Excitement reigns, even when you're 55, when looking to experience something you have dreamed about for about 30 Years.
Some 12 months ago a telephone call from Graham an old mate, telling me was sitting on the deck of the Newport Arms Hotel in Newport Marina, Pittwater looking down on the 43 foot catamaran he just bought. Well, with no hesitation I said I wanted a birth when bringing the boat home to Ballina or Brunswick Heads or wherever the boat was to be moored.
Finally after replacing the two diesel motors and using the boat a little around the Hawkesbury to get a feel for her, the beginning of New South Wales school holidays is set for the big adventure.
The plan is, that I ride my motorcycle to Graham's on Friday night Sept 29th and drive to Sydney on Saturday 30th together with Graham and Janet.
The planned trip was already foiled, as the van we were to take down had a steering problem, so we had to take the sedan loaded to the hilt.
We arrived in Newport around 4 30 PM and all was well. We get a lift out to the catamaran with the courtesy Dingy at the Marina and got sorted out before dark.
Needless to say that bed was comfortable and the company was great, we had been at the Newport Arms with a few relaxing beers and pizza for dinner.
The 1st morning.
The sun came up Sunday and dragged us with it to start today with bacon, eggs and baked beans. -- Great start for the day.
The boat required several jobs to be done, repair the anchor winch switch, a faulty connection. This was cleaned up and rectified and the winch operated okay. (seeing I was the sparky in a past life I got that job).
The next task was to clean the bottom of the hulls. This turned out to be a mammoth job, but we finally got most of the grunge off.
We had to repair the log and in this process see why it didn't work and found it was jammed with the small crustacean so we freed up (it only works the 20 minutes the next day and jammed again).
The next job was to sort out the sails and halyards, fuel up with diesel and stock the galley with the necessities for about five days sailing. Did I say 5 days!
The gas bottle is also a concern. We could not release the valve, but Inox and a wrench fixed that and were ready to go sailing.
To the pub for a well earned sip, then off to the Indian restaurant for dinner, where I am sure. The chef tried to poison us, because it stuck in my craw for the next 48 hours.
Day one.
We left Newport Marina at 7:30 a.m. sailing toward Broken Bay with motors going, as there was little wind. And what there was,was from the North Northeast, the way we were heading. Our destination this day was Port Stephens but nightfall arrived. So we decided to sail into Newcastle Harbour and get a marina berths for $60
The hot shower was worth every cent. We arrived at around 7:30 p.m. exhausted and drove half around Newcastle looking for a drink. During this day we had to sort out a couple of other items of the boats navigation equipment. The first was the GPS, plotter, a snazzy machine that showed the coastline and your position in relation to the coast. You mark where you want to go and it will give you a compass heading in relation to your existing position. We found the problem after cleaning a dirty contact; " Patricia” the plotter was now operational and certainly is a fantastic aid to navigation during overcast, rainy days or during the night. The next to be repaired was “Agnes” a name given to the autopilot According to the yacht surveyor "Agnes" was not operable yet we tried and found it worked well, keeping us on the compass heading we set, whilst doing other stuff around the boat. Unfortunately on day three in the auto- helm belt drive broke, and we were back to piloting the heading ourselves. This turned out to be very arduous, at times, particularly downwind once working correctly these two devices should talk together (SEA TALK) allowing you to plot a course on the GPS plotter “Patricia” logs this course on a plan and the auto helm Agnes follows the course as set from mark to mark.
I guess this works well until things like the auto helm breaks the belt that drives the rudder.
Day 2.
We sailed out of Newcastle at around 7 a.m. and once out of the harbour. We were met by a southerly swell. According to the Coast Guard report, a 1.5 m to 3 m swell would be running from the South.
Well, when standing the back of the boat "Tailor-Made" which is about 2.5 m off the waterline and you look up at around 3 m of water. You know, they got it wrong!
I had to resort to the "pills" that day, and by 2 p.m. We had had enough (both the captain and me). I was crook, and he was stuffed. So into Port Stephens, and the public mooring went we. After unloading the rubber dingy Graham paddled to shore to retrieve Janet and thereafter had a restful afternoon.
A beer and a red, an early tea and off to bed no shower that day, didn't really deserve it I suppose, after 23 nautical miles in seven hours. We hardly even raised a sweat.
