Homeward Bound to Sydney

16th November to 27th December 2022

After many sad goodbyes  to new found friends at the marina we dropped our dock lines at 0500hrs and motored out of the Burnett river. We were headed down the inside passage, aka the Sandy Straits, of Frasier Island bound for the notorious Wide Bay Bar.

Catching a boost from the flooding (incoming) tide we motor sailed to our first overnight anchorage some 64 nm south from Bundy and dropped the hook into 29 ft of thick mud in Yankee Jack Creek.  

Next afternoon the popular “Garry’s Anchorage’' was a welcome destination after another day of long motoring through the shifting sand banks which required our full attention so as to not go aground.

Fabulous sunset at Garry's anchorage

This was a lovely spot filled with the sounds of bird life as well as laughter from the the other six boats anchored nearby. The following day we continued on to wait at Pelican Bay, a staging area where we and many other boats wait for the favorable tide to cross the bar.

Legends says that dolphins bring good luck to mariners and later that afternoon a pod came to visit us.

Waiting at Pelican Beach at the south end of Fraser Island

The car ferry from the mainland dropping of campers to the island

The local Coast Guard based in Tin Can Bay gave us the “Virtual” coordinates of the markers to make a safe as possible passage across the Wide Bay Bar. However they always make the disclaimer that the bar is prone to shifting sands and you cross at your own risk. For us this would be our second crossing of this bar in 16 years.

And so when the virtual gun sounded at 1300  also known as slack tide, a procession of sail boats headed out like ducks in a row. The transit took us a very focused 45 minutes.

Above and Below shows GWTW in red leading the charge on our way crossing the Wide Bay Bar into the ocean

Every boat that tackles this unpredictable patch of water and makes it through without incident breaths a mighty sigh of relief once in the deep waters of the Tasman Sea.

You may be wondering why take the chance of disaster? Well it cuts travel time considerably and eliminates the roughly 150 nautical mile trip along eastern shoreline of Fraser Island.

With the Screecher set GWTW heads for the Gold Coast

Moving on, we quickly settled back into into cruising mode once more. 

We hoisted the mainsail and rolled out our screecher. With an east to north east breeze it was an uneventful sail sitting on 10kts boat speed with a starry sky above. 

Hitchhikers are not uncommon in our line of work. 

We have had our fair share of big and small ones as we have sailed around this planet. 

So waking up to find an exhausted seagull perched on our bow was really just another day at the office. 

We are always glad to give any of our feathered friends a free ride.

Dropping our mainsail on the way into the Gold Coast Seaway

By 1030 the next morning we had just about covered the 136 nm to the Gold Coast seaway with just 4 miles left to run. 

It was great to be able to catch up with our long time Gold Coast friends for a week. But as always the weather dictates our schedule and it was time to hit the road again.

Above and Below : Our welcoming committee at Southport Yacht Club

Sunset leaving the Gold Coast  

First stop on our continuing passage south would be spent in Yamba for a few days of RnR.  This of course included paying the local fish co-op a visit for some mouth watering Yamba prawns. 

Coffs Harbour would be our next stop for a couple of days and as soon as the weather gods would allow we would be heading out for a 225 NM sail to Pittwater north of Sydney.

While in Pittwater we caught up with some of Liam's family and then my family over at a bay called the Basin. The shoreline and camp grounds are run by the National Park Service and can only be accessed via the water, ferry or private vessel, or a very long walk through the National park. It's a beautiful spot and worthy of a few days of chilling out.

Lots of friendly Wallabies and Goannas too.

Liam with his twin boys

Yours truly with my sister at the anchorage at The Basin

December 27th rolled around and as we we left Barrenjoey Lighthouse in our wake we pointed GWTW's bows towards Sydney Heads, 19 miles to the south.

We were going home at last.

GWTW and her crew of two about to enter Sydney Harbour for the first time since we left in 2006

At 4pm and to the tune of Mark Knoffler’s “Going Home” we made a very emotional entrance into Sydney Harbour. Tears rolled down our faces and there were hugs all round even though it was just the two of us

         There was no fanfare nor anyone waving from the shore to welcome us back. 

Our Final Track into Sydney Harbour

And as we headed towards Manly to drop our anchor the ferries, the18 ft skiffs and the Tuesday afternoon race boats that passed by us had no idea of the epic journey around the world that we had just completed.

                   It was time for a well earned glass of Champagne or three.

                                                           THE END.

                                          Well for the time being anyway

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