After a great time in Broken Bay and Pittwater, we took advantage of a good breeze to fly the spinnaker down to Sydney Harbour yesterday - a brilliant daysail. Anchored off Manly and we have some boats around us that we know so it'l be fun to catch up with old friends. All very well aboard.

We moved into Pittwater on Monday and are on a mooring organised by friends Sue and Ian. This is a busy sailing centre with hundreds of moorings and several marinas and yacht clubs to cater to the needs of the locals and people living in Sydney. We can see the attraction - the water doesn't have all the commercial vessels and high speed ferries of Sydney Harbour and there are plenty of places to anchor or moor if the weather blows up. About 600 people live on Scotland Island, just across from us, and many commute by dinghy across to Church Point and then take a car or bus to their workplace.

We plan to stay here for Christmas Day and then think about moving down to Sydney.

We motored to the Head of Cowan Creek, in company with s/v Bravo, and are on visitors' moorings at Bobbin Head. In spite of the proximity of a large marina and being only 40 minutes drive from Sydney, it's really quiet her. It's a really beautiful place with densely-wooded shores but it has been incredibly hot, peaking at over 38 degrees at lunchtime. A very short walk in the gum tree forest, in the heady aroma of warm eucalyptus. was all we could manage in the heat but today it's cooler so we plan a hike in the National Park.

A superb sail from Newcastle yesterday - a close reach with the Irish Flag spinnaker in 15 to 20 knots E backing NE and a gentle sea state. Arrived in Broken Bay at 19.00 and came up to America Bay to pick up a mooring.

The bay is full of moorings (50 or more) which are owned by various yacht clubs for the use of their members but the arrangement is that non-members may use them as long as they vacate immediately if a club member arrives. At weekends and, particularly, over Christmas this place will be full but today there are only 8 boats here, enjoying the sunshine, the mirror-calm water and the beautiful forest which is alive with the buzz of cicadas.

We'll explore further into Cowan Creek today.

We have been in 'stealth mode' for the past few days. We actually arrived in Newcastle, after a beautiful spinnaker run down from Port Stephens with dolphin escort, on Thursday but kept quiet to surprise Adam & Cindi who were returning to Bravo here after their trip to the US. Great to catch up with them with a meal aboard Maunie last night - in spite of their jet-lag they were on great form.

We're enjoying Newcastle and had a really good Hunter Valley wine tour on Saturday - 4 wineries plus a brewery visited, 30 wines and 6 beers tasted. The only snag was that the Yacht Club marina was full, due to a Farr 40 regatta, so we got onto the pontoon next to the Maritime Museum. It is a great location, apart from the wash from the huge tugs as they return from guiding the vast coal ships in and out of the commercial docks. Last night at 4.00am we had a tug in an extra hurry to return to its berth and Maunie was rolled violently and slammed against the pontoon - a rude awakening that's also left a mark on our topsides. Currently awaiting a call back from the Operations Manager at Svitzer, the tug company, to give him some constructive feedback!

That aside, all is well and we will stay another day before heading on to Broken Bay and Pittwater.

The tail-end of a weather system which brought flooding to Victoria a few days ago is still giving us variable winds and, yesterday, a thunder storm with torrential rain for about thirty minutes. Barometer dropped from 1016mb to 1002mb but we are back to blue sky, sunshine and calm this morning and the pressure is rising.

We returned to Fame Cove yesterday and we are just debating when to move south - there has been a big swell (over 3 metres) offshore for the past couple of days but it is supposed to be reducing. The light winds at the moment would mean motor-sailing so we don't fancy rolling in big waves!

After a productive day, in warm sunshine, yesterday recaulking teak decks (the project is nearly complete!!), we motored over to Lemon Tree Passage under grey skies this morning. We are moored alongside the new public pontoon and were told by local sailors to ignore the signs saying "Maximum One Hour Stay". So we've got the laundry done and then have had a very entertaining BBQ with friends Michael and Annick on the German yacht Lucie, plus locals this afternoon, so we have learned a bit more about the place. We'll head off to another anchorage in the morning but the unsettled and showery weather means we won't head further south along the coast until Thursday or Friday.

