Port Macquarie - New Year's day 2015

Thursday 1st January 2015 - a Time for Reflection

This is how Fete & I saw in New Year's here in this beautiful part of the world, Port Macquarie. As you can see from the video above, the township gathered right in front of where we are moored to enjoy the delights and festivities of the evening in the Westport Parklands here on the Hastings River. 

With the recent passing of my 95 year old mother Mary Eileen (Fats) Macdonald, I had a chance to catch up with my brothers Greg and Mick (aka Slim), above left and with my daughter Kristian (above right) and with some life long friends Sheree, Wayne (Ralph) & Julie Thompson and Clarie (The Lump) Chappell - the other 2 in the pic below are Slim and Kristian at Fats wake. It would be remiss of me to leave out friends and relatives like my niece Peta Fitzgibbon, Tim (O'Toole) Holmes & (Ugly) Dave Geddy and others but I don't wish to dwell on this subject as this past year has just flown and I am keen to move forward.

So as the sun rose over the horizon this morning, I decided to reflect on the past 12 months down here in Port Macquarie and let you know what the region offers but also to let you know of my thoughts and plans with Fete for the future. I won't apologize if this blog is a little indulgent, but due to the circumstances, I needed to get it out of my system.

Tacking Point Lighthouse, Port Macquarie  

So, last year we saw some spectacular 

Sunrises & Sunsets...

The top right, center and bottom pics I took from the stern looking across the Hastings River and over Sails Resort to the western sky. . . 

We met many new friends . . .

From top right: Rob & Chris, Nicole & Jess at the launch of our last stage at Sovereign Hills, Mal Fairweather -  Engineer/naval architect , Rob & Dancha Tucker off mv Destiny, Jonathan Peebles and Warwick Wells (his helper on sv Blackjack, Scottie the magician who spent 5 minutes on my refrigeration and fixed what 4 others couldn't, and there are others that gather the 1st Friday night of every month for a marina get together like Bill & Pam Oliver, Rick and Marie, Sparra, Bob, Sharon and her 2 girls, Jonathan Peebles partner Hilary ,Marie Lamb & Scotties Lady, Annie.

All of these people made me feel at home from the time I arrived and I am grateful for their friendship.

Found some New

Recipes

Recipes From Left: Spaghetti Bosciaola, Centre: Saltimbocca Chicken & on the Right: Spanish Hola Chicken.

 Had some interesting

dinner guests drop by

but at least one bought her own food

Experienced some 

interesting 

Weather

Shared some great moments with my Family 

 Family shot at my mothers 95th Birthday in May at Easts Leagues Club in Brisbane. Family Shot at left and my mother (Fats) on the left with her 93 yo sister Trixie on the right.

Watched a World Record being weighed at the gantry here in Port

This beautiful Blue Marlin was speared from a spear gun by a Free Diving angler 3 klms off Port Macquarie and weighed 220.06lbs. An amazing feat but you wouldn't get me doing something like that.
Having done a bit of game fishing in my time, it would have been a "Hell of a Ride" - those who know will understand.

Experienced one of the coldest winters I have 

been thru

 in the last 7 years or so . . .

Some mornings on Fete the temp gauge was showing -0.8, -0.5, -1.3 & - 2.1 and as you can see from the outfit at right I was even wearing gloves. But what you can't see is that I had my thermals on as well.

Watched in amazement the happenings in the Port Marina's Hard Stand.

The vessel above is Prego, Craig Gores old boat

before it burnt to the waterline . . . and the boat on the right is the original Ragamuffin, now called Spirit of Koomooloo.

The interesting thing about this is the fact that there is no travel lift here in Port so everything is done by crane. The crane above is a 250 tonne unit as Prego weighs 50 tonne but there are smaller cranes available for  vessels the size of Fete. This is an added cost on top of the normal annual haul out fees so I would suggest that anyone looking to take their boat out, do it before you come to Port.

And the reason Koomooloo was here was that she had a False hull attached to her for some races over in the USA and she needed it taken off before this years Sydney To Hobart. As you can see from the above pic, the scar where her false hull had been removed.

My fascination with Boats grew even stronger . . .

