MV Dirona travel digest for Hawksebury River 2014

Position: -20°21.24'S, 149°45.66'E

After being questioned by Australia Customs Coastwatch watch planes several times in the Swain Reefs, we were expecting to encounter them frequently as we worked north. But we have only heard from them once since the Swains before today

Position: -20°26.21'S, 149°48.28'E

We're making a week-long passage south to the Hawkesbury River area just north of Sydney. The weather is excellent, with winds below 10 knots, and we're getting a nice push from the southerly current.

Position: -20°44.15'S, 150°0.96'E

The 958-foot bulker Marvellous passed behind us en route from Japan to Hay Point, just south of Mackay.

Position: -19°55.22'S, 150°17.99'E

Marvellous passed through the reef via Hydrographer's Passage. The route is narrow and complex, but very well-marked.

Position: -21°10.76'S, 150°24.73'E

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Position: -22°37.02'S, 151°42.30'E

On night runs at sea, we run a 500-watt forward facing floodlight (see Running at Night). Our experience watching fishing boats is that the floodlight can be seen from much greater distances than the navigation lights, particularly in fog or heavily overcast weather. The light was working intermittently last night, so we replaced the bulb today and its back working again.

Position: -23°14.49'S, 152°16.23'E

Winds have picked up to 15-20kts from the north, as we expected, and the seas are 6-8' with us. We're not getting the big push from the current anymore, but still are making good speed at nearly 8 knots. The winds are predicted to shift around to the south for a few hours as we pass along the east coast of Fraser Island, and then should fall off below 15. So far, the trip has been pretty comfortable and we expect that to continue all the way to the Gold Coast. We'll stop there to refuel, then continue south to the Hawkesbury River.

Position: -23°53.79'S, 152°52.01'E

Commercial traffic has picked up as we near the north end of Fraser Island. The 469' container ship Sofrana Tourville is passing about 2 miles to our east, with another ship running south off Lady Elliot Island.

Position: -25°9.25'S, 153°25.43'E

The wind did shift from northerly to 20-25 knots southwesterly overnight, but have now settled back down to 10 knots. The southerly winds generated a tight chop on the nose that increased pitch motion a fair bit. Not a big deal, but certainly a less comfortable ride than we've had so far.

Position: -26°6.14'S, 153°29.20'E

We got a major saltwater bath running into the southerly wind waves last night. The whole boat is coated in salt, inlcuding our SSCA (Seven Seas Cruising Association) burgee at the bow. The wind is back to northerly now, and below 10, so conditions are much improved and boat motion is minimal.

Position: -27°48.61'S, 153°28.92'E

As we approach the Gold Coast, the mass of beacons to our west marking the intra-coastal waterway gives a good indication of the complexity of those channels.

Position: -27°56.04'S, 153°25.94'E

Conditions remained excellent overnight with little wind or swell, and we were getting such a good push from the current we had to throttle back to avoid arriving at the seaway in the dark. We passed through about a a half-hour after sunrise, with good light and near-optimal conditions. The current was ebbing slightly, but the seaway waters were quite calm with only a gentle undulating motion as we crossed the outer bar.

Position: -27°58.22'S, 153°25.46'E

Moored at the Mariners Cove Marina fuel dock. We arrived a couple of hours before they opened, so changed the main engine oil and washed off the salt while we waited.

Position: -27°58.20'S, 153°25.45'E

We were planning to continue straight through after fueling, but decided to "take a vacation" from our passage and spend the night at Mariners Cove Marina. We'd been tracking a storm system off Sydney and conditions would be reasonable if we continued, but better if we waited a day or so.

Position: -27°58.25'S, 153°25.74'E

We'd not been on land since Arlie Beach ten days ago, so it was nice to get out and stretch our legs.

Position: -27°58.93'S, 153°25.75'E

The Surfers Paradise Street Circuit is being setup for the V8 Supercars Gold Coast 600 about ten days from now. We really enjoyed watching the premier V8 event, the Bathurst 1000 on TV earlier this month. If the Gold Coast 600 were in the next few days, we'd definitely consider staying to watch it live.

