S/V RaRa this year decided to head south to benefit from the forecasted wind conditions which were mainly NE. The goal was Jervis Bay, which we hadn’t seen before. On our first day, we left Sydney and had an absolutely fabulous downwind sail to Port Hacking where we stayed the night.
The next morning we headed off in a deep fog and very light winds, motoring the first few hours. Eventually, a breeze filled in and we got sailing again. By the time we reached the entry of Jervis Bay we had a good 20 knots, and we headed towards the northern part of the bay which is best sheltered for the NE winds. There Frank in S/V Bundeena welcomed us and we got our hook set after a couple of attempts. The sand was hard and it took a good while for the anchor to dig deep enough to put some load on it. We enjoyed a few cold beers in the good company, but stayed well clear of the Kraken!
For the next 2 days we stayed at the same beach in Jervis Bay having strong winds (it seems stronger in the Bay than anywhere else along the coast). Another friend, Jan Gardberg with family was also in JB and we met up for dinner on their boat Hirondelle, a nice classic Swan 42.
We knew we needed to be back for New Year’s Eve, as our daughter was arriving from Sweden on New Year’s Day, so we were trying to time the return with the Southerly change that was forecasted for the 28th. And so we watched the forecast and readings closely and decided that this time we were going to do a night sail, going downwind once the southerly hit. And so, we headed out the Jervis Bay heads around midnight just as the wind changed. Initially, it was quite fine, but then the wind increased to around 30 knots, gusting 37, which was a lot for the RaRa crew in complete darkness. We sailed with a headsail only, which we had to furl a bit after a while, and Niclas was fighting the swell and waves which were really quite something. There was a significant NE swell after the last week of NE winds and the Southerly meeting of that swell caused a very upset sea state. We had a couple of broaches during the night and were quite happy to see the first morning light as we got closer to Shell Harbour. A (wise) decision was quickly made to make a stop in Shell Harbour and have some proper sleep and check on the gear after the wild night.
The next day we motor sailed north in light NE winds and decided to stay for dinner at the Boat Shed in La Perouse, and we made it there just in time. We really enjoyed the dinner at the Boat Shed and we are already planning for a MHYC cruise there soon.
On New Year’s Eve we were back in Sydney harbour, and after a rather frantic and unpleasant job of replacing the head (toilet) we finally got to see the famous fireworks from a prime location just west of Bradleys Head.
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