Trick or treat

 

Our front porch has been ripped out, pending replacement, leaving a large, cavernous hole for potential trick or treaters to fall into. So I put Barca in the driveway, manned by my dry suit, nursing a scythe. It looked pretty spooky, so spooky in fact that only one small pumpkin, aided by mum, was brave enough to raid the box of treats up fro'rard. Hey ho. I had fun setting it up. 

In between the solid round of tasks - maintenance, lining up the finance, shredding, clearing, ferrying stuff to the Brotherhood, selling stuff, I have managed to get out in Barca a few times. A row for half an hour is plenty to achieve that feeling of well being that getting out on the water and a good row can bring. And Barca has been a hit with some of the regular swimmers down there - Kate and Leonie both took the boat out for a short spin, and Kate liked it so much we lined up another day so she could get out for a longer row. I thought she might be heading for Portarlington but luckily she came back.

Looks like Derry the Skerry has found a buyer. A chap left a deposit last weekend, brought his wife back to inspect and approve, and is picking up Sunday morning. 

I think I will move the Kayak on too simply because of space. I got out for a paddle and sail last week, and it was fun, but I discovered a bit of rot in the deck. I can't maintain too big a fleet. And maybe it will be easier. I recall the Dylan Winter account of the chap who was paralyzed with indecision trying to decide which boat of his large fleet to take out - wound up a vegetable, had to take up golf according to Dylan..

Meanwhile we have been having fun on grandparent duty. Little Hattie is coming along super fast, and we are all getting a bit more adventurous now the weather is warmer. We walked to Newport Station and caught the train to Williamstown beach, Hat's first train ride. She was cautiously solemn but took it all in her stride.  It was a good expedition. She is a lovely being, the highlight of our week, though it takes us a day or so to recover from the minding.

Hey ho, 91 days to go from today till first open day, and we are sure to have many days thanks to festivities, commitments and heat where we won't get much done. We are chipping away, but the mountain ahead still looks daunting. https://w2.countingdownto.com/6638072

It will all work out

 

Last Saturday we bought a lovely old house in Williamstown. Chris our son in law did a nice watercolour of it to commemorate the occassion. 

It is tiny compared to our current house, and some radical decluttering of 26 years plus worth of stuff is now underway. Plus trying to catch up on 26 years delayed maintenance on this place for selling. Plus all the processes for buying and selling. 

I am working 12 hour days, hope we can get there. It is stressful. I read a nice article of a lady in her 60s who packed up everything, let out her apartment, and set off to cycle the world.  She had two mantras: "It will all work out" and "Do the next thing". 

Hopefully here is a countdown clock to first open for inspection 

https://w2.countingdownto.com/6638072

multiplying like rabbits

 The Welsford boat population on Port Phillip certainly is increasing at a healthy rate. Must be something in the water.  There are three Navigators down this end of the Bay, plus Campbell's Pathfinder, a Hopper's Crossing Houdini, Liam's Penguin down in Corio Bay, and Vince in Williamstown is building a Pilgrim, plus the SCAMP contingent - two local on the water plus Geoff's up in Learmonth and three on the way.   We need to organize a Welsford boats day. There would be a great photo opp. 

This week we managed to get a break in the windy September weather to launch Stephen's lovely Navigator "Rakali"

The Navigator certainly is a lovely boat, but I think I am happy with the SCAMP, which is a good old geezer's boat, easy to rig and handle, sheltered and not too demanding to sail. I love the ergonomics of that deep cockpit with the cuddy to hang onto - I hope it is a boat that I can keep sailing for years to come.  For the sort of sailing I like, the SCAMP is pretty good.  A lot of boat for the size.  Here's a still from Chris' video of Anjevi barreling along in quite sporty conditions on Tuesday - my hat managed to jump overboard in a gust before we had even left the jetty.

The question of size is actually becoming quite relevant as we are thinking about down sizing.  One boat on a trailer will be stretching the boundaries of the available space, two is not an option.   Which means some hard decisions looming.

The mountain of stuff we have accummulated here over 26 years is extremely daunting, and so far I seem to have been running round in circles not achieving very much.  But at least we have begun. And we have begun the process of getting some outstanding jobs around the place fixed.  If we are successful at the auction we are really going to have to get cracking though.  I am glad I got an entry in Anjevi's log for September at least. 

