Tue, 2 Apr 2002
North of Sydney a few miles is Ku-Ring-Gai Chase National Park, a 200 kilometer area of forested sandstone ridges and gullies cut by the many reaches of Broken Bay, Pittwater, Cowen Creek, the Hawksbury, and others. Ku-Ring-Gai is a wonderland of hidden coves and bays, waterfalls, wonderful anchorage's, and a great place for boating. Being just a couple hours sail from Sydney Heads, it gets a bit of use. On Easter weekend, which is four days off for all of Australia, the boaters flock to Ku-Ring-Gai Chase. We joined in, and had a nice sail up the coast and back into the park. The bay we stopped in, America Bay, (why not?) was filled with some 300 boats. Well, not filled. There was lots of room for more, America Bay is pretty big, though it still retains it's snug feel, and it is totally protected for all conditions. This is the kind of harbor we like: good holding ground, and still as a mill pond at night. It reminds us of the harbors in the Pacific Northwest. Another way it reminds us of home is the rain. This Easter weekend it rained nearly continuously the whole weekend. Cool too! We didn't need to turn on the heater but we were wearing warm clothes in the mornings, as we looked out onto the drizzle and misty forest. Everything is subdued in shades of gray,and even the ravens, who usually make themselves heard just about anytime must have been huddled in a nest somewhere because we couldn't see or hear them at all.
Easter morning was departure day for some of our friends, Steve & Paula from Long White Cloud. We first met them in New Zealand in 2000, sailed together in Tonga, and Fiji, and after going our separate ways last year, we met up again in Sydney this season. Cruising friendships usually mean separations too. Steve and Paula are nice people, we like them, but they are off to Darwin, and then to Bali (or Ambom), then Singapore, Thailand; we're really not sure where all they will go, but one thing is pretty positive: we'll not see them again for a long while, if ever.
Fred & Judy