Three very different days ... Sunday

Despite the relatively benign BOM forecast, the weather was squally and, from the white caps when we set out, it was around 15 knots. Much credit to Jamie and Steve and Sebastian, who set out bravely despite the chop and the wind and the grey squall line of cloud on the horizon in the general direction we wanted to go. We got out on starboard tack with wind from the South West, then tacked on port past the red stick. The wind strengthened and eased and strengthened again as we went. We could sit on one long tack across to the coast line towards Point Cook. We discovered, via the centreboard depth finders, that the depth shelves quite rapidly as you approach the coast, and also that the bottom is a particularly viscous sticky muddy sand. I was in front, and managed to stick the centreboard into the mud just as I was trying to tack, resulting in the boat pivoting rapidly and Oz and I going for an unplanned swim as the boat capsized. Jamie also got in some capsize practice under similar circumstances. We decided that where we were was actually where we were going, so we walked the boats into the beach and had lunch marvelling again at how nice this bit of coast is. It was a nice spot. 

The wind did not ease off over lunch, and the swell seemed to have built up. Hooting back on a broad reach I was disconcerted to see Jamie and his boat vanishing into the troughs between the waves. It was exciting. Even more exciting for Steve and Sebastian in the 125. Steve fell out of the boat when they were hit by a wave, Sebastian stalled the boat but capsized. So we all got some capsize practice today. It was a memorable adventure though.

Three very different days Saturday

Last Saturday was grey but the wind forecast suggested winds less than 15 knots easing as the afternoon progressed. After a series of Saturday race days blown out, I was keen to get the Sabre back in the water. The first of two races, i seriously fluffed the start, but had a good race with Penny who is also relatively new to Sabre sailing. I could draw ahead on the upwind leg,but she was much better down wind. I needed to give her rounding room at the bottom mark. I went wide, and gybed onto port tack, and started steering up to the finish line. She was still on the other gybe, and we collided, the bow of her boat hitting the rear port side of mine. I am still not sure who was in the wrong, but I  did a 360 on the general principle that you should never collide with anybody, and she won the race.

The next race I started better, despite getting a good whack on the side of the head from the boom while waiting for the race to start. I was keeping much closer to the two other Sabre sailers, hooting down the top reaching leg, when a fierce squall  blew through. I clocked 8.6 knots, but the nose of the boat was digging into the waves in front, and I had a vision of pitchpoling so I headed up and let the sail flap ... as did the rest of the fleet. I granny gybed round the mark, loosing some ground, and I was beating again into a lumpy sea, sheeting in hard, when the thwart, that the mainsheet connects to, ripped right out of the boat. I managed to turn towards home and run in, but it was close to a capsize for the first thirty seconds.

My heart leaps up

I took Oz out for a walk on Friday afternoon, and we got soaked in the rain. But walking home, I looked back and saw this.  It was worth getting wet for.

Dry

Tuesday was a much nice forecast.

I met a gang of sailers down at AYC, another Mirror and two 125s, with the rough plan that we would sail over to Point Cook for lunch.

We passed a dad and his two kids in a mirror powered by oars alone, out fishing past the Red Stick.  I invited them to come down next nice Sunday with their sails and mast.

The wind was flukey on the way over, and Daniel lost faith that the wind would hold, so he turned back.

Federico and his partner in their fibreglass 125 were way the fastest, and they shot over there in no time, but very patiently waited on the beach while the rest of us made our way.

We had a very pleasant lunch on the beach.  Every body was quite chuffed to actually go somewhere in their dinghy, compared to just sailing around the buoys.  Federico and partner were asking whether there were beaches round the point, and I sensed they are keen to explore further.

The wind kicked up for a rollicking good run home.  Oz slept most of the way.

My go pro decided to malfunction again ... not sure if it is on the way out. Perhaps its battery is fading. And I gouged a bit out of my hand when the wind caught the boat while launching with lots of distractions.  But it was a grand day out.

Wet

Kate could only make Monday, and Steve was keen to get on the water with his new (to him) 125, so despite ominous forecast we got out early, to avoid the predicted high winds round midday.

Kate was on the helm, and she is very good to sail with - she has been sailing since she was a kid and has a natural skill with handling the boat.  She had forgotten how small the Mirror is after sailing in the Core Sound. But we had a nice sail for about an hour, quite exhilarating with some good gusts coming through, and then a solid shower of rain.