Touch and go

 It was a lovely early spring day today, light North Easterlies, no commitments, so I got life jackets and oars and Oz and I set off pushing Barca's new cart for its first trip down to the beach.  The cart has some issues, and it was a real work out getting down there, but once there we set off on a circumnavigation of Wise's Reef.

It was a rising tide, about 2 hours before a not particularly high tide (0.7 m).  There was not much wind, and it was possible to get reasonable idea of what was underneath the surface of the water.  There is a gap in the reef, and I rowed Barca backwards carefully through there.  We didn't hit anything.  

Once through, we pretty soon ran aground on what seems to be a sort of clay bank that runs along behind the reef.  The tide was running with us noticeably, flooding in through the gap.  I tried pulling us along a bit, but the novelty wore off that pretty quickly. So we just sat, and let the rising tide pick us up and carry us along to the next bit, bump, stop, wait, repeat.  According the Charles Stock, this sort of progress is the origin of the expression "Touch and go".  Could be.  Whatever, it was extraordinarily pleasant way to spend a morning. 

Eventually. we got really stuck, with no prospect of moving for a while, not too far from the beach, so I pushed us ashore so Oz could have some shore leave.

He seemed pretty pleased about that arrangement.  I towed the boat along the beach for a bit on a long line, nicer to be walking on the sand than in the mud a bit  further out, which has a nasty black underlayer, perhaps left over from an oil spill sometime in the past.   Closer to the jetty near the Seaholme Beer Drinkers/Boat owners club (as far as I know, none of them own a boat ) the water gets a bit deeper, and we could set off again to complete our circumnavigation.  

The eponymous Mr Wise was still around till recent times, though I have not seen him in the last year or so.  It is not often you meet someone with a geographical feature named after them, though I am not sure how official the name is.  But everyone here knows it as "Wise's Reef".

It was an easy row back, round the outside of the reef, much easier than the course through the shallows.  I loaded up the cart ok, though it seemed even harder to push.  Crossing the Esplanade, we had to hurry as a car was approaching fast.  I hit the gutter, and  Barca slid off the cart with an impressive crunch.  To make it all more interesting, as I was getting organized, being distracted, I must have put my hand on a bee or wasp, as I got stung on the left hand.  I was about express my feeling with a few choice anglo saxon natuical terms, when two nice older ladies came rushing up to help.  Definitely no cursing.  One held Ozzie, the other lifted up the boat while I realigned trailer, and tied on the extra line that I should have tied on in the first place.   It was really nice of them to help, it restores my faith in the general goodness of my fellow humans.

The other piece of news is that my article on building the scamp has been published by Practical Boat Owner.  It doesn't look too bad, and who knows, it might actually encourage someone to build a SCAMP, which would be something.

Dinghy Cruising NZ put a link to the article:

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/19XGAMdnyV/ 

And last of all, Peter Murphy alerted me to a cameo appearance by me in another video.  Well there you go.  An odd bit of editing, but there you go, there I am, about 0.28

International Maritime Sea Dog day

 

Today, August 26th, is International Maritime Sea Dog Day, so here's to you Oz. He often doesn't think much of some of our maritime pursuits, but he goes along with it good faithful sea dog that he is.  

I have finished "Barca" and launched twice now, once before paint job, just to check that Oz and I would fit in it.  There is plenty of room for him.  I am not sure how we will go getting from SCAMP to Scraps and back again, but so far so good - it is a fun little boat.  I launched again at the WBA sailing day, with a coat of paint and a name plate screwed on - a more official launch.

One nice surprise is that Barca fits in the back of the Subaru Forester.  It is way easier than getting the boat up on the roof.  I drove to Albert Park Lake on Sunday with the boat in the car, and nearly gassed myself with the paint fumes.  But it was a nice first real try out. Barca certainly handles very nicely, I am sure I will have fun with it, and it will certainly be fun for grand children.

The weather last week was lovely, and Chris suggested a sail over to near Webb Dock for a lunch at anchor.  It was a splendid sail, and I am very glad we seized the opportunity, as the weather has definitely packed up this week - the allegedly mythical Equinoctial Gales are upon us I suspect.

