Harwood to Iluka at last

The next day the wind had dropped to a fine sailing breeze and when Noella arrived at Harwood we prepared for an overnight venture. We inflated the Zodiac, loaded up, rigged and launched. It was a much slicker operation than 6 months ago. It took a very hefty shove from Noella to get us off the lee shore but we made it. Well done Noella.

After that it was a magnificent reach almost all the way to Iluka (took around 2.5 hrs). We did the last little bit under motor as the wind had swung round onto our nose and the tide was against us. It runs pretty fast in the Clarence River. Pat and other readers accustomed to crowded waterways will find it hard to believe that throughout the day we only saw one yacht underway. We had the river to ourselves.

The small yacht anchorage at Iluka is an inner harbour entered through a gap in a rock wall and tucked behind the trawlers. It took us a while to discover all its desirable features. First and foremost we were very well protected. There was a sandy beach less than 100 metres away which was being used as a dinghy park. We went ashore and found the the Fish Co-Op (sells fish and chips), a toilet, the pub and a newsagency within even my limited walking distance.

We sat eating fish and chips with a drink (just one!) watching the sunset over the river. Life seemed pretty good. Noella, like Jan, knows her birds and pointed out a family of plovers and worried that the babies often get taken by kookaburras. Then it was back to Little Dragon and we turned in for an early night. The zodiac had proved very handy.

Next day was again fine with a stiff breeze. If we left around noon we anticipated a run with the tide all the way back to Harwood. Just before noon we started the outboard as we thought that we would motor out of the entrance to the harbour and set sail in the main channel. The motor started fine but cut out after about 3 seconds. We tried several more times and it did the same thing. I cursed my inadequate mechanical skills and I am making a new year resolution to learn more about outboard maintenance. We checked that the fuel was turned on and the breather open. My hunch was a fuel blockage but I didn't know how to clear it, if indeed that was the problem. We had a conference and decided that Little Dragon was a sailing boat - so let's sail.

We hoisted the sails and sailed out of the harbour with great applomb (why had I been stressing?). The dolphins put on a fine display in the main channel and followed us for a way up the river. As well as dolphins there were also some fearful looking brown jellyfish, enough to deter us from any thought of swimming. While on the topic of wildlife a huge sea eagle circled above.

It was an exhilarating run most of the way back to Harwood. I was glad I had the depth sounder as it made it easy to avoid a few sandbanks. I was a bit worried about sailing onto the lee shore at Harwood but all went well and we timed the dropping of the mainsail just right and glided ashore under jib. For once it looked as if we knew what we were doing.

Next came the pack up, it is the least desirable aspect of owning a trailer sailer. We were both surprisingly weary but pleased with ourselves. We had sailed from Harwood to Iluka and back.

Yet again too much wind

Nicky, Lee and I had been looking forward to a pre-Christmas sail for ages. They had both gone to great lengths to free themselves up from Christmas preparations for a full day.

So on the Saturday before Christmas we met up at Little Italy Cafe (chosen as it it is en route to Harwood, serves excellent coffee and it is easy to park trailers).

Then on to Harwood by 11 am for The Big River Sailing Club's scheduled "Christmas social sail". We were trying to ignore the strong wind warning but on arrival the omens were not good - not a single boat afloat.

We got out of the car into a howling onshore wind and during the next hour or so it got worse. The silly photos are very misleading, despite it looking calm we would have been stupid to launch.

We joined the Big River Sailing Club's festivities for a while - an indoor BBQ and pressies for the kids. They sure know how to put on a spread. After that we headed off to Iluka so that I could check out the best spot to anchor Little Dragon, if the wind ever dropped enough for me to sail there.

Peter comes to the rescue

So far all I have told you about Peter Barnes of Brunswick Headsis that he sails a Farr 6000 (which I covet). You need to know more about him, as a young man he qualified as a fitter and turner and later in life was a prawn trawlerman and even built his own trawlers. Although he has now retired he still has a well equipped workshed and enjoys "fixing things".

While we were on The Tweed (see previous post) we rafted up and he came aboard. I mentioned a few hassles and he spotted some problems that I hadn't noticed. He said that he can't stand a boat [referring to Little Dragon] not being up to scratch:

* mainsheet slipping in jam cleat -the obvious option of a new jam cleat wasn't a goer as the present one is probably well over 26 years old and the new sizes just won't fit. Solution: he offered to take the fitting to pieces, file the teeth and put it together again.