A fabulous day sail from Crowdy Head to Port Stephens. Although the wind was disappointingly light this morning, it built enough to fly our beloved Parasailor from midday. Once we had the current with us, we made good speed. On a visitor's mooring in Salamander Bay and looking forward to a few days of exploring Port Stephens. All well aboard.

A pleasant downwind sail, Irish Flag spinnaker flying, from Port Macquarie; the crew was on a sugar-rush from Dianne's latest batch of excellent orange and walnut flapjack but the breeze faded so we motored the last hour. We've come into the tiny man-made harbour of Crowdy Head which feels a bit like a ghost-harbour. The fisheries co-operative has closed, the once-busy fishing fleet has gone (just 4 or 5 small and scruffy boats left on the fishing pontoon) and the visitors' pontoon has been condemned. The only new bit of kit is the fuel pontoon (which doesn't actually have any fuel pumps) and it is alongside this that we are moored, as directed by the helpful Marine Rescue team when we phoned them. Long lines and fender-board are deployed as it is a fixed pontoon but the piles are well-fendered and the water is calm.

More rain and light winds are forecast for tomorrow so we may stay here to do some boat jobs before moving on to Port Stephens.

We motored up the Hastings River this afternoon and found a nice spot on a bend, just opposite where the Maria River joins the main waterway. Very rural and peaceful, apart from the buzz of cicadas in the trees, so we weren't expecting to be passed by some reasonably major shipping. The Marine Rescue team made several VHF announcements that a tug was bringing a 60m vessel into the river and it transpires that, unlikely as it may seem, there is a fairly substantial shipyard upstream.

We followed the progress of the tug on AIS and a NSW Maritime Police boat came up to us to warn us of the approaching tow (they were happy that we were anchored well out of the main channel) and it passed us at a steady 4 knots - the tug was the Kotor and the ship was a suction dredger called Pelican.

All well aboard Maunie, enjoying a relaxed Sunday afternoon in the sunshine.

Arrived at Port Macquarie at 13.00 today (pretty much at HW) after another calm-sea motor-sail in glorious sunshine. More dolphins (including a huge pod of perhaps 40 of them close by) but an otherwise uneventful passage and the bar entrance was calm. Port Macquarie is a busy holiday town and the little marina has seen some recent investment so there's a new pontoon on the river, with self-service fuel dock, and new pontoons being installed in the existing marina. There's a big shopping mall close by so we've restocked on fresh provisions and then had a good walk down to the breakwater before supper. We'll check the weather and either leave late morning to do a 3 hour hop down to Camden Haven or, more likely, move up the river here for a quiet rural overnight anchorage to allow the NE wind to develop a little more before leaving on Monday.

Anchored in 4m of clear water in Trial Bay after a pretty windless 35nm passage from Coffs. Trial Bay splits the passage to Port Macquarie neatly into two but we discovered that the bar to the Macleay River has 'closed up' - basically it needs a good river flood to clear out the shallows but for the moment the leading marks have been removed and depths of only 0.6m have been reported.

Luckily the swell is less than 1m and the breeze has died away again so the open roadstead anchorage is very calm (it probably doesn't get much better than this here). We'll leave for Port Macquarie in the morning to get to the bar at HW (lunchtime) and there we'll wait for a couple of days for the NE wind to arrive properly; we've had enough of motoring!

All well aboard

Arrived in Coffs Harbour Marina after a 64 mile passage from Iluka. This was all motor-sailing with a great deal of current with us (up to 2.1 knots). Plenty of shipping to spot moving from Newcastle to Brisbane along with fishing boats, Rock Lobster Pot markers (close to South Solitary Island) and dolphins. All very well aboard, especially when Thatchers Gold Cider on tap was spotted at the Marina Bar - that is, until we found they'd run out!