You can see from the video that Oz is much happier on the SCAMP - he is grinning his head off as we are getting ready to cast off, unlike the dour expression in the smaller open boat.

Now I have more or less finished Barca, it is catch up time.  I pruned the vines and the fig yesterday, and mowed the lawn.  Today a bit of a tidy up sort out day, slowly finding things I have hidden over the last couple of months.  

Fingers crossed we get some more quiet days so I can continue the Barca experiment.

If at first

 

The months run away like wild horses over the hill. Since my last post, just about a month ago, it has all been a bit of a blur, post COVID maybe, or maybe just getting older. But looking at the Scraps pictures, I can see I must have been doing something. That's one good thing about boat building, it gives some sort of physical  marker of time's passage ... and with luck you get a boat to use at the end of it.

I have quite enjoyed this little boat build. It looks very salty, and being small, the steps are relatively achievable with small bursts of activity. I went from the Turkish delight look stage  (when the epoxy is sanded it takes on a whitish powdery appearance) yesterday, with the boat all sanded, to the shiney stage with the last coat of epoxy on the outside today. Epoxy inside tomorrow, then paint, then launch.  With luck, we are nearly there. 

Thanks to Chris' help, a couple more legs of the round the bay challenge have been completed, not without some excitement. Our first attempt to get across to Clifton Springs was rather more exciting than we anticipated.

The winds were much higher than the forecast, but Anjevi did a great job. We didn't make it into Clifton Springs on this attempt, as the Torqeedo clogged up with weed.

Undaunted, we tried again the next week, from Avalon this time, with much better weather. We managed to get into Clifton Springs, and I managed to break the shear pin on the Torqeedo, but it was a long but much more relaxing day. If at first you don't succeed, try try again.

For completeness, I should probably go around Corio Bay in the SCAMP, launch at St Helens and make sure to cross our course from Avalon. Then the next leg is to launch at Clifton Springs and sail round to Portarlington and back. Then a leg from Portarlington to Queenscliff, if that's not too far to do in a day, maybe split at St Leonards, and that's the Western side of the Bay done.  Logistics for the Eastern side are a bit trickier. There maybe some overnights required.  

Hey ho, hopefully the next month sees "Barca" the Scraps launched and a bit more round the Bay progress.  Perhaps the two are not unrelated.

My log tells me I have been on the water on 61 days in the SCAMP since launch, and covered over 500 Nm. Great little boat, it has more than lived up to my expectations. Good boat Anjevi.  

Out of the fog

 Well, I hope so. The last week has been a bit of a write off, but I got a clear RA Test this morning and I am feeling a bit more lucid.

I haven't been able to get out, beyond the daily shuffles with Oz. We go and inspect the shifting sands down towards the revetment each day. The big excitement this week was Frank's red dinghy taking on water. The pelicans were very worried. He has emptied it out now and the pelicans are very relieved.

I put together a flat pack book case that Anne got for the hallway ... and managed to put all the rear panels on back to front. A clear illustration of the level of alertness this week. Took 5 times longer than if should have, but we got there in the end.

Meanwhile, I  kept chipping away at the Scraps project. Hopefully not too much evidence of mental vagueness encapsulated in epoxy for posterity.

Scraps is a clever design, the seat acts as a sort of check to keep the frames more or less in the right place. The side panel and bottom panel seem ok on a dry fit.  Glue tomorrow. 

I was imagining rowing from the revetment beach out to the SCAMP at anchor today. Hope we get to give that a shot, it might open up some interesting possibilities. 

7

Squeaking it in

 

June nearly slipped away without an entry in Anjevi's log. Couldn't let that happen. Luckily last day of the month the forces aligned - weather, car, commitments - so I got Anjevi out for a splendid sail. 5 miles due south, a comfortable tack, and nice sunshine in the cuddy to keep the crew happy

I nearly got self steering going. I have re-read John Letcher's book on self steering, I will make a serious attempt next time. For longer cruises, being freed from the tyranny of the tiller would be welcome.

Lucky I did get out, and lucky I got down to Bunnings for some ply and some wood, as on the weekend my COVID test confirmed that I have not managed to dodge the bug. Anne caught it at a funeral the week before, and I have been sort of waiting for the other shoe to drop.  It doesn't feel as bad this time round but it seriously interrupts my sleep, which has its own knock on effect.

