We kept our eye out for John Howard as we passed Palm Beach but he was nowhere to be seen - no great disappointment to me I might add.
Broken Bay is a beautiful spot surrounded by the Kuringai Chase national park and our first destination was Refuge Bay so we could compare with our "own" Refuge. Apparently some say Refuge Bay is the best anchorage in the world. Well, they haven't been to Wilsons Prom have they. It is pretty good but doesn't have the charm of our Refuge Cove. It was Labor Day long weekend up here so there were boats everywhere and jet skis (sea fleas) all over the place. Still, it was a top spot to send the night on one of the many moorings that are available to the public all through the waterway.
I was starting to get anxious as GF day was fast approaching and we couldn't get TV signal so on Saturday am we upped anchor and headed up the Hawkesbury to Brooklyn (as far as we could get because of the Railway bridge) but still no good. Now it's 11 am Saturday and the Swans are warming up. We turned around and heads for Patonga where there is a pub. Picked up someone's mooring and booked a table front row in front of the tellie. It's pretty special sitting in a pub and be able to turn around and see your boat at anchor 200 yards away. If my old dad could see me now what would he say? "Bourgeois little bastard" probably.
We had tied the dinghy up to the pier and as we were watching the footy it blew under jetty on a flooding tide. So, after the disappointment of the footy we wandered down to go back to the boat only to find poor Penelope somewhat deflated. Some kind souls had seen what was happening and realized that the only way they could retrieve her was to let some air out. So they did that and pulled her out from under but there were oysters everywhere and we suffered some small tears and subsequent slow leaks. I jumped in and handed off to the boat to pump her up so I could back and get the skipper. Halfway back to the boat Penelope began to bend in two and looked like sinking. Slow right down and shift weight and we'll make it, won't we? Well, we did, just, and I pumped her up and went back and retrieved the skipper.
Next day it was off up Cowen Creek to spend time in the many beautiful bays and inlets for the next couple of days. A highlight was Cottage Point, a truly beautiful little spot with a general store/cafe where tied up briefly. Because it was the long weekend there were lots of people so we couldn't stay as long as we would have liked. Not to worry, there's plenty to see and we continued up the "creek" (it's huge) to Jerusalem Bay and Bobbin Head and Cotton Tree bay picking up one of the many public moorings and camping a night here and a night there. A truly beautiful place in the world.
Concerned about the weather, we turned and headed for Coasters Retreat in Pitwwater for lunch before returning to RPAYC for shelter and a wash (us and the boat). Arrived with a 20-25 knot norwester and docked to boat to the thunderous applause from the boat boys who helped us tie up.
Tomorrow the weather looks OK so we'll head for Port Stephens and the Hunter Valley.
A few pics below to try and give an idea of what it's all about.
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