March 2009 Manly and Bundy

Hamish, along the coast.....

We expected to just stay a brief time in Manly, near Brisbane, in early March, and visit with Horizon folks, Marilyn and Ray, but this cyclone, Hamish, came down the east coast and trapped us there so we ended up working on the exterior teak. Now this teak job is a huge endeavor and one we can put off for ages but we finally got it done. We will put up photos of CYAN in her finished state after the haul out.

These photos try and capture the fun of those weeks we spend doing maintenance projects to get the boat in good shape so we can go out and live and play safely. I won't try and list all the fun jobs....they do mount up, tho!!!


























We did arrange to take breaks for scotch tastings for Ray and Chuck...a new hobby in off hours!!!


Do these guys look happy or what???

After many harried days of work and errands in Manly, looking for supplies and a new water heater we catch a weather window and we set out for our voyage north to Bundaberg and to be hauled out for a bottom job repainting the hull after 2 1/2 years cruising. This is an especially long time to put off a bottom job and we don't know what to expect.

Lifted out of the water by the travel lift after backing into the slip in raging current and wind!

Hauled over to the dusty, dirty boatyard where we have to crawl up and down a 10' ladder to get off and on the boat!

The paint the had applied in Venezuela in 2006 had held up remarkably well and we had no real problems. We just spent a normal 9 days getting the bottom sanded, primed, sprayed and the new water heater installed. We did that, of course. We had to have some engine work done and we are installing AIS that will allow us to monitor ship traffic while at sea and have them see us, too. We still have provisioning and errands to do in town and a dentist to see.

Soon we will be out there anchored in the islands having fun again!!!

Making our way north

Here it is mid February and we are late making our way north to Brisbane and on to Bundaberg to work on CYAN.

We spent almost 2 weeks in Broken Bay, a breathtakingly beautiful area 1/2 day north of Sydney, waiting for elusive winds from the south to blow us on northwards. We decided to knock ourselves out cleaning and re-oiling ALL THE INTERIOR TEAK WALLS and cabinets. It turned out to be a huge job and we went through lots of Nuprin feeling all of our years and then some! It looks like new from the inside now, with new rugs and decorator cushions. We sorta miss that ole smell of mildew, tho!!! We just need to work up that same fury on the exterior next month when we need to renovate the teak and wax the fiberglass!

We set out from Broken Bay with some good south wind on Feb 10 and made it as far as Port Stephens Bay, getting only 80 miles north of Sydney. These southern gift winds were part of a monster high pressure system near Tasmania that dryed out Melbourne and encouraged those fires in South Australia you made have heard about. The fires left many homeless and even killed over 200 people. This system whipped up a series of lowpressure systems off the eastern coast, where we are in New South Wales. Each low had a clockwise circular flow and an eye like a small cyclone. These lows have been happening for the last seven days we have been waiting. We have seen loads of rain and roaring winds continously from 20 to 35 knots in this protected bay and they were over 50 knots off shore as this photo shows in the orange areas. One gale warning after another and many flood warnings. This shows the low after it had moved away from the coast.

CYAN was anchored well and rode it all out with several other boats in Salamander Bay and we made many good friends as well as seeing some old cruiser friends, Three Ships and Allaban. We can't complain about the fun we had passing the time. There was a good little mall near by, nice walks, a wonderful marina...it was one of our favorite stops. We were invited to a yacht club as honored guests for dinner by new friends, David and Lannie on Gypsie Lee. We also met George on Thalia 11 who at 76 is still single handing after making a circumnavigation in '94.

I included the photos below to show what we do to kill time while waiting for weather...laundry, shopping, downloading, sewing, refueling, and of course by-passing the leaking hot water heater. That's one more thing to buy when we get to Bundy in March.

Looks like Thursday, the 19th will be good to go all the way to the Gold Coast Seaway and on to Manly off Brisbane. Should take us 3-4 days...about 350 miles but some of it takes waiting for the right tides to go through the shallows inside the seaway.

At least we have predicted winds from the south even if there are showers included. They just come with the package. We will post more updates later...all this is just day-to-day cruising life but it's what's happening in our lives and actually we are having a great time even if it's not the expected schedule!!

