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Well with light breezes this afternoon, I ran out of excuses and finally got my new (pre-loved)symmetric spinnaker up. We had a great run from a mile outside Barrenjoey lighthouse to near Refuse/America Bay. It was a treat to see the big red kite up and my motley crew did a great job in keeping everything ship shape. Indeed we were so chuffed that we broke tradition and had a celebratory beer before returning to the mooring. Can't wait for the next coastal trip to give it a longer run.

Yesterday was also interesting. I was at a conference at Shoal Bay in Port Stephens and went on a cruise/dinner in the late afternoon. I had not been on this waterway before. It looks like a great place to sail and I intend to take Storm Petrel up there for a visit later this year. Has anyone sailed in Port Stephens?

Happy Sailing,
Mark

Hi Mark

I have and discoverd the sand bars of Port Stephens too !!

Great place to sail fish drink and eat .

Cheers Bear

Mark,
Sounds like a Top Hat sailaway in the making!
Fantastic spot, Shoal Bay.
Have visited other areas of Port Stephans, but not sailed in it, other than stopping at Shoal Bay, just tucked inside the entrance & plenty of courtesy moorings, good pub & safe sandy beach.
regards
shaun

Fianally did it too yeehar

I set the autopilot started the motor and had it running just fast enough to take care of the steering (as the tiller pilot isn’t real good down wind under sail) Then went forward and hanked on the big one. I set it and dropped it three times over the course of the day and even managed to gybe once which was a bonus. Needless to say I’m pretty chuffed, I’ve been wanting to set the spinnaker for a while now but haven’t had the balls. The wind picked up after this shot and I was heading home at over 6knts.

It's always nice to have a picture of your own boat with Spinnaker up. As my wife is pregnant she has had to give up the sailing and instead goes down to the harbour and takes a few snaps of us underway.

It's just a pity she didn't capture the moment when one of my very experienced crew put the spinnaker up sideways. Of course, he was made to wear the "Captain Sea Cock" hat during beers that evening!