From John Friday April 3rd
Day 9, 10 & 11 from Melbourne at the CYCA Sydney - on board FGT Fri April 3 09
Position 33 52S 151 30E 0 n miles to Sydney.
Wind - not much - little bit of rain.
Boat speed av 0.0 kts. 0 rpm
Av boat direction- South tied up
Barometer 1030.1
cloud cover varies - 100% Air temp 25C 11am local time
Greetings from the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia, Sydney,
Couple of days gone by quickly - that happens without comment in Sydney - Wed the rain kept us hanging about the yacht club with a venture up to the shops - Doug and Vilny took in a petrol head movie - Tom and Fraser crewed on the benny 47.7 Trieste for a twilight race with 54 other sailboats from the CYCA and reported 'good fun' with those blokes - thanks to the Triest crew. The Sm had a nice long chat to Graham and Maz Radford - designer of the FGT - and thanks for lunch.
Yesterday us culture vultures reported to the Powerhouse museum, and one half of the crew did over the Maritime museum, while the other half toured all over Sydney and Bondi on the explorer buses - excellent - Sydney Buses really do a firstclass job at v reasonable costs. A full day for all.
Right now we are splashing our way up to Pittwater - 12 miles up the coats from Sydney to wait for the Southerly winds expected tomorrow Saturday - then we intend to sail straight up the 230 or so miles to Coffs Harbour.
Beautiful weather today in Sydney - and what a spectacular place to visit.
Cheers
Your 'on the road, again' Crew
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From John Tuesday March 31st
Day 8 from Melbourne at the CYCA Sydney - on board FGT Tue 31 March 09
Position 33 52S 151 30E 0 n miles to Sydney.
Wind - some wind - lots of rain.
Boat speed av 0.0 kts. 0 rpm
Av boat direction- South tied up
Barometer 1030.6
cloud cover varies - 100% Air temp 21C 6pm local time
Greetings from the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia, Sydney,
Where ever we go the great hospitality follows us - welcomed into the CYCA by Frank the Marina manager, and Maria - the charming lady at reception. V helpful and V welcoming.
The marina is chock a block with famous and fantastic sailboats - just the epicentre of ocean racing here, and the home of the Sydney - Hobart Yacht Race. Consequently we have been doing our fair share of ogling.
And we continued in the same vein during our tours about Sydney. Doug , Phil, and Vilny toured the nearby Kings Cross looking for breakfast which they reported as found and good, while the SM, Tom and Fraser, bussed into Circular Quay, for a harbour tour with Sydney Ferries - that was interesting if a little rainy - no complaints - back tothe CYCA for patio pizza, and an early night. The other guys met and dined with the offspring living here.
Weather remains inclement.
Cheers
Your tied up Crew
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From John Monday March 30th
Day 7 from Melbourne at sea on board FGT Mon 30 March 09
Position 33 52S 151 30E - 0 n miles to Sydney.
Wind 15 knots North Seas not too smooth.
Boat speed av 5.0 kts.2200 rpm
Av boat direction- 024 up the coast to Sydney -
Barometer 1030.0
cloud cover varies - 80% Air temp 21C 01200 utc
Greetings from the shore bound FGT,
Monday morning early - 7am - motor sailed right into Sydney- arrive at 12:10am Tuesday.
Nicely tied up at the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia at Rushcutters Bay.
Most of the crew sleeping.
Looks good.
Now it's Tuesday morning. The fun continues.
Cheers
Your coastal cruising Crew
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From John Sunday March 29th
Day 6 from Melbourne at sea on board FGT Sun 29 March 09
Position 35 21S 150 30E - 95 n miles to Sydney.
Wind 25 knots North Seas bouncy.
Boat speed av 5.0 kts.2200 rpm
Av boat direction- 024 up the coast to Sydney -
Barometer 1032.0
cloud cover varies - 80% Air temp 21C 01200 utc
Greetings from the FGT,
Left Eden and splashed our way to Bermagui - wind right on the nose so not a v comfortable ride - ducked into Bermagui - a fishing and holiday town for a quiet nights snoozing on Sat night. Snuck out of town at 7am to miss the wind which has no sting in it until afternoon - that worked well until the afternoon when it was , once again, right on the nose, so Ulladulla was our port of choice for the night. Thomas and Fraser headed for the internet cafe while us blokes inspected the public bar of the U Hotel where we bought tickets in the Easter party platter. Can you send it to CH when we win? Absolutely - not a problem !! F&C dinner with wine just above the harbour - best F&C in Ulladulla.
Entertained boatside by Julie and Robert - v successful dive boat operators - these chance meetings are one of the best parts of cruising - the Canadian flag gets them every time.
Tomorrow -enroute to Sydney
Cheers
Your coastal cruising Crew
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From John SATURDAY MARCH 28TH.
Day 5 from Melbourne at sea on board FGT Sat 28 March 09
Position 37 00S 149 58E 200 n miles to Sydney.
Wind 5 knots North Seas ripply - like Lake Ontario.
Boat speed av 6.5 kts.2200 rpm
Av boat direction- 024 up the coast to Sydney -
Barometer 1032.6
cloud cover varies - 80% Air temp 21C 0331 utc
Greetings from the FGT,
Sing this song - 'Here we are again, happy as can be, all good friends on board the Falcon GT.'
The new crew is enjoying the voyage from Melbourne up the East Australian coast to Coffs Harbour with some v pleasant stops on the way. - more of that later.
All the crew and especially the Senior Member have had quite the break from shipboard life after our arrival in Melbourne. The blog got a break too!
We had a wonderful reception at the Royal Yacht Club of Victoria when we pulled in after the Apollo Bay 24 hr stop. More relatives and friends than you could shake a stick at, incl the SM and CEO's mum, and wives. Lines were taken by Tony Spencer the RYCV Commodore - quite an honour - and what fabulous hospitality they have shown us - so much we did not have time to accept the offer of hospitality at Docklands -Bob Tanner - please accept my apologies. And that is sort of what happened to the Sm when following the arrival. Being so focused on arriving - the details of the after-life were not considered - consequently - the rounds of dinners, parties, visitors, and visiting simply took up the time until just now - now I can reflect somewhat on the voyage and sum it up with 'glad I did it - just a little over the top'
The highlight of the stay in Melbourne was staying at my sister's Anne's and husband Ian's home - what can I say - they gave us the best of everything including my wife and 2 roast lamb dinners, - and Mum lives just 45 minutes walk away. Don't forget the 2 nights at the Lorne cottage with its resident koala bear, and the house trained kangaroo up the street. Australiana for us visitors.
Plans are to take the boat to CH, (Coffs Harbour), then back down to Port Stephens for storage until November.
We are on the way - with a new crew - Thomas, Fraser, Phil, Vilny, Doug (CEO) and the SM we left Williamstown 6am last Tuesday and pretty well motor sailed 24 hrs to Refuge Cove to anchor (third time in 16000 miles), swim, eat, snooze, for 12 hours, then sailed to Eden - 230 nm in 38 hrs - enjoyed some hours of spinnaker sailing in a building Westerly . The wind did build nicely - peaked around 35 knots and stayed between 20 and 30 for a good 24 hours.
Eden is a busy abalone diving and decent size fishing boat port so lots of boats to check out. Pub dinner at the Great Southern Hotel to celebrate Vilny's birthday, then a quiet night for some on board. Left for Sydney at 10am. T and F what did you do last night?
Cheers
Your coastal cruising Crew