Here is the beautiful sv Nautilus, owned by Steve & Maureen. This magnificent vessel was built in 1927 and the restoration continues nearly every weekend.

So as the sun rose over Port Macquarie (Pic taken from Fete's bow) on New Year's Day 2015 I had made the decision to complete my contract here with the Lewis Land Group in 2016 and finally make that trip back into the Pacific. 

This year will be fairly hectic with work and the new stages coming on line, as well as getting Fete ready for the trip back to the Gold Coast in early 2016, prior to heading out to New Caledonia in the 2nd quarter of 2016.

So here's Cheers from me, Fete and one of my Buddies for the coming year and to the words of Mark Twain:

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. sail away from a safe harbour, catch the trade winds in your sails, Explore, Dream & Discover . . ."

.

So until next time...

Port Macquarie - Mid North Coast, New South Wales

View down the Hastings River to the mouth  with the Bar on the left & Port Macquarie
township on the right.

Before I left the Gold Coast, an old friend 
and sailor, asked me to send back some
pics of Port Macquarie so this is the 
start which I will update whilst 
I'm down here and adventure around 
the region.

I have now been in Port, as it is called down 

here, for close onto 4 months and although 

busy in the new job, I haven't really had time 

to go and explore this delightful little town and

 its surrounding areas. So I thought I would 

give you my "First Impressions" of this little gem. 

Port Macquarie is nestled on the sandy beaches
of the picturesque mid-north coast of New
South Wales and this vibrant and unspoilt town
remains a favourite getaway spot from the
hustle & bustle of Sydney - just 4 hours drive
south. The town itself is dotted with boutique     shops, fashionable eateries, heritage buildings
and a stunning 86 kilometer coastline and
maintains an almost "small town" feel, even 
during the busy summer months, giving it a
relaxing edge on its bustling coastal rivals.

It is more than just a resort town - the area
is laden with wineries, golf courses, shops,
entertainment venues and other activities such as
strawberry picking, horse riding, whale watching,
bike riding, hiking and camel safaris on the beach
and has a rich history, complete with former convict buildings and seasonable cultural exhibitions and the close by Sea Acres Rainforest.
(These last 2 Paragraphs were extracts from Sydney Morning Herald back on 19th April 2014)

These last three images are from top:

(1) Port's main street - Horton Street - the CBD

(2) One of the fabulous local beaches right on the CBD's doorstep - Flynn's Beach.

(3) Cassegrain's Winery

(All three pics are from the local tourist info site on the web).

The area is steeped in history as I said before, in fact Port, from what I can gather, was the second Penal colony in Australia. It was decided to place all the hardened convicts that had repeat offences here in Australia in this area  due to its isolation from the main settlement in Botany Bay. Only the hardest of hard were sent here and from what I have read, this headstone at left for James Vaughan, was the first penal officer to be killed in the line of duty trying to re-capture an escaped convict. 

His grave sits atop the headland over-looking the ocean - Prime Real Estate!! (see next pic below).

I also read somewhere, that the Governor at the time was William Darling, 

whom from what I can ascertain was not a popular person and as such, every literate convict or person that had anything detrimental to say about him or his running of the office, was immediately dispatched to Port Macquarie. I guess "out of sight - out of mind - out of his way". 

This being the case, Port, although segregated from normal society by rugged bush lands, rivers and distance, might have been the inspiration for those literate people to start to develop a culture within the community of the time and that, I feel,  still exists today.

 Port, from what little I've seen, seems to thrive on social activity, with local jazz & blues, visiting bands from all over the world, cultural activities that are shown at the $70m Glass House (pic at left) to street markets and a thriving tourist trade.

The restaurants that I have visited have world class food which is priced to the local market and very affordable. All in all, Port has something for everyone and  if any of you are passing this way, stop for a while and see for yourself.

In fact, it reminds me a lot of the Gold Coast

30+ years ago before the advent of highrises. 

Port has a current population of around 70,000 and back all those years ago, the coast had a population of 68,000, so the similarities are quite significant.

This casual little beachside jewel of a town is a MUST visit.

So there you have it so far Trish, now its time for you and Robert to weigh anchor on Bristol Rose and take a leisurely sail down to Port and enjoy what the region offers . . .  

