Transition - Land to Sea - Month #1

 

Looking out to sea.

We talked about it often.  The dream of selling up or renting the house and living on the boat full time.  Over the last 10 years we’ve lived and explored on Southern Belle for periods of 6 or 7 months, but we always had a house, a home, and our dog there waiting.  But now, since Molly left us, there was nothing to keep us from that dream.  So, we did it, rented the house.  Totally.  Moved everything out and happily welcomed other people to build their home there.

I won’t go into the seemingly endless days of cleaning, recycling, re-homing, and throwing out the contents of closets, filing cabinets, kitchen cupboards and, worst of all, the backyard shed.  Too many friends and family have heard that rant far too often.   I’ll just say here, “it was a LOT harder than I thought it would be!”  But it’s done.  All of it.  And it was far less emotionally taxing than I had expected.  George is never as attached to "stuff" as I am; but I managed to sort and pack and clean and then walk away.  Time to move on and try a new way of life.   We have a very nice family making their home for the next few years in our house.  And, as I write this blog one month and one day on from the big move, we’re living on our boat and, so far, I’m happy.

A huge note of thanks goes to our dear friends Judy and Martin for taking a lot of our "stuff" and keeping it on their beautiful property in Girralong, NSW.  They're keeping my car and loads of George's tools.  We even managed to cram our little hard dingy in the back of my car.  I didn't want to leave the fiberglass boat on the beach to rot, like so many you see dotted around the foreshore.  Hopefully they can use it to cross their creek when the summer downpours come.

My Subaru with the last of it headed up to the farm.

So, after all that talking, planing and procrastinating we departed The Basin on Pittwater in the early morning hours of April 21 headed for our first destination of  Newcastle, NSW.  The forecast had 20+ knot winds straight out of the south for our first journey which is good.  It means the full head sail out with good speed.  And it delivered.  We had 24-28 knots most of the 9 hours sailing.  The only downside I guess was the southeasterly swell running about 2 metres slapping against our hull which made my landlubber stomach extremely uncomfortable.  No problem really.  We motored into the picturesque harbour between incoming and outgoing coal ships - huge things - and safely into our berth.  Our friends Thelma and Bruce were there waiting to grab a line and enjoy the resulting evening of wine and good conversation.  

In spite of being a hugely busy coal port Newcastle Harbour is well worth a visit.  The facilities are first rate, there are great walks into town along the foreshore plus shopping and dining are just steps away.

We enjoyed Newcastle and we also had a good, but too short, catch up with our friend David Bradburn of Bluewater Cruising Yachts who built our boat.  Walking around the area is lovely to look at but also historic.  The tree of knowledge was right off our marina arm.  It's a stunning Morton Bay Fig tree, the only survivor of 9 trees planted in 1870 by the wife of the soon to be mayor of the settlement.  The tree is considered significant in NSW for a few reasons ... it was the scene of indigenous corroboree gatherings; it was thought an inspiration for Henry Lawson, Australian poet and writer; it could have been celebrated by the labour/union movement.  Whatever it is significance and a mighty tree.

Tree of Knowledge - Newcastle

The next days were spent cruising in perfect weather.  From Newcastle to Broughton Island off Port Stephens where we anchored at Providence Beach at the northern side of the Island.  Beautiful anchorage but too rolly for my tastes.  

Broughton Island, Providence Beach

Next we traveled to one of my favourite places - Camden Haven - for a few days and after that Port Macquarie.  We had always wanted to go into PM but couldn't due to the conditions on the bar.  We had a great time there staying in the small and very tight marina.  We walked miles.  The best walk is along the barway where the rocks have been painted over the years by people, families, clubs and more to commemorate holidays or the passing of loved ones. 

The walkway along the channel into Port Macquarie with the painted rocks.

 

One of my favourites along the Channel

We departed Port Macquarie at 3am on May 3 to make slack water on the rising tide.  I was apprehensive but the departure was easy.  George did a great job driving Southern Belle through the incoming low swell.  Our destination Coffs Harbour is 67 nautical miles north.  The forecast was for little to no wind so we knew we had a long day of motoring.  But we thought we'd get there about 2 or 3 pm in the afternoon.  What we didn't take into account was the 2 - 3 knot Australian Eastern Current pushing us back the whole way!  We entered the marina just after 5pm with the sun setting after a long long motor against the current.  The wine tasted especially nice that night.

The outer bay at Coffs.  The harbour and marina are in the left of the photo.  This is also the international clearing in port for yacht arrivals on the New South Wales coast.

The weather turned unpleasant after our arrival with strong winds, big sea swells and rain.  So Judy and Martin drove the one hour up from their property to pick us up for a weekend in the country.  So far this boating life has been one of exercise - we've walked a lot at every port, friends, great sleep and revisiting what we've learned about ourselves and our boat.  Not bad for month #1!!!!