Position: -27°59.97'S, 153°25.86'E

The path we followed from the marina weaved back and forth from the beach to roads and eventually joined a beautifully-built pedestrian esplanade at the city center.

Position: -28°0.11'S, 153°25.87'E

Besides being an enjoyable walk, the esplanade featured many photos showcasing the region's past and describing its growth.

Position: -27°55.89'S, 153°26.61'E

Once we pass south of the high rises at Surfers Paradise, we'll be the farthest south we've even been in Australia. Conditions are excellent and should remain good most of the day. We expect to hit a few hours of 20-25 knot southerlies with 6-9' seas tonight, much like off Fraser Island a few days ago, then conditions should settle back down for the rest of the run.

Position: -28°36.30'S, 153°40.89'E

We were in a several-knot negative current as we neared Cape Byron, and making less than 6 knots. Altering course more to see put us with the current and got our speed up to near 8 knots.

Position: -29°53.34'S, 153°27.43'E

We've passed a lot of shipping traffic today, most of it about 5 miles or so seaward. The 958' cargo ship Safmarine Makutu was on a reciprocal course, so we altered course to starboard to increase the CPA (closest point of approach).

Position: -31°0.19'S, 153°13.00'E

The winds came up to 20-25 knot from the south last night as predicted. We ran reasonably close to shore, partly to avoid the commercial traffic and partly to avoid the southbound current against that southerly wind. We ended up running less than 6kts for periods, due to a counter-current and also because we slowed down a bit to reduce pitching motion. But that is all behind us now--the winds are now falling to 10-15, the seas are flattening out and we're picking up speed. The rest of the run into Hawkesbury should be reasonably calm.

Position: -31°15.11'S, 153°9.74'E

The main engine produced a 636.10 code (engine camshaft position sensor error). It's not a critical error, and the engine will continue to run fine on the crank position sensor, so we just shut off the buzzer and continued without pause. James suspected the fault was due to high resistance at either the sensor or ECU connection. The sensor is difficult to remove on a hot running engine, but he was able to pull the connector off, clean it, and reassemble it with dielectric grease. This cleared the error.

Position: -33°33.71'S, 151°20.92'E

The light atop 101m Barrenjoey Head to our south as we enter the Hawkesbury River system. Conditions remained wonderfully settled for the last day of the run.

Position: -33°34.97'S, 151°15.27'E

We had a lovely slow cruise into Cowan Creek--it's been a while since we've been coastal cruising in such sheltered waters. The area definitely is busy though--we're very close to Sydney.

Position: -33°35.86'S, 151°14.92'E

We stopped for the night at popular Refuge Bay--described by some offshore sailors as one of the most beautiful in the world. That might be a bit of a stretch, but it is worth a multi-day stay. The anchorage has good shelter with bluffs all around and a waterfall and small beach at the head.

Position: -33°31.58'S, 151°20.35'E

We ran the dinghy through Brisbane Water to determine if depths were sufficient at the entry bar to bring Dirona through. Three hours after a 0.6m low tide, the minimum depth was about 4m, so we would be fine. The entry channel is narrow but well-marked, and runs right along the shore--you can see the shallows just off the channel to the left.

Position: -33°26.65'S, 151°20.37'E

This is the view north to Gosford, the main city in the central coast. Brisbane Water is a popular boating center--many boats were underway as we passed through or were moored in the small bays along the way.

Position: -33°35.86'S, 151°14.92'E

Refuge Bay was reasonably crowded when we arrived, but this was a Sunday, and most later left. Barely a dozen boats remained by nightfall and only one a day later. Most were on one of the hundred or so mooring buoys that fill the anchorage near shore. We anchored just beyond the pack and have been here for three days now--we just can't pull ourselves away to go exploring.

