Yesterday Annie’s daughter Kara and husband Peter came for a quick visit, we met them at the Rose Bay Dock at 0800 and after breakfast we took them for a tour around Sydney Harbour. Even though it was the worst weather we have experienced ever since we arrived they had a great time. We took them up past the Sydney Opera House and under the bridge, up to Cockatoo Island and around and into Blackwattle Bay where we spent the night in the nice sheltered water there.
This morning we took a taxi to the airport at 0515 and said our goodbye’s as they caught their flight back to Avalon, Annie and I caught the train back to Central Station, then the light rail to the Sydney Fish Market and after a short walk we were back at the pontoon where we left Macenna our dinghy and it was a very short ride from there to get back on board Annecam.
We weighed anchor and motored around to Iron Cove to purchase some provisions, from there we motored through the Spit Bridge and we are now on a public mooring in Bantry Bay.
We had just picked up the public mooring and a Maritime patrol vessel came by and reminded us that the public moorings were for 24 hours only, he also asked us if we were aware of the New South Wales Legislation that states that a vessel can be at anchor in the one place for a maximum of 28 days and can only anchor for a maximum of 90 days in a calendar year, if you intend staying in New South Wales waters for longer than the 90 days you must use either a marina or a commercial mooring. I will add that the Maritime Officer was very polite and professional, he even came back when I asked him for the web link to find the information on the time limits so I could pass it onto our cruising friends who are heading this way. He came back and said the rules were in the legislation under, Marine Safety 2016, part 2 division 4, clause 17a.
I looked it up and It states.
17A restrictions on time at anchor;
1. The operator of a vessel must not allow a vessel to be at anchor in NSW waters for more than 90 days in any calendar year.
2. The operator of a vessel must not allow a vessel to be at anchor in any one place in NSW waters for more than 28 days in any one calendar year.
Maximum penalty: 50 penalty units or $5,500 can be imposed.
We on Annecam must watch the calendar as we will have to either pay for a marina berth, commercial mooring or sail away to another state.
The photo is Myself, Peter and Kara having a morning coffee at the Sydney Airport.
Life is not about how you survived the storm, it’s about how you danced in the rain.