Sailing a Tall Ship

To take in the full Sydney experience, we booked ourselves onto the wooden sailing ship Soren Larsen. She was built in 1949 as one the last cargo carrying wooden ships Soren Larsen & Sons in Denmark. She was chosen to be the flagship for the First fleet re-enactment for Australia Day in 1988 (200th anniversary).



One of the first things we saw (and sailed unde) was the Sydney Harbor bridge. Built between 1928 and 1931, it is the heart of the city still. From Wikipedia we learn:

It is the sixth longest spanning-arch bridge in the world and the tallest steel arch bridge, measuring 134 m (440 ft) from top to water level.^[7] It was also the world's widest long-span bridge, at 48.8 m (160 ft) wide, until construction of the new Port Mann Bridge in Vancouver was completed in 2012.

Because it employed so many men during its construction in the depression, it was then called the "iron lung".

We motored out under the bridge, past the Opera house, out toward the sea. When we reached our farthest point. we set a few sails and turned to sail back with the southeasterly wind at our back.

The Opera House is another wonder that you have already see some of in an earlier post. But seeing from the the water is quite different. There are no internal supports for the roof shells. The construction was slow and expensive. When the project was started in 1957 it was estimated to completed by January 1963 and cost $7 million. It was completed in 1973 and cost $102 million. I know the NSW government was not happy with this, but I sure am. This is a great place. It is only building constructed in the 20th century that is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The harbor was filled with sailboats, the most we've seen at one time on our travels about the country.

Below, you see Point Piper, one of the most expensive neighborhoods in the world. House here, as you see are typically 3-4 stories and cost $50-$100 million.

Just a little farther along the shore, there is a similarly expensive section of the coast. You will notice the tall crane near the center of the image below. Just to the left of it, you can just see the top of a pinkish house set back a bit from the water on the hill. This is Malcolm Turnbull's (Prime Minister) private home. We were told it would go fo some $60 million these days.

Once the ship turned we could see the full harbor as the sun set.

Sydney is a large and lovely city. I really recommend a visit to everyone.

While we sailed out and back and young man from Ohio sat among the forward cables with a radio and kept the captain, in the rear, apprised of the boat traffic ahead. The crew of 8 (not sure about the captain) lives on board. They get room and board and small salary. This fellow has been on the job just over a week. He applied online and was selected.

While we were afloat, we saw two very large cruise ships leave port. One sailed under the bridge (impressive!) and one backed out of its moorings just on the seaward side (near side in the image) and turned to head to sea. The boat was nearly as long as the width of the bridge span.

We were firmly in the blue hour be the time we docked and it was raining pretty good. Fortunately, ponchos were distributed for us to wear. We walked back to the Circular Quay to catch the train home. From there we got one last look at the bridge, Luna Park, and the ferries sitting at dock.