Arrived at Iluka, Clarence River, yesterday lunchtime after a very good 35nm sail from Ballina. Judging the timings to safely cross the bars at each river entrance was tricky - we left Ballina at 06.00, HW minus 4 hours, so had about a knot of incoming current at the bar (It's vital to avoid crossing bars with the current flowing out to sea because the waves quickly build up and can become dangerous) and had about 0.75 knots of south-going current along the coast. We arrived at the Clarence River bar at HW plus 1.75 hours with the current still just flowing in to the river (there's roughly a 2.5 hour 'over-run' so that the flow changes direction around 2.5 hours after local HW and LW times) so it all worked out very well.

Anchored in 3m, well sheltered and out of the current and we'll stay here another day due to the wind veering SE / SSE - the town of Iluka is very pleasant and the fishermen's cooperative does great fish 'n' chips. It gives us time to sort a problem with one of the mainsail reefing lines which had become jammed in a block in the boom - a bit of a challenge....

Anchored in Mobbs Bay, near Ballina on the Richmond River, after a lovely 65nm passage from the Gold Coast. A few hours of motoring across a glassy sea we then had quite a spirited beam reach under spinnaker in 15 - 18 knots from the ENE; great to be sailing again!

The anchorage is pretty shallow (max 3.5m) and the mud very soft so it took us three attempts to get the anchor to bite but it's a very peaceful spot. We plan to dinghy across the river to explore the bright lights of Ballina tomorrow before resuming the south-bound passage. All very well on board.

Maunie is back on the move after re-launch. Heading south tomorrow. All well aboard.

On a marina pontoon at the Boat Works. We came up the Coomera River yesterday in torrential rain in order to get a Raymarine technician aboard to resolve a problem with our autopilot, only to be told that ex-cyclone Debbie heading our way. Huge rainfall meant that businesses and schools were closing and there were widespread flood alerts.

Anchoring in a flooding river is a Bad Idea - vegetation and debris can build up around the anchor chain pulling the boat's bow down or breaking the anchor out so we were lucky to get the one remaining berth in the little marina here, tucked downstream of a big motor yacht. As the day progressed and the rain continued to fall, the river turned dark brown and branches, navigation buoys and all sorts of unidentified floating objects swept past us.

Overnight a gales swept through but we were well-sheltered from it. This morning, hallelujah, the rain has stopped and there is a little sunshine so we can dry out! Now we have to find if the technicians have been able to get in to work so that the job we came here for can be addressed.

We completed our 100 nm passage up the coast from Yamba, arriving at the Gold Coast at 0930 (0830, Queensland time). The wind was light so we had to motor/ motor-sail all the way with favourable current only helping for the final six hours. Still, the settled conditions allowed us to pass relatively close to Cape Byron and Point Danger, making the most of any tidal assistance. During daylight we were challenged by some new and disturbing alarms from Constance, the autopilot - another job for the list while we're here; night watches included several fishing boats which we both monitored using radar. Now back on the Gold Coast, we're anchored in Bum's Bay, from where we set sail back in November. Coughs and colds getting better on board so all well.

We arrived safely at Yamba Marina, at the mouth of the Clarence River, at 07.30 this morning having decided to divert here for 36 hours to allow a brief front, bringing northerlies on Sunday morning, to pass. A good passage of 306nm from Sydney, averaging 6.3 knots in spite of some adverse current, but lots of rain and poor visibility - thank goodness for the comfort of the pilothouse, it would have been miserable to have to stand watches in the cockpit.

Di's cough and cold has really hit her hard but Graham's man-flu is being held at bay, just. We'll need to restock at the Yamba pharmacy today!

Made good progress yesterday, with the trick of hugging the shore paying off to gain some favourable current back-eddies at times. Wind dropped away during the night so motor-sailed in calm conditions so both got some half-decent off-watch sleep. This morning we have wind and waves and, unfortunately, the south-going current comes close inshore so we have over a knot against us. We considered putting in to Camden Haven for some r&r but the breeze is too good to waste so we are pressing on, despite the coughing and sneezing of the crew.