Position: -33°35.86'S, 151°14.92'E

We wrote software that reads the NMEA 2000 backbone, and stores all the data in a database every 5 seconds. We use the data for reporting and logging trips, investigating faults, and also for the live boat location updates on the web site (www.mvdirona.com/maps/locationcurrent.html). We love having all that historical data going back years--here we are running queries to look for possible anomalies in generator frequency and voltage.

Position: -33°35.84'S, 151°14.91'E

We removed the voltage converters installed while we were in Brisbane. These were originally installed in an effort to isolate an obscure NMEA2000 error. We eventually fixed the NMEA2000 problem, and ironically the converters actually caused a ground plane voltage difference, leading to NMEA0183 signaling problems.

Position: -33°35.84'S, 151°14.91'E

The crew of Snazzy Cat said hello on their way by our Refuge Bay anchorage. They are from Ballard, just north of Seattle. Ballard is the hub of marine activity in the Seattle area, and a great place to visit. We've lived there for several weeks while having work done at Canal Boatyard.

Position: -33°35.85'S, 151°14.91'E

When the boat was new, we installed additional fan capacity to improve engine room cooling. In James' original design, air is pulled in the aft port quarter of the engine room, circulated up the port side of the engine room, across the front of the engine and back down the starboard side, where it exits out the aft starboard corner. The original choice of flow direction was more or less arbitrary. Rotating the other way, the engine air intake is in much cooler air, so we decided to reverse the flow. Here James is turning all the fans around.

Position: -33°31.85'S, 151°20.36'E

We crossed Brisbane Water bar about an hour after a 4.9' high tide at Box Head on a 3.6' exchange. The minimum depth through to Kourong Gourong Pt was 10', with a couple of blips to 8.8', but we suspect those were because we were slightly off the center of the channel. We did encounter a fair amount of current as we rounded the corner at Half Tide Rocks, but it was manageable. Depths generally were well over 10' once we'd cleared Kourong Gourong Pt. The shallowest point in the whole run was at the north end of Paddys Channel, where we saw 8' for a short period before entering the Broad Water.

Position: -33°30.83'S, 151°21.10'E

Brisbane Water is a popular place to keep a boat--the radar image shows literally hundred of boats moored alongside the channel.

Position: -33°30.53'S, 151°20.90'E

Attractive homes line the shores along Brisbane Water, many with docks and large boats out front.

Position: -33°30.26'S, 151°20.65'E

Passing under the aptly-named Rip Bridge. The current had been negligible since rounding Half Tide Rocks, but was running several knots here.

Position: -33°26.32'S, 151°20.27'E

We anchored just off Gosford with lots of room to swing and good views all around. Several locals came over to say hello. This is "Captain Dave", who lives on a sailboat moored on the opposite side of the bay.

Position: -33°26.32'S, 151°20.27'E

Our favorite Gosford visitor--this dolphin frequently circled Dirona, particularly when the generator was running. We're told she's been in the bay since last year and is very friendly.

Position: -33°26.32'S, 151°20.27'E

The active Gosford Sailing Club holds a race every Wednesday in the summer. We were anchored just off the finish line and enjoyed an excellent show--we haven't watched a sailboat race from Dirona since the Hawaii Yacht Club's Friday night races. The sailing club takes their racing seriously--non-racing members apparently are defined as "non-sailing" members.

Position: -33°26.32'S, 151°20.27'E

The dinghy console was coming loose from years of heavy pounding in rough water. James installed larger screws, and more of them, to better secure it.

Position: -33°25.92'S, 151°20.33'E

As we landed the tender in Gosford Boat Harbour, Allan Draper welcomed us to Gosford from the upper deck of the Lady Kendall II and invited us aboard for a drink. The cruiser is equipped with two nice big reliable medium-RPM Gardner diesel engines.

