My very first cruise was on the barquentine Star Clipper

I'll never forget this voyage on Star Clipper from 16 March starting in Phuket in Thailand and ending 2 weeks later in Singapore. It was my induction into the decadent life of a 5 star passenger. No night watches. In fact no responsibility whatsoever beyond deciding whether to order the cocktail of the day. I would have been bored shitless if it hadn't been such a romantic tall ship with a Master who had us under sail almost every day. So yes - it was great.

I took this photo one day when the Master hove to and sent those who wanted off on the vaporettos. Of course hove to the sails weren't setting well.

In Penang showing the vaporettos.

Every day we set sail around 5 pm and as the sails were raised they played the theme song Conquest of Paradise  https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Conquest+of+Paradise  (please play that while you read this blog). All the passengers congregated on deck, cocktail of the day or champagne in hand, to watch this romantic spectacle as the sun went down.

Most days we stopped for a few hours and went ashore to snorkel and swim on different islands but we also spent a day in the cities of Penang and Malacca, which have changed so much since I was there in 1969. It's always good to get a swim but quite honestly the Thai islands aren't as good as those on the Great Barrier Reef (assuming that there are still some patches of good coral remaining).

No sailors going aloft to set the squares. The first officer's yellow "baton" controls the hydraulic system.

There is still plenty for the sailors to do.

One day the Master gave a memorable talk with accompanying slides. He has been on tall ships all his working life, starting as a Russian naval cadet, later the Russian equivalent of a naval seal and now is their most experienced Master. He told us of the time he was Master taking this very same Star Clipper down the notorious Somalian coast, passengers aboard. There were rolls of electrified barbed wire round the entire ship to repel pirates. In addition they were escorted by a 21 ft speed boat with 3 heavily armed mercenaries aboard. It was a gripping saga which almost ended up with the mercenaries shooting at a good samaritan vessel that came to assist the Star Clipper as it thought the mercenaries were pirates!

Thought I had better prove I was on board

It was an all male crew (except for the masseuse). I made a few barbed comments and was assured that it was too heavy work for a woman! Most of the sailors, cabin crew, cooks and waiters were Indian, Indonesian and Filipino. The Master was Russian and the first officer Ukrainian and the two sports staff Australian and Swedish.  I suspect that indicates low pay, but many of those I spoke to had been aboard for years. I was shocked at how they seemed to be cooped up below decks except when on watch. There was no area of deck where the crew were allowed to relax.

The officers "dressed" the bowsprit while we were taking photos from the vaporettos.

My cabin with ensuite and unlimited hot and cold water. Total luxury in comparison to anything I have previously sailed on, plus a cabin steward who put chocolates on my pillow every night. I couldn't believe it when I heard a few passengers complaining about the noise of sea water whooshing past the portholes and even that the ensuite was small (it was huge by my standards)

My Canadian dinner companions. The food was absolutely superlative, more French than Asian. 

The passengers were almost all English, Canadian, US, French and many Germans. For the first week I was the only Aussie. Over half had done previous Star Clipper voyages in different parts of the world. It seems that Star Clipper is meeting the expectations of its rather niche clientele - those hankering after the romance of tall ships and having no interest in conventional cruise ships with thousands aboard.

I ended up in Singapore and visited the orchid garden.

TECHNICAL DATA

Tonnage:	2,298
Length:	360 feet
Beam:	50 feet
Draft:	18.5 feet
Sail Area:	36,000 Square feet
Mast Height:	226 feet
Total Staff:	72
Passenger Capacity:	170
Masts:	4 Masts, 16 Sails

At last we snuck in a sail

There have been so many weekends since the Bridge to Breakers in November that haven't encouraged me to get afloat, too much wind and/or heat. Certainly no rain recently but last October floods made us rethink the Clarence Classic Cruise. At last it appeared there were favourable conditions for at least a day. So at short notice Noela and Rick volunteered to crew - many thanks. Note it was good we got one sail in as the next weeked we were under cyclone watch in Byron Bay and the winds were gusting up to 50 knots.

