We have liftoff......

Yes, today was the big day. Everyone woke early with excitement and anticipation. It was a cool morning with some light fog on the river as we loaded the fresh food on board.

SasSea & Marina wishing us well

At 6:25hrs we said our goodbyes, warmed up the engines, and slipped our lines at the jetty. It was a great moment. SasSea and Marina waved us goodbye then went and had a quiet celebration (of relief?) at our parting.


We slipped quietly downriver in the predawn light, and after logging on with our local Marine Rescue, we headed to sea on our great adventure, leaving our beloved river behind.

After clearing the river bar we accelerated to our cruising speed of 20 knots, set the autopilot to steer, then followed our preplanned track for the 70nm trip up to Sydney.




The sun had risen above the clouds by this time and it was a magnificent run up past Gerringong and Kiama.

Coastline between Gerringong and Kiama - Image by Navman

Stormy skies - Image by Navman

It seemed like no time at all before we were amongst the big ships waiting to load coal in Wollongong, though the weather also began to look a bit threatening.

We were abeam of Sydney by 11:25hrs, where we slowed to 6 knots so that we could check our fuel consumption before heading onto the next leg,






After lunch the weather just got better and better. Captain Bligh settled into a commanding position in the sun on the flybridge. It was a great spot because he could keep a close eye on where we were going, and at the same time soak up the heat from the sun.

Captain Bligh surveying the calm seas

Meanwhile we had struck a problem with the generator. It started and ran OK but there was no power coming out of it! Much to our distress we had to abandon our lunchtime tea and coffee.

The fault was later found to be a circuit breaker that had tripped for some reason. It is all OK now, but the generator continues to be a point of  concern.

The only other issue of the day was that Sea-Dog managed to leave all of his fishing rods at home. As we said at the time, if this is the worst that happens we will have had a very successful trip.

By 15:00hrs we were steaming into Port Stephens. We went to the Nelson Bay marina for fuel and a pen for the night, and I am writing this to you all from here.

End of Day at d'Albora's Marina at Nelson Bay - Image by Navman

After arrival, it was of course critical that three things were done:

1. Beer rations were passed out. There's nothing like that first sip after a hard day on the water.
2. Phone calls to our various spouses to share the events of the day.
3. The blog

All done now and time for bed. Captain Bligh and Sea-Dog have been asleep for ages. I had better go too because we are up at 06:00hrs so that we can get an early start for our run up to Coffs Harbour.

Goodnight and sweet dreams,

Navman