Jib furler fixed at last - I hope!

The .... jib furler hopefully finally fixed

For several years the jib furler did what a jib furler should do - it furled the jib. Then about 3 years ago it started playing up. On land we practiced furling and unfurling - no problem. Then at the end of a sail when we tried to furl it just flatly refused and flogged wildly. Most of the BRSC "brains trust" have had a go at fixing it but any fix was always temporary. This time John Woods and Rod King took the ...... thing to pieces and found that it was slipping internally. Bingo. Rod took it away to his workshop and put a tiny screw in to stop the slipping. Now it works like a dream. Long may it continue. Many thanks to Rod and John for your persistence.

Steve Millard

This was the Saturday of the BRSC Christmas party, so merriment and snags all round. The juniors enjoyed their annual treat of being towed by Rod behind the rescue boat. Steve, another of my swimming mates, came for the first time as crew. Like so many of the swimmers he has some sailing experience and we enjoyed the usual stately sail up and down the river followed by dinner at the Harwood Hilton. Thanks Steve for your good company and especially your prowess at backing the trailer.

The Bridge to Breakers: a winch handle and a shiner

The Bridge to Breakers weekend was forecast to be a scorcher, 40c to 41c, but dry with a delightful 10 knot northerly. Noela and Nicky were again crewing although Nicky was on light duties with a frozen shoulder.

We weren't racing but just enjoying a sail down river to the Goodwood Mark and back as spectator fleet. So we  decided to shelter from the sun under the bimini, it does reduce vision a bit but we weren't frizzled. A few dinghy sailors ended up pretty dehydrated. Luckily the temperature on the river didn't get much over 30c but the wind was well above forecast, around 15 knots gusting 18 at times. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. A great sail and we had fun dodging the fleet who were all intent on racing.

There were a couple of incidents that I should put on record (I won't put on record a couple of dodgy gybes which proved that Little Dragon behaves very calmly when a dinghy would have capsized).

First, that damn jib furler. We tested it out several times before setting off and the jib furled and unfurled just fine. When we needed to furl before coming in to the shore it just refused. I am at my wits end over how to fix this problem. Ideas?

Second, the trailer winch handle flew out and hit me hard on the cheek when I started to winch Little Dragon in. My fault as I assume I hadn't locked the handle on properly. Now I have a splendid shiner (no photos). It missed my eye by about half an inch. I keep saying I won't make the same mistake twice and I certainly don't intend to do that again.

A "just right" Saturday afternoon afloat

It was a "just right" Saturday afternoon afloat, a gentle breeze but enough for the enthusiastic crew to hone their skills, not too hot/cold, no rain (we need rain but not while afloat) and best of all No Mozzies (? too dry).

Green frogs have made the BRSC ladies heads their home. I wonder why they never fancy the gents?

Pam and Cathy

Rae

All the best crew help with the wash down

The weekend followed a familiar pattern. Leave Byron Bay early, stop at Little Italy en route for a coffee, arrive at the BRSC around 10.30 and rig Little Dragon followed by a first rate sandwich from the canteen. Better gloss over the next bit as I still haven't got the hang of backing Little Dragon down the single ramp. Once afloat Rae and Cathy practiced motoring head to wind. Hoist the sails and we're off up to the Harwood Bridge and back. I couldn't resist the temptation to join the last round of the Saturday afternoon race. Good fun especially as we had to gybe round all the marks. Rae and Cathy did the pack up and wash down while I was at a committee meeting. Then off to an excellent dinner at the Harwood Hilton. Next morning we headed home after breakfasting on the club deck watching the sun burn the mist off the river. We reckon this is the best glamping ever.

Caz photographs rigging Little Dragon

I went down to Harwood with Rae Wills and Caz Coffey for a relaxed weekend on the Clarence. Unfortunately at the last minute the forecast changed and on Saturday there was such a strong southerly that we stayed safely on shore and just watched a small intrepid fleet of dinghies racing. Luckily the wind dropped on Sunday and we spent several glorious hours afloat and that made the whole venture worthwhile.

Caz is an experienced photographer and took the snaps below of us rigging Little Dragon.

