Dead calm to a howling northerly at Harwood

Lee Mee Wun and her son Kwan Goddard Lee (age 12) live in Armidale and were visiting me for the school holidays. Both jumped at the opportunity to come on a sailing adventure on the Clarence River. I also invited along Jenny Gray and Rob Watson. Mee Wun, Jenny and I know each other from Alice Springs days.

The Big River Sailing Club is hardly used except on Saturdays but members can, by arrangement, camp during the week and have access to shower/toilet. I stern anchored Little Dragon in front of the clubhouse and slept aboard. Mee Wun and Kwan pitched their tent. Jenny and Rob had all mod cons in a converted transit van. We were well set up.

There was the usual delay in getting underway while I made a hash (yet again) of backing Little Dragon down the very narrow ramp - thanks to everyone for their patience.

The first day there was only a very light breeze and if the truth be known Kwan found the sailing a bit dull. He would have preferred me to motor. His idea of fun was a speedboat and he thought - quite correctly - that he could race us in the kayak. He claimed - again correctly - that we were only going at 2 km per hour. The difference was I didn't care and it seems that 12 year old boys do care, especially if they are Top Gear addicts.

After a couple of hours very sedate sailing Kwan, Rob and I went back to shore and found that the tide had dropped so far that it was horribly muddy getting ashore. In the late afternoon I went out with Jenny and Mee Wun. Kwan pursued us in the kayak. Then a fine sailing breeze sprang up and he found it hard to keep up. Maybe sailing isn't such a pathetic means of transport after all.

The following morning we woke up to a dead calm, not a breath of wind rippled the water. However by the time we had a leisurely breakfast there was a fine northerly sailing breeze, a bit fluky and rising all the time. Mee Wun and Kwan decided to row the zodiac and kayak so Jenny, Rob and I went out sailing until lunch time. We tacked downriver towards Iluka and then ran back to the clubhouse several times giving Jenny and Rob a good chance to hone their skills at the helm. Most of the time Kwan was in hot pursuit in the kayak. Eventually Kwan caught up with us on the far side of the river to give us the sugar cane he had cut. It looked like a tough kayak back to shore against the current for Kwan so we gave him a tow - which he reckoned was pretty cool.

Unfortunately Jenny and Rob had to leave after lunch so we sailed back to the ramp and hauled Little Dragon out. Thanks Rob for backing the trailer, but how come he makes it look so easy?

It was mid afternoon by the time Jenny and Rob drove off and Mee Wun and I settled down for an afternoon nap. By this time the wind was howling, definitely justifying the strong wind warning current for Far North Coastal Waters. Then we experienced the "40% higher gusts" that are always mentioned in the coastal waters forecast. Little Dragon was bouncing around on the trailer most uncomfortably and at that very moment the main tent pole in Mee Wun's tent snapped. So we hurriedly struck camp and prepared to drive home. A shame as we had been looking forward to a second night camping.

My plan was to leave Little Dragon and the zodiac at Harwood for the weekend and return the following Monday with Nicky and Lee as crew. Weather permitting we hoped to spend the week sailing up river to Maclean and downriver to Iluka. The last thing to do before leaving our windy camp site was to move Little Dragon to a suitable spot on the other side of the clubhouse.

Now go on to the next post for the continuing saga ....

Skiving off on a Monday

Although I have been retired several years I can't get over the feeling that it is particularly decadent to skive off sailing on a Monday.

Keith Mountford (yet another Stingray ocean swimmer) works weekends. As the weather looked good for Monday I took the opportunity to invite him and Cathy out for a sail at Ballina.

The photos show my crew concentrating on sailing Little Dragon while I loll back looking somewhat smug and contented - which I was.

We tacked up the Richmond River against a strong flood tide taking 2 hours to get from Fisheries Creek to Mobbs Bay where we anchored for a lunch time cuppa and then a fast run back.

As always I am totally reliant on this seemingly bottomless pit of ocean swimmers who also fancy a spot of crewing. My continued thanks to you all and today Keith and Cathy in particular.

Each time we venture out I gain a little more confidence and I am really looking forward to some more overnight cruises. It is a bit of a chore setting up and packing up for just a few hours sailing.

Goose winging while reefed

Heavy weather came in on Thursday and lasted right through Saturday, winds of up to 43 knots. So obviously we had to cancel the Stingray sailing day on Saturday, a shame as 4 or 5 boats were going to take part and it would have been fun.

Fortunately the wind had moderated by Sunday and it was a glorious sunny day. So after our Sunday ocean swim and coffee we headed off to Ballina for a few hours sail.

This time my crew were Noela, who is becoming a regular, plus Gerry and my long time friend Rae.

It was still quite blowy when we set out so I decided to test out the new reefing system. I'm pleased to report it works well. After a couple of hours the wind dropped enough for us to shake out the reef and that also turned out to be a trouble free operation.

Gerry enjoyed being at the helm and the second photo shows Gerry concentrating on sailing on a dead run and Noela rather anxiously watching the wind indicator at the top of the mast.


The third photo shows us goose winging using the recently modified boat hook as a whisker pole shortly before we shook out the reef. It is the first time that I have had the chance to test out the new whisker pole and it passed the test with flying colours.

We had a few nervous moments when we met about 100 boats (maybe less but it felt like that) bearing down on us and I ended up weaving my way through the fleet trying to ensure that not only did I observe the rules, but that I didn't get in the way. It wasn't easy given a sandbank on one side and the RSL Club on the other side.

Rae spotted an osprey so we got out the flash binoculars (thanks Peter and Helen) for a closer look. It is good to see them up high in their special osprey nesting boxes.

PS It wasn't until I got home that I heard that while we were out sailing a shark had got tangled in a surfer's toe rope and towed him out to sea off Clark's Beach at Byron. This is exactly where we had been swimming earlier. The surfer was taken to the hospital and the news says that all the doctor prescribed was a beer - he was lucky.