Adventures in Sydney

It's been about a month since we have arrived in Sydney and it's just flown by. We really haven't noted anything on this blog because there is just too much to note. Who wants to hear about all the usual museums and parks we all visit in a world class city?? I won't really go into any detail...ok!!! Just let folks know we are well and having a great time enjoying Australia. We do notice that the weather here is absolutely more varied than any we have ever seen anywhere. It cane be really hot then cold then rainey then blow like crazy...just stick around!!!

I will note that our cove at Cammeray Marina, where the boat is moored, takes a good strong 3/4 mile uphill walk or 106 steep steps and then 3 steep block uphill to get to the bus so we get a work out on most days. We have learned the transit system well and have traveled all over town. It feels good to be cleared as healthy by the doctor here and get new glasses, prescriptions, etc.

We made new friends of Mark and Heather who entertained us during the holidays and introduced us to many interesting folks. Mark is the Island Packet dealer for Australia and introduced himself when we happened to anchor [legally] in his condo's front cove.

Our pictures here are self described...just a token of the beauty that is all around this lovely city...one of the nicest we have ever seen. Sydney is so crisp and clean that is is a joy to discover.We got to see 3 events at the Opera House itself, city museums, especially the Nautical Museum, Zoo,Gardens, historic city sections and walks, meeting with new and old friends, and, of course, there is always catching up on shopping and lots of movies.

When we weren't out and about we were trying to get motivated to get some jobs done on the boat but kept getting tempted to play instead. We did get some gas work done for a small fortune and new radios installed to replace semi-working old ones.

Next we head north to Broken Bay for a few weeks of exploration and perhaps some boat work...we'll see!!! Then we start the long haul north against the current and exploring the coast.

The Crew of CYAN

Down the coast to Sydney

We had a great sail for 4 days and nights down the coast from Brisbane until we hit some strong weather coming from the south and decided to duck into Lake MacQuarie to wait it out. We were just 60 miles north of Sydney and had a nice 4 day rest there meeting locals, walking around town and watching races.

The sailing south along the Australian coast is flukey sailing....there are currents and eddies. Sometimes we hit the southerly current going 2-3 knots and flew and sometimes the wind would come from every direction at some time during the day with lumpy seas to motor into. We had to use the engine about 1/3 the time. It was all quite scenic and the coast was far more covered with mountains and cliffs than we expected. The whole coast is quite shallow for several miles out so the swell is not bad.

We arrived in Sydney on Monday, Dec. 8th, in rain and 25 to 30 knots of wind and anchored right at the famous Opera House in Farm Cove which is more impressive than in photos. This place is very well designed! We just left the dinghy at the pier, ignoring...or conviently overseeing a sign that said "no vessels without permission"...we thought they meant really big boats and not little dinghys!!! Anyway they left it along for several hours while we walked all over town and also got tickets for performances.

We only stayed one night at this anchorage. Lots of ferries zoomed past and sightseeing boats drove all around us while we had sundowners. It was so rocky with the swell from their wakes that we kept spilling our coffee!!!

We changed to another anchorage and then got a nice surprize....an email from the Australian Island Packet Dealer who saw us anchor, looked us up on the net and sent an email for us to call him. We had anchored right in his condo's bay and he swam over to visit with a cooler of beer and invited us to dinner. That's Aussie spirit!!! This is gonna be a great place to visit.

We will soon leave this bay called "The Glebe" to go to Cammeray Marina to our mooring for a month to get settled in. We have work to get done on the boat and routine doctors to see. All part of our time in port.

We Spend 2 Weeks in Brisbane

After we sailed from Bundaberg we headed south for Brisbane and expected to spend several days with friends in Mooloolaba on our way but it didn't work out that way. We had to head overnight directly to our marina at Manly which is near Brisbane, Australia, because a big storm system was heading north from New South Wales along the coast. We got docked just a few hours before several days of colorful, wet, loud weather hit the coast causing millions in damage. Worst storm in 30 years!!!