So until I get more acquainted with the region, or unless you visit us down here Cheers till next time... 

Gold Coast to Port Macquarie

The time had arrived for Fete to take the trip down to Port Macquarie but  I would not be able to go with her this trip.

Grumpy (Ian Knight)  & Zom (Mike  Daly) 

Day 1: Monday 24th February 2014

Yes, finally, the time had come for Fete to make her way down to Port and once again I rounded up the motley crew, whom you have already met in other blogs. Namely Zom from sv Upstart & Grumpy off mv Outward Bound II seen here at left gorging on a beautiful lunch cooked by the World renowned seafaring chef Russell (Ian Waymouth).

What (Craig Waugh) & Grumpy

Also joining the trip is "What" (Craig Waugh) off sv Manatee - you may remember him from a previous blog from the "In-Between Times" blogs, when we celebrated the now famous Boof Arm Street parties at Southport Yacht Club, where Grumpy's son, Tony and his band were thrilling us to live music while we devoured our Sundowners . . .

Russell (Ian Waymouth) 

And lastly, as mentioned before, Russell - the World famous Action Hero & seafaring chef of the equally renown world famous mashed potato, steak and greens fame.

This is the crew who were to bring Fete down to her new home.The scheduled day of departure was to be Monday 24th February, subject to weather, and if the mast repair was finished.

The crew was primed and ready to go and after a couple hiccups with the repairs - off they went on this new adventure with Fete.
Russell & Zom boarded Fete on Sunday 23rd and motored her down to Wavebreak Island, in the Southport Broadwater at lunchtime so as to be ready to collect the rest of the crew early the next day for the trip.

 They arose at 0345 hrs, started the engine & weighed anchor to pick up the remaining crew. 0555hrs - heading up Broadwater only to see this magnificent rainbow (left) - crew (right) happy to be on the way.

Out through the Gold Coast Seaway with all sails up and heading south at 5 knots . . . logged onto VMR and gave ETA to Port Macquarie of 0700 hrs on Thursday 26th February... approx 50 hours of sailing ahead to cover the 220 nautical miles based on Fete's average of 5 knots.

1100 hrs (1200 NSW Time) - off Point Danger, the border of Queensland & NSW and due to day light saving the hour difference in the times.

 (Pics courtesy of Images of Pt Danger off the Web)

Cape Byron on starboard quarter

Arrived off Cape Byron 1700 hrs ESDT. Wind increased to 10-15 knots E/NE and speed up to 7.5 knots. Zom had the camera in hand and the clip above is his handy work which will tell you more than I can so have as look.

Anticipated time to next waypoint, Ballina was 2000 hrs that evening and as you can see, with Day Light Saving, it was still very visible.

Next way point is Yamba and the expected ETA would be around 0200 hrs the following morning, day 2.

Day 2: Tuesday 25th February

0911 hrs - Fete was situated just north of Coffs Harbour and doing 8 knots. She  traveled faster than anticipated, although  they had been motor sailing since leaving the Gold Coast Seaway.

ETA Port Macquarie would now be 1730 hours the second day or the 25th February 2014, at which time, it would be a trip of around 35-36 hours, a staggering 15 hrs earlier than the anticipated 50 hrs sailing. 

Fete doing 8 knots just north of Coffs Harbour

View from My apartment looking north

While the crew sailed Fete down to her new home, they kept me up to date with their position, so I went back to the apartment, after work, to wait for that white spec on the ocean. As you can see from this little clip above, my apartment has great views over the Hastings River Bar and out to sea and this northerly aspect allowed me to pick up Fete on the horizon and gave me time to make my way down to the mooring to greet them.

Fete at her temporary mooring . . .

Fete arrived at 1730 hrs and the guys, with a little help from the crew at the marina, was tied off in her temporary mooring for the night. The happy crew were already into a couple/several Sundowners and happy to be back on land. They looked relaxed and couldn't wait to have a shower and get their land legs back.

Damaged mizzen which can be repaired

We had a brief chat about the trip and they advised me that the mizzen had blown out and the headsail's UV strip needed re-stitching, but they didn't want to tell me until they got down to Port.

All in all they said  Fete sailed well and while they had the mizzen up, she seemed to steer herself, which bought back memories of the San Francisco - Hawaii crossing where she performed exactly the same.