The southelies have arrived at last! We are about to leave Manly on a passage to the Gold Coast - 450nm / 3 days' sailing, though we might stop at Iluka about two-thirds of the way up, depending on progress. Neither of us feeling on top form - Di's hacking cough is still plaguing her and Graham has the first signs of a cold which could, of course, turn into full-blown man-flu at any moment - so we aren't exactly fired with enthusiasm at 05.30!

Back in Blackwattle Bay, Sydney after an entertaining sail up the coast. The swell was running at nearly 3 metres and we were entertained at the entrance to the harbour by one of the big double-ender Manly ferries doing a bit of a detour towards Sydney Heads to allow the passengers to enjoy(?) a serious bit of rolling in the waves!

We managed to sail under the Harbour Bridge without starting the engine and it is good to be back in the city. Noticeably warmer, too, but we have gained nearly 10 degree of latitude since leaving Recherche Bay in Tassie. Will be in the harbour for about 10 days - a mix of boat work and seeing more of the sights..

We completed the 72 nm passage from Jervis Bay to Cronulla, arriving at 19.00. The wind was around 20 knots from the SE most of the way so apart from 3 hours of motor sailing to get us in before dark we sailed all day in quite boisterous seas. En route we experienced the exceptional customer service from the Aussies: 1. Dave, the marina manager at Cronulla did his best to find us a space in the full marina and finally installed us on the fuel berth with key left for us in a secret place; 2. Doug, the volunteer Marine Rescue officer on duty today at Port Kembla did everything he could possibly do to identify a VHF radio transmission fault. Both above and beyond the call of duty. We had an entertaining arrival into Cronulla sailing through the very active racing fleet as they tacked around the buoys. Very happy to be in but our legs are a bit wobbly on the pontoon after the last two days.

We left Bermagui at 06.00 and have had good winds from the south with big seas making for some great sailing on passage to Jervis Bay. ETA in the Bay is 20.00. We plan to pick up one of the overnight moorings ready for a much needed sleep before setting off to Cronulla tomorrow morning. Making the most of the southerlies while they last. All well on board.

Arrived safely in Bermagui, moored up alongside a fishing boat at the Cooperative Wharf. The crew were super-friendly and helpful with mooring lines and shore power cable (we were a welcome break from their maintenance work!).

We'll head ashore to explore this afternoon.

=20 Only 15nm to go to Bermagui so we should be in time for Sunday lunch. Good sailing yesterday and overnight with the wind doing exactly as forecast, swinging more to the S and increasing during the night. We're now goosewinged and rolling dead-downwind in a 2m swell so a level table for the lunchtime beers with be a welcome novelty.

Overall, the passage has gone pretty much to plan, with some fast sailing though the adverse current (nearly 2 knots at times) was a pain. We are hugging the coast for the final few miles and it does seem to have taken us out of the tide's grip. We have not managed to get into any really good sleep patterns, however, so a post-lunch siesta may be required.

=20 d: 04/03/17 09:17 GMT+1100 As expected, the wind dropped away to about 4 kts last night resulting in 12 hours of motor sailing. The wind has returned this morning with 14 kts from ESE so we are happily sailing again. Our speed of 5.2 knots SOG is due to about 2 knots of tide against us - not helpful! We have 145 nm to go and after catching up on sleep are both well aboard.

=20 A bumpy, sleep-deprived first night but, so far, the wind is delivering the goods. We are making good speed, goosewinged for most of the night and now reaching. The slightly confused sea conditions meant that Winnie the Windpilot struggled to steer a reliable course so we sacrificed amps to Constance the autopilot and are now running the generator to replace them. All well on board.

We came through the Denison Canal this morning with no hitches (thankfully) and then had a lovely sail once we'd cleared Maria Island. The wind was from the SE giving some good close reaching. We're on a meal stop at Crocketts Bay on the North Coast of Schouten Island before setting off on passage to Bermagui this evening. There are about 12 other boats in the anchorage so we'll wait and see if they all have the same plan. All well aboard.

We arrived at our anchorage of Eaglehawk Neck early this afternoon. At that point there was bright sunshine and from the top of the mast we could see out across the Tasman Sea. By late afternoon a sea fog had rolled in. Tomorrow we will navigate the Denison Canal and then on wards up the coast. All well on board except for sad feelings about our imminent departure from Tassie shores.