It has definitely led to some very slow cognitive tempo. There have been long interludes of me standing blankly trying to figure out what to do next in the shed while working on my current project, the John Welsford "Scraps" dinghy.  It feels like real boat building.

I hope I can use it to ferry Oz from SCAMP to shore and back. And get it on and off the roof of the car without too much faffing round. Both might prove unworkable, but it is helping me get through the plague days.

Lifelong learning

 Seems like you never stop learning.  Hopefully all these lessons, one would hope to see signs of improvement.  For the WBA sailing day up the Maribrynong, events unfolded such that I was taking the Pirogue.  I dug out my old curtain rod mast and polytarp sail, and got down to the local beach to do some testing. I tried steering with the single paddle, which was a dud, and with the double paddle which sort of worked though I did tend to go round in circles. It was a fun experiment though, and a very pleasant hour or so's sailing. And I had a good conversation with Leonne, a lady who goes swimming there most nice afternoons.

On reflection I figured I probably needed a rudder, so next day I cobbled together a norwegian tiller arrangement onto a rudder that another of my beach acquaintances had found and passed onto me. 

Sunday morning we were all packed and waiting for Chris who was christening his new double decker trailer.  

I was a bit anxious about parking and whether the local Essendon Canoers would be hostile to invaders.  Goes to show, we probably worry about the wrong things, as parking was no problem and the locals were very friendly. 

Jack was there already with his Acorn with remarkably low boom clearance, and Hamish turned up with his lovely Skerrie.  It was very chilled, and the Sunday morning weather was lovely, light zephyrs to ghost us along down stream to meet the fleet coming up.

I think we made a significant contribution to the entertainment and good humour on the river bank - we got lots of waves, people took lots of photos of us, little children called out to us and got very excited as we sailed majestically by.

What could possibly go wrong?  A few miles down the river, near Footscray rowing club, we met the first of the fleet coming up river.  I got my gopro out, and was fiddling with it, and not watching what was happening on the water or holding onto the mainsheet that well, when a substantial blast of  wind came barrelling down the river. 

Note that the BOM was predicting that the winds would be decreasing.  Oh well, no excuses.  When the blast hit, the mainsheet - a crappy, thin bit of Bunnings cord which I had rigged without any mechanical advantage whatsoever - slipped through my fingers.  The sail swung forward.  Instant roll to leeward. Splash.

I managed to capture the whole event on the gopro and the WBA members in the boats coming up gleefully filmed it all too.  I got to the river bank, with a bit of gentle nudging from Chris in Stringybark - that tugboat captain experience is very useful sometimes -  bailed out, got sorted and headed off again.  As the wind chart above shows, the breeze was really kicking up by this time, and we had to slog back into wind gusting up to over 20 knots.  At some points I was paddling as hard as I could and still going backwards, which was a bit dispiriting.  At least it kept me warm.

We got back to the club pontoon, I retrieved dry clothes, used up my 10 minutes maximum use time in the local exceloo getting dry and changed.  We decided that we would forgo the slog up to the WBA meeting spot about a mile upriver, straight into the headwind which was still blasting away, and had a pleasant lunch in the sun instead, chatting to Jack and his crew member, and then  to Hamish who came back down river to join us.   

At least I had everything in drybags that were sealed and tied on - for once I didn't loose anything or drown anything.    My winter swimming had prepared me for the cold water, and some instinct told me not to take my better cameras. No harm done except to my ego.    It actually was a good little adventure.  And I learned a few more things - particularly, I need to invest in better mainsheet rigging for the sailing canoe ... and take and use the outriggers next time I take that boat out!

Speaking of boats, I have started another build, this time a John Welsford "Scraps"  a 6 foot long pram type dinghy. It actually does look a little bit SCAMP like - an Anjevi minime.  Of course a 12 foot boat needs a 6 foot tender. 

My hope is that it is stable enough for me to get Oz from Scamp to Scraps to shore for his at least twice daily shore leave requirements.  If not, I think the Welsford brand is sufficient that I will be able to at least get my money back.  I am using as many scraps as I can to build the boat, but I suspect this project will wind up with a net increase in the amount of bits of ply and off cut lying around.   Hey ho, I am enjoying the process of the build enormously, it is really good fun.  I think I will add a mast step, rudder gudgeons and a lee board, so it can sail as well.  

