Holy Maiden Voyage Batman! | Our First Sailing Adventure

Yes, what you heard is correct. The rumours are true. We finally set sail!! I may be using the term voyage a little loosely here, but just go with it… Wow, has it been a loooooong few weeks but the time has come where we can begin to throw a bit more fun in the mix. Grab a snack and read on for the first taste of our new life.

The day started like any other – coffees in hand discussing what tedious jobs the morning had in store for us. We were expecting strong winds so hadn’t made any plans on venturing too far astray.

The day had something else in mind for us though.

A change in the weather forecast and some luring blue skies had us ditching anymore of that dreaded boat work to get our home ship-shape for an adventure! Finally!!!

We didn’t really have a plan on where we were headed but who cares??!! We were going somewhere NEW and I was beyond stoked!!

Leaving Pittwater was a pretty big deal to us as we felt like we had been trapped there for such a long time. As beautiful as it is, it is filled with way too many other boats (more obstacles to dodge!) and people for our liking.

Just around the corner, the crowds started to thin out and with a bit of wind we could start to get our groove on. Our heading was towards Cowan Creek and it felt oh so goooooooood.

Now this is more like it!

Our chosen anchorage for the night was Refuge Bay. And let me tell you, as we entered the bay (we ALMOST had it all to ourselves) it felt like a huge weight was lifted from our shoulders. We finally felt like we had begun to live what we had set out to do in the beginning.

That afternoon we headed up a little creek at the head of the bay to walk along a sandy beach and forage some oysters for a pre-dinner snack. The night was peaceful and you could hear the waterfall running on the other side of the bay.

Ahh the serenity!

We had a delicious breakfast (can you believe it was the first time we had really eaten up in the cockpit??) and coffee of course then headed in to the waterfall for a bit of an explore. A bit of bushbashing and mountain-goating later, we reached the top for one hell of a view!

There were fresh water pools with a mix of rainforest and Australian bush all around. Just stunning!! We stayed up the top for a while soaking in the view and hiding from the jobs we needed to get done back onboard. If only we had bought soap with us… Was the perfect spot for a bath in the sunshine!

We stayed for a couple more of these peaceful mid-week days. The stress of everything starts to disappear when you are in places like this. We were kind of running out of food and supplies but weren’t in a rush to head back to civilisation. It turns into a bit of a challenge… How long could we make this last?? The days were filled with some fishing, relaxing and just a bit of boat work to keep the ball rolling.

Now we were finally away from the crowds we wanted so badly to stay!!

We had actually planned to visit our first marina to get some MAJOR fresh water cleaning done so our journey into the waterways continued. As we made our way deeper into the national park we spotted this amazing sandy beach that was completely empty!

Well that was just too tempting to resist.

Hallett’s Beach is gorgeous. Crystal clear waters, rocks to climb, a sandy strip to wander and a rainforest to explore off the beach. I think the fact we had it all to ourselves helped with the magic. No footprints in the sand except for our own. We only spent the morning here but my-oh-my what a glorious morning it was. This was the best reminder of why we started this journey. Moving with the wind and finding places all to ourselves. Just need to find places like this with surf to keep the other half of the duo happy!

Sadly, we waved goodbye to Hallett’s and headed for the marina. There was enough wind to sail a bit of the way and the scenery makes the time pass so quickly! We got a whole heap of work done over the course of our marina stay. Feelin’ fresh, we were like a brand new boat and crew!

We still weren’t ready to head back to home base though……

We hoisted the sails and just spent some time on the water. Not going anywhere in particular… Music playing, engine off, how it is supposed to be. We ended up finding another bay to call home for a few nights, but that story is for different time.

This whole adventure (or “voyage” if you will) was such a turning point for us. We did it!!! Finally! In our own boat! There is still some work to do before our departure up north but we feel SOOOO much more confident and prepared than we did before. Mixing more of this among the boat work seems like a good idea to me. It is just so nice to be out on the water, next challenge are the coastal waters off Sydney! Wish us luck!