The forecast spooked us a bit though, and every gust and cloud front made me think that the change had come early.  We came in, in time to see the wind drop off almost completely.  We could of stayed out for another hour, but then we really would have been caught as the rain came down in buckets then.

It was a nice outing, and perhaps even nicer to be back in the club house having a cup of tea watching the rain pelting down.

Gippsland Lakes 2

We arranged to rendevouz with some of the WBA boats at 9.30 off the Point King beacon. We were on the water by 8, relishing the step on convenience of a jetty mooring. The water was glassy calm, and wiser this time, I fired up the outboard and we puttered along smoothly at around 3 knots, covering the distance in less than one hour. Fantastic things outboards. When they work.

We bobbed round off Point King till we were beginning to wonder if we had misunderstood the plan, but eventually three boats appeared, including Penny and Jim in their Drascomb Lugger. We motored across Lake King, and tied up at the jetty on the West side of Shaving Point. By this time it was round 30 degrees, much more noticeable on land. Anne and I walked over the short hill into town, to buy batteries and wine for later, and had a lemon squash on the verandah of the pub.

When we got back the wind had filled in and we sailed off with the Drascomb, round Shaving Point and across Bacroft Bay. 

By the time we headed back across Lake King the wind had kicked up a bit and with it a short chop. The Core sound handled it very surely. It was almost a dead run, and when ever I saw the main loose pressure I could steer us up so we didn't gybe. We parted company at Point King, then gull winged back into Eagle Bay. Speed was 5 to 6 knots most of the way, with a top of 7 somewhere in there, no doubt surfing down a wave.

The wind was up, and I didn't feel lucky, so we started the outboard and dropped sails. I tried essentially the same manoeuvre as the day before, coming in close to shore before making a sharp turn into the wind aiming to come to stop next to the jetty. This time though, I  must have gone closer to shore, the rudder hit the bottom, flicked up and i lost steerage at the critical moment, and hit the jetty hard at an acute angle on the port front gunnel, taking out a gouge of hardwood.

The wind was blowing the boat onto the jetty and despite my best endeavours I could not work an arrangement of bollards that would hold it off. In retrospect I could have tied the nose to one of the poles nearby and the stern off the jetty, but there was a fair swell built up so that might not have worked either.

Willyweather was predicting that the wind would stay strong before increasing the next morning so I  drove the car and trailer down to the ramp, cycled home, collected Anne and Oz, and we set off into the chop for an exciting retrieval on an exposed ramp. Oz enlivened the proceedings by standing whimpering at the bow of the boat, which was pitching up and down in the waves, as I wound the boat onto the trailer. 

Next morning I cleaned and tidied the boat, and we laid low. Dinner at the Paynesville pub with the other WBA gang, then the long drive home through massive storm fronts, wind and rain on Sunday.

It was a great trip. I've patched the gunnel and revarnished it, and sent the outboard off to be serviced. I am very pleased with the Core Sound, and looking forward to more adventures.

Gippsland Lakes 1

Last weekend was the WBA weekend away down at Paynesville. As is the way with such things, the weather forecast was perfect midweek, deteriorating to apocalyptic over the weekend. I have been hankering to get the Core Sound down to the Lakes, so I decided to time shift and go down early - that flexibility is one of the blessings of retirement.

My original plan was to take a tent and camp, but Anne decided that she would like to come, and we managed to find a house, with a jetty at the bottom of the garden, in Eagle bay round the corner from Paynesville.

We drove down Tuesday, and there was a drive and beach next to the jetty, so I decided to rig the boat there, and try launching next morning. Which proved to be one of those dumb ideas. The trailer wheels sank into the soft sand before the boat was in enough water to float off. But after a lot of heaving and strong language I got it launched, tied up to the jetty, the trailer retrieved, and could saunter off and have breakfast with the nice feeling that the boat was all ready to go.

There was a glassy calm when we set off, and I sanctimoniously resisted Anne's sensible suggestion to start the outboard. I rowed, we ghosted, we bobbed round in circles, and three hourslater we finally got into McMillan strait, and tied up at the public jetty.

After lunch and with some supplies on board we set off out the south eastern end of the strait. The wind had picked up, and we tacked out, very inefficiently at first as I neglected to lower the centreboard after lunch, but once we got that sorted we had a lovely beat along the south side of Raymond Island, checked out the depth of the bottom of Point King, then settled in for a lovely reach back down to our jetty. I sailed in, pulling up head to wind next to jetty, without too much drama, a nice end to a lovely sailing day.