* rudder needing superhuman strength to raise and lower - Peter worked out that new nylon bushing material cut into shape [a fiddly job] and inserted at the base of the rudder would fix the problem.

* the jam cleats for the jib sheets had come loose - problem was that the wooden blocks had started to disintegrate with age. Solution to fabricate new ones with nylon bushing material and fix with long new screws.

* missing peg attaching boom to mast - it had fallen out and Peter offered to fabricate a screw.

* pointed out that I need new scim fittings and life rails - I now know the signs of wear to look out for and will deal with these early in the New Year.

* last but certainly not least he offered to fix the rewelded mast step securely to the cabin top. The boatyard was closed until after Christmas so I was thrilled with Peter's offer and relieved that the insurance assessor gave him the go ahead. This involved fabricating a metal plate to go inside the cabin and screwing the mast step down onto the plate with giant screws.

Peter worked solidly on all these jobs for three long hot days with complete success. I ran around buying the various bits and pieces. It is not easy to obtain marine grade stainless steel screws or nylon bushing material around Byron Bay. I have learnt heaps. I now know the difference between 304 and 316 grade stainless steel.

Peter I don't know how to thank you enough for doing all this as a volunteer. I have no idea who else would/could have undertaken such fiddly and time consuming jobs. When the mast step broke (see previous post) I thought it was virtually impossible that I would be sailing again the next weekend. You made it happen.

The new mast step fails

This was meant to be a shake down cruise for Little Dragon's handsome new mast. Jan Davis flew up for 3 days. We had planned to head out of Rudy Maas marina near Jacob's Well on the Gold Coast and sail to Jumpinpin in company with Peter Barnes in his Farr 6000. Storms and gales meant we cancelled that plan.

Instead we waited a day for the weather to improve and headed off to the Tweed River, which is close to the Gold Coast Airport, for an overnight sail. Peter came along as well (see last photo).

Problems arose as soon as we tried to raise the new mast - the mast step started to pull of of the deck a bit. We persisted and once the mast was raised it seemed pretty stable. So we sailed off from an excellent ramp on the road to Fingal Heads.

We enjoyed some excellent sailing mixed with a few dramas. The first drama was that the shackle holding the jib clew to the jib sheets came undone so that the jib was flailing around and had to be sorted out. We thought that we had the problem licked but it recurred the following day. Now I have an entirely different system which I am pretty confident is secure. The other drama was when I tried to pull up the anchor after our night afloat. To put it bluntly it didn't budge. I worked out that it was caught round the keel. Then I made the situation worse by trying to raise the keel which jammed the line inside the keel case. Peter kayaked over (he uses a kayak as a tender) to see what was going on. His analysis was the same as mine, next step was for someone to dive down and have a look. I was quite prepared to do that but he volunteered and managed to release the line in a few seconds. Peter suggests that in future I always take the keel up when I anchor - so much to learn.

After that we spent a pleasant morning sailing the Tweed. Rather like the estuary at Ballina there are so many sandbanks that except at high tide there is a very limited area of navigable water - not a patch on the Clarence River.

It wasn't all sailing and drama. It was the day after full moon and we had a magic time watching the moonrise. Also Jan amazed me with her knowledge of the bird life and recognising their calls. I have never been any good at that.

We returned to the ramp and all went well until we started to lower the mast. The screws on the mast step immediately pulled out making it hard for us to lower the mast safely, especially as there was again a strong cross wind. Peter showed up and we all looked at the mast step. It was buckled and the screws projecting were less than 5 mm - far too short.

I was pretty shaken at how close we had come to injuring ourselves and disappointed that what I hope would be a successful shake down cruise for the new mast and a chance for Jan to join me on a sailing trip had ended so badly.

PS The next day S & H Spars (who had supplied but not fitted the mast step) kindly welded it back together and did a couple of other minor modifications to the new mast. That left me with the problem of how to get the mast step securely fastened to the deck. More of that later.