Now it was off to the apartment for a shower and then out for a good meal and a few drinks . . . and more importantly a good nights sleep before they headed back to the Gold Coast the following day . . .

My deepest thanks go to Russell, Zom, Grumpy and What for the care they took to bring Fete down to her new home and the manner in which they looked after her -  I am truly indebted.

There is an adjunct to this tale which will be bought to you in a future blog, but due to the fact that I am currently restrained by legal requirements I cannot elaborate beyond this point but rest assured I surely will enlighten you after this is all over  . . .

A prelude to our next new adventure - Port Macquarie

Here is our next destination - the lovely Port Macquarie...

Port Macquarie is a town, situated within the local government area of Port Macquarie-Hastings Shire. It is located on the Mid North Coast of New South Wales, Australia, about 390 km north of Sydney, and 500 km or 252 nautical miles south of the Gold Coast. The town is located on the coast, at the mouth of the Hastings River, and at the eastern end of the Oxley Highway and has a population of approx 72,000.

But before we leave, Fete needed some major work.

(Source: Wikipedia)

Firstly: I decided to re-varnish to entire interior of Fete. This became bigger than I thought as those of you who have attempted to do this will attest too...

I won't bore you with all the pics that I took, but will publish a couple so as you get the idea. I spent approx six, yes six, months doing every locker door, floor & bulkhead and this means replacing all the teak louvers that were damaged and then sanding and 4-5 coats of varnish.




(If you wish to see the rest of the pics, just email me and I will send them thru)

.After finishing with the interior and being pleased with the results,  I checked this off the list and went to the next item. My list is 3 pages long as most of you with boats will know what I am talking about





But before I could start on the next job, which was to sand the deck back and re-caulk it, the marina was hit with a major hail storm which damaged many vessels on the marina, especially their "Clears". Luckily I had strung a canvas over Fete between the masts for protection from the heat, but it proved to save us from some major damage . . . so I thought.

(Remnants of the hail storm in the fore-peak)

  Another consequence of the storm, that I discovered later, was that some hail had hit the forward mast around the port side spreader and had ripped out a large piece of mast. It's not quite visible here but I can assure you that it wasn't good. The mast had to be fixed NOW and therefore it had to come out to be worked on.
I employed a shipwright and booked the mast into Runaway Bay Marina on the Gold Coast as they had the ability to lift it out with their forklift - much cheaper than hiring a crane.

It wasn't long before we got the diagnosis that the mast had a damaged "Compression Plate" where the spreaders were attached and the damage probably happened when we got knocked down as mentioned in the Blog:- "San Francisco to Hawaii - at last!" Obviously when the masts went under, the spreaders took the brunt of the force, due to their position some 30 feet above the deck. Surprisingly though it would have been all the fresh water (rain) that we have had since our return that caused the damage. Another problem was that the head of the mast had also sustained damaged which again allowed fresh water to trickle down from the top.
(The view at left is Fete without her mast and a bucket covering where is should be.)


The view here at left is with the spreaders and the old compression block removed and the mast scarfed out. Whilst we had it at this stage we re attached some damaged wiring which runs thru the conduit you can see on the right hand side of the mast. The pic at right is the new Compression block ready to be inserted and below with it in place.

Now all we had to do was to put her back together and paint it. Again before painting we changed all the running, steaming and anchor lights , along with 2 new spreader lights, so as all would be working for the coming trip.
The mast had been on the hard at the marina for 25 days and it had been stinking hot but now, Friday 31st, January 2014, it was back in and all tied down. All there is to do now is put back the furling headsail and re-attach the main to the mast.




 The work of the last month, although done by a qualified shipwright, reminded me of where we  are going and the Pilots Boatshed Museum down by the waterfront in Port Macquarie.

So until the upcoming little adventure to Port Macquarie, I will leave you with something that always brings a smile to my face, especially during and after some hard times . . . 

The little clip below is of a mate of mine from Southport Yacht Club, Rockin Rollin Mickey Lawler, who gave us an impromptu concert on the deck of SYC on Christmas Day 2012 . . ENJOY!

Thanks Mickey, Mickey Mickey!!!