Position: -33°25.92'S, 151°20.33'E

The people of Gosford are among the most friendly we've encountered on what is becoming a fairly long trip. We had a great time chatting with some of the locals on board the Lady Kendall II. The man to James' right is the Gosford Ocean Cruising Club port captain. This does not sound like a stressful position--a British boat visited Gosford about three years ago, and we're apparently the only other foreign boat since. :)

Position: -33°25.92'S, 151°20.33'E

Gosford local Tom Slingsby was out in an Oracle Team USA Moth class sailing hydrofoil. The five-time Laser world champion was strategist for Oracle Team USA's America's Cup victory in San Francisco last year.

Position: -33°25.57'S, 151°20.52'E

We had a great walk through downtown Gosford. This is looking east through their attractive pedestrian mall. At the other end a cafe overlooks a park with a bubbling creek.

Position: -33°25.40'S, 151°20.51'E

A busy rail line runs along the west side if the anchorage. Most of the trains are electric, with and even the diesel-powered ones are surprisingly quiet. It's just over an hour to Sydney from Gosford by train, so this is a popular commuter run.

Position: -33°25.57'S, 151°20.34'E

The view south across the Broad Water from a parking lot near the train station. Dirona is anchored slightly to the right of center, just beyond the Gosford Boat Harbour breakwater.

Position: -33°25.59'S, 151°20.63'E

Our cat Spitfire, who very much enjoys his kibbles (dry cat food), would have been disappointed to miss out on Kibble Park.

Position: -33°25.94'S, 151°20.37'E

We ended our tour of Gosford with drinks and dinner overlooking the Broad Water at Three Ways Tapas Bar.

Position: -33°26.24'S, 151°20.48'E

On a dinghy tour of the bay, we saw someone assembling what looked like another Moth class sailing hydrofoil. We went ashore and met Joel Castle, brother-in-law of Tom Slingsby, who'd we'd seen out sailing a Moth yesterday. Joel just had the foils faired and painted, and was reassembling his Moth.

Position: -33°27.07'S, 151°20.13'E

We spent ages watching Joel sail around the bay. The Moths are exciting to watch, especially as they come up onto the foils, but look incredibly difficult to manage.

Position: -33°26.32'S, 151°20.27'E

Joel came on board for a visit after his sail. The safest way to secure the Moth to Dirona was to leave it trailing behind on a long line. Joel then swam over. We had a great time talking with Joel and learning more about the Moths and competitive sailing in general.

Position: -33°26.32'S, 151°20.27'E

We brought the folding cart ashore and walked to the local Woolworths to pickup some groceries. We didn't need much, but took advantage of the convenient access to stock up.

Position: -33°26.32'S, 151°20.27'E

In addition to the Wednesday twilight race, Saturday is an even bigger big race day for the Gosford Sailing Club. Well over fifty boats were out today, including the Laser and Etchells fleets. We had a great view of the action from Dirona.

Position: -33°26.21'S, 151°20.50'E

David Slingsby, a Gosford Sailing Club director, invited us to the club for drinks after the race. We had a great time chatting with the group about sailboat racing and our trip across the South Pacific. Surprisingly, David's wife Mavis, seated opposite James, also is from Seattle.

Position: -33°28.79'S, 151°19.51'E

Allan Draper invited us as his guests on the Lady Kendall II for their Four-Island Cruise. Here we are heading down narrow Woy Woy Channel to pickup passengers at Woy Woy. It was fun to see the waterway from a different perspective.

Position: -33°28.99'S, 151°19.51'E

It's hard to believe a lamp standard will actually hold an entire pelican.

Position: -33°31.28'S, 151°20.13'E

Allan taking the 106' Lady Kendall through the more than 180-degree bend at Half Tide Rocks with the current running. We thought it was tight in Dirona.

Position: -33°31.70'S, 151°20.36'E

We're glad we didn't see this much traffic in the narrow entrance channel when we came though.

Position: -33°32.23'S, 151°13.81'E

From a distance, the bridge looked too low for the Lady Kendall II, but we had plenty of room under the 11.8m bridge clearance. Completed in 1946, this is the second railway bridge at this location. The first was built by the same company that built the Brooklyn Bridge--you can see the old pilings at the right of the picture in the distance. When the first bridge was completed in 1889, it was the longest and largest in the southern hemisphere, with the deepest pylons.