The Scraps is built upside down on a strong back.  I have never built a boat that way before, so it is a learning experience!  Lifelong learning in action!

 

Blythely spend the gowden day

 As we have been sliding into Winter, there have been more than our fair share of golden days.  I managed to keep swimming into the first week of June, but got a cold, then got distracted, and I fear I have lost my super power of cold water acclimatization.  

I finished the outriggers and got one sea trial in with them.  I need a few more blocks to get the mainsheet working properly, then I am good for some more serious testing.  I have been very slowly shaping and hand sewing a tent for the SCAMP too.  It looks a lot better than a tarp draped over the boat and hanging down at odd angles.   Next step, ad a zip.  I have not had the SCAMP out for a while, it will be good to get back on the water for some winter sailing soon.

Speaking of SCAMP's, I helped my neighbour Frank, who is 80, collect his SCAMP kit.  It was not so long ago that my SCAMP looked like this:

It really is magical that this turns into a SCAMP!  I have largely forgotten how it all happens, so I better brush up on the manual so I can give sensible answers when asked for advice.

Meantime, we had a nice trip down to Warrnambool to celebrate our anniversary - I haven't been anywhere since Tassie in February, and the longer the interval between getting away, the harder it seems to get.  But it was a good trip, and for just about the first time, it did not rain non stop while I was in Warrnambool. 

I said to the family that this blurry photo demonstrates why they call them whale flukes - it is a fluke if you press the shutter button at the right time to capture them.  Anne points out that in fact it is the pectoral fin of a female whale, which they use to slap the water and send out a signal.  The fluke is the tail.  

Back home, Chris and I got Derry the Skerry launched on the Maribrynong, as reconnaissance for the upcoming WBA river trip.  We established pretty conclusively that launching a heavy-ish row boat, such as was being suggested by a couple of members - would be pretty difficult.    We also managed to discover and visit the mysterious Steele's Creek.  The entrance is very difficult to spot, but the creek itself is quite deep and goes quite a way.  It was a very pleasant, golden day on the water.  These low wind winter days are perfect for rowing, you don't overheat, and you know if you were trying to sail you would be going nowhere fast.

The big event of early winter for us is our lovely grand daughter Harriet's first birthday.  We bought her a nice walker as a present which has been a big hit and has all sorts of possible entertaining uses.

Jess and Chris are wonderful parents, it is so nice to watch Harriet growing into herself in such a  loving, secure, happy environment. It was chilly today, but Hattie's birthday made it indeed a golden day. 

Where's my haliberd?

 The weather has given us a lovely run of balmy days. No rain, not good for the farmers, and more evidence of global warming, but it is hard not to enjoy it. The Bay temperature is more than a degree warmer than this time last year. I have been getting down for a swim most mornings, I might make it to June with luck, though the weather looks a bit grim for the weekend and a string of days with other commitments might finish off my acclimatization.

Geoff brought his SCAMP down from Learmonth last week. 5 boats got out, a nice little fleet. The more boats the more people going in all directions, and the ramp gets crowded. I think 5 is a good number.  Neil Murphy on Andrew's Red Jacket took this photo of the two SCAMPs ghosting along in light airs. Whenever I see a photo of people in SCAMPS from front on, I am reminded of E.H.Shepard's wonderful drawing from "Wind in the Willows":

All we need are some revolvers, haliberds and truncheons to brandish to complete the picture.

I am very conscious that this fantastic weather won't last, and I should be getting as much on water time as I can, but lack of car and sheer laziness have gotten the upper hand. Plus some other jobs ticked off the to do list.

Meanwhile I have been pushing on with the outriggers. Not a brilliant job but good enough I hope. I will be interested to see how they go on Peero the Bolger Pirogue. 

Video of Friday's sail btw:

https://www.facebook.com/share/r/191DEtiP8Y/

Weed, deweed

 

Albert Park Lake seems to be getting weedier and shallower each time I launch there. Sailing round Gunn Island, as I did twice, first with Sam, then with Ashley, two potential SCAMP builders, we left a muddy trail behind us and it was clear that the centreboard was ploughing a groove through the mud and weed. Which didn't improve speed or handling. But there was a moderate southerly, gusting over 12 knots I reckon, enough to move the little bull dozer of the SCAMP along. 

