Well, if you saw my Facebook post about the sailing conditions, both Del and I were right! It was a massive wind storm that swept through last night. I had to get up several times and adjust the "batter boards" (wood cushioned by inflated fenders that rub against the two wooden pylons in our berth) to keep the boat from rubbing and grinding against the wood pole. So for the first time in weeks, I slept through to my 7:15am alarm clock. Tired, but eager to see what the day and race had in store for us, I started the coffee. The huge Low pressure sweeping over Tasmania brought with it a cold night in Sydney. After slipping into my fleece and foulies I started to finish off the small items of prep work before the race.

By 10am Del and Damian (same crew from Bird Island) and our newest crew member Chris hopped aboard. We started to pull out of the slip around 10:15 and I know I'm tired when I forgot to slip the two rear lines! So backing up just churned some water and resulted in a tad of line creaking. With a quick disconnect, the two lines were hung on the post and we were off for the races.

It still amazes me just how protected our marina in Berry's Bay really is. It was barely reading 6-8 knots when we pulled out (although I had the instruments on while setting up all morning and saw a bullet of 33 knots come shooting through). Just around the corner and I whooped with delight, the entire HARBOR was churned up with whitecaps! We quickly put the anchor away into the front locker and Nemesis was race ready.

An efficient hoist of the main by Chris and Damian and a mob of 200 spectators cheering us on from the old BP site

(These were actually spectators for the protest of a proposed marina to replace where we currently keep Nemesis. The marina lease was wrestled from it's proper trust and put into the hands of NSW Maritime. They are putting Berrys Bay on the block for a controversial new marina development. A Queensland marina builder, Meridien, has proposed a huge powerboat marina with little regard to the community or to the hundred plus years of yacht building that has occurred in this specific bay. So community outrage is in full swing, as it should be, to oust the plan - and maybe they'll have to sack the Minister for Ports and Waterways, Hon. Eric Roozendaal, and his boss, Hon. Kristina Keneally, the Premier of New South Wales while they are at it. I can't vote in Australia, but I sure and be outspoken and put my boot into it! That said, I will be getting behind this killing of the marina plan, as it is a short sighted profit taking by the state government, NSW Maritime, when the city of North Sydney has a good master plan for the area that should and shall be respected. Go to www.northsydney.nsw.gov.au/saveberrysbay for more info and write to: premier@www.nsw.gov.au or enquiries@treasurer.nsw.gov.au if you want to help Nemesis save her current home!)

So with a huge crowd looking down on us we pulled up our mainsail into a double reef (reefing points, our new sail has three, allow you to reduce the size of the mainsail in heavy winds. Each of the reefing points reduces the sail and makes the boat easier to control in higher winds) and set out for the start line. As soon as we eased into the harbor, and out of the lee of our bay we heeled over and shot off like a rocket. We were speeding along over 7 knots on a beam reach with just the main up. We figured it was a good time to sail past the Sydney Opera House and pull down the main to rig up the three reef.

With the Sydney skyline, botanical gardens, Harbor Bridge and Opera House all watching, we doused our main and hooked the first reefing line into position to pull on the 3rd reef if needed. We decided to hoist the main with the 3rd reef in and then after the race started we could shake out a reef if needed. We pulled out of Farm Cove and headed over to the starting line. But funny thing, it was empty! A quick call to CYCA by Chris confirmed that our race had been abandoned! (races are sometimes called off if the weather conditions warrant it) Well, we were out here so it's time for a wind-blown day cruise of the harbor. We pull into the lee of Point Piper and pull up our heavy weather jib, turn off head to wind and start racing down the harbor to Manly.

The days stats:
High wind seen: 45 knots (and we think our wind instrument reads a tad low)
Highest downwind speed on the log: 13.6
Highest uphill (hard on the wind) speed: 8.75 on the GPS
Size of waves in the harbor: 1 meter
Number of other race boats out playing with heavy weather sails: 5
Number of times I had to clip in to do something forward of the cockpit: 1 (remember folks, this is in a fully protected harbor!)
Number of old, re-cut sails torn and left with a 8 foot bit streaming off the rigging: 1
Number of jib sheets (the rope that pulls the end of the front sail tight) snapped like a gunshot: 1
Number of times we heeled over, felt the boat shoot ahead and grinned from ear to ear: 501
Waves over the bow (again in the closed waters of the harbor): 101
Crew damage: none, save a wet bum by Kirsty's need for new foulie bottoms.
Beers drank: 12ish when we got back to the dock... but do you count the ones consumed at the Sydney Hotel Beer Festival that the boys when to after cleaning up the boat?
Blogs written after 1am on a Saturday night: 1 (and hence why I'm signing off and heading for bed!)