Position: -33°30.24'S, 151°10.85'E

The HMAS Parramatta was the first ship in Australia's navy. The vessel went aground here during a gale while being towed for dismantling. The hull was left in place, but the stern and bow were removed and made into memorials.

Position: -33°34.56'S, 151°18.63'E

Bunkers on West Head for protecting the Pittwater during World War II.

Position: -33°38.48'S, 151°17.07'E

The Pittwater is a busy waterway--literally thousands of boats are moored there.

Position: -33°34.68'S, 151°19.20'E

We had a wonderful day touring the Hawkesbury area on the Lady Kendall II. Even at eight knots it took the better part of a day to see it all. Thanks Alan!

Position: -33°34.48'S, 151°19.44'E

Looking south east to Indian Head on the top of Barrenjoey Penninsula. At just the right angle, it looks like a person in profile.

Position: -33°26.32'S, 151°20.27'E

This duck came on board for a quick visit. Luckily Spitfire didn't catch sight of her.

Position: -33°25.75'S, 151°20.50'E

We stopped in at Reviver cocktail bar for a drink on their deck and just loved it. The staff is unique and friendly, reminding us of the Butter Factory in Whangarei, and the food is excellent. We'll almost certainly be back.

Position: -33°26.32'S, 151°20.27'E

We had drinks at sunset, then a good meal, on the deck at the Gosford Sailing Club.

Position: -33°26.32'S, 151°20.27'E

We've been enjoying Gosford so much that we've stayed a week already and had a great view to a second Gosford Sailing Club Wednesday night Twilight race.

Position: -33°4.10'S, 151°35.36'E

Gosford Sailing Club director David Slingsby offered us the opportunity to meet the defending America's Cup champions, Oracle Team USA, who were at nearby Lake Macquarie for Foiling Camp. Read more ...

Position: -33°25.75'S, 151°20.50'E

As expected, we did spend another great evening on the patio at Reviver. This description at the front of their menu gives an idea of why we found the place so appealing.

Position: -33°26.32'S, 151°20.26'E

We went out to help David Slingsby, Andrew McDougall and others raise the mast on Melges 32 Goodgear Mac 2. The Melges have an optional gin pole that allows the mast to be stepped without a crane. The mast is carbon-fiber, but at 48.2 feet it's a lot of carbon fiber, and actually is quite heavy. We were impressed with how efficiently the mast could be manually stepped. In under an hour, the mast went from lying on the ground to standing vertically in place.

Position: -33°29.01'S, 151°19.56'E

We had an excellent dinner overlooking the water at the Fisherman's Wharf restaurant in Woy Woy to celebrate Jennifer's birthday.

Position: -33°31.83'S, 151°20.37'E

We finally pulled ourselves away from Gosford to explore other parts of the Hawkesbury River system. We left the anchorage a couple of hours after high tide at Box Head and saw similar conditions as when we entered.

Position: -33°33.19'S, 151°18.79'E

Crossing the bar before the Brisbane Waters isn't difficult when the current isn't strong, but transiting such a narrow, shallow channel always carries some risk. We were happy to have it behind us as we approached Middle Head.

Position: -33°33.05'S, 151°14.24'E

A WWII anti-aircraft gun base is hidden behind the trees at Flat Rock Point to our west. The gun was installed to defend the vital Hawkesbury River Railway Bridge just around the corner.

Position: -33°28.67'S, 151°5.35'E

The scenery along the Hawksebury River is striking, particularly on this stretch between the Dharug and Marramarra National parks.

Position: -33°27.24'S, 151°5.04'E

Our C-Map charts end here. The Navionics charts continue further, but don't include soundings. Our best resource right now is Alan Lucas' excellent guide Cruising the New South Wales Coast. Alan has drawn detailed and accurate river charts, complete with soundings, all the way to Windsor.