Quite a good turn out, 7 boats turned up, and a few people came along thanks to the Facebook posts. The session on the Tawe Nunnugah was interesting, some perspectives there that I hadn't thought of.   The ferry crossing really does add a level of risk and stress if things don't go according to plan. I doubt I will do another, somehow it was more tiring and less rewarding than the previous time. Still glad I did it though, but twice is enough.

After lunch, I had a good solo sail, tacking up the lake while other boats retrieved. I was sailing past the concrete space where the boats wait before moving onto the ramp, a couple of boat lengths off, and Gavan gestured to the space behind Tosh, enough to fit the SCAMP. Split second, I'll considered decision, I headed in, tried to drop sail, but with the wind over port side, the yard pressed against mast, lots of friction, sail stuck, gust catches sail, and next thing we are heading straight for the concrete. Luckily the weed slowed us, and Gavan caught the bow before crunch time, but a few more lessons in there to learn.

The boat and trailer were liberally plastered with horrible Lake weed. I hosed off as much as I could, but the weed still stuck under the skegs was a good excuse to launch the next day. Wind prediction south easterlies increasing over the day. We ran some errands, then I got down to the ramp about 11.30. I was rigging the boat, when a car drove into the carpark and pulled up beside me. An older chap emerged. "You must be Gary" he said. Ah, fame 🙂

It was Shane, aka "Boomerang", a RL28 sailor who I have  communed with over Facebook. He did a round the bay sail recently. Not exactly a dinghy, the RL28, but still a good achievement.  Shane has a fascination with exploring the backwaters of the bay that I can relate to.

Anne came down a bit after 12 and we were heading out about 12.30. Just about close hauled we were heading for P3, which was glowing a cheerful bright yellow against the general grey of the day. I like to have a destination, however arbitrary, so we set our sights on that. It took a few tacks to reach. There were two terns sitting cosily on the buoy, each with their own quadrant, sort of like a bird apartment. They looked very pleased with the arrangement.

A broad reach home, and true to the prediction the wind built as we went. We were pushing along nicely at 4-4.5 knots. The ramp was pleasantly deserted except for seagulls.  The weed cleaning was a very pleasant exercise.

. 

And then there were three

 

Glorious Autumn weather last week or so, and perfect day for the launch of Geoff's SCAMP " Papa's" #738, on Lake Wendouree. Not much wind, which is perfect for launching a new boat. Chris brought along his little kayak, and did the honours as camera boat so we could get some excellent footage of the historic occasion, three SCAMPs on Victorian waters. I launched mine February last year, so the numbers have gone from zero to three in just over a year. I wish my Superannuation was showing a similar rate of increase. At this rate, we won't be able to move for SCAMPS in a decade or two. Here is a video stitching together some of Chris' fine footage:

There are a couple more in progress, and more people making contact who are seriously interested. A chap who has bought the plans came down from Bendigo for a sail on Wednesday. Another beautiful Autumn day, but an almost windless morning which was not so great for him nor for the skippers of the other 7 boats that surprisingly turned up in response to my announcement I was going out on the WBA WhatsApp group.  Hey ho, I don't control the weather, but couldn't help feeling a bit guilty as we all bobbed round on the glassy surface of the water a few hundred metres off the ramp, going nowhere fast.

It would have been a brilliant paddling day. I have just finished reading Verlen Kruger's "Incredible Journey", his account of paddling and portaging right across Canada in a canoe. He and his buddy each carried a load of 170 lbs on the portages, sometimes for 8 miles or more, often uphill. Golly. They were lucky to survive from the sound of it. But he went on to paddle over 100000 miles, still paddling into his eighties. 

Mike, the potential SCAMP builder who came out with me Wednesday, used to sail Mosquito catamaran, quite seriously from the sound of it.  I by contrast am not a serious sailor.  He asked me what tweaks I have found most useful with the balanced lug.  After thinking for a while, I had to confess that I don't tweak. 

It occurred to me that this is all a bit like Freud's "Civilization and its Discontents".  Having another boat around, or another person on board, especially if they are a serious sailor, is a sure pathway to feeling like you have to go faster, try harder, tweak that sail shape.  Its nice to have the company and the competition, but it comes at a price.