The wind was SE and fresher than we expected, so we reefed. As so often happens the jib furler gave trouble but we thought that we eventually got it sorted. Seems not quite as on our return when we tried to furl it refused to furl more than half way - then ripped. Ah well, another little repair for Scooter Sails in Yamba.

 We headed down river with the tide really fast and were at the Goodwood mark pretty quickly. A much slower return tacking and against the tide. Didn't matter, it is all part of the fun and we returned to base satisfied that it had been worth all the effort of rigging.

Noela and Rick

The new clubhouse is looking superb and it should be ready for the grand opening at the Annual Regatta mid March - such a shame I will be away that weekend.

Bridge to Breakers 2018

Start of race 3 on Sunday

 I had planned to race and had my regular crew all lined up but she got sick at the last minute and none of my other crews were available. So for the first time I was crewless. Luckily Norman volunteered to crew as he wasn't able to sail his Nacra 14 that day, many thanks and an open invitation to come again. We decided not to race but to sail down the river as spectator fleet. The weather looked like rain and a thunderstorm was forecast. There was a lively breeze but not sufficient for me to decide to reef when we set off.

This is a Nacra 14 like the one Norman sails

I quickly found out that Norman's experience has been entirely on his Nacra and he had never sailed a monohull. I was amazed that he was concerned when we heeled (not very far) and he asked how far we could heel before we capsized. I knew that Norman was accustomed to using a trapeze on his Nacra, which I really admired in a fellow 70+ sailor. He discovered that sailing Little Dragon is very different to sailing a Nacra. I can't imagine myself - at least not since I was very much younger - using a trapeze. I am so comfortable with Little Dragon but Norman was out of his comfort zone. It certainly would have been even more the case if the situation had been reversed.

I learnt to sail from a very young age on the Thames Estuary in an Essex One Design, see the photo below. In many ways EODs are similar to Little Dragon and perhaps that is why I immediately felt at home when 50 years later I became the proud owner of my Farr 5.

My parents owned Essex One Design No 8 Chanty- same length as Little Dragon - 5.1 m

The forecast storm approached fast. The faster boats had just finished and were safely ashore. The tailenders, mainly the Corsairs, were still way down river near the prawn farm. Luckily for them dinghies from the prawn farm towed them ashore and they sheltered out of the heavy hailstorm. We were lucky, we managed to get ashore about 3 minutes before the hail, thunder and lightning. It all ended up fine - no injuries to sailors and only very minor damage to boats.

Despite our new clubhouse still being under construction we managed to provide our usual Sunday morning BBQ for everyone. All in all it was a successful regatta and the conditions were excellent for racing on the Sunday.

Harriet and Lee  dab hands at breakfast BBQ

Clarence River Yacht Club Classic Cruise

Such a shame. We pulled out. Rain, rain and more rain forecast. It did fine up for the last couple of days but by that time the logistics of joining in were too hard. So Jill Trevillian (crew for first part) Savaad (crew for second part) missed out.

Overnight jaunt to Iluka

Nicky and I had planned an overnight trip from Harwood to Iluka for ages, we even treated ourselves to one of the Beach House units temptingly close to Sedger's pontoon. The question was would the weather be favourable as it was hard for us to shift the date. On the days leading up to departure the forecast was ideal - gentle breeze and fine.

Pam and Nicky

I was really spoilt, John Woods volunteered to drive to BRSC to reverse us down the ramp on the pretext of exercising poodle Ted. Thanks John so much. An even bigger thank you as he offered to reverse the trailer again on our return. I still struggle with reversing and it takes all the stress away.

The mainsail  not yet flaked but glorious pre sunset light.

 Before we left there was far more than a gentle breeze, so we reefed. The Yamba observations showed it had been gusting 22 knots SE. It was a lively but enjoyable sail and on arrival in Iluka Bay we tied up at Sedger's pontoon ready for dinner at the pub.