Re-provisioning complete, we left DSS and motored 500 metres across to RYCT to fill up with fuel. Then we were ready to say farewell to Hobart, a city we've come to love, and motor/ sail past beautiful scenery with mainly southerly winds and full sunshine. We arrived in this anchorage, Connely's Bay, just as the wind went around to the North East. Tomorrow we plan to head down to Eaglehawk Neck before taking the 'short-cut' through the Denison Canal on Thursday. Both well on board.

We have returned to the Derwent Sailing Squadron marina in Hobart for a few days to restock and do some boat jobs. Removing and rebedding the fore hatch to solve a drip in heavy weather is the latest fun task.

We have thoroughly enjoyed the cruising down the east coast of Tassie and can recommend the island as a brilliant sailing area, even if it does get a tad chilly when the wind blows from the south.

We have returned to the Derwent Sailing Squadron marina for a few days to restock and complete a few boat jobs (removing and re-bedding the fore hatch to solve a drip in heavy weather is the latest fun task). It has been a great week of cruising and we thoroughly recommend Tasmania as a sailing base, even if it is a tad chilly when the wind blows from the south.

Anchored in Alexanders Bay after a lovely sail, goose-winged in 15 knots of southerly wind, up from Daniel's Bay, arriving at sunset (about 8.00pm). The forecast is for brisk northerlies today so we'll move about a mile north-east to Quarantine Bay this morning for shelter. The good news about northerlies is that the temperature will go from mid-teens to mid-twenties.

A lunch-stop anchorage in Daniel's Bay with a 3km walk to Bruny Island Premium Wines winery. Lovely lunch but we were less impressed with the wines which were certainly Premium in price!

In the well-sheltered anchorage of Port Cygnet after a really entertaining sail - spinnaker for a while then a little motoring and finally a pretty brisk beat up the Huon River (watch out for those fish farms). A cold front crossed us as we approached the river so there was suddenly 30 knots of wind and rain squalls. Lots of the wooden boats that we saw at the Festival seem to live here and we are anchored just outside the moorings, close to the Yacht Club.

After a great week in Hobart, it was good to be off sailing again. Just a gentle sail, with the Irish Flag spinnaker, down the D'entrecasteaux Channel to The Duckpond anchorage. The Maunie Crew (Graham, Dianne and Kerry) all suffering from colds so the sailing in sunshine was punctuated by burst of sneezing.

We motored the 20 nm from The Duckpond along the D'Entrecasteaux Channel; this morning it was smooth with 2 k of wind at most. The glassy waters meant that we could spot countless penguins so all were very happy on board. We're back in the same berth at DSS Marina where we'll be based for the next week. Looking forward to Kerry from Sel Citron joining us tomorrow, visiting MONA, the incredible art gallery, meeting up with various sailing friends and, of course, going to the Wooden Boat Festival.

Our 'crew from heaven', Suzie & Roald, have gone off for a few days of land travel so we departed Derwent Sailing Squadron at lunchtime for a great sail under the Irish Flag spinnaker down the D'Entrecasteaux Channel. En route we were entertained by seals who were literally waving tails and flippers at us and amazed by the vast Lavender farms which stretch across the hillside. We've anchored in a very sheltered bay called the Duckpond where we should be well protected in the southerly winds. All very well on board.

Arrived in Hobart yesterday afternoon and we are moored in the Derwent Sailing Squadron's newly-extended marina. Good meal in the clubhouse last night and we are off to explore this morning. Roald and Suzie leave Maunie today for a few days of land travels and we'll head out again on Sunday for few days but return for the Wooden Boat Festival at the end of the week. It is a big event here, drawing up to 200,000 visitors.

Anchored in Port Arthur, near the remains of the old penal colony buildings (now a World Heritage site).

The sail down the coast yesterday took us past the spectacular cliffs and rock stacks at the southern end of the Tasman Peninsula and through the 'Hole in the Wall' between Tasman Island and Cape Pillar.