The discovery on day one was that although the marine motors were new and advice was given that the propeller is fitted should show around 8 kn in flat water disappointment was obvious and schedule was shot to bits. When 5.2 knots was a maximum on flat water, and in a rough sea will likely to achieve 3.5 kn average. We got under the hull that night after a few drinks and fixed the log properly this time.
Day three.
Showed much more promise and was a bit scary to start with a heavy cloud masking the early Sun and the promise of a southerly of 15 to 25 kn. Up went the larger of the two jibs, and a powering time we had.
With the main sail fully raised and the big jib hanked on we were accelerating to 11.7 kn rather quickly. I took the helm so Graham could go down to the charts and plot our course at this time the wind lifted and shifted talk. Graham had experienced prior, not knowing why (no steerage), we were overpowered in the main sail.
I called him up to take the helm and bring her up into the wind while I reefed the main and pull down the jib. During the reefing of the main the kevlar in the jib had delaminated and blown out at the top Panel, so I had then to get the halyard undone and the drop the jib. In the process I had to grapple wound up flogging sheets (a lesson learned, keep the sheet ends tidy and out of the way). I missed the first grab and the sheet hit me in the forearm, and I thought I had broken it. The hand went numb and swelled up very quickly so I had to take my time to untangle the sheets and drop the Jib. Eventually I had it tied down to the fore deck, and we progressed with the main reefed still averaging 7.6 kn onward to Crowdy Head, arriving there at dusk.
Here we were told we could use the public jetty and could raft up, so proceeded to tie up and some local fishermen came along and told us that "we need to move off there local fishermen use that side." Apparently, this was their permanent berth, so we had to move. The ocean swell dragged the boat forward and backward all night, which kept us awake. We also discovered the shortcomings of the drop buffers; the pad type would have been better in the situation.
I had a cold shower on the front deck that night, felt good but sure was chilly.
Day four.
We left Crowdy head 7 a.m. a dull dawn, with a southerly swell running and a promise of eight to 18 kn of wind from the South. We were lucky to get five to 8 kn and arrived in into Port Maquarie around 5 p.m.. Graham left me at the helm, never having berthed in the boat before! Well, I struggled a little and the boat was getting winded into the Marina pen. However, after two goes I got it in the pen and shutdown for the night. Thanks to some help from another yachtie, the marina manager, Janet and Graham.
I said to Graham sometime later, after the trip that I had a moment in Port when you left me at the helm, and his reply was " Will you should have said something." and my reply to that was "I was too busy shitting my pants".
After a welcome hot shower and a tidy up I found a local phone book in the marina office and looked up an old friend of mine. I rang the number and spoke to Bill's wife, Kerry and said I wanted to charge my phone and get a feed. She didn't have a clue who she was speaking to So when I identified myself (a bit miffed that she didn't recognise my voice after 16 years, though, ha ha!), Kerry rang Bill, who was still at work (some things never change), and he picked me up from the Irish pub and took me home for a quite ale and a lovely Thai chicken dinner.
It was great to catch up with Bill and Kerry, they are one of the special couples in life that accept you as you are and have never changed as long as I have known them, and that's around 42 years.
We got back to the Marina and around midnight. And guess what? The gate to the marina berths is locked! I rang Graham and Janet's mobile twice, in fact, so thank goodness it was low tide, and I was able to do a rock and fence walk to gain access and unlock the gate so that Bill and Kerry could have a good look at the boat.
Finally! To bed to and out like a light.
We left Crowdy head 7 a.m. a dull dawn, with a southerly swell running and a promise of eight to 18 kn of wind from the South. We were lucky to get five to 8 kn and arrived in into Port Maquarie around 5 p.m.. Graham left me at the helm, never having berthed in the boat before! Well, I struggled a little and the boat was getting winded into the Marina pen. However, after two goes I got it in the pen and shutdown for the night. Thanks to some help from another yachtie, the marina manager, Janet and Graham.
I said to Graham sometime later, after the trip that I had a moment in Port when you left me at the helm, and his reply was " Will you should have said something." and my reply to that was "I was too busy shitting my pants".