Bridge to Breakers

All the year I have been looking forward to the Bridge to Breakers Regatta at the Big River Sailing Club. I reckoned that Little Dragon could tag along from Harwood to Iluka keeping out of the way of the real racers. But my mast is still "in transit" from Melbourne.

Peter Barnes from Brunswick Heads owns a Farr 6000 (just like my Farr 5000 but 20 ft not 17ft). He came to my rescue just when I thought I was destined to be a landlubber and invited me aboard for the weekend. I really covet his boat but I keep telling myself that it is too heavy to tow behind my Subaru Forrester.

We left Harwood in a strong wind around 2 hrs ahead of the official start and it took us over 2 hrs to get to Iluka. We dubbed ourselves "the spectator fleet".

We anchored in Iluka Harbour and boiled the billy positioning ourselves to watch the fleet race past the entrance to the harbour to the buoy not far downstream and then come screaming back again on the way home. Once the way was clear we set off back to Harwood. The wind had come up further so we had a reef in. Even reefed it was an exhilarating sail. It must have been exhausting for the racing fleet none of whom reefed.

The next day the wind had risen still further - some were talking of a near gale but that may be a bit of an exaggeration. Peter and I decided to watch the racing from the verandah - a great spectacle with all classes from Lasers to Hartley 16s. Unfortunately there were several breakages of both equipment and crew.

Thanks again Peter.

Dismasted

I needed to move Little Dragon just over 100 metres from one side of the Big River Sailing Club to the other. The mast was up so I set off at walking pace determined to avoid all obstacles - but I failed miserably.

Maybe if there was a sign like the one I later spotted at Amity Point, North Stradbroke the incident would not have happened.

I heard a crash and to my horror saw that the mast had snapped when it hit the power line slung from the main pole to the clubhouse.

The caretaker, Richard, came rushing out to see what had happened and he checked that the power to the clubhouse was still intact - but my mast certainly was not.

I climbed on board pretty shaken and angry at my own ineptitude. I have always known that the side decks on Little Dragon are very narrow and need to be negotiated with extreme care. Not surprisingly I slipped and slithered to the ground catching my ribs on the way down. I had broken my rib.

Richard was the perfect gentleman and ordered me to stay at ground level and he went aloft and efficiently lashed the broken mast so that I could trail the boat home don't forget that we were fleeing the storm (well that is an exaggeration but it felt a bit like that).

I am now wonderering which will take longer to mend - my rib or my boat.

PS 19 November. My rib has mended but the new mast is still "in transit" from Melbourne.

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.

Wind - too little then too much

I have rejoined the Big River Sailing Club and had been looking forward to the start of their new season on the 30th August. However the coastal weather forecast predicted virtually no wind for the Saturday and far too much for the Sunday - up to a full gale. So I didn't even bother to trail Little Dragon to Harwood.

As I was in the area for other purposes I dropped in and sat on the verandah with the local sailors. There really wasn't any wind. The kids had their dinghies rigged, but it wasn't worth bothering to launch. The veterans kept saying that wind "had to come soon" - but it didn't. The following day, as forecast, the wind was howling. No-one was stupid enough to venture out.

The last photo shows my new sun awning. It is still a work in progress but I hope that it will have several uses; keep us from burning when at anchor, mean we can boil the billy in the cockpit even when it is raining and finally enable us to keep dry in the cabin without the hatch cover.

Father and sons bonding

The cast: Martin inflatable, Lewis kayak, Max photographer.
The script: Boys will be boys

The pelicans seemed to enjoy the antics.

The depth sounder works

The happy snap is of the Bails, on the left Max age 16 with size 16 feet to match, next Theresa looking justifiably weary having just worked all night, then Martin standing on tip toe - he seems to be developing a Napolean complex having been outgrown by Max and Theresa. Lewis, nearly 12, on the right won't be far behind.

As it was blowing over 24 knots the plan was to stay in Fisheries Creek at Ballina. Martin had offered to help me get the depth sounder working.

The issue of where to locate the transducer for a depth sounder has been a live issue on the Farr trailer sailor discussion group for years. I certainly did not want to cut a hole in the bottom of the boat nor is it ideal to fix it to the transom on a sailing boat. Following hints on the website I put an in hull puck transducer just behind the battery under the cockpit. I would have liked to put it forward of the keel but it just wasn't feasible.

