Pam goes solo

My maiden single handed voyage. 29 October I went from Harwood to Iluka on the ebb tide. Overnight in the harbour at Iluka and then back again the next morning on the flood tide. I hadn't intended to go solo, in fact I have always said "no way!" but my crew Jill Trevillian got a touch of flue and no-one else was available to sail on the Friday. So the germ of an idea developed "let's give it a go".

The forecast was favourable. Reasonably light airs SE to NE. In fact at times there was more wind than forecast. The observations at Yamba show 11 - 12 knots SE at 2 pm on Friday and 9 - 13 knots N at 10 am on Saturday morning. However my concern was not the sailing so much as the launching and anchoring.

When I say single handed that is true while I was underway but Dick, the caretaker of the Big River Sailing Club, did help me launch and held the boat while I got aboard to sail away. I was proud that I managed to get the mast up on my own using the technique that Peter had suggested some time ago. I also got help from a club member to winch Little Dragon back on the trailer on my return.

In some ways I quite enjoyed tacking down the Clarence River on my own. Without a crew to chat with/train I was more aware of the surroundings, the light on the water (see photo of the early morning in the harbour). But I don't think I want to do it often and certainly not with much more wind or where I need to check a chart while underway. Not enough hands. Little Dragon is not set up for single handed sailing and I kept my hand on the tiller throughout - it takes around 3 hrs each way. I thought I had been smart and put my water bottle in the cockpit before we left but I didn't screw the cap on properly and it all spilt. It seemed impossible to go below and refill it so I just stayed thirsty. On my return I drank too much coffee before I left. Easier for men. Red bucket gymnastics. Enough information. If I was going to do more single handed sailing - which I don't plan - I need to sort out a way of securing the tiller at least briefly.

I decided to motor through the narrow entrance into Iluka Harbour (see photo) and managed to get the engine on and sails down OK. Once into the harbour I had to anchor. I expect there is an approved way of doing it single handed. I just motored to the spot I decided to drop making sure that there was heaps of space to fall back without hitting anything. Went into neutral. Went forward and dropped the anchor then went back to the cockpit. It worked like a dream but it helped that there was little wind or current and plenty of space.

On the return trip I was saddened to see that the offensive sign on the southern bank of the Clarence River about half way between Yamba  and Harwood is still there "Private Property, trespasssers will be shot",  presumably if they dare to enter the cane field.

I have decided to wear a life jacket when single handed (see photo). No, pink is not an approved colour for a type 1 life jacket, but I am wearing an approved type 1 life jacket. Work it out for yourself.

Little Dragon enjoys a stiff breeze - Part 2

18-21 Oct 2010 -

Straddie trip Part 2.

I had checked the weather forecast carefully before we left home. On Monday the wind dropped away completely in late afternoon, wrecking our plan to sail all the way to The Bedroom, despite a forecast of 12 knots at 3 pm.

Tuesday was forecast to be 4 knots at 9 am but it dropped to a dead calm and again we had to motor a while to get round Jumpinpin and into Canaipa Passage. We know that we should plan to go with the tide but it seems inevitable that we go against it for part of the day. We reached Slipping Sands anchorage in time for a leisurely lunch break.

After lunch the wind picked up from the forecast 12 knots to blow SE 16-19 knots. Little Dragon was in her element. I (and in retrospect I think Cathy will allow me to say "we") reveled in an exhilarating reach north up Canaipa Passage. I say in retrospect as at the time Cathy did make a few enquiries about how far we could heel before we tipped over. I assured her that the boat specs say it is self righting. I didn't add that I hoped never to test out that feature. This is when Peter managed to take all these fantastic photos. Thanks Pete, it must have been quite a feat for a single handed sailor.

Wednesday the wind was forecast at 4 knots at 9 am and 12 knots at 3 pm. The observations recorded 18 - 22 knots ESE at 3.30 pm. Luckily Cathy was still smiling. We sailed right round the top of Russell Island and Karragarra Island and then turned south into Main Channel en route to Rudy Maas Marina.

Cathy was doing sterling work keeping track of all the port and starboard markers and occasional cardinal mark in Beacon to Beacon. She correctly told me when we had rounded Karragarra Island and needed to turn south. Peter had missed a cardinal mark and kept straight on. I had to make a snap decision - Cathy or Peter? I followed Peter. We nearly ended up high and dry on a sand bank with the tide ebbing fast.

Once in Main Channel we could see an ominous black cloud approaching. I am glad I decided to play safe and drop the sail and motor. When the squall struck we were drenched in seconds and it was a complete white out for several minutes. I reckon that the wind was at least 25 knots at the height of the squall.

The squall didn't last long and we hoisted the sails again and soon dried out. I thought about putting a reef in but the wind had dropped considerably. We kept on down Main Channel and wondered where and when Peter was going to stop for lunch. He was ahead and the plan was for him to find a lunch spot. Peter's mobile was playing up and he has a 27 meg radio and I have VHF, so we couldn't communicate which was a bit of a nuisance. Eventually we found him nestled into a mudbank munching his sandwiches.