Pretty easy to step the mast on Little Dragon

Caz Coffey, photographer and new crew, took this selfie

I insist on having a wind indicator although John Woods says that only wankers use them

John Woods was determined to fix ongoing hassles with the jib furler

Pam and Rae getting the mainsail lugs into the mast track

Securing the lugs with whipper snipper cord (an excellent tip)

Rae flaking the mainsail

Pam showing Rae the mainsail winch

Rae - I hope enjoying herself

Caz at the helm for the very first time

All went well, Caz is a natural. It must be in her genes as her great great grandfather was Admiral of the Australian Navy.

Harwood is a superb spot to chill out - except when there is a raging southerly

A long weekend of tangled lines

Teresa and Martin Bail, their 5th Citroen who survived their first night in the camper trailer

Teresa and Martin were keen to crew but even more excited to show off their 5th classic Citroen and almost new camper trailer. I wasn't at all surprised that after sleeping in it for the first time Martin proclaimed the need for a better mattress.

It was a long weekend and the Col and Jan had organised a highly successful 3 day kids race training camp. There were juniors from Tweed, Ballina and Yamba as well as our own BRSC ones ranging in age from very small, I guess not more than 6, up to around 14. They spent the time on the water and when not on the water having fun playing table tennis, spotlighting after dark and not a computer or X box to be seen.

It was quite rough on Saturday afternoon and we put a reef in Little Dragon and sailed up to Harwood Bridge and back. Good fun despite one minor incident which resulted in the need for a new wind indicator - but I will draw a veil over the details. John Woods reckons I don't need a wind indicator but I like to have one.

Martin and I planned to re-carpet the skids on the  the trailer and that meant stern anchoring overnight. I enjoyed a night afloat gently rocking to and fro. Next morning John Woods dashed over around 9.30 am and said that the tide was just right to head down to Iluka on the ebb, have lunch and return on the flood. So we grabbed an esky of goodies for lunch and off we went with John leading the way (see below).

Martin up anchored and found the anchor warp and painter in a tangle and spent around 45 minutes sitting on the fore deck trying to untangle them. I have no idea how they had become so tangled up. Despite that it was a great sail, sunny and around 12 knots of northerly wind. We reached most of the way to Iluka and tied up to the hotel pontoon. By that time there were ominous clouds and it looked like it could blow up nasty on the return trip. So we had a hurried lunch and and I put a reef in "just in case". Although the wind increased a bit on the return trip nothing dramatic. We made good speed with a broad reach most of the way.

We hadn't done the trailer repairs so I needed to stern anchor again. I thought that I had got stern anchoring under control but this time the anchor didn't hold, so we had to re anchor and decided to put out a second stern line "just in case". The next case of seriously tangled lines. Eventually, very weary, I headed up to the clubhouse for much needed shower, cuppa and red wine - hard to know which to have first.

Despite our weariness Martin and I completed carpeting the trailer skid and then they set off home and I prepared for another night afloat. I turned in extremely early too tired to socialise.

John Woods

J

One of the many lines that tangled

Monday morning was yet again picture perfect, sunny and not a ripple on the water. I decided that rather than find new crew and sail I would pack up and enjoy relaxing for a while before driving home. Next snag. I couldn't get the anchor up. I thought I was lacking strength and asked the strongest looking man in sight to give it a go. He tried valiantly and also failed. So we tied a fender to the anchor and left it to be retrieved in a while. Later two men in a fishing boat with very powerful outboard said they would pull it up for me, they pronounced it snagged on something but kept trying. Finally it came up snagged on nothing more than a very large lump of black, super sticky Harwood mud.

After packing up I turned my attention to the juniors. They were sailing a new generation of modern dinghies specially designed for juniors, I haven't got a handle on their class names but they looked fantastic. I don't think any junior is going to want to be seen in any of the old style dinghies. BRSC may have to update its training fleet.

Shake down cruise for the Mazda and Little Dragon

Sold the Subie and now a Mazda CX5 Maxx 2012 AWD

I miss my Subie but she was grumbling about towing Little Dragon up hills and was getting elderly. So I have replaced her with a very flash Mazda that also has a 2 litre engine but much better fuel consumption. The Mazda towed Little Dragon up hills with ease. Not quite so good at backing down the ramp even though the Mazda has a reversing camera. Maybe I have lost the knack as it is over 6 months since Little Dragon's last voyage. I did observe that someone else found it unusually difficult when they had a go. The trailer just didn't respond right. I expect it just means more practice.