Little Dragon on Sedgers pontoon at sunset

The following day we had one of those inevitable setbacks. When we prepared to sail off the pontoon the mainsail jammed 3/4 up. The problem turned out to be the top lug had broken and jammed in the mast track. It was our lucky day, a sailor who knew me from the Bay to Bay race showed up and in no time he and his crew helped us lower the mast, replace the broken lug (luckily I carried spares) and get the mast up again. Like backing the trailer we could have done it ourselves, but it would have taken much longer. Thanks fellas.

The return upriver to Harwood was with the tide and a very gentle SE breeze and again warm and dry, none of the excessive heat of midsummer. We both relaxed and thought that life was pretty good, so good that we started planning another trip to Jumpin Pin after summer when it's cooler and the sandfly season is over.

We snuck in a Saturday day sail before strong winds on the Sunday

It felt good to get aboard Little Dragon again for a few hours, it was a lively sail with a northerly breeze up to around 18 knots. However no dramas and Rick is a welcome new crew - he has a serious sailing history but this is the first time he has sailed for around 15 years. He can back a trailer which makes him extra valuable.

Noela and Rick

On 15 September the roof had arrived and there's hope that our Clubhouse will be finished before Christmas

Incredible progress 3 days later, maybe it will be completed this year.

A winter sail in a very light breeze

It is ages since Little Dragon has been sailing and I decided it was time. The two Johns were keen, the forecast was for a superb sunny winter day with 8-9 knots SW. Just right. It turned out to be a glorious day on the river - but not for sailing, the wind never came up above 1 - 2 knots. So we sailed ever so sedately with the tide down river and when the tide turned headed up river all the way to the bridge. We all look a bit glum in the photos, don't know why as we all had a good day.

John Hayes

John Woods and Ted

Me

 The Johns asked me to photograph the giant cranes (see below).  

Giant cranes at Harwood Engineering used to move spans of the new bridge onto barges

The new Harwood bridge due to open late 2019

The old highway has become a local road so the old bridge will still open when needed. 

Little Dragon goes motoring

The outboard had continued to play up despite being given a clean bill of health for a second time by Ballina Marine. So I wanted to check it out and the only way was to go motoring.

Many thanks to John Woods who agreed to come with me. We launched at Harwood and motored around for a full hour. No problems at all. A real relief.

Shame we had to motor, it would have been a good day for a sail.

Alina, a Farr 5000 converted into a little Titanic

Harry Brutsch has shown me how he has fitted out Alina, his Farr 5000, to be "a very comfortable little Titanic!" Here is how he has done it (slightly edited)

"Yes I am in love with my Alina"

"Inside, We like our cooking-music and comfy bed.

The little partition was a key point and opened up many options.

Having a cover- box over the keel was a must for me.

It makes it easy to step into the cabin and also works as a seat-table ect.

We are not people who need kitchen sink and porta loo.

Doing the bed conversion I covered up some storage compartments.

But others have been created with sliders left and right of the keel under the bed.

The original internal side panels, covered with some 80s synthetic mission brown material did not agree with me.

The color and smell of it one thing, but the small opening very unpractical for my liking.

Was always searching for things because I could not see into the small dark areas.

So I made my own with bigger spaces. Very happy with it.

I do not use spinnaker. Got one but not enough desire to use it. Main and Jib does fine for our sailing.

I also installed a extra rope on the mains, so when I am on my own, I can take that sail down quickly in a emergency.

I had situations with sudden strong wind gust that prevented the sail from sliding down as normal. So I had to let go of the helm and clime up the cabin. Not good.

All of it while Alina has become a wild child.

 I made flexible straps that keep the ruder in the center when I have to let go of it ......works well in normal conditions.

Now I can let the mains go and pull the sail down quickly without leaving the Helm.

 I did break the keel wire when sailing on to a submerged stump this year on Lake Wurooma. All in slow motion. Keel lifted up and then DROPPED back into its place.

Awefull noise!! Took a bit of swimming and diving-2 hours and all was good again. I will make sure that the wire has a bit of slack when the keel is down. A rubber stop in the recess will take care of that.
I also mounted the Echolot on

the inside Floor, rather than having it mounted on the back.