Finally a huge thank you to you Cathy. You readily admitted to me that you haven't had much prior experience and I said "no worries" anticipating quite easy conditions. The conditions turned out quite challenging and you really rose to the occasion. I try to give all my crew the opportunity to take the helm but that proved difficult except when we were motoring. You are welcome aboard any time and next time with a spot of luck you can take the helm.

Rafting up at Straddie - Part 1

18-21 Oct 2010

Straddie trip Part 1

Unlike the fiasco at Grafton (see last post) this trip was a great success.

Cathy Jones was my crew and we sailed in company with our "big brother" Peter Barnes in his Farr 6000. Peter it really is time your boat had a name.

Cathy and I launched at Rudy Maas Marina at Steiglitz. The owners are still resisting all offers from developers and it remains the antithesis to the Surfers Paradise glitz which is visible not far away.

We reached The Bedroom anchorage and campsite on South Stradbroke just on sunset. To get to The Bedroom we had to battle a strong flood tide and when the wind dropped we were forced to motor the last bit. It was fun rafting up with Peter's nameless boat.

The next morning we went ashore and Cathy was blown out finding that right over one sand dune was the ocean. Two ocean swimmers couldn't resist a quick dip and Cathy also indulged in a spot of yoga.

Our anchorage for night 2 was at Canaipa Point on Russell Island near the Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron. Peter anchored first and the plan was that I would raft up alongside. We got our sails down and headed back towards him under motor. Little Dragon developed a will of her own and veered off into the mangroves and we went aground. We got off the mud but found ourselves back on the mud several times. Cathy kept winding the keel up and down again. Eventually we managed to raft up and Peter, who had watched the entire pantomime, told me that I was steering on the boat tiller and the engine tiller was not centred. I won't forget that lesson.

When Cathy and I went ashore in the early morning a rather posh RQYS caretaker informed us that we couldn't use their facilities - not even their toilets. We hadn't even asked but I suspect that the little trowel I was carrying gave the game away. I tried to claim reciprocal rights as a member of the Big River Sailing Club but that didn't cut any ice at all.

The last photo shows mangroves only about 25 metres from where we were anchored near the RQYS. While I was cooking dinner in the cockpit a swarm of sand flies attacked me and I ended up taking anti-histamine tablets for days.

We spent our third and last night anchored in Main Channel not far from Rudy Maas Marina ready to pack up the following morning.

I reckon that it must be a first - a 3 day cruise and no breakages to report.

Clarence River Classic Yacht Cruise 2010

Sunday 3 October 2010

Jill Trevillian and I had signed up for the Clarence River Yacht Club's annual classic cruise [pub crawl] from Grafton to Iluka. So much preparation, such anticipation but we never even launched...

On Sunday 3 October the forecast for Grafton was for 20 - 40 mm rain and not much wind. It was due to improve on Monday with 5 - 10 mm rain and still not much wind then fine up by Tuesday. By the time we reached Grafton mid-afternoon on Sunday the sky looked very black. We rigged as quickly as possible in the car park adjacent to the boat ramp. I wanted to get the red awning up over the boom so we would stay dry in the cabin. Then the rain pelted down so we hot footed it up to the Scout Hall about 100 metres away which is now the CRYC HQ. We learnt that a severe weather forecast was issued mid-afternoon. There was over 200 mm (8 inches) rain that night.

Thank goodness for the Scout Hall which provided a dry, welcoming haven for the 40 or so would be sailors. Even though we slept snug and dry in Little Dragon in the car park the joke started to wear off when the deluge continued the next morning.

Not surprisingly the cruise was postponed on the Monday. The plan had been to sail and/or motor to Ulmarra for lunch then on to Brushgrove for dinner and overnight. The next day it was due to be Lawrence for lunch and Maclean for dinner and overnight. Then it was on to Iluka with the Pacific Highway bridge at Harwood being raised for us to pass through as a group. After a couple of days around Iluka and Yamba the competitive ones intended to race back from Maclean to Grafton; but we hadn't entered the race and planned to end at Iluka where Jill had left her car.

Monday evening it was still raining. We ate pizzas in the Scout Hall and and then waded down the very boggy track to spend another night on Little Dragon in the car park. We hardly got a blink of sleep as not only did we get another dump of around 200 mm of rain but it also blew so hard that Little Dragon kept bouncing around quite alarmingly on the trailer.

Next morning the weather was a little better although we learnt that Pacific Highway was still cut both north and south of Grafton. Some valiant yachties decided to start the cruise and headed off down the raging Clarence River. The rest of us decided to pack up and trail our boats home when it became feasible. Luckily the Pacific Highway reopened to the north and we managed to get to Iluka to retrieve Jill's car. We feared it would be flooded but luckily it wasn't. The estuary at Iluka was so wild that we were quite confident that we had made the right decision to pull out of the event and try again next year.