The day had come, and we planned to leave the gorgeous cliffs, flat waters, fish (no fish) and vistas of Pittwater, and head north. We were originally hoping to drop in to Lake Macquarie but a safe entrance on a rising tide would have meant travelling through the night or arriving in the dark which we’re not so keen on at the current point in our sailing adventure. So we picked a day with favourable southerly winds and aimed for Newcastle.
We use a program called “Predict Wind” which provides us with 4 models of how the winds (amongst other things) will affect our journey, and therefore which course we should take and when we should leave. 3 out of 4 of the forecast models had us hoisting the sails and sailing most of the way, leaving at 6am and arriving around 4pm, but the 4th model was correct and we motored much of the way in rolly seas and arrived at dusk.
We noticed this tug that seemed to be pulling a barge gradually catching up with us. Using AIS really helped us with working out which direction they were going and whether or not we’d have a collision. As they passed behind us the ‘barge’ turned out to be the retired Manly ferry ‘Lady Northcott’ being moved to Newcastle.
The final couple of hours almost made up for the motoring (and queasiness) with a a great sail past all the massive ships lined up to enter Newcastle harbour. Although Fi is frowning, she actually really enjoyed this moment on the helm! This is concentration face.