Great work Harry, and I am totally in awe of how pristine she looks. When was she built? Late 70s? The double berth suits a couple but I prefer my two singles. I still want a porta potty for longer trips. So I compromise by cooking in the cockpit but I really covet your galley. I also covet your storage spaces, but I don't have the carpentry skills. Most of all I wish I had put in a forward hatch (with mozzie cover) rather than my solar fan. I already have my depth sounder on the inside floor and it works fine.

Little Dragon withdraws from Bay to Bay 2018

This was to be my third Bay to Bay (Tin Can Bay to Urangan up the Great Sandy Strait overnighting at Garry's Anchorage). Helen Tom and her partner Valentine Sowenko had come all the way from Bendigo, Helen to crew and Val as our roady. Thanks to both of you. However it was not to be. Read on....

Helen Tom with Pam

We  motored off towards the start of 119 entrants in about 3 knots of wind and glorious sunshine. It was forecast to come up to SE 10 - 12 knots on both days but maybe up to 10 mm rain. However conditions can change unexpectedly and fast, read on....

Half way to the start our outboard conked out. We had no alternative but to withdraw before even crossing the start line. So disappointed.

We pull out and relocate to a motel room in Urgangan. On Saturday night we listened to torrential rain. Sunday morning Helen and I headed off with Captain Phil on a large Adventure Cruises catamaran to meet the fleet. He told us that it had blown 25 knots at Garry's, anchors dragged and parties abandoned. Initially it was a bit wet and windy but from inside the comfortable saloon we enjoyed watching the front of the fleet approaching under spinnaker. Read on...

Then conditions changed between Little Woody and Big Woody, heavy squalls, which the Race organisers were anticipating. We knew that as we were listening to Race Control on 77. An ugly chop as wind against tide. A boat broke its rudder and was under tow, then a boat capsized, man overboard (recovered), another boat capsized and upside down and 3 in water (recovered by a competitor) boat dismasted, then another dismasted, finally around a dozen dismasted (I lost count). We zoomed around on Adventure Cruises as an additional rescue boat. Finally it all came under control, some were still sailing, some under tow and some motoring having lashed down their rigging. All got back (except the upside down boat and a securite was put out for a navigational hazard).

Valentine Sowenko and Helen Tom

I got back to Urangan emotionally exhausted but not physically exhausted as the competitors must have been. Very mixed emotions. We dodged a bullet by our forced withdrawal, but maybe we could have sailed Little Dragon through it all safe and sound, maybe that is just a fantasy... We'll never know.

Baby Dragon and then Tin Canoe Regatta at Iluka

At last glorious weather, warm sunshine and a light breeze. I headed down to Harwood to check out Baby Dragon. I hadn't sailed her this  year. She was still in good order and John Hayes helped me to rig. Even the neglected outboard started easily.

Unfortunately I didn't enjoy the sail. There was so much weather helm that my still weak left wrist couldn't easily hold the tiller. So after a short sail I came back to shore. John said that my problem was that I hadn't got my rudder properly down, but my wrist hurt too much to continue.

So I packed up and headed down to the 2018 Tin Canoe Regatta at Iluka. I had expected Ian Gaillard, the new owner of Tin Dragon to have her on the water but he had a touch of 'flue. Azzo was the only one to have a new tin canoe, the others were veteran canoes sailed by veteran sailors.

The event is changing and Rob Crosby had made new trophies to be awarded to the sailing dinghies that were keen to join in the non-event. There had to be some thought to the non-rules for new mixed classes. One non-rule that emerged was "tin canoes" have right of way at all times!

Val Hodgson's absolutely stunning new sailing dinghy

BRSC Demolition Derby Regatta

In my last post I said that there was wind and rain leading up to the regatta. Well it continued on the Saturday of the regatta. The wind was gusting at strong wind warning all day and one gust up to 29 knots. Most boats headed off and (I am pleased to report) returned from various adventures down river pretty much unscathed. All the trailer sailors and yachts were fully reefed. Corsairs, Herons and Impulses had larger fleets than ever before and included several very junior crew (appeared to be about 4 years old). Little Dragon was all rigged up (reefed) and ready to go but Nicky and I made a joint decision to stay on put on shore.

