The prawn trawling fleet

Another peaceful night aboard Little Dragon and at 7 am I had just boiled the billy and brewed up my earl grey tea and was contemplating returning to my bunk to finish the SMH. Suddenly the boat rocked violently and my cuppa was in the scuppers. A prawn trawler had motored down the river towards Iluka. I looked up river and saw about 100 metres behind a second trawler, then a third, then a fourth. They were all motoring at the same speed and keeping the same distance apart like a military convoy. I lost count but I reckon that there were around 30 and each one rocked Little Dragon violently and heaven knows what damage they cause to the banks.

Keith Mountford (another swimming friend who has sailed with me previously at Ballina) arrived for a day sail and to help me pack up. Unfortunately there was virtually no wind. Undeterred we set off under motor hoping for at least a light breeze to come up. It usually does by late morning on the Clarence River. It didn't so we anchored on the opposite side of the river and had lunch. Still no breeze and we were just about to give up and motor back when we saw cats paws. A slight ripple on the water. The sails started to fill. In the nick of time the breeze came and we set sail very tentatively upstream towards Harwood Bridge.

By the time we reached the bridge there was enough wind to start enjoying ourselves and we tacked all the way back to Harwood. Unfortunately our time ran out and we had to pull the boat out and pack up. Thanks Keith for all your help.

Beronice frees the anchor warp

At last it all came together, boat ship shape, fair winds forecast and keen crew - Savaad and Beronice - available. Three year's ago Savaad was first mate on the sailing catamaran Pelican andBeronice and I were passengers on a voyage from Darwin to Broome.

The clubbies at the Big River Sailing Club are bemused at how many different crew I have, but I really enjoy giving my friends the chance to share the unpredictable experience. Despite the mishaps described below we all had a ball and quite remarkably both Beronice and Savaad are keen to come again.

After the usual delays in getting rigged and launched we were finally underway - heading downstream towards Iluka. It was one of those magic days when everything was just right, a perfect SE sailing breeze. We kept going until Iluka was in sight but the tide turned and it was time to reach back again.

Our only adventure that day was while sailing past a formidable looking dock keeping outside some yellow marker buoys. A tug steamed out from the dock towards us at full speed. Initially we thought it hadn't seen us and was about to ram us. Then they got a loud hailer out and bossily instructed us to "Keep Outside The Yellow Markers". The whole episode was quite intimidating. Later we learnt that Yamba is a port of entry and it was the quarantine dock. The tramp steamer alongside must have been waiting for clearance.

Beronice and Savaad spent the night at the Harwood Hotel, fortunately not too disturbed by the local bucks and hens parties. I had a peaceful night aboard, stern anchored as usual in front of the Big River Sailing Club.

Next morning the SE wind came up early so we decided to forgo our planned coffees at Yamba and set sail. The wind kept increasing and swung SW. This time the plan was to sail up to the Harwood Bridge (3 km), drop the mast and motor under the bridge, raise the mast and sail towards Maclean then back again to Harwood, again dropping the mast to get under the bridge. I warned Beronice and Savaad that it would be the first time I had dropped the mast and raised it again when afloat. As I feared it was a time consuming hassle and I don't intend to do it again if I can avoid it.

When we eventually got under the bridge we anchored on the other side, lunched, raised the mast and prepared to sail off the mooring. Beronice tried to raise the anchor and it wouldn't budge. This time I realised what had happened as it has happened once before - the anchor warp had twisted round the keel. Savaad and I flattered Beronice by praising her diving skills and persuaded her to descend into the muddy, fast flowing water to free the anchor. She mentioned "bull sharks" but Savaad and I and seemed to be temporarily deaf - neither of us fancied the job! I tied a line round Beronice's middle so that I could haul her aboard if anything went wrong. Beronice saved the day. Many thanks. Although she deserved a whisky (I keep a medicinal flask among the stores) all she would accept was a cup of tea.

We decided to abandon the plan to sail to Maclean and instead drop the mast again, motor back under the bridge, anchor, raise the mast and sail back to Harwood. I should mention that by this time the wind was far stronger - enough to justify a reef but we decided not to put one in for the short sail back to Harwood. Instead we were going to drop the sail and motor back if it was too much for us. We had almost completed this manoeuvre and I was forward, minding my own business, raising the anchor for the final time. Suddenly the boat heeled so dramatically that I feared capsize. I decided that the best way to avoid a this calamity was to remove my considerable weight from the lee rail by sliding into the water. I was much relieved when the boat rapidly righted itself and I clambered aboard, dripping wet, up the swimming ladder at the stern. The specs say a Farr 5000 is self righting but I have no desire to test this. You need to ask Savaad and Beronice what happened in the cockpit...