Setting it up is a bit like setting up a VCR and Martin and I did it without any teenage help. Then we motored up and down Fisheries Creek to see if it was working correctly. We used the unsophisticated method of checking that when the depth sounder read 1 metre a boat hook over the side touched the bottom at 1 metre.












A couple of weeks ago I drove up to Bribie Island to inspect a Zodiac C240 inflatable advertised in the Trading Post. It turned out to be almost new and well priced, so I snapped it up.

My second project for the day was to establish that it rowed reasonably well. It did as proved by the photos below.

Learning to back the trailer

I own a trailer sailer - so obviously every time I go for a sail she has to be launched and retrieved.

I found on the web that "Get Lost 4WD Tours" of Ballina offered tuition in backing caravans. I explained that I wasn't taking Little Dragon outback but that I really did need a few hints on how to get her in and out of the water with less angst.

Nicky came with me for the lesson on what turned out to be a bitterly cold afternoon. Thanks Nicky. We headed out to a deserted industrial area in Ballina and he set up a line of witches caps. Nicky learnt how to direct me and I got some good tips. We ended up with Nicky and the tutor freezing cold and me feeling slightly more confident.

Overnight at Moon Point, Fraser Island

The weather forecast was excellent - 10 to 15 knots and fine. Noella and I were in fine spirits as we loaded up Little Dragon with provisions for our first ever overnight trip. Food, water and a bottle of red wine for the skipper.

We set off from Urangan Harbour but the wind was far less than forecast, maybe 3 to 5 knots. We sailed off to the first navigation mark very sedately. It looked like we were going to take far longer than the anticipated 2 - 3 hours.

By the time we got half way the wind dropped further to around 2 - 3 knots but we almost managed to reach Moon Point before we gave up and started the smelly, noisy outboard. We wanted to make sure we found the anchorage before dusk. At least we had plenty of time to check that we rounded every navigation mark.

We were quite chuffed when we found the exact spot showing an anchor symbol on the chart. We knew we were in the right place by reference to the two sticks (in England we call them "withies") marking the entrance to a small creek mentioned in Beacon to Beacon. What didn't please us so much was the depth or rather the lack of it. The whole anchorage seemed to be far too shallow. I wished I had either a depth sounder or lead line. Anyway we anchored just before sunset.

I broke out the red (just one glass) and we watched a glorious red sunset. We were the only boat in the anchorage although there were a couple of fishing boats anchored not too far away. By this time there was hardly a ripple and it was completely peaceful, it was hard to believe that it was the lights of the busy marina on the horizon.

We have a single burner gas stove so we were able to brew cups of tea and prepare a simple hot meal - excellent vegetarian curry and couscous.

Then we turned in for the night and I slept well - you will have to ask Noella if she did also. As I went to sleep I thought to myself "I should keep checking to see that the anchor is holding", but the next thing I knew was dawn.

After a morning cuppa Noella decided to row ashore for a short walk before we set off back. We needed to leave by around 8 am to avoid drying out on a falling tide. Helen and Bob had lent us their tender and it seemed silly to return without using it.

After a while I saw Noella return to the beach brandishing a large stick being circled by two dingoes. She retreated as quickly as possible and rowed back pretty freaked out. They were young male dingoes and had been behaving menacingly, one sitting and howling at her and the other circling behind her. I am easily scared by dogs and extremely glad I stayed aboard.

Without further ado, as the water was running out fast, we set off back towards Urangan Harbour. We managed to sail about half way but the wind was dropping all the time down to virtually nothing. It seemed to be the calm before a new weather front came in. 24 hours later it was blowing a gale. Rather sadly we reverted to motoring until a breeze got up a few hundred metres from the harbour - a bit too late to hoist the sails again.

It was a few weeks too soon for whales but we did see a very large turtle. It would be good to return during the whale season, maybe....

The trip ended all too soon with another first, the first time I have motored into a marina pen. Bob and Helen were waiting to catch the lines and it went very smoothly. I am told it would have been far trickier with strong wind against tide.

Thanks Noella for taking leave - you were great.

PS 4 July 08. I am looking at buying a second hand Zodiac inflatable and I have just purchased a depth sounder but still have to get it installed.