Thursday 27th November 2025 -(Happy Thanksgiving to my US friends!)
So here we are back using my trusty HF/SSB radio for communicating - there's no phone signal where we're moored just now and the Starlink dish is out of commission (again!) - but the radio always keeps working!
We eventually sailed to Southport to clear in to Australia, after several weeks in New Caledonia, cruising around a few of its many wonderful islets with clear water, good coral, a lot of varied birdlife and great sealife . I met some lovely welcoming people and enjoyed snorkelling and some varied, interesting scenery.
After brief stops in Coffs Harbour. Port Stephens and Newcastle, I reached Pittwater, where the Royal Prince Alfred Y.C. made me very welcome last Saturday on and invited me to their Tuesday night Twilight racing. It was fascinating to be on a 40ft dedicated race boat, 'Pretty Woman', with her experienced owner Richard and a lot of very competent women sailors. I shall be following the boat with interest to see how well she performs in the forthcoming (80th) Sydney-Hobart race coming up soon.
Tomorrow, I shall explore this area a bit more, seeing Cullen Creek and Smith's Creek, before returning to Pittwater on Saturday (for a party I've been invited to!) and then south to Sydney for some boat work over next week.
This whole area is a National Park and has beautiful wild, green, often rocky, scenery - lovely!