The weather here had been dreadfully dry for ages but since we have been here we have seen more lightning than the whole 4+ years we have owned the boat!!!! We have had rain numbering in feet instead of inches!!! Rivers are swelling above flood stage and mosquitos are swarming. We had pea sized hail that sounded like bullets and we were concerned for our solar panels!!

We finally got a chance to take the train into the city and Brisbane is young and bustling. What an attractive downtown with a huge arcade of many streets and shops and street entertainment. We just weren't used to cities and the noise knocked us over! By the end of the day it was sensory overdose....too many lights and sounds. Guess we got used to quiet islands!

Manly is just a short train ride to downtown Brisbane and we visited there several times. "Brissy" is one of the fastest growing cities in the world and very up to date.

Brisbane City, Anzac Square, A Memorial Park

Here we are after having just run for a ferry on a day in Brisbane with the other cruisers friends from Fast Forward and Catimini in the group photo below.

We really covered the whole city. We ate, drank and caught up on our recent passages and future plans.

It was great to see Brisbane and get a bunch of shopping done especially with the good Australian dollar exchange rate now. We had a toned down Thanksgiving on the boat with Thai Chicken and cranberry sauce and missed family, of course.

Now we are on our way sailing south along the coast to Sydney. We expect to anchor each night enjoying the coastal sights unless the weather window is really good and then we will shoot straight through and go the whole 400 miles!! We look forward to Christmas in Sydney and plan to meet friends there and take our time seeing the sights. We are staying on a mooring in Cammeray Marina just outside downtown.

Here in Australia we have a modem like a cell phone with instant internet access and we are really enjoying the First World priviledges again with instant connections!!!

Wishing everyone safe and blessed holidays....

Lynn and Chuck on Cyan

Arrived in Australia

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Or you can just check www.starsonthesea.com from time to time.
There is a new page on New Caledonia that's just been posted. Checkhere

We took the Port to Port Rally from Koumac, New Caledonia to Bundaberg, Australia arriving Oct 29. We had a brief stop for 4 days at a wonderful sand bar in the middle of the Coral Sea called Chesterfield Reef with 7 other cruiser friends in the rally.
Koumac was a particularly fun visit. The rally folks organized excursions to working mines, and an abandoned mining village, ancient caves, wine tastings and a pig roast before we left to sail west. Lynn celebrated her birthday on the 16th along with Mike on Kokamo who had the very same birthday, tasting French wines, cheeses and pates. What a tough life!!!

After all the vessels arrived the 4 days of parties began in "Bundy". There were games and prizes and Chuck bid $3 on a nice yellow hat got toad #1 who won the race and we won 2 days and nights at a B&B on the beach and, what's best, 2 days rental car to do shopping for provisioning...yeah!!! He also won the stuffed toad in the picture.

On election day they came to interview us because they were looking for some Americans who were watching the election closely and since we had internet connection, we were. The next day we were in the papers with a nice picture. That was a nice welcome since we'd only been in Australia a week!!! Here is a shot of the paper.
We expect to leave Bundaberg and sail south to Brisbane area about mid month taking in some nice stops along the way. We are heading to Sydney for Christmas. The fireworks on the bridge there on New Years Day is supposed to be spectacular and we have a dock reserved.
More Later.....Chuck and Lynn on CYAN

New Caledonia

In Honor of the Forces who by their Presence During the Pacific Wave

From March 1942 to February 1946 Insured the

Freedom of New Caledonia

Her People are Deeply Grateful

We arrived in Noumea September 20th and were lucky to find a place in the marina with sketchy internet. This is the place, where in 1943, Lynn's Dad and her uncle Bud were stationed during WWII and they got the message that she was born on October 16th. Yes, she will get Social Security this year. We promised Uncle Bud some pictures so here they are:

These shots are around Anse Vata, or Vata Cove which is southwest of Noumea.








It's too bad the day was cool and cloudy or

we could have taken shots of the

TOPLESS DOLLIES ON THE BEACH!!!

We visited the museum and aquarium

Next we plan to provision at the wonderful French waterfront market and head up the west coast and down the east coast of New Caledonia to make a circumnavigation of the island. Most of it will be inside the reef which protects us from the ocean swell. This will take about 3 weeks and then we check out for Australia.