Lake Macquarie to Newcastle. Dawdling north under sail.

We left Lake Macquarie this morning passing under the Swansea bridge at 10:00am.  There was another yacht inbound (which had right of way) so we had to back off and do a lazy circle to let it through first.  Otherwise we only really had to worry about the herds of kayaks going out as well.

Sunrise in Lake Macquarie

 Once we got out over the bar, I put up the main with two reefs as we were expecting about 20 knots or so and we sailed slowly up the coast with the main and staysail only doing 2 to 3 knots or so in 12 knots of wind. It did pick up to 20 or so knots about lunchtime but dropped back to 15 in the afternoon.

We weren't in any hurry though as the trip is only about 10 miles and we were hoping to see some whales. In the end, we did catch sight of some humpbacks but it was quite frustrating (again) as we saw them about a mile away slapping the water and generally having a good time but then they just disappeared never to be seen again.

We had to wait for a coal carrier to come out of Newcastle and a large dredge to go in before we headed up the channel.  Newcastle looked very nice as we went past which surprised both of us for some reason.  We bypassed the marina though and headed straight up the Hunter river (North channel) about 2 miles and set the anchor in 2 meters of water just outside the channel.

Wind over tide has caused the anchor chain to go back under the boat so we might have a noisy night if it catches on the keel.  I'm currently trying to figure out if it's worth dropping the dingy to set another anchor from the stern to keep the boat in one position overnight.  One thing is for sure, if it does get noisy, it's not going to be fun doing that at 1:00 am in the morning.

Sunset in the Hunter River

 We're probably here until Friday now when the wind turns favourable again so we might spend a night at the new marina in Newcastle so we can have a good look around.

Terry has nearly finished the photos for Jervis Bay and Sydney so you should see a much more interesting post from her soon.

Location: Hunter Wetlands National Park, Kooragang NSW 2322, Australia
GoogleMaps | GooglePlus Local