
I pulled the tender along with us as you’re not supposed to anchor in that bay.
The following is Emma’s account of our snorkle:
1 | On Monday, we went snorkling at Bare Island. |
I had thoughts of diving after Kristie, but she wasn’t that impressed by it, so I gave it a miss.
No beach swim, but the girls and Kristie enjoyed a swim off the back of the boat.
Lots of shipping happening all the time. The tugs were lurking in readiness just at the right time for a sunset shot.
Tuesday 28th
First day of School, so the girls were up top after their morning jobs were done.
Headed in for a swim. It’s still NSW school holidays so the beach was quite busy. Lovely conditions this morning.
I went up to the local mini mart to try and stock up on groceries, but could only got milk and eggs: they were quite limited any anything fresh as such.
More swimming, then Kristie did a quick run to local takeaway (a.k.a. “Tuckshop”) to get some hot chips for lunch. Yum.
We needed to get back to Lazuli to get across to Kurnell to grab a mooring as we were in for some southerly gales this afternoon and night.
Just like at Rose Bay, it went from North 10-15, to South 23knts in about 5min.
I had the VHF on #12 monitoring the port traffic, and they were sending out messages for all ships to ensure they were fully secure and ready for the 30-40knt winds.
We got the wind, and a little rain. Glad to be on a mooring :)
Eggs for dinner as we’ve run out of planned dinners.
Depending on the weather we might start our journey north tomorrow. We’re aiming for Pittwater, probably two nights there to get shopping/washing done, before heading further north.