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.