Sydney Harbour: a winter wonderland

When offered the opportunity to spend my Sunday whale watching with Sydney by Sail, I instantly thought, ‘What a fun date to take my new squeeze on!’
We’d seen some whales off Bondi Beach the weekend prior, so the timing couldn’t have been more perfect. I wasn’t the only one who had that idea as we were joined by two other twenty something couples and Mitch, our extremely knowledgeable skipper.

Sailing Hot Tip: Leave the heels at home and put your best pair of white soled shoes on.

The day was stunning! 10 knot winds, a calm ocean and beautiful clear blue skies. As we motored through the harbour, I really got to appreciate what a breath-takingly beautiful city Sydney is.

We stopped briefly off Rushcutter’s Bay to put the sails up and for Mitch to give us a short sailing demonstration. Somehow I landed the job of operating the main sail for the day which made me feel very nervous about to begin with. However, the electric winch made it super easy and I looked like a bit of a pro in front of my date 😉 Thank you modern technology!

Once we made it out through the heads, the ocean swell became very large yet Mitch assured us that it is almost impossible for the yacht to capsize (thankfully!). They really are an amazing piece of engineering considering the degree at which some of the yachts lean.

We sailed down the coast towards Bondi where we had seen the whales the weekend prior. Mid whale search we saw two pods of dolphins with their babies riding the waves.

Unfortunately on this trip, we had no luck seeing the gentle giants of the sea. So, we sailed back through the heads for lunch at the beautiful Obelisk bay. Lunch was provided as part of the tour and we tucked into our gourmet hamper, jam-packed with sandwiches, wraps, fruit and chocolate chip muffins – yum!

On the way back to the dock, we had another opportunity to soak up the beautiful harbour. Even though we didn’t see any whales, the dolphins, Sydney Harbour and the Sydney by Sail experience made it a Sunday to remember. Just make sure you pack your winter woollies!