Eve Schoenheimer 

I was glad to have Eve along to crew. It is the first time she has sailed with me but she is an experienced blue water sailor with ambitions to own her own yacht. After an afternoon in Little Dragon she is thinking that a trailer sailor might be the way to go.

We headed downriver to the Goodwood mark. As so often happens it blew up well above the forecast 14 knots and was quite joggly for a while. I knew that on the return the wind would be on the nose and that we would be against the ebb tide. So I was quite prepared to motor for the last bit, the motor needed a good workout. That went fine except that we ran out of fuel just 100 metres from the ramp. Not a serous problem just a delay while I refueled.

In summary all went well on the shakedown cruise except the jib furler. The furler has been a problem for a while and we tried out a new strategy but it failed miserably and it just refused to furl. Lucky I had competent crew. Eve was able to drop the jib and lash it to the foredeck, otherwise we would have had it flogging. More thought needed.... A jib on a furler that won't furl is dangerous.

We lead the fleet down river

 Saturday 22 February 2014

I enjoyed having the fleet overtaking Little Dragon

The BRSC yet again again ran a successful Annual Regatta. Instead of Little Dragon becoming tail-end-Charlie well before the Goodwood mark this time Neil and I lead the fleet down river. It was a unique experience having all the A class cats hurtling past, soon followed by the Nacras and finally the monos ranging from Hartley 16s to Sabres and even an OK dinghy and a wind surfer.

Neil McKenzie took the helm most of the time

How did I manage it? Easy - we weren't racing (no race insurance) so started about 25 mins ahead of the first official start - the fast cats. With this head start we reached the Goodwood mark in excellent time. That mark would have been our turning point if we had been racing but as we were just spectator craft we kept going to the port channel buoy at Iluka. We were reefed as the forecast was for over 20 knots but we estimate the wind only got over 17 knots for the odd gust, in fact just before we got back to Harwood we tried to shake out the reef.

Harwood to Browns Rock buoy and back on Friday and Saturday

Rae Wills, Pam and Cathy Jones

Cathy sailing down river to Browns Rocks buoy on Saturday

Rae sailing down river to Browns Rocks buoy on Friday in very light airs

I didn't do much at all except say things like "a bit this way" and "a bit that way" when novices were luffing or bearing away too much. 

Rae and Cathy enjoyed a quiet night next to the clubhouse

No wind on Saturday morning so my crew took the opportunity for a lie-in

However both Rae and Cathy looked lively on Monday morning and came to my place to wash down Little Dragon thus ensuring that they are both invited to come again!

There are perils going ashore on the banks of the Clarence River

Possum and green frog make friends above the women's shower at BRSC

A magic midsummer potter



The pirate Tshirt a gift from the Bail family

Most unusual, we forgot to take any photos. These photos are all from my 70th celebration last August.

Noela came along as crew and Nicky joined us later, just in time for us to head off to Harwood Hilton for dinner with other BRSC Ancient Mariners.

The weather on Friday was excellent - initially a light breeze and not too hot considering it is midsummer. However Noela and I managed to stuff up big time. As it was a northerly I reckoned that I could easily sail out from the bank under jib and then hoist the main when underway. I found it was not so easy to hoist the main with the bimini out, especially as I had forgotten to secure the outhaul before setting off. After a return to the bank to get sorted out all went well and we enjoyed the freshening conditions later in the afternoon.

Noela and Nicky worked up an appetite for my birthday lunch with a cycle

After overnighting at BRSC Nicky and I popped down to Iluka Bluff for a morning dip followed by coffee at Wombah. By the time we got back the club was its usual Saturday hive of activity and the breeze arrived in time for an afternoon sail.

By Saturday Noela and I had ironed out the gremlins that beset us the day before. Nicky came along on "light duties" as she is about to have surgery for a torn shoulder tendon. It was one of those rare "just right" days - weather great and everything went smoothly. There was less wind than the day before, but plenty enough for an enjoyable if undemanding sail. We agreed "magical".