After a welcome hot shower and a tidy up I found a local phone book in the marina office and looked up an old friend of mine. I rang the number and spoke to Bill's wife, Kerry and said I wanted to charge my phone and get a feed. She didn't have a clue who she was speaking to So when I identified myself (a bit miffed that she didn't recognise my voice after 16 years, though, ha ha!), Kerry rang Bill, who was still at work (some things never change), and he picked me up from the Irish pub and took me home for a quite ale and a lovely Thai chicken dinner.
It was great to catch up with Bill and Kerry, they are one of the special couples in life that accept you as you are and have never changed as long as I have known them, and that's around 42 years.
We got back to the Marina and around midnight. And guess what? The gate to the marina berths is locked! I rang Graham and Janet's mobile twice, in fact, so thank goodness it was low tide, and I was able to do a rock and fence walk to gain access and unlock the gate so that Bill and Kerry could have a good look at the boat.
Finally! To bed to and out like a light.
Day five.
Leaving Port.
I awoke at daybreak and stayed in the cot till I heard sounds in the galley. A hot Cuppa and Coast Guard report, winds southeast and southwest eight to 18 kn great!
Leaving Port.
I awoke at daybreak and stayed in the cot till I heard sounds in the galley. A hot Cuppa and Coast Guard report, winds southeast and southwest eight to 18 kn great!
We started out with the jib and a reefed main to we discovered that eight to 10 kn was more like it, and easing, so up went the rest of the main and that got us the next 1.5 to 2 kn of boat speed for the day.
Many whales seen this day and an accompanying family of dolphins are about playing around the boat in and out of the space between the hulls leaping across the bow backwards and forwards sometime later that day. We realise that whenever we felt a bit nervous about our sails or the sea the dolphins appeared. And they were there when we damaged the sail, and when we were rounded up to take the sails down. They also appeared and were running with us just prior to a whale surfacing ahead of us like a warning "hey fellas you have company, and just watch where you’re going okay".
As the day progressed, the wind dropped off marginally, and probably stayed around five to 8 kn reaching 10 to 13 at times.
This was a long day, and our longest haul to date totalling around 85 nautical miles.
A small swell
Before Coffs
We Arrived into Coffs Harbour at around 7:30 p.m. after averaging around 6.4 kn for almost 13 hours mart on arrival at Coffs found our clock was about an hour slow. We don't know what happened there, but we reset the clock that could perfect time thereafter.??
I rang David Wilson (Dave used to come from Tenterfield to sail with me in Brisbane were several years until he moved to Coffs). So he got the message next morning and came to the Marina had a cuppa with us before we left. We shared the Marina with the old Dutch Square Rigger that is sailing around the world crewed by youth from Denmark.
Day six.
We fired up and got away about a 5 a.m. with a weather report of a northerly and looking forward to a hard day. But surprise surprise. It swung nicely to the east, and we managed to run up the coast with the following sea with eight to 13 kn of North easterly. That gave us an angle of attack of around 38 to 52° all-day this meant pleasant sailing and a fantastic day.
The following sea with sail power really smoothed out the ride, and so far this was the most pleasant day.
We fired up and got away about a 5 a.m. with a weather report of a northerly and looking forward to a hard day. But surprise surprise. It swung nicely to the east, and we managed to run up the coast with the following sea with eight to 13 kn of North easterly. That gave us an angle of attack of around 38 to 52° all-day this meant pleasant sailing and a fantastic day.
The following sea with sail power really smoothed out the ride, and so far this was the most pleasant day.
Having a whale of a time This is Mum
About 50 Wales were sited this day, and we arrived in Yamba on dusk and had to motor up around two small islands to get around to the Marina.
Well! After nearly grounding between these islands, because of my mis-direction, we finally berthed at the Marina at around 7 p.m.
Here Graham and Janet met two old friends (neighbours that used to live next door to their farm) for a quiet drink or two or three. We have a hot shower, and kangaroo for dinner that night. And off to a deep sleep.
We had promise of more of the same the next day. So Janet decided to leave the car in the Yamba and sale with this for the final leg of the journey.
Well! After nearly grounding between these islands, because of my mis-direction, we finally berthed at the Marina at around 7 p.m.
Here Graham and Janet met two old friends (neighbours that used to live next door to their farm) for a quiet drink or two or three. We have a hot shower, and kangaroo for dinner that night. And off to a deep sleep.
