Long overdue update, and Wollongong Harbour arrival

Pics Crazy Lady leaving Ulladulla Harbour, still pulling out the head sail and having a blast of a sail to Jervis Bay, Friendly faces night before naming ceremony, and Jen 25 knot gust no worries.

Thankyou to everyone that turned up on Friday night to help us officially name CRAZY LADY. The generosity of our friends seems to know no bounds. I won't name you all here, but Moet was another treat, as well as the special xmas cookies and cakes,(I promise I won't eat them till xmas day), the 3 books are brilliant(have not stopped reading McTavish,) and the timber work and stairs are fantastic. Best of all your company is priceless, THANKYOU!!
People seemed to come and go till about midnight,(Jens work mates later than most). The delivery crew from Secret Men's Business (Sydney to Hobart contestant this year) left for Sydney at about midnight. We helped them cast off. They would probably be in Sydney by the next morning, Sat morning!!!!!. They rafted up next to us, while they enjoyed dinner and a few ales at the famous MARLIN pub. They won the meat raffle and were quite festive on their return. Jen and I were invited on board to see what a $2million racing machine looks like. Picture yourself in a black tunnel with bunks stacked along each side and heaps of small 3 LED lights and just a computer on the middle line, and that just about sums it all up. Anyway we were given a weeks supply of meat as a treat.

Saturday, saw a late start after showers and breakfast. We set off at about 11.30am with help from Big Al and pics(see above) from Kaye. It was one of the best sails we have had in Crazy Lady, with constant 20 knot winds blasting us along at about 7 knots. The boat and crew handled these conditions beautifully. We picked up a national park mooring(3 attempts)in the beautiful Hole in the Wall area in Jervis Bay and had a nice BBQ and were in bed by 9pm. More on Jervis Bay in the coming weeks when we return to spend some relaxing times there.
The plan on Sunday was to go straight thru to Wollongong, but sloppy seas and no wind soon made for a quick change of plans. We motored to Greenwell Point, about 20 nm from Jervis. My plan was to go up the creek and stay on the jetty at the caravan park. I had stayed there previously on Anembo, our slightly smaller previous boat. I must have forgotten some details in the past few years, because our new boat which is slightly deeper unexpectedly grounded in what should have been a deep channel. After kedging off (note the use of the nautical term) the sandbar, and much to the entertainment of cheering locals leaning over their balconies we picked up a public mooring in the river. Sounds smooth but it wasn't. The fun doesn't end there though. Later when lighting the BBQ under the continued gaze of curious locals, the cover of the Kettle that Jen spent 8 days making, blew into the water. My 1st thought was that its only a cover, no worries. I'll let it go. With horror I remembered how proud Jen was of this item, and being a natural born hero that I am I sprung into action. I leaped into the as yet unused dinghy to retrieve floating cover. One big problem being that I overlooked the stability of a regular dinghy which this was, and very different to an inflatable. Well you can guessed the rest, a complete and dramatic capsize of the dinghy with me(fully clothed) in the water and one oar floating speedily away with the outgoing tide to join the BBQ cover. Not to be deterred by the laughter of the locals, I quickly regained composure and was carefully assisted into new dinghy by Jen. I then did my best Hiawatha impersonation with the remaining oar, and rescued the cover and lost oar but nearly lost a boat hook in the process.

Monday and Tuesday were rest days in Greenwell Point. Locals very disappointed. All we could manage was some very erratic rowing with a faulty oar grip against the strong tidal flow. We transported large quantities of washing to and from the laundry, and I carted 15-20 litres of fuel about a kilometre along the foreshore. Jen scrubbed the grubbiest parts of the Crazy with a scrub brush and Jiff for hours in the pleasant afternoon breeze.

Wednesday: today: now. Wollongong Harbour.
We left Greenwell Point early this morning about 5.15am and motored all the way to the Gong to arrive at about 11.30am. Not a bad run averaging between 5.5 and 6.0 knots.When we arrived we were greeted with 2 fire rescue trucks who were called in on a false alarm. Good timing as they helped tie us up when they realized that we didn't need rescuing. They then spent the next half hour discussing my surfboards. Next came the Customs officers who wanted to know what country we were from???? I finally convinced them that Tabourie Lake was in Australia, we just look different. After an hour of stuffing around dealing with the above, the Coastal Patrol vessel came into the harbor, with 4 crew glaring out of the window at me??? Yes, I had tied up at THEIR spot, so we had to move forward two metres. And then the police pulled up to watch us as they enjoyed a lunch of fish and chips. (has someone not told us something....)
Tomorrow it's off to buy a new toilet, (did I mention that this trip started with a major toilet malfunction before we even sailed out on the first morning?) and to get the outboard motor fixed, which is why the dinghy oars are so vital at the moment.(Bruuuuuce I just can't wait until I see you again)Who said this cruising lifestyle is exotic????? A leaking toilet, too much washing, fading communications systems and no time to get ashore to prepare for Xmas. Oh and if you were wondering about why we are late with the blog update, its because my invertor had some conflict with neg. wiring that I as an electrician created and was able to solve all by my self. Jen's off shopping with Brenna, and I hope they bring back some food. I was incharge of the food shopping prior to departure but foolishy thought that snacks would get us through. (see earlier blog) I think I might get my 1st surf in the morning at the beach were I learnt to surf at 45 years ago.
We look forward to your correspondence and comments (and whinges if you know me well).

Jen might say something when she gets back.

Cheers,

Glenn