Wednesday, January 19, 2022

A ladder to the stars

 


A ladder to the roof of the car at least. Inspired by Emanuel at Arwen Marine and the Japanese gentleman I am hoping to make a roof loader that will let me load the Skerry without too much excitement or exertion. And then, lots of possibilities will open up, teardrop and boat combo getaways, one way trips in the boat to prearranged rendezvous collection points. I hope it works.



 

Wednesday, January 12, 2022

Fiddling around

 Jim from the Dinghy Shop called yesterday. He had to curtail his trip down to Tassie because of engine problems, so he was back in the shop, and the Ronstan Fiddle block I ordered before Christmas was in. Good news for me at least. My back still not so good. We went for a swim first thing, then I thought I would try out the Fiddle Block.


The SE wind had kicked up  by the time I was ready to launch. I tried sailing off the lee shore, but Derry isn't great without rudder and centreboard down. After a couple of fruitless attempts I rowed out a bit, then off we went bouncing through the chop. Coming back in, surfing on the waves, I was hitting over 7 knots. The boat felt very controllable. The Fiddle Block is a success, much easier than the cleat arrangement it replaces.

It wasn't a long sail but glad I got out.






Thursday, January 6, 2022

A serious present

 

I aggregated my Christmas and birthday presents for a dry suit, which arrived yesterday.

Steve Early and Bruce Batteau, two sailors of small open boats with much more experience of making extended voyages than me, both have positive reports and both are glad of their dry suits. "Don't get cold, don't get wet" is a good motto. I could probably have used one that rainy day down at Mallacoota. The challenge will be getting into the damn thing. Steve Early speaks of "slipping on" his dry suit. More like a five minute wrestle with a contortionist for me when I tried mine yesterday. I doubt I could get it on or off in the Skerry on the water. And it is quite a sizeable package.


Anyway, it feels quite comfortable on, and I feel like an extra in a sci-fi film from the sixties. 






Wednesday, January 5, 2022

A message


My back is not so good. We went for a slow, geriatric shuffle round to the little beach in front of the revetment. I sat down on the rock wall for a rest, and Anne spotted this perfect Paper Nautilus shell right in front of us, nestling in the seaweed. 

I think this is the fourth or fifth we have found. Each time, it seems truly miraculous, like an intervention from a mysterious other realm. I think about the conjunction of forces necessary to deliver that extraordinary, delicate object right to the spot at exactly the right time for us to find it. It could be just one of the squillions of random things that make up our world. But it feels like a message.




 

Chop ouch

 


Khiem was down from Sydney and yesterday turned out to be the only day we could get out for a sail. Liem his son, who is a keen dinghy sailor, came with us and helmed ably for most of the trip over to Williamstown and back. Gerard launched his Hartley ts14. Peter was going to get out but pulled the pin after looking at the forecast. Federico was out in his Impulse with a couple of AYC boats, tho we only saw them as we were coming back in. 

It was a grey, choppy day, wind around 15 knots Southerly, but it seemed to build up  some decent swell, particularly off Breakwater Pier and off Williamstown Beach. I was running to help Gerard, then with multiple people on board I was twisting to get the engine up and out of the way. Somewhere in there my back went haywire. Coming home, I could not get out of the car, I just couldn't lift my leg to get over the door sill. I also managed to get my hand caught in the engine raising mechanism. So I am feeling a bit sore and sorry for myself.

Somehow, sailing with other people seems to bring distractions. Rewards too, but on balance I am coming to think the Steve Early/Webb Chiles model is what suits me best.

Khiem made a nice video, though I hate seeing myself on video. Oh well ...




Sunday, January 2, 2022

First for the year

 


I got the Skerry out for the first sail of 2022 yesterday. A bit humid but lovely on the water. I was a bit stupid rigging and wrapped the sail round the peak of the yard, which I didn't notice till we were underway. I hove to, dropped sail, untangled snafu, then rehoisted and sailed on. Easy. The Skerry is a very well behaved boat. It was a relaxing sail.


Saturday, January 1, 2022

Art, life, cat ketches

 


I follow a couple of maritime art groups which post some fantastic images. The one above and the one below both struck a chord. A bit like how I feel as we head into 2022.


I got some nice footage of the Core Sound from Peter B, and used a hot morning when inside was the only option to run up a one minute cat ketch video. Looks nice out there, and it was.