We had promise of more of the same the next day. So Janet decided to leave the car in the Yamba and sale with this for the final leg of the journey.
Day seven.
Was promising early as the set out from Yamba for the final leg of the journey to Ballina. The last 35 nautical miles.
As we headed out of the mouth of the Clarence River the wind was in the north-west, and we judged about 12 kn, well it swung further north and sat there right in our path at about eight to 11° east of North. After heading out to sea to try to pick up better wind and more boat speed. We finally gave up after several tacks we discovered. We made marginally better time directly into the wind with the sails down. Our boat speed was around 6.7 kn. However, we discovered we were only making ground towards our destination. At 3.4 kn. Once the sails were down we motored that three to 4 kn into a building northerly chop, that as the day when on the came increasingly sloppy and uncomfortable.
By mid-afternoon Janet, was feeling a little queasy, the boat having dropped off the back of some of the steep and jarring swells so, out came the homoeopathic pills again and settled her a little.
Darkness fell and Ballina didn't seem a lot closer, finally after one half hours later we could make out North and South lights of the entry walls. This was around 8:15 p.m.
Was promising early as the set out from Yamba for the final leg of the journey to Ballina. The last 35 nautical miles.
As we headed out of the mouth of the Clarence River the wind was in the north-west, and we judged about 12 kn, well it swung further north and sat there right in our path at about eight to 11° east of North. After heading out to sea to try to pick up better wind and more boat speed. We finally gave up after several tacks we discovered. We made marginally better time directly into the wind with the sails down. Our boat speed was around 6.7 kn. However, we discovered we were only making ground towards our destination. At 3.4 kn. Once the sails were down we motored that three to 4 kn into a building northerly chop, that as the day when on the came increasingly sloppy and uncomfortable.
By mid-afternoon Janet, was feeling a little queasy, the boat having dropped off the back of some of the steep and jarring swells so, out came the homoeopathic pills again and settled her a little.
Darkness fell and Ballina didn't seem a lot closer, finally after one half hours later we could make out North and South lights of the entry walls. This was around 8:15 p.m.
Finally; we steamed up the river towards the creek where Graham had obtained a berth. Navigation marks in the main river led us up to the ferry crossing, and then showed a port and starboard light into the creek entry but this is where it all fell to bits! A reflector on a buoy in the first starboard turn in the creek was silver. Not green, not red, so this usually means an obstacle so we kept clear of it and Graham yells, "I've got no steerage." And aground we ran! 9 p.m. stuck solid, thank God the tide had a bit to rise that far down the creek. We tried to kedge off using the rear anchor and the sail winch. But no go. So, off we went up the creek in the dinghy to pick up Graham’s son Ryan, at the boat ramp.
Something positive came out of this. We actually found reflective marks were on coloured buoys but reflected as silver, some were red and some were green in fact there were two green and to read that were unable to be identified until you were right on top of them. The port marks were a red bucket on a post, but reflected silver. Therefore, had we not gone for a ride in the dingy we would have grounded again?
On our return, the tide had lifted marginally, and we tried once more to kedge her free.
Our judgment on these marks was that it was a pretty poor effort for a major channel up to a slipway. Finally, we came free at 10:10 p.m. and 25 minutes later we berthed cleaned up. Had the car packed and were on the way to Fairview Road via Clunes.
Long long, long day, and I was not allowed to ride home that night.
Something positive came out of this. We actually found reflective marks were on coloured buoys but reflected as silver, some were red and some were green in fact there were two green and to read that were unable to be identified until you were right on top of them. The port marks were a red bucket on a post, but reflected silver. Therefore, had we not gone for a ride in the dingy we would have grounded again?
On our return, the tide had lifted marginally, and we tried once more to kedge her free.
Our judgment on these marks was that it was a pretty poor effort for a major channel up to a slipway. Finally, we came free at 10:10 p.m. and 25 minutes later we berthed cleaned up. Had the car packed and were on the way to Fairview Road via Clunes.
Long long, long day, and I was not allowed to ride home that night.
I set out at around 7:30 a.m. the next day Monday morning the ninth of October 2006. I was home at 11 a.m. I washed clothes washed myself and slept. A fitting end to a great nine days.
