It was the Winter Solstice Festival at Seaworks in Williamstown last week. The WBA put a few boats on display, to add some boaty atmosphere to what is essentially a big open shed.
The SCAMP was popular, various people tried it out for size, including Tony, who is getting one built, but the old advice for actors, "never appear with dogs or children" proved all too true. Ozzie stole the show. He had a way of locking gaze with passers by and smiling that was irresistible.
I had to put a ladder next to the boat so the long queue of children could get up to eye level to give him a pat. It was a good night, almost like sailing only noisier.
We have been grandparenting and pottering otherwise. The weather has not been great for sailing, cold, windy and/or rainy. I should have launched Thursday, the only free reasonable day last week, but I thought I better do some trailer tinkering, adding a support under the centreboard case so the weight is not on the uphaul gear. It is a better arrangement but somehow managed to chew up the window of opportunity. Hey ho, some settled -if cold- weather coming up, I hope to take advantage of it.
Anne and I are grandparents. Hurrah! Welcome Harriet Ruby Hardy Mackenzie, born last Friday 14 June. She is of course the most beautiful baby ever. Congratulations Jess and Chris. Sea Pup the cradle boat I built a while back may have a crew at last.
In other good news, I heard today from my Camino compadre Jeppe. He and his partner Maia and their son Eik are visiting from Denmark, and will stay here over Christmas. It is 9 years since I walked the Camino and met Jeppe, It is really nice we have stayed in touch. We have had a few adventures together since, memorably a wet cold trip down the Glenelg River, for which I managed to leave most of our food in the car. I think Jeppe might have forgiven me for that one.
Meanwhile on the boat front, evolution continues. I made an off centre mast sail spar carrying arrangement. It makes raising and lowering the mast way easier and quicker. I also added an oarlock socket on the transom, so I can theoretically scull the boat with one oar over the stern.
It was a nice calm day today, and very quiet on the water. Just as well, my attempts at sculling were pretty hopeless. The transom on the SCAMP is quite high, I am not sure the 9'2" oar is long enough. But maybe that is my poor technique.
There is a nifty dodad called a Scullmatix, which both let's you extend the length by adding a handle, and encourages the correct angle of attack on each stroke by having the handle offset. The duckworks site describes a diy Scullmatix, I think I will try that for starters.
https://www.duckworksmagazine.com/13/chest/jun/
It was lovely out there just pottering around trying out a few things. And I remembered to bring an extra fleece blanket for Ozzie, which he definitely appreciated. And I discovered that forward facing standing up rowing is workable in very light airs, good for negotiating the narrow bit of the harbour entrance and dodging stink boats.
No doubt about it, it is definitely getting wintery. But we have been enjoying some lovely not too windy days. Chris in Yslode and I got out very slowly sailed over to Point Cook. There were patches of reasonable pressure, and patches where there seemed to be no wind whatsoever. It seemed to take forever to close the coast near the Point, where we had agreed to rendevouz.
Chris and I swapped video footage. Here is my very short SCAMP centric take on the day:
And here is Chris's take on the day.
Both capture something of a very pleasant if very slow day on the water.
It is definitely getting cold out there. I put Ozzie's blanket in and his coat on, but he still started shivering.
I have acquired a heater attachment I can put on the Trangia or the gas burner, though I wouldn't want to try that underway. But it does seem to belt out a bit of heat. And you can make a cuppa as well.
I also cut a rectangle of marine carpet that Oz can lie on. Testing it tonight, it did feel a lot more cozy to sit on than just painted ply bottom.
I have also added a fire extinguisher, and put a hook in the doubler into which the extinguisher bracket screws. I can hang the oil lamp from that ... one more flamable thing.
I will pack a couple more old blankets for Oz for next trip.
I am also working on an off centre mast/spar/sail stowage arrangement. My current set up uses a holder that fits in the mast box and another on the pintles. I am not super happy with this - it is awkward, the sail wants to slip off the cuddy roof, and the rear holder seems to be bending the rudder pintles each time I use it, which is probably a recipe for fatigue in a bit of kit I would prefer remained robust. I have read of people with off centre arrangements who drop sail into the holder, drop the mast on top, lash it down, and that's it - no having to rig everything every time. Worth exploring.
Speaking of exploring, I met Chris at the intersection of the bike paths to exchange USB's loaded with the footage from our sail. It must have looked pretty dodgy if anyone had been watching, like something out of a spy film. It was such a lovely day we continued on to explore the new bit of bike path out to Point Cook.
I had Oz in his chariot, and we soon started finding forks in the road with "No Dogs" signs. We avoided taking any fork so signed, and managed to find a nice picnic table down a dirt road at the back of the homestead.
We were just packing up when a Parks guy came past, stopped, and told us that dogs were not allowed at this spot either. The chap was a few weeks off retiring, and was happy to have a chat, on his working life and times. It was a beautiful spot on a beautiful day, and there was a Swamp Harrier working the paddock behind.
It was a good ride. But by golly I was tired that night, my cycling capacity has well and truly been lost thanks to lack of use. Better get out a bit more over winter.
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