Yesterday, being the 1st of February, marked the end of Dry January so a couple of cheeky beers were enjoyed in the quaint mock-Tudor Fox & Hounds pub.

There's a strong wind warning for today so we'll stay here and explore ashore before sailing for the bright lights of Hobart tomorrow.

For some reason our last couple of updates don't seem to have worked. We are now in Fortescue Bay, anchored in the tiny Canoe Cove to the NE side. Sending this report form the campsite as there is no internet signal at the anchorage...

We sailed from Maria Island this morning, having experienced some great close-quarters wildlife encounters: a snake (one of three, all venomous, species on the island), echidnas, black cockatoos, wallabies and (our favourite) wombats. Suzie and Roald completed the long hike up Mount Maria whilst the skipper and mate did a somewhat less challenging walk to the beautiful Haunted Bay at the very southern end of the island.

The sail south was a bit mixed as the northerly wind was rather fluky, but we flew the spinnaker for a while and motor-sailed a little in cloudy and rainy conditions The anchorage in Canoe Bay is beautiful and sheltered from all directions; we are tucked behind the wreck of the 1907 Dutch cargo vessel Andre Reboncas (later named William Pitt). The wind will go southerly tonight and tomorrow so we'll hike some of the coastal path and, we hope, see some penguins, and then sail round to Port Arthur, the old convict station, on Wednesday.

Moved last night to a free visitors' mooring off Shelly Beach.

For the first time since we arrived in Tasmania, there are clouds in the sky but we should have a good sail across to Maria Island to explore the National Park.

Alongside a beautiful 1953 classic wooden ketch called Laurabada at the fishermen's wharf at Triabunna. The top of the channel was a bit shallow (only 2.2m at 4hrs after HW) but we were able to give Maunie a fresh water wash to get rid of the salt, refill the water tank and get provisions. Luckily for us Laurabada had ordered a fuel delivery to the quay so we were able to add an order for 80 litres.


Awesome fish and chips lunch from the Fish Van and very friendly folk in the Tourist Information centre.

Anchored in Morey's Bay, Schouten Island. Yesterday saw an epic climb up Mount Amos, overlooking Wineglass Bay - not a particularly high hill but there were some reasonably challenging sections of bare rock slopes to negotiate. The reward was a superb view in bright sunshine and blue sky.

This morning we had a gentle sail down the Freycinet peninsula and we are anchored off the National Park Schouten Island in 8m of clear (but cold) water. The wind has just turned SWSW and gusty so, although we are reasonably sheltered, a 33ft yacht that anchored ahead of us just dragged its anchor and came very close, very quickly. Luckily the crew were still aboard and motored to find another spot.

It is another perfect summer day with bright sunshine so another walk is planned for this afternoon.

Arrived at Wineglass Bay (which is stunningly beautiful) at 10.20am after a great night's sail. Unfortunately our gamble that we'd arrive before the low pressure trough (down to 999mb) backed the wind to the SW didn't quite pay off so the last two hours were motorsailing to windward with three reefs in the main and just the staysail in 35 knots of wind and gusts up to 45, to the accompaniment of confused seas. Lots of water over the deck and over the helmsman! More testing of the deck for leaks - still a couple to resolve....

So it is very good to be here and we already feel better after bacon sandwiches and salad. The wind should drop a little this evening to allow us to get ashore for a walk tomorrow.

All very well aboard.

=20 Having four people aboard does make a wonderful difference to the night watches. Two hours on, six hours off is a big improvement on our usual four on, four off regime. Suzie and Roald are skilled sailors too, so spinnaker hoists and other sail changes go smoothly and quickly, and they are good company to have aboard.