Position: -33°22.79'S, 150°59.36'E

The ferry at Wisemans Ferry is the first of two cable ferries crossings that we will pass going upriver. When the ferry is docked with its flashing yellow light off, the cable will be lying on the bottom and it's safe to proceed. We'd crossed a cable ferry before in the dinghy, but never in Dirona--it definitely had our attention. This particularly crossing was busy enough that two ferries were running about every ten minutes, so we didn't have much time to pass.

Position: -33°25.58'S, 150°56.71'E

Along the river here are beautiful sandstone formations, many with dramatic overhangs.

Position: -33°25.09'S, 150°55.45'E

A squall passed through the anchorage, bringing 50-knot gusts and torrential rain.

Position: -33°25.09'S, 150°55.45'E

The squall tossed one of our deck chairs across the cockpit, tearing the wood off where the legs attach. Here we have drilled four holes on each side and re-attached the wood at one leg with two of the four new screws.

Position: -33°25.09'S, 150°55.45'E

On investigating an occasional wing engine cut-out, we found a tap to the Wavenet junction box triggered it. Fortunately we still can use the manual start system even if the Wavenet goes down. We chased down possible loose wires before finding the 3 relays inside the Wavenet are 12V parts rather than 24V, and one had a coil failing. We replaced all three relays with 24v parts and the problem is rectified.

Position: -33°25.09'S, 150°55.45'E

We anchored for the night mid-river at Lambourne Forest, with a steep cliff on one side and a poplar forest on the other. A few water-skiers and high-speed boats passed by, but by evening the anchorage was tranquil. It felt a little unusual being anchored in the middle of the river, but it was a pretty spot. We initially were planning to continue on today to Windsor, but we only had a few days before we needed to be in the marina at Bobbin Head and wanted to explore more of the tributaries, so we headed downriver the next day.

Position: -33°35.15'S, 151°6.95'E

We anchored for the night in beautiful Calabash Bay with the Marramarra National Park to our north. We were on the park side of the channel, with houses in the distance on the other side.

Position: -33°32.05'S, 151°9.41'E

We were thinking of running the tender south to Berowra Waters, and maybe finding a pub for a quick lunch, when David Slingsby sent us email asking if we were planning to have lunch at Peats Bite. Our cruising guide showed the location nearby, and we figured we could get a burger there as well as anywhere, so off we went. Our first hint that this was an unusual place is that they don't even have a sign. We subsequently learned they don't have a road, nor utility power, and run everything on generators. Our next clue that this was not a casual pub was the rose sangria we were offered upon landing. The lunch turned out to be a fabulous seven-course meal served over several hours. In the intimate setting, we met the owners and many of the other diners--everyone got a kick out of our "we came by for a burger" story. After the meal, we lingered with the other guests in the party-like atmosphere and eventually dragged ourselves back to Dirona around 11pm that night. We had a wonderful time--it definitely was the best "lunch" we'd ever had. In fact, it might be the best meal we've ever had. Having enjoyed ourselves so much, it's now obvious why the floatplanes were bringing in guests from as far away as Sydney.

Position: -33°32.05'S, 151°9.41'E

Several Kookaburras, tree kingfishers native to Australia, also were enjoying some lunch at Peats Bite.

Position: -33°35.91'S, 151°7.37'E

We ran the tender south to the settlement at Bewowra Waters, where another busy cable ferry plied the waters. The ferry runs 24/7, with only a 2.5-hour maintenance closure per month.

Position: -33°36.40'S, 151°7.34'E

The sandstone formations along the Hawksebury and its tributaries really are striking. Position approximate.

Position: -33°35.22'S, 151°6.25'E

At high tide, we were able to work a fair distance up the southernmost of two creeks at the head of Calabash Bay. Position approximate.

Position: -33°34.89'S, 151°6.15'E

After touring the first creek, we followed Calabash Creek as far as we could get. Both creeks were tranquil and quite beautiful, with lots of bird life. Position approximate.

