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.
Winter is coming in, some days distinctly chilly, but others weirdly warm. We took advantage of one still day to explore some of the secret harbours over towards Williamstown. Thanks to the lingering high pressure system, even the high waters were low, and all we could see at the mouth of Kororoit creek were sandbars and puddles full of sea birds.
Ozzie got cold and had to get snuggled up in his coat in the sunshine.
I took to the oars, and got over to the little Williamstown Anglers Club harbour, which I had visited in the Skerry. It has been made over with a large grant from some government related body ... but in the schlimbesserung tradition that seems to apply to all "improvements" over this way, it is a lot less friendly now.
It used to have a nice notice saying you were welcome to tie up for a bit, but it was a private club so don't get in the way. Oh well. Just as well we took the hint though, as when I went back on foot a few days later, the new arrangement has introduced some nasty keel gouging bits of metal which would almost certainly have done "Ysolde" a damage had we tried to tie up there.
Still, it was a lovely day sailing/drifting. We anchored near the sand bars at mouth of the creek on the way back for lunch. Chris took a nice action shot mid sail raising after raising the anchor. You have to move sharpish in that situation, even with light air it is a lee shore and you need to get sailing pronto.
All in all, a lovely day sail.
Next outing was a very similar day weather wise, the Wooden Boat Association sailing day at Albert Park Lake. My trailer set up is much better now, and I launched the SCAMP without fuss into the weedy swan poo rich murk at the ramp to the lake. Stephen came along as crew, Chris launched a newly refurbished Stringy Bark. I rowed, Stephen steered, and Chris paddled along beside us, as we enjoyed a leisurely trip to the St Kilda end of the lake and back.
Another pleasant if low key outing, but all good practice getting the rigging done, and a good chance to talk about plans for Tawe Nunnugah next February.
There was a bit more wind on Tuesday, which was the only day Campbell could make, and also the last good day for a while according to the weather forcasts. Chris in Ysolde, Andrew Campbell in Mars, Andrew Laird in Alt Linden the Hartley ts 16, and Campbell and I in Anjevi, got down to Altona. I said 10, of course every one was there about 9.15. There was some drama before launching as Andrew and I got embroiled with a homeless couple kicking up a ruckus in the toilet block. Woman shouting for help, we called 000, couple emerged and told us all to f* off, police shrugged wearily and declined further involvement. We were a bit rattled by the time we got on the water. But a beautiful relatively steady Northerly and some lovely sailing blew the stress away.
Or maybe, for Andrew, replaced one stress with another. It was his first sail on the bay in his Hartley, and they can be a bit of a handful with all that sail. He was having to work dinghy sailer like to keep mast side up. Campbell and I meanwhile were hardly working at all, and the SCAMP was sailing flat and easy. Not fast though. Andrew whizzed past us.
*Followed by Chris. Hey ho. Going fast is not why I built the SCAMP.
We sailed over almost to St Kilda, turned towards the city, then ran back across past T28 where our friends the seals were enjoying the sun.
We had a bit of a start on Chris and Andrew, and enjoyed a splendid down wind sail from here back to Altona. The SCAMP is an extremely relaxing boat to sail. Campbell observed that she almost sails herself. I had the bungey on and a couple of turns of mainsheet round the tiller, and indeed, we moved along at round 4 knots with hardly any human intervention all the way home. A really nice outing.
Chris made a really nice video of the day.
Meanwhile I am continuing to chip away at small jobs on the boat - a couple of turn buckle type thingeys to hold the footwell grate in place in case of a capsize took the best part of one week. And inspired by Chris I added a couple of Trangia holder pieces to my cooking board arrangement. I am now dual fuel, I can go butane gas cooker or meths Trangia.
And, last, the lovely Angela Stringer down in Traralgon who took lots of photos at the Paynesville Rally, sent through some high res images of ANJEVI on her second, exciting sail, in 25 plus knots, tacking up the Mclellan Strait. Looks like I am saying "Aaaaaaaaaaaaargh"! when she took this one!
We have been getting classic Port Phillip Autumn weather, ever shorter days with mostly light airs. Mostly but not always...
The Wooden Boat Association sailing day at Albert Park Lake gave us some good gusts as a reminder that you need to keep on your toes. I launched the SCAMP and put a reef in the sail, and just as well as with 4 adults in the cockpit, the C of G must be a bit higher. Or maybe my crap helming. But we got a fair old lean on a few times when gusts came through, though I never thought we were going to go over. It was a bit squeezy with 4 sailing - I had to step over the tiller - but still manageable. I think 3 for sailing is probably better though.
On a more typical autumn day a few days later, Chris, Gerard and I set off from Werribee South, on a falling tide, to explore the mouth of Little River again. A fair bit of rowing was involved to get round Wedge point.
We anchored in the same spot that Chris and I had lunch the previous trip (the green pin).
The deep keel Scruffie boats were nervous about going closer in, so Chris and Gerard embarked onto the SCAMP, and we tried our luck rowing in.
A falling tide about an hour off low water, what could possibly go wrong? We ran aground, and Chris and Gerard took bearings and discussed the possible ways forward, while the tide dropped further beneath the boat, leaving us well stuck. We did get organized eventually and with a bit of pushing and pulling we managed to get enough water to get back to the other boats.
The wind just about died away and we wound up using the Torqeedos for the long haul back along the coast, while the short day drew to a close.
We didn't get back in till sunset - a long day at the helm, and home in the dark.