Today has been an easy day but a frustrating one in that the wind was just not enough to sail at any respectable pace so we motored from 08.00 until 19.00. The Irish Flag spinnaker flew for an hour of peace as we consumed the excellent lasagne that we made before leaving Eden but there was then another couple of hours of motoring.=20 The wind has now kicked in so. after an fast hour with the spinnaker, we are back to white sails with two reefs in the main as the wind increased into the mid-20s. The wind is on the beam, though, so at the moment it is lovely, fast sailing in fairly flat waters and our ETA for Wineglass Bay is about 09.00. This will, we hope, be well before the wind goes south westerly.=20 All very well aboard and we are looking forward to landfall.

=20 We left Eden at 06.00 yesterday morning in perfect conditions =E2=80=93 blue sky and calm sea, No wind, unfortunately, but the Bass Strait has a reputation for bad weather so we were happy to take a day=E2=80=99s motoring at the start. at 20.00 last night the breeze filled in from the NE, we hoisted the Parasailor and had a brilliant 6 hour run into the night, with about a knot of tidal assistance. Things got pretty rolly at 02.00 this morning as the tide changed so we reverted to white sails and are currently going a bit too slowly for our liking; a strong westerly is forecast for tomorrow and we=E2=80=99d like to be under the lee of Tasmania (or better still anchored in Wineglass Bay) before it arrives.

We have crew aboard - Suzie and Roald joined us on Thursday evening and, after a final shopping expedition in Eden, we had a brisk test sail across the bay yesterday in a gust 30 knot wind. Anchored back in East Boyd Bay with gusts up to 38 knots yesterday evening.

The window to leave for Tasmania tomorrow looks OK, though with a trough coming through on Tuesday bringing strong westerlies for a few hours, so we'll just check the forecast update this afternoon and make the decision as to when to leave (probably in the early hours of Sunday morning). Meanwhile we are preparing on-passage meals today.

We have just completed another Twofold Bay Shuffle after a busy day in Eden - shopping, lunch at Fisho's, the Fisherman's Club (excellent fish and chips, as you would expect), and a visit to the interesting Eden Whaling Museum.

The reason for the move is that a southerly gale is forecast for later tomorrow. We could probably have shifted in the morning except that a naval vessel is due to come alongside the ammunition-loading jetty here at 07.00 and it'll have a 500m no-go zone imposed around it. Anchored boats already here can remain at anchor but nobody will be able to come into the anchorage until the re-arming process is complete at 16.00.

The wind is from the NE today so we motored across to anchor in Snug Cove, the port of Eden, in bright sunshine. Anchored in 10m of water just outside the local yacht moorings and there's a good set of dinghy steps at the root of the western-most jetty (which has water and power for $25 per night for alongside mooring but it's a rather rough structure suited more to fishing boats that yachts). Walked up the hill into town for petrol for the outboard and a few essentials for us - seems like a very nice, rather sleepy place. At the wharf there is a pretty well-stocked chandlery catering to the fishing fleet and the yachting fraternity and there are some good looking seafood places to try.

Met two boats we know from Opua, NZ, here - Mekyo and Seeker - and there are quite a few others queuing up for the crossing to Tassie. Looks as though we'll all be waiting for another few days at least....

The wind strength and direction continued through this morning and we arrived into Twofold Bay, Eden at 14.00. We're anchored in East Boyd Bay, beautiful for its beaches and rocky peninsular and not so much for its Wood Chip Mill and Wharf. We're currently the only yacht anchored here but suspect this may change when the winds switch to southerly and other boats move across. Pleased to report that across the 133 nm passage, Maunie averaged 7.1 kts (7.6 kts since 01.00) - not bad for a heavy lady! All very well on board.

On passage to Eden. We left Jervis Bay at 19.30 yesterday and, as forecast, the wind increased through the night - up to 30 knots NNE at times. We are running, goose-winged and reefed and making excellent progress, helped by a knot or so of southbound current. Wonderful sailing in the bright moonlight and today has dawned sunny.

We should be in Eden early afternoon.

We moved over to anchor off the lovely white beach at Vincentia. There is one public mooring about 500m along the beach to the east of us. The bay would be pretty exposed to strong SE to N winds but the provisioning opportunities are very good here - a large Coles supermarket and a fuel station are within easy walking distance of the beach, plus the usual holiday stores and coffee shops.

