Pat sails Little Dragon at Harwood

The scaffolding that imprisoned Little Dragon in my back yard was removed just in time for my sister Pat and I to head off to Harwood for a couple of nights.


We were very fortunate as the nights we had identified turned out to be a short window of fair weather sandwiched between periods of wind and rain.


I had wanted to sail down to Iluka and overnight there but the Clarence River was still in flood from all the rains and it seemed inadvisable. Instead we pottered around up and down the river fairly close to Harwood and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. A gentle SE breeze.


We stern anchored at Harwood and slept aboard for a couple of nights but headed out in the evenings for a feed and to escape the voracious mozzies.


Although the Clarence River is amazingly underused by recreational sailors there is often something going on. On Anzac Day a flotilla of classic wooden motor boats put into Harwood for a lunch break.



I was half expecting John Woods to join us in his Hartley 16 on Anzac Day and then chase us up and down the river (Hartley 16s are rated as faster than a Farr 5000). Instead he and Col arrived in a tinny when we were near the bridge. We towed them for half an hour or so and chatted about things nautical.


It gave me a real buzz to show off Little Dragon to my sister Pat and I was pleased that she managed to tune the rig a bit so that the sails now set a bit better. Unfortunately although the wind was moderate the jib tore and we furled it up and found she sailed well under main alone. There is no doubt that both sails are starting to disintegrate and need replacing very soon.

PS Coffee drinkers: we had a seriously good coffee at Cafe Wa in Maclean.

PPS Shame I got a heavy cold and felt rotten on day 2.