The various repairs and maintenance described in the previous post performed well but of course there had to be at least one fresh equipment failure. One of the sliders that attach the mainsail to the mast track broke and the spare kept jamming. I'll have to get that fixed.

After that it was a bit of an anti climax. We enjoyed the short sail back to Harwood and it was time for Beronice and Savaad to leave me to enjoy another night at anchor and await Keith's arrival the following morning.

Crash course in boat maintenance

It is almost 6 weeks since I trailed Little Dragon home from Lawrence and I have spent most of that period on maintenance. Although the hull is in excellent shape it is becoming clear that many of the fittings have worn out and need replacement, plus I have to admit to causing one or two of the problems.

I owe a huge vote of thanks to both Richard Flavell and Peter Barnes - both boat builders who freely gave of their time and skills to undertake the repairs that were beyond my skill level (most of them).

Richard (the first photo) repaired the hole in the fibre glass hull caused when the boat jumped off the flat roller on the winch. I repainted the patch on the hull (at least I can paint). It also took a day to get all the fibre glass fibres out of the cabin.

The outboard motor went to the workshop and I was told (as Peter suspected) that there was water in the carby.

It was a hassle getting new pintles for the Zodiac. The old ones were just stupid plastic pegs that didn't handle my "robust" rowing. I am not surprised that Zodiac finally replaced that model with steel pegs, the "new improved model". Zodiac say that their inflatables are only designed to be rowed in an emergency- absurd. I don't want to lug around a second motor. I'm having enough trouble with one.

Next it was the submersible trailer lights. They are only a few months old but Nicky noticed that one of them wasn't working. So I am sent back and forth between the auto electrician and the supplier (one half an hour drive north and the other half an hour drive south). Finally the supplier gives me a replacement and the auto-electrician rewired them. The auto electrician hadn't bothered to wire them in a waterproof way first time. Well why would I want the wiring on submersible lights on a boat trailer to be waterproof?

Now on to Peter Barnes and his Brunswick backyard workshop (plus Margaret's many cups of tea and cake - thanks). Peter fixed things that I knew needed fixing and other things that I hadn't even noticed. This is a list of some of them, but I am sure there are more I have overlooked:

a) fixing the jammed spring on the outboard (I had taken it to two outboard engine workshops and both denied that there was a problem)
b) fixing the staunchion to the deck (it had come loose)
c) trying to level the rollers on the trailer so that the boat winches in straight on the rollers. To do this Peter and I got the boat off the trailer and onto his lawn. Then he welded a chunk of stainless tube onto the winch to raise it up as he reckoned it was too low. Finally came the task of getting the rollers level - it took hours to get the rusted on bolts off and to get new ones bolted back to his satisfaction.
d) However Peter looked at my rusty trailer with alarm and said that if it was his he would clean it up. That suggestion resulted in me taking the trailer back to my garage at home and spending a week full time working on it - in midsummer heat. The result is shown in the photo below. I hosed it 3 times to desalt it, then painted with turps to degrease, then a coat of rust converter, after that 2 coats of metal rust proof undercoat and finally 2 coats of white rust proof enamel. Many thanks to Noela and Keith who each spent a day helping with this task.
e) as if he hadn't done enough Peter set to work on the rudder and rudder box/stock. The stock needed sandblasting and a weld to repair a crack that could have become serious in due course. The rudder itself was sloppy in the the stock and has been "bogged" to take up the slack and the lines into and out of the rudder were wrong, so old holes have been epoxy up and new ones drilled.
f) the lifeline needed renewal. Peter offered to suage on a new one. That turned out to be another fiddly task, but it does look good now with a pretty pale blue drinking hose round the new lifeline. My role was to hold the end of the measuring tape.
f) fitting 2 new skim boxes as the old ones were cracking. I could have done that myself but Peter had the vital stickaflex.
g) replacing the flat roller on the winch with a "V" shaped one that I hope will stop Little Dragon's bow jumping off the roller.
h) just as I was about to drive off Peter pointed out that the brakes are binding - probably caused by putting the brakes into the water when launching. So he set to and took the wheel off but wasn't able to free them up. That may be a job for the trailer workshop soon, before the rego is due.

I have learnt heaps but I fear that without years of training and a well equipped workshop I am likely to remain a "trade assistant - incompetent".