I wasn't happy with the trailer set up, so spent a while putting a runner under each skeg. Anne and I launched from Altona, to test the new set up, and also to give Anne her first sail in the SCAMP. Unfortunately this day proved to be yet another exception to the still Autumn weather, and we had a stiff chop and 16 knot wind gusts - probably not ideal for introducing the partner to the boat, but the SCAMP, and Anne, both handled the conditions with much grace.
On this outing, I noticed an ominous clunking sound coming from the centreboard case in the swell going down wind. Hmmm. Investigation showed that the bushing on the centreboard had parted company from the surrounding epoxy.
I am waiting for the epoxy to really harden up on my second attempt at this, hopefully it will be better.
As the epoxy was setting, I took the Skerry out for a sail from Werribee South, meeting Chris who was taking Stephen out for a sail. He was tied up to the visitors buoy when I launched, and Wayne launched a bit later and joined us. We had a cuppa and watched the incredible bird life goings on near the river mouth - a huge flock of black cormorants and a phalanx of well organized pelicans working the tide. It is a marvellous spot. There was not much wind so we got a tow out, rowed a bit, got a bit of wind, and made it up as far as Wyndham harbour, which is only about a mile and a half up the coast. I have never been inside the harbour, but today seemed like the day. We tied up the visitor berths, and Stephen bought me a coffee at the nice cafe. It is always more of an adventure when you stop somewhere new on a small boat trip.
All this rowing is taking it out of me though. My watch told me my body battery was just about empty yesterday afternoon when I got home, and that was pretty much how I felt. I hope to get the centreboard back in the SCAMP, and that Torqeedo going for future Autumn trips. And ideally some energy back in the body battery.
Still a bit to tweak and finish on the SCAMP, but the only way to do that is to use it! (thanks Chris for this photo and all your video btw)
I got out with a bunch of WBA boats a week or so back, for a sail over from Warmies to St Kilda for lunch and back.
It was a good day, except Gavan dropped his expensive Garmin watch over the side at the Warmies ramp when we were launching. By coincidence, I managed to capture the moment on my 360 camera. We went back next day and tried diving to find it, but the water was too deep and murky.
It was classic day sailing, we all sail around videoing one another, straggle off in more or less the same direction, have lunch somewhere (usually a bumpy lee shore but this day sheltered behind St Kilda Breakwater) and then retrieve and go home for a nice lie down.
We had a tentative sail date planned for Monday, Gerard couldn't make it Monday but thought maybe Tuesday, Chris suggested he was free both days ... so we decided to try an overnighter, up the Werribee Monday night.
The weather was perfect Monday, and we had a grand sail down wind along the coast, anchoring at the traditional lumpy lee shore lunch stop off Little River. The water isn't getting any warmer, and I wanted to check the reboarding sling arrangement. Much better to do that before you actually need to rely on it. So I hopped over the side and indeed, the slings were a bit too short. Much easier to adjust that standing in chest deep water than bobbing around in deep water. I need to practice and do some more research on technique, but I did successfully reboard from both starboard and port sides which is another bit of psychological comfort - I now know that if I did go in the drink I could get back out again.
Speaking of psychological comfort, there is something about the SCAMP which is extremely reassuring. Part of it is the stability, thanks to the hull form and the ballast. It is so nice to have a boat that you can't tip over standing or pulling on the side gunnel. The high cockpit coaming means you sit right in the boat, and the ergonomics are terrific - you sit really comfortably with a foot in the footwell, another on the opposite bench. The cuddy offers protection from spray and wind, and a sort of ostrich head in the sand sort of comfort as well. You don't have to have the hyper alertness that you need in a tippier boat. Hard to describe, but the package is remarkably relaxing.
Still lots to tweak and refine. I guess that is the fun with boats, they are never finished.
I watched Mat Conboy's latest video last night, talking to Geoff Macqueen of The Dinghy Spart fame, which is well worth a watch.
Geoff took six weeks, sailing round the west coast of Tassie from Macquarie Harbour. He had a rule of thumb that he would not go out if the forecast was over 20 knots and if the wind direction did not allow him to reach or run to his destination. Otherwise he would just stay put, which he did for up to a week at a time.
While the highly adventurous sort of dinghy cruising is appealing, I am more interested in more low key minimalist cruising at the moment. I would like to explore how little I can do in a day, maybe dry out on the sand bar, sit and have a cup of tea and watch the world go by. The circumnavigation of Port Phillip is still out there as an aspiration, but I forsee a patch of very micro cruises coming up.
The trailer registered at last, and a light airs day forecast for today ( how right they were!) so I got organized sort of and down to the ramp this morning. A learning experience, it took over an hour to get rigged and on the water, but that included putting the torqeedo on then taking it off again as I discovered I did not have the necessary locking pin. I had a vision of one expensive battery popping off and sinking to the bottom, and decided to use oars instead. The boat slipped very smoothly off the new trailer.
There was a bit of wind to start with, and I pottered off in a generally easterly direction at round 3 to 4 knots. The SCAMP is very well behaved in light airs, and will sail herself for quite long intervals with the mainsheet wound a few turns round the tiller. Ozzie quite enjoys his cabin, tho I will have to remember to bring a bed for him.
It really is a very comfortable experience sailing the SCAMP. What people say about it feeling like a much bigger boat is true. You can move about, tidy up, open the hatches and get things, have a cuppa, luxury.
After an hour or so the wind faded. We turned for home, 3.5 nautical miles out, but instead of 3 to 4bknots, we were now doing .8, which feels like stationary. So, back to the oars for a long row most of the way back.
Retrieving went OK too, though still some tweaking .
So, a few things to work on, but I was a bit nervous about launching for some reason, and it is good to have felt the fear but done it anyway.
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