Hey ho, I need to get through the WBA Sailing Day this Sunday, then I plan to try some non-serious, solipsistic sailing.

Adapting

My old car finally reached the end of the road this week.  This has been coming for a good while, and I was sad to see it move on, but all things wear out alas.  

 

It was a great car, and many happy miles and memories go with it. With it gone, I need to change my sailing ways a bit.  I can still negotiate to use the white car, but also I can make use of the little beach and ramp round the corner.  

I have launched the Skerry there a couple of times in the last few weeks.   With all the sailing paraphernalia loaded up it is a fair old workout, especially getting back up the ramp.  Great to be able to do it though. We had a grand sail with Andrew in his Laser.

I think I need a better trolley if I am going to launch to sail.  Last launch and retrieval I had to come home and have a nap afterwards, I was seriously tired.  The fat tyres and rusting axle of my folding trolley impart a fair bit of friction.  I am giving some serious thought to a trolley using bicycle wheels, with ball bearing axles and thinner tyres, a bit like the one I use for my kayak and the pirogue.

 Rowing is much simpler and lighter and quicker all round and I think I will stick to that with the Skerry from now on until a better trolley presents itself.  But it is lovely to sail the Skerry again.  Even Oz thought it was not too bad.

For simple quick light sailing, the 12 foot Bolger Peero that I built when the kids were little makes a nice option.   I gave it some much needed maintenance, and have been fiddling with the rigging. I can have it on the water in 15 minutes without a lot of effort, and it is great fun to sail.

Fun, but also quite tippy.  It doesn't have a lot of hull form stability, and sailing requires concentration.  I am building some Storer Mini Outriggers as insurance against an unplanned swim.

It is nice to have a boat building project again, albeit a small one. I find it immensely satisfying.

Past the autumn equinox

 Now we have moved past the autumn equinox the boating weather is perfect for the sort of pottering round l enjoy most. Lack of second car requires some logistical juggling, but I have managed to get out for some excellent on water activities in the last week or so. 4 days on the water out of 7 ... Now that's a good average.

Sunday was the WBA sailing day at Werribee South, I got down there by train and bus, and Stephen kindly took me on as crew in his SCAMP.  Not much wind, mostly a rowing motoring day. I managed to break the rowlock pin on Stephen's oar but it was a good day, with an excellent turnout of boats.

The weather forecast for the rest of the week looked good. Monday I launched Anjevi from the warmies with Anne and Ozzie as crew. We sailed over to Port Melbourne, admired Princes Pier pylons and the stonking great cruise boats tied up at Station Pier being rebadged, then headed back to Williamstown and tied up at Ferguson St pier. Andrew Campbell was standing at the stern of the Castlemaine to welcome us in. Anne got fish and chips, the tram Ferry and Fearless pulled up and scowled at us a bit, as it is listed as a commercial traffic pick up drop off pier only. Oh well. If another commercial boat has turned up I was ready to move. 

It was a very pleasant spot for lunch.

We did a bit of exploring checking out the piers of Williamstown then headed back to the deserted ramp for an easy retrieval. A good day.

Chris contacted me suggesting an impromptu overnighter to Williamstown. He launched at Werribee South, I launched at Altona with a bit of cafr shuffling.  I radioed Chris to suggest meeting for lunch at the little sheltered indentation just round this side of point cook. I thought I was about a mile away, but my estimation of distance was, as usual, wildly optimistic. But I got there eventually and we enjoyed a peaceful lunch anchored in the shelter of the point.

It's 6 miles across to the breakwater pier at Williamstown, luckily a nice southerly filled in, and we had a fine quartering run, the SCAMP was ticking along round 4.5 knots, up over 5 down some of the waves. Off point Gellibrand we reefed, and pottered round to let the freighter traffic clear before heading in.

It was a bit bumpy till midnight when the wind settled down, and a bit noisy from the dock over the opposite side of the shipping channel which operates 24/7, but a lovely morning. Turner would have loved it. Back at ramp by 10, car shuffle, back home by 11. A great micro adventure !

Well being

 

Today I pushed Derry the Skerry down to the local beach on her folding trolley. Oz and I rowed over to the Dog Beach. On the way we met Andrew in Szotka and had a nice chat bobbing round off the red stick. I could see him tacking back from over towards the pier. It's not a race, of course, but rowing straight I beat the laser tacking back to the red stick. I can keep the Skerry moving about 3 knots into about 10 knots headwind.

