Pittwater to Port Stevens

Wednesday morning , I again checked Buoyweather and Govt weather site (BOM ) and whilst they were predicting 1.5 to 2 m seas and 2 m swell and 10 to 15 knot winds ( with Thursday looking the better day ), we decided to leave and head for Port Stephens.

leaving Pittwater 7.45am Lion Island in the distance

Capitain Barry at the helm

LAST WORD sat on 1200 rpm ( 55l/h total ) at approx 9.8 knots ( which is about 1 to 1.5 knts faster since the clean and antifoul). Every 90 minutes or so we put the hammer down to wide open throttle (WOT for boaties -  2300 rpm 23knts 240 l/h total ) for 5 mins, then  and sat on 2000rpm ( 19 knts ) for ten minutes or so, then back to the 1200 rpm 10 knots as the staple passage making speed.
Skies were patchy/sunny and sea/swell  was about 1.7 to 2 m and there was a 10 to 12 knot NE head/cross wind , however the swell/sea were about 10 secs apart and not unpleasant and the stabilizers make for a comfortable ride.

Pushing water 2000rpm  19 knots......love the speed.

We passed Terrigal just after  9.30am ( just under 2 hours  ), Bird Is ( Norah Head at 3 hours ), and  passed the entrance to Lake Macquarie in 4 hours , and Newcastle in 5 hours.
We arrived at Pt Stephens at 3.00pm and put the anchor down in Shoal bay ( see pic below ) 15 mins later.

We tossed up whether to anchor at Shoal Bay just inside the southerly headland (where we would still be in the northeasterly wind , but out of the main southeasterly swell )  or Jimmy's Beach just inside the northern head  out of the wind but more exposed to the swell. We decided on Shoal Bay as the swell would be slightly less ( in theory ) and the wind should drop.

We only spotted a couple of whales and dolphins this leg and managed to miss  a crab pot ( 20m away ) about 5 nm offshore

Coming in to drop anchor at Shoal Bay Port Stevens.

Captain Barry inspected the engine room (E/R)  and Laz. and decided he had better fix the bung float switch in the aft end of the laz ( that activates the small bilge pump that pumps out  the water that drains from the boarding platform cleats into the laz pump out box )  as a couple of liters of sea water  was sloping  around the laz gutter that runs down the middle of the laz.

We spotted a couple of dolphins and took that as an omen that it was  late enough for some refreshments, and dinner and a DVD and early night.