Position: -33°30.23'S, 151°10.97'E

The channel along the west side of Milson Island is quite shallow, so we went back out on the east side. Here is another look at the wreck of the HMAS Parramatta, the Australian navy's first ship.

Position: -33°30.20'S, 151°11.82'E

On a 1.1m tide at Mooney Mooney, we saw depths of about 7' through the shallow section just north of Spectacle Island. We draw 6'7", so we were moving mighty slowly through this section. We continued north as far as Foleys Bay, where the waters become too shallow to go further. We didn't find the anchorage there very appealing, so returned back to Sailors Chest Point and found a nicer spot.

Position: -33°29.04'S, 151°12.15'E

Oyster leases occupy most of the shallows along both sides of Mooney Mooney Creek.

Position: -33°26.50'S, 151°14.99'E

On a low but rising tide, we worked 5-6 miles up Mooney Mooney Creek in the dinghy. Here we are nearing the Pacific Highway.

Position: -33°25.75'S, 151°15.36'E

The 1,575'-long, 246'-high Mooney Mooney Bridge carries the M1 Pacific Motorway across the creek high above us.

Position: -33°26.67'S, 151°14.93'E

The tide was rising, but the water was very shallow in many places. On the way out we had to paddle across a shallow section at one point. The two Kwik Tek telescoping paddles we carry have come in handy on several occasions.

Position: -33°35.68'S, 151°13.05'E

We're back in Cowan Creek again, just beyond Refuge Bay where we first anchored in the Hawksebury River nearly three weeks ago.

Position: -33°35.46'S, 151°11.70'E

We anchored for the night in Jerusalem Bay, and climbed a rope for a cliff-top view of the anchorage. The way was straight up the cliff, so it would have been impossible without the rope.

Position: -33°35.47'S, 151°11.73'E

The reward for the rope climb is a great view of Jerusalem Bay. The anchorage there was absolutely beautiful, with sandstone cliffs on one side, forest on the other, and a winding creek at the head.

Position: -33°35.43'S, 151°11.58'E

A section of New South Wales' Great North Walk passes along the head of Jerusalem Bay. With only 2' of water near the shore in a falling tide, we couldn't use the big tender. So we went back and got the micro-tender, which we can easily carry.

Position: -33°35.39'S, 151°11.54'E

This large monitor was sunning in the track and wouldn't move until we got within a couple of feet. They aren't supposed to be dangerous, but neither one of us was inclined to verify that claim.

Position: -33°35.30'S, 151°11.61'E

We climbed steeply through forest to an elevation of 300 feet. We were pretty hot and tired by the time we reached this bench, and took a quick break.

Position: -33°35.06'S, 151°11.71'E

The track continued upward, slightly less steeply, to a ridge at nearly 700 feet. We were hoping for a view from the ridge, but trees mostly blocked any vantages. We enjoyed the walk though.

Position: -33°35.43'S, 151°11.58'E

When we returned back out to Jerusalem Bay, a group were jumping from the cliffs we were on earlier that day. The water isn't very deep there--fortunately no Darwin awards were given for the day's performance. Even watching them jump off the cliffs was pretty exciting.

Position: -33°35.53'S, 151°10.37'E

We continued west on the track towards Cowan. Here we are crossing over the M1 Pacific Motorway that we passed under in the dinghy yesterday.

Position: -33°35.52'S, 151°10.32'E

Another park sign to add to our growing collection.

Position: -33°35.56'S, 151°10.30'E

The walking track passes through Cowan Station and continues on to Berowra and eventually to Sydney. This train track is the same one that runs through Gosford.

Position: -33°38.54'S, 151°14.27'E

The Akuna Bay Marina has a large dry storage facility. We continued to the head of Coal and Candle Creek, but swing room at the head was a little on the tight side, so we returned back out found an excellent anchorage at the head of Smiths Creek.

Position: -33°39.76'S, 151°9.79'E

We ran the tender down to Bobbin Head, partly for fun and partly to check out the marina where we would be moored for the next few weeks. It looks like a well-run facility with many services available. This is their 50-tonne travel lift.

