Christmas 2022

 

Christmas eve, nice weather, Chris S was getting Ysolde out for a quick sail from Werribee South so I got over there with the Skerry. On the water by 9. Wind West South West.

The wind kicked up a bit and we put in a reef. I could just about keep up with Ysolde unreefed, but after we each put in a reef, i was much slower.

We sailed in quite close to shore and anchored. Mike's 1 kg Cooper anchor holds the boat in those conditions, somewhat to my surprise.

I sailed back in, and for once did a nice approach to the jetty, dropped sail a couple of boat lengths off, and coasted up nicely to a stop. Two blokes hanging about were very impressed, nice to have an audience when things go right. Usually there are only audiences for disasters.

De-rigging was not quite so pleasant. A couple of truly obnoxious blokes pulled up beside me, but at least I was not encouraged to dawdle. Home by 1 and into tidying up for the Christmas day celebrations.

The family gave me a 360 camera for Christmas Birthday. It needs a faster sd card than I possess, so a brief hiatus till one is acquired. In the modern way, no user manual, which I find annoying, but hopefully I can puzzle it out.

A very pleasant Christmas day tho. Lovely weather, lovely family, lots of feasting and good humour. I feel extremely lucky.

Dumb Joe almost

 

Jim and Chris who are doing the TN launched their Lugger at Altona with Penny this morning. I got down with the Skerry.  A beautiful sailing day with a steady 10 knots Southerly. We sailed over to Point Cook. I was a head and headed for the beach there but the sea birds looked so peaceful and the water was shallow which I knew the Lugger wouldn't like, so I headed back out again almost running over a big banjo shark. We drifted and had lunch, then made an attempt to get round Dumb Joe cardinal mark.

It was directly up wind though, and we got discouraged and ran back for home. 13.4 NM for the day.

The good news is that the Skerry performed very creditably relative to the Lugger, faster on all points of sail and pointing about as well. So I might not be the TN lantern rouge.

A good day, my kind of sailing.

Testing testing

Sea trials of Toqeedo bracket on the Skerry were successful in so far as we did not capsize, sink or do any damage to the boat or engine or crew. There is a distinct list to Port, the engine side, but I can counteract that with my weight once I am in the boat. There was a fair old chop and a bit of wind, and the rudder is not sufficient to steer into a choppy headwind. I had to row to keep our heading. But we could move along about 2.4 knots bang into the wind. I anchored, and took battery and engine off. Not much buoyancy back there and it was tricky getting them off ... I don't think I could put the engine on in any sort of seaway. So, on balance, I think I might leave the engine out of the equation. Even with electric,life is much simpler without engines. 

I guess I should give it another go, and tidy up the bracket so it is not such an eyesore. The wind at Laverton was gusting 18-19 knots while I was out so I guess we were doing pretty well to be moving at over 2 knots. Golly I am tired tonight tho! I will have to be careful to conserve energy on the Tawe Nunnugah... minimum possible rowing.

Collie Nose's last sail

 Since the sailing day on the Lake, Ozzie has been diagnosed with "Collie Nose", DLE, a congenital,  abnormal reaction to sunlight. It manifests as a crusty nose, with a lot of congestion, and discolouration around the nostrils. Poor boy has been sneezing and snoring something awful. He is taking cortisone and antibiotics and it is clearing up, but we have to keep him out of the sun. So he is retiring as sea dog. I will miss him.

The slippery slope

 

It was the regular WBA sailing day at Albert Park Lake today.  Anne was heading off to visit a friend, so I took Oz rather than leave him home alone.  He was ok getting back in the boat, first time since our capsize.  He looks fairly relaxed, but perhaps he is just shutting his eyes trying to make it all go away.

Peter was there in his lovely cat ketch, reminding me how good cat ketches can be.  

Jim was there in his row boat.  A couple of chaps I have not met before were launching a lovingly restored clinker built boat.

I was trying to prevent Pitthirrit banging into the trailer when it came time to retrieve, and managed to slip and land in the not too pristine waters of the lake. up to my armpits.  Oh well, someone has to provide the free entertainment.  I was glad to get home and get a shower.  

I made a few tweaks in the balanced lug, which seem to help a bit.  I need to push on with new centre board and engine mount this week.

I got a heads up regarding a Welsford Navigator for sale at an extremely reasonable price over in Mornington. But somehow,I am just not interested. Something has changed in me. Perhaps I amon another slippery slope. But it could also be a glimmering of something like sense.

Ketchless

 Yesterday, Cam from Canberra took Kirsty Ann off to her new home in Canberra. He has been chasing me for years, and just after the capsize, when I was thinking I really should sell as I have not been using the boat, he made contact again.  He is very knowledgeable and a keen sailor. So I am richer, but also feeling quite bereft. I really loved that boat.

I really haven't been using it much though, and it is a shame to see boats fust away. And I don't have to keep berating myself about not using the boat, and making half arsed plans to get out. Plus,I won't miss the ramps which are getting more annoying and crowded. I now have a Torqeedo engine and super battery on my hands, as Cam didn't want it. I will see if I can get it to work on the Skerry and if it does I will register the boat, if not, I can sell the engine and be even more cashed up. 

Hey ho. It is life I guess, things you love pass out of your life. Hey ho. 

Comparisons inevitable

 

Gavan in his Little Tern and me in Derry the Skerry got out from St Kilda Marina on Friday, the only half decent day for a week. The Altona ramp carpark was about 90% full at 6.15 and more cars and boats heading in when Ozzie and I went past on our morning walk. So I headed over to St Kilda with some trepidation, but the carpark was half empty, and there was a much more relaxed vibe.  Perhaps the $14 carpark fee acts as a disincentive. But it was easy launching there. The biggest downside is the long narrow busy channel out to open water, not so good rowing into a headwind as I discovered coming home.

The Bom forecast was for East North Easterlies, which would have been perfect for a run up to Sandringham, but in fact it was a Southerly, so bang on the nose and we had to tack. No doubt, the Tern can point higher than the Skerry. The Skerry could go faster, but as far as VMG is concerned, Tern was better, by about 10 degrees. This could be because of the chap job I did with the dagger board. My new project is to make a new, improved dagger board. I have ordered Oz goose plans from mik storer which has templates for foils, and I think I will add an inch or two to to length and reduce the curve at the bottom of the leading edge. I  will try loosening off the foot of the sail too. If no improvement I can try a new larger rudder, I notice that the Terns rudder is larger. 

Good to have another similar boat to sail with,I would not have twigged there was an issue otherwise, and it would be annoying to find myself on the TN raid with everyone hauling off to windward and leaving me behind.

We had a long beat back and forth alon the coast, and decided to go for the dog beach inside Brighton harbour for lunch.  Quite a few dogs came over hopefully to see if we had any surplus sandwiches, but their owners studiously ignored us. The wind was getting up so we put a reef in the sails and headed off for a fast run back to St Kilda. The skerry, being lighter, seemed faster downwind, and there was some good surfing, up to 6.8 knots catching the occasional wave. 

The wind was blowing directly down the channel so a stiff row back, but the Skerry rows well and we didn't have to work too hard.

Getting home over the Westgate took a while in the Friday afternoon traffic but we got there. All in all  a good outing. I can see more launching over that side of the bay coming up, Black Rock next time.