We pulled the boat up on the sand just past the safe harbour. As Oz gets older, we have not been walking that far, and he has not been there for a while, though it used to be a regular haunt for him. He was super pleased to be back there. He had a good old bark and run around with some other friendly dogs, and a good old gambol in the warm shallow pools that form there as the tide goes out. It was a very pleasant way to spend a few hours.

L. Francis Herreshoff observed "... for almost nothing gives a person a better feeling of well being than a good long row".

More messing about

 The Autumn equinox is coming up, and as usual there is a burst of hot weather, and with it a burst of boating activity.  Campbell wanted to try a capsize test with his Pathfinder "Antares", Ian wanted a sail in "Westy" before heading off interstate, and a few usual suspects were good for a sail. We had a nice little fleet of six boats, and a good day on the water, real messing about in boats stuff but a bit hot packing up. I find my IQ declines sharply when the temperature gets over 30.

The water is just so nice now tho. I have been swimming a bit and got Derry the Skerry out for a row for an hour or two with Anne and Ozzie. Maggie thinks she might like to try it too.

As well, I have been out last two Saturdays with Peter M in his lovely Pocketship "Kelpie". It was Peter's first outing under sail, and the BOM was predicting light northerlies but we got gusty winds up to 20 knots, probably not ideal for a new sailor in a new boat, but the boat and her new captain handled it all very nicely. For the second outing, Chris came along as well, and we got just about no wind.  We explored some of the nooks and crannies of Port Melbourne, very pleasant, but bloody hot by the time we were putting the boat to bed. My brain got cooked again, and I managed to make a right stuff up of a WBA email later that afternoon. Oh well. What are they going to do, fire me? I wish.

So, plenty of on water and in water time so far for March, and with luck an expedition coming up. 

Faithful

 

Chris my son in law sent a bunch of photos he took 4 years ago when I launched Derry the Skerry. It was a lovely surprise and reminder of a special day. I was particularly touched by the photos of Ozzie watching me closely when I took Andrew Campbell out for a row. I think he is all ready to swim out and rescue me if I sank. 

And of course I got a jolly good barking at when we got back to shore. He is such a good boy! 

It was a great day, and Derry looks very nice. I hope to get out for some low key rowing in that boat this year.

Home again

 

Anjevi and I are home safe but a bit tired from the Tawe Nunnugah 25 Raid.  It will take me a while to digest the experience and recover I suspect.

The weather was less cooperative this year, and some days I had to really dig deep to get through. I found it all a bit more pressured this time ... Perhaps because I was in a slower boat. 

I got all the way from Recherche to Hobart on one Torqeedo battery with 6% remaining. The older battery gave an error 45 when I tried to use it so probably ditch it. I mostly used the Torqeedo for motor sailing when there was very light airs, plus a bit of getting into and out of tight spaces like Watermans Dock.  It was a nice thing to have, certainly saved a bit of rowing. 

Anjevi held up fine except for a parted centre board uphaul rope. Bunnings Marine let me down there. I have a plan for an upgrade arrangement, a saddle on the board, a spectra line and thimble maybe for the uphaul line.  Sailing with Dale was instructive, as he has a lot of sailing experience in general and SCamp sailing in particular. And I got some ideas wandering round the Wooden Boat Festival. I have a list of things I would like to upgrade - cushions, anchor stowage, rear compartments. And I will finish my boat  tent, I had to admit it looked a bit funky in the campgrounds on the way home. Cosy tho. Anjevi was very comfortable both to sail and to camp on. 

It has been fun playing "Where's Wally" spotting Anjevi in various festival photos. Just saw us in a pic in the WBA Queensland newsletter, overtaking the Endeavour.

And here we are in a Tall Ships post on Soren Lasen

I am glad to have completed the Raid, but even gladder to be home. It helped me clarify the sort of sailing I want to do in future. I met lots of wonderful people, including John Welsford, who very kindly posed next to Anjevi. Great to have a photo of Anjevi and her designer.

Mat has made a terrific video of the first part of the raid, we actually feature in there a few times, and some of my video included. 

And here we are on the cover for the recording of John's take at the AWBF