Position: -33°38.56'S, 151°12.77'E

The wind had come up a bit, but we found a sheltered lunch perch with a view to the anchorage.

Position: -33°38.56'S, 151°12.77'E

Near our lunch spot were ruins of an old homestead, with concrete stairs leading down to the water. We often found similar ruins in northern BC, such as at Suquash.

Position: -33°38.47'S, 151°12.77'E

The anchorage at Smiths Creek was simply beautiful. This is the morning view looking southwest.

Position: -33°38.47'S, 151°12.77'E

Throughout our stay at Smiths Creek, raucous Cockatiels swooped around the anchorage and called out from the trees.

Position: -33°39.71'S, 151°9.81'E

Dirona is moored for a few weeks at Bobbin Head marina, home of N62 Pendana.

Position: -33°39.71'S, 151°9.81'E

We woke up to an incredibly calm morning, with mist creeping from the head of the waterway.

Position: -33°39.71'S, 151°9.81'E

We don't always wash the stack when we wash the boat, but judging by the black water rolling off it definitely was due. We really like having the domes painted grey instead of white--they become soot-covered after long runs in heavy winds and the dirt is now much less obvious.

Position: -33°51.66'S, 151°12.44'E

We got our first glimpse of the Sydney Opera House to our northeast as we cross downtown Sydney on the way to the airport.

Position: -30°17.11'S, 158°52.13'E

Elizabeth Reef is about 475 miles northeast of Sydney, and 85 miles north of Lord Howe Island. We passed about 50 miles south of the reef en route from Nelson to Brisbane.

Position: -17°52.76'S, 177°24.14'E

The flight path took us just south of Nadi Bay in Fiji. We were last there in in September of 2013 to pickup fuel at Port Denarau before our run to Vanuatu.

Position: 36°7.38'N, -115°10.10'W

We were back in the US for re:Invent, the Amazon Web Services (AWS) learning conference held annually in Las Vegas. The conference was sold-out with 13,500 attendees. Pictured is Andy Jassy, senior vice-president of AWS, delivering the keynote.

Position: 36°7.38'N, -115°10.10'W

James presented at re:Invent on Wednesday afternoon, and described the AWS infrastructure from region to server and discussed AWS networking, storage and database innovations.

Position: 36°6.85'N, -115°8.68'W

The view to the Las Vegas strip looking down East Flamingo Road as our plane took off for San Jose on Friday night. At the right of the photo is the newly-completed High Roller Wheel. At 550-feet high, it's the tallest Ferris Wheel in the world.

Position: 36°57.23'N, -122°1.45'W

Santa Cruz is a short drive from San Jose, where we were staying for a few days. These surfers are at Santa Cruz's famed surfing locale: Steamer Lane.

Position: 36°57.47'N, -122°1.06'W

Dozens of sea lions were dozing on the supporting beams for the Santa Cruz Wharf. The beams are a fair distance above the water, so they must wait for high tide to get on.

Position: 36°57.80'N, -122°1.10'W

After a great a great lunch at one of the Wharf restaurants, we strolled through the Santa Cruz Beachfront Amusement Park. Even in the off-season, it was pretty popular.

Position: -33°38.20'S, 151°1.52'E

Spitfire doesn't get much of a chance to eat grass these days, so he took advantage at Cleo's Cattery. He had a private room and garden at the cattery, and they took good care of him while we were back in the US.

Position: 47°36.79'N, -122°20.02'W

We left Australia with one suitcase of clothes and a second suitcase containing only two other suitcases. We returned with all four suitcases packed full of spares and supplies.

Position: 33°56.65'N, -118°24.62'W

The Star Alliance lounge at Los Angeles Airport has an amazing outdoor patio. And it's remarkably well-hidden, so no one else is there.

Position: 33°56.65'N, -118°24.62'W

Our first selfie, at the Los Angeles airport.