Sydney Harbour Sailing - Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Harmonie
Don and Anne Myers
Sat 3 Apr 2010 01:46
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33:53.323S 151:14.006E
On February 19, we descended the stairway to heaven
one last time and loaded ourselves back into the car on the mainland for the
short drive backwards (south) to the heart of Sydney. John was on a
mission. He and Sue received a 42 foot Beneteau sailboat as part of
the deal for the sale of Storyteller IV, their 57 foot Beneteau.
Although acquired several months before, John and Sue had never seen this
new boat of theirs because it lay waiting in Sydney while
they shuttled back and forth between their home in Melbourne, and
their boat Storyteller V near Brisbane. This day, however,
was the day.
Don had already assured John that if he wanted to
take his new possession out for a sail on Sydney Harbour, he (Don) could manage
to get himself on and off the boat without falling in. John indicated
that a ride might be nice, but that he had no intention of bonding with the
boat. In other words, he is hoping to sell it as quickly as
possible, so bonding isn't a good option. This from the
quintessential sailor (admittedly now a motor boater). One who has cruised
and raced sailboats over the course of many years. Including
a Beneteau 42 (called Storyteller II, I believe) just like the one
currently waiting for him in Sydney Harbour. A sailor at heart,
but with no desire to bond with a sailboat? Hmmmm...this
situation seems suspiciously like when an incredibly cute kitten ends up on
your doorstep and you swear to friends and family alike that come hell or high
water, you will not take the kitten in. Then you feed it, because you
can't possibly let it starve. You let it in the house because you
can't possibly let it freeze. Then the inevitable happens and you name the
thing and take it to the vet where it costs you hundreds of dollars but you
don't care because now you really love that kitten. I think a 42 foot
sailboat is to John what a wayward kitten is to the rest of us. Given half
a chance, the man might bond.
We made a beeline for the yacht club on Sydney
Harbour where the new acquisition was waiting. To get there we traveled
over the famous Sydney Harbour Bridge and got our first glimpse of the
opera house. The next time we saw the bridge and the opera house, we
were sailing (well, ok, motoring) under one and next to the other while
sitting comfortably with our lunch on the Beneteau 42.
Picture 1 - The proud sailboat owners. Both
working hard on bond avoidance.
Picture 2 - Sydney Harbour. It really is
as beautiful as it always looks in all the pictures and movies - even on a
cloudy day.
Picture 3 - The Sydney Opera House.
Pictures 4, 5 and 6 - After our perfect ride around
the harbor, John and Sue took us to our boutique hotel in the fashionable old
Victorian Sydney district of Woollahra. This area is packed
with the same Victorian architecture that is so prominent in
Melbourne. Picture 4 is our hotel. Picture 5 - a lovely old
mansion just down the road. Picture 6 - some of that incredible 'iron
lace'.
We spent that evening with Christine, another
friend of John and Sue's. Christine lives and works in Sydney and has a
fabulous place overlooking one of the many ocean-side beaches on the outskirts
of the city. In keeping with the charmed life we were
leading throughout the road trip, we sipped champagne and ate fresh
oysters on Christine's second-story deck overlooking the blue Pacific before
moving on to a hip neighborhood bistro just down the road for dinner. Life
is tough.
The next day, Don opted to rest his ankle and take
in some of the Olympics on our hotel TV while I went out and about with John and
Sue.
Picture 7 - This is the Pacific Ocean coastline
just outside the entrance to Sydney Harbour.
Picture 8 - View of Sydney Harbour on a busy,
sunny Saturday afternoon as seen from just inside the harbor
entrance.
Picture 9 - Lots of boats. I've never seen a
harbor so jam-packed with sailboats. John, Sue and I watched, mesmerized,
as boats participating in the many different races playing out before
us tacked and jibed around marks while they simultaneously dodged the
occasional wayward cruising boat. John spent a particularly long time
staring at the racing yachts - no doubt remembering the many times he was out
there doing exactly the same thing...and perhaps wondering how it might feel to
be racing the Beneteau 42?
Picture 10 - Happy hour with a
well-rested Don at the hotel.
Later that evening, we went to a nearby park
to watch a movie under the stars. Some the charm must have worn off us by
then because after waiting an hour or so in a long line of hopeful,
picnic-toting movie-goers, it was announced that the production would not go on
as planned due to technical difficulties. As a result, Don and
I ended up back in our tiny, boutique hotel room watching the Olympics
through the eyes of Australian commentators who were very fond of saying things
like, "Oh! Too bad! The Canadian lost the gold medal to, of all
people, an American!"
Anne
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