So re-fueled and re-provisioned, we are ready to set sail for Eden tonight.

Just completed another Jervis Bay Shuffle back to the south side of the bay. Flat calm, bright sunshine and hot, hot, hot at the moment but a southerly wind is forecast for this afternoon.

It looks hopeful that we'll get easterlies then a fairly brisk NNE tomorrow night and Friday so that should be our window to get to Eden. The next challenge will be finding a good passage window for the 300nm to Tasmania.

A gentle, sunlit sail across to a public visitors' mooring off the little seaside town of Huskisson. A very good butcher and bakery, plus a rather limited mini-supermarket, allowed us to replenish the vital supplies. There is a public pontoon with a 20 mins maximum stay at the mouth of the river with water taps and, strangely (given the time limit), 240v power sockets but we didn't test the shallow approaches in Maunie.

After checking the 16.00 forecast, we did indeed head out on passage to Eden, looking forward to the forecasted wind blowing 10-15 kt from the N. We knew we'd need to do some motoring which wouldn't be ideal but better than what we actually got: the wind was still from the South, 12 kt and the seas were uncomfortably rolly and confused. We decided we weren't in that much of a rush to get to Eden and agreed to turn around. Having already filed a passage report with Marine Rescue (a good idea for a long/ over-night passage) we called them again to explain our decision; the duty officer chuckled and said 'fair enough, mate!' So we look forward to exploring Jervis Bay for a few days until the next sustained and reliable Northerly develops - not such a bad outcome.

We have just picked up one of five visitors' moorings near Hole in the Wall (an obvious rock formation on shore to our east) having completed what's known as a 'Jervis Bay Shuffle'. The bay is so big (around 8nm north to south) that the wind can quickly build up a sizeable set of waves - this morning the wind has swung around to the south so our last anchorage became a lee shore, whereas here all is calm. A pretty spot, with white sand beaches and dense woodland behind, and the water is clear.

The forecast suggests the southerly breeze will be short-lived and so we plan to check the update at 4.05pm then head south for an overnight passage of 120nm to Eden. Suspect we'll have to do some motoring but the sea state has calmed.

A cracking sail south to Jervis Bay yesterday. The original plan to depart the day before was scrapped as we had heavy rain and no wind all morning - even the J24s taking part in the Australian Nationals took the morning off!

Once the wind kicked in at about 11.45 we had a couple of hours with the Irish Flag spinnaker flying, until the wind got up to the early twenties, then back to white sails, reefing down as the wind increased. Jervis Bay is huge and there is a long fetch for wind-driven waves to develop so we had a great beat, lee rail in the water, up to the northern beach where the tall trees gave us some decent shelter. Good holding in clear sand in 5m depth.

This is a beautiful place - unspoilt by development on land or marinas and masses of moorings on the water. The golden sand beach in front of us demands inspection.

Today's forecast is for 25-30 knots from the north and 2.5m waves which would mean a rolly, dead-downwind run to Eden (about 18 hours away) so we are going to sit tight, wait for a brief front (with southerly winds) to roll through on Monday morning then do an overnighter Monday night (if the forecast remains unchanged).

All well aboard.

The first leg of the southward route to Tasmania was a short hop down the coast to Port Hacking, south of Botany Bay. A slightly rolly sail but the Irish Flag spinnaker gave us good speed, with a slight detour to windward to avoid a huge Chinese container ship on its final approaches to Botany. The downside was rain for quite a lot of the day.

Cronulla Marina is well-placed (you could get the commuter train from here to Sydney if you needed it), well sheltered and very friendly. The ablutions facilities are pretty basic, though, for $55 per night.

We'll head south 60nm today to an overnight anchorage in Jervis Bay; we need to get to Eden before Sunday night as the northerly winds swing southerly for a few days after that.

Anchored back in the very sheltered Blackwattle Bay as the wind goes southerly.

This was our anchorage for the stupendous NYE fireworks! Hundreds of boats in very close proximity (and 14m depth t this position) but luckily the wind dropped to nothing in the evening. It was just the most memorable event.