We sailed into our anchorage in Pittwater, Sydney around 8pm in the evening on Sunday, March 4. Unfortunately we arrived at the same time as the storm clouds, rain and early darkness so we had to anchor using the radar. The 230 nautical mile trip south from Coffs Harbour (top photo) was very swift as we had very good winds and a strong current pushing us most of the way. Faraway was averaging 7 knots of speed and sometimes she got excited and reached 11 knots. It was still very comfortable sailing and we didn't feel like the boat was under any stress. The decision to leave Coffs Harbour was a hasty one on Saturday morning. It was raining in the morning and a southerly change was predicted in the next few days. Ian made the decision to slip the lines and we motored out of the breakwater around 10am out into the murky ocean. In the afternoon we took up our usual watch and monitored tankers on the radar during the night. In the morning we called the Coastguard at Port Stephens who informed us that the weather wasn't looking very favourable further south. We had to make a decision whether to call into Port Stephens and anchor for a few more days or take the risk with the weather and continue on to Sydney. We decided that we could reach Sydney before the worst of the weather arrived as long as we didn't lose any speed so we sailed on. We had a well deserved rest on Sunday night than woke up to a beautiful clear day in Pittwater on Monday morning. Luckily our anchoring skills during the night put us in a good position in Careel Bay. We had been booked for a boat show March 24 to 25 and many small challenges were install for us over the following weeks ahead in Sydney.
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