March 25, 2018 (day 3,951)
Quick Fix: 27° 52.3 S / 153° 20.1 E
Conditions:  Wind: 10/SE Sky: Cloudy

A Fresh Perspective
We've just spent five days on the hard to apply a little antifoul paint (3 cans of Micron 66) new zincs and PropSpeed, a biennial routine which, remarkably, if we stick to our schedule, will see us all the way into the Mediterranean. After ten years of South Pacific cruising, the idea of Mediterranean sailing is a little difficult to imagine. We'll be back in the northern hemisphere! Essentially only one passage away from the Caribbean! Which will put us just a hop away from America! It's still a few years away, of course, but Catherine and I are already discussing cruising options when we return - summers in New York, autumn in Florida, winters in the Caribbean... what's not to love about that? But what if we really miss the Pacific? Well, Florida to French Polynesia is only about 5,000 nautical miles away, a few months of sailing or the equivalent to only one can of ablative antifoul paint. At $300 a can, that would be money well spent.

March 22, 2018 (day 3,948)
Quick Fix: 27° 52.3 S / 153° 20.1 E
Conditions:  Wind: 8/E Sky: Mostly clear

HEY, Mate - Need a Tow?!
It was a genuine, and generous, offer for sure, but the thing was - we were sailing! Sure, we may have given the appearance of a vessel in distress, drifting helplessly in a narrow waterway, headsail all limp between gentle gusts, but we were moving at a quietly satisfying 3 knots - roughly walking speed and a little faster than the flood tide that we had timed to carry us up the narrow Coomera River - a waterway that meanders inland, separating multimillion Floridian-style homes on one side and the untamed Australian bush on the other. We sailed to The Boat Works where we've hauled Dream Time for a few days of antifouling and routine maintenance. We splash Monday when we'll sail back down the river with an ebb tide, through a labyrinth of waterways, past sleepy fishing towns and a green patchwork of islands with names like Kangaroo Island, Cobby Cobby, Tabby Tabby, and my favorite, Coochiemudlo! It'll be a mellow two day river cruise up to Brisbane, drifting at 3 knots. But with scenery this peaceful, why hurry?

March 17, 2018 (day 3,943)
Quick Fix: 29° 24.7 S / 153° 21.0 E
Conditions:  Wind: 12/SE Sky: Clear

Crossing the Bar
For the last few days, while waiting for cyclone Linda to pass, we've sought refuge on the Clarence River and in the charming coastal towns of Iluka and Yamba - home to a fearless fleet of commercial fishermen and sailors, many of whom have stories of notorious bar crossings - the kind where vessels and crew, eager to reach the sanctuary of safe harbor, get rolled by giant seas while crossing the shallow entrance. We've heard terrifying tales of boats knocked-down, rolling 360 degrees and even pitch-poling (flipping end over end) while navigating these treacherous waters. According to one local, the Clarence River boasts 17 pubs, and photos of fishing trawler Fleetwing navigating the bar crossing in 2009, can even be seen printed on the side of a local bottle shop. It's a sobering image and perhaps a warning to mariners that if conditions are really that bad, the only bar that's worth crossing is the one that's serving beer!

March 13, 2018 (day 3,939)
Quick Fix: 29° 24.7 S / 153° 21.0 E
Conditions:  Wind: 14/SE Sky: Mostly clear

Lucky Thirteen
It's tropical storm season here in Australia and as luck would have it tropical storm number Thirteen, which has just been upgraded to cyclone Linda, is heading in our general direction. We began Leg 4 of our Sydney to Thailand voyage with hopes of sailing from Coffs Harbour direct to Southport in Queensland, but Linda kinda got in the way. For safety we ducked into the Clarence River - Australia's second largest river and the biggest on the eastern shoreline - where we'll hunker down for a few days to let Linda swing south before we venture back out to sea. She's forecast to deliver 10 - 15 foot swell to the area, and as the Clarence River entrance has a notorious bar crossing, where even gentle waves can unexpectedly rise-up and break along the entrance in terrifying hull-crushing tidal waves, we should be in for quite a show. Photos to follow...

March 9, 2018 (day 3,935)
Quick Fix: 30° 18.2 S / 153° 08.8 E
Conditions:  Wind: 20-33/SE Sky: Cloudy with rain

Solace in Shiraz
When locals sail up the coast of Australia, specifically from Sydney to Brisbane, they'll tell you, 'mate, keep your left foot in the sand', meaning sail as close to the shoreline as safety or courage will allow. The reason - the East Australian Current, or EAC, which can flow like a river, at times reaching up to 4 knots in speed, a delight when you're running south but a battle when heading north. Our passage yesterday, a mere 160 nautical miles, was an uphill slog, it felt like we were towing a sea anchor, I even checked to see if we were dragging a crab pot. With wind gusting to 33 knots from the south, surfing on waves reaching 10 feet and the engine running hard, we were still lucky to manage a measly 4 knots over ground. It was a tough, wet, bumpy, diesel sucking passage, all for just two latitudes gained climbing from Port Stephens to Coffs Harbour. We made it in just before dusk where I found solace in a bottle of Shiraz.

March 5, 2018 (day 3,931)
Quick Fix: 32° 42.9 S / 152° 10.2 E
Conditions:  Wind: 20/SE Sky: Cloudy

41 Latitudes
Yesterday we began a 4,000 nautical mile journey, one that will ultimately carry us out of the southern hemisphere - a region we've called home for 10 years - and back into the northern, all the way up in to Thailand. We'll be crossing 41 latitudes, from 33 degrees south to 8 degrees north and, in keeping with tradition, Dream Time managed a very modest 20 miles on her first day sailing from Sydney Harbour to Pittwater. A wind warning brought a lively 30 knots of southerlies that carried us briskly along the coast, past the wild surf swept cliffs of North Head and, sadly, away from friends, a harbor, and a city that we will greatly miss. Our second day delivered a more civilized 20 knots of southeasterlies in conditions so sublime I just had to turn 'Lewie', our autopilot, off and hand steer. So that's what I did, all the way to Port Stephens, another 70 miles up the coast. We're now in latitude 32 south, only 40 more to go...