Our very limited resources kept the sailors well fed.

John Woods made the trophies from materials scavenged from the demolished BRSC.

The wind had dropped by Sunday

Never too young to crew

The largest turnout ever, 78 registered to race. No complaints about weather or our limited facilities. Great vibe.

Helen's training week a disaster

My good friend Helen Tom came all the way from Bendigo to spend a few days with me training for the Bay to Bay in May. She is fit (see the cycling photo) but felt she needed to brush up her sailing skills before tackling the Great Sandy Strait. The day she arrived it started to rain and blow and it kept it up all the week. Such a shame.

We practised radio skills from inside the cabin and went through the racing rules, but the wind rarely dropped below 24 knots and mostly much more.

We finally, with the support of John Woods, got 2 hours afloat at Harwood but never put up the main, jib only was plenty. The outboard gave up as well, John's diagnosis was water in the fuel. I was so fed up I didn't even remember to take my usual crew photo!

Big River Sailing Club wrecked by mini tornado

The same day that I was getting my arm in plaster. 2nd January, the Big River Sailing Club was wrecked by what the insurer's technical expert described as a "high precipitation super cell".

The damage is so severe that the insurer agrees that the clubhouse needs rebuilding from scratch (with the possible exception of the toilets). It has been fenced off and the asbestos panels that flew hundreds of metres over the sugar cane fields have been removed. The committee is now busy with plans for rebuilding, insurers, engineers, quotes, DAs.  

Little Dragon was sitting in the paddock on her trailer alongside the clubhouse ready for my already cancelled (see previous post) weekend sailing. The mini tornado pushed Little Dragon at least 30 metres across the paddock and she came to rest on the only tree stump in the whole area - undamaged save for the jockey leg. If she hadn't been stopped she would have bowled on into the power line potentially bringing down the mast.

POSTSCRIPT

On the 20th January, as soon as the asbestos was removed and the site made safe, sailing resumed. After all the Clarence River wasn't damaged and the dinghies stored in the boat sheds were unscathed.

Plans for holiday sailing come to an abrupt halt

It was looking good: 3 days at Harwood, day one with Nicky, day two with Noela and day three with my old friend Hans Schwab-Triado. Hans was returning to Byron Bay for a holiday and we planned to go for a sail in Little Dragon "for old time's sake". I spent a glorious fortnight sailing with him on his Fontaine Pajot catamaran in Fiji.

However those plans came to an abrupt halt on Tuesday 2 January.

It turned out to be a bad sprain not broken

Wind against tide

It was the first weekend of Nicky's long school summer holiday and we planned a relaxing overnight venture down river to Iluka and back. I checked the tide and it seemed just right, we would be heading downriver on the ebb. What we didn't factor in was that the wind was N and reasonably strong, say up to 15 knots.  Wind against tide created a really ugly chop.

I had forgotten that it was the BRSC Christmas picnic, so after rigging (reefed), socialising and an unexpectedly good lunch  we set off. As we were pushed off we were advised, "don't even try to hoist the main! The jib will be enough!  Keep The Engine On!". Off we went, engine on and all sails furled. We discovered quickly enough that the chop was savage, spray was breaking all over us. It is always much worse downstream around the Goodwood mark. So after a couple of kilometres we made a joint decision - retreat to the sailing club. It was quite hairy coming to shore and for a brief moment I feared we would broach - we didn't. The picnickers didn't seem at all surprised at our return.

As we had booked a unit for the night we drove to Iluka, relaxed and met up with Gill from Women who Sail and enjoyed dinner at Sedgers. We thought maybe we would get a sail on the following day but that didn't work out.  There was no wind early at Harwood then it quickly blew up to a repeat of the day before.