01-14-2020: Yachting

Monday evening Lou received a phone call from his sister Gloria. She and her husband Alex are on holiday for a month on their boat. Gloria invited us to spend the day with them on their boat. This is a great honor and Christine is especially thrilled. Water and boats are always on her bucket list. One of our top ten memorable lifetime events was on New Year’s Eve 1997 when Gloria and Alex had us on their yacht for the Sydney fireworks. We were moored near the Sydney Opera House and the Harbour Bridge and were treated to a spectacular fireworks display. Then on New Year’s Day Alex toured us around Sydney Harbour. It was magical!

We arranged to be picked up at the dock in Patonga, about 30 minutes from Lou’s House. We arrived there just as Alex was getting moored out in the bay.

He then motored in on his dinghy to pick us up.

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Once in the dinghy, no easy feat with the wind and water bouncing the dinghy around, our next challenge was climbing up to the boat from the dinghy. There is a tiny ladder hanging over the side of the boat so it took some effort to haul oneself up the ladder from the dinghy and on to the deck. But what a thrill to be on the yacht.

She’s a wonderful older yacht with beautiful timber (wood) all throughout. She’s 56 feet in length. The galley has been renovated to provide Gloria and Alex with better cooking/clean facilities and Christine couldn’t get over the fact that there was a freezer on board as well as 2 refrigerators. Below deck is a bit cramped, but it has sleeping space for about 8, a toilet and shower and a bit of lounge space. It is a very traditional, classic sailing vessel. And she’s really beautiful.

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Alex motored from Patonga to Refuge Bay. We had been to Refuge Bay on our first Aussie trip back in 1994 on Lou’s boat. It’s a very popular little bay that has a tiny little beach. A really big attraction is a waterfall from the rock cliff there. With the drought, there was only a little trickle of water coming over the cliff edge. We had a very nice swim at the beach.

Back on the boat Alex fired up the barbie, which hangs off the railing of the deck, and cooked steak and sausages for lunch. Gloria prepared a fantastic lunch for us which we ate below deck at the dining table.

We then motored out of Refuge Bay and headed to Cottage Point. Once there, we stopped at a cafe at the small marina there and had coffee and scones. Each coming and going involved getting into the dinghy down the little ladder, out of the dinghy at the dock, back in the dinghy, and back up the ladder to the boat. We got much better the third time around. The other challenge is for Gloria who is responsible for catching the mooring rope with a boat hook. With the wind and the approach of the yacht, hooking the mooring line is no easy feat, and then pulling the line through the cleat and around the bollard.

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From Cottage Point we motored up the Coal and Candle Creek. The Ku-Ringa-Gai Chase National Park was on both sides of the rather narrow creek. We could see remnants of fire damage from years ago, but fortunately, there have been no fires here this year. We turned around at the Akuna Marina and headed back to Refuge Bay.

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Back at Refuge Bay we chatted for a long while and then we had dinner, feasting on the leftovers from lunch. It was getting late and Alex wanted to get us back to Patonga before total darkness. As we approached Patonga everyone was a little nervous about depth because the tide was out and Alex didn’t want to get stuck. But all was well and we moored with a couple of meters of depth to spare.

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Here is a little map of our adventure today.

We had an absolutely fabulous day. Christine was in 7th heaven, just beaming all day. It was great to spend time with Gloria and Alex. Christine and Gloria have a special bond because Christine remembers Gloria from their youth in Malta. It was so kind of them to offer a day on the yacht. Another lifetime memorable event. Thanks so much Alex and Gloria!