Monday, May 9, 2011

day sailing

Trying to get a photo of someone jumping off the cabin top. Digital cameras aren't the best for this.





German girls acting as figureheads






Perfect conditions for a swim, water was warm and clean.



Lunchtime for all.


The nets proved to be a favourite place to sunbathe. All the crew were diligent in applying sunscreen.




With all the commitments of volunteer work and football I have only been able to go out for day sails. After cleaning the boat (under the waterline) I offered to take out two couples from France and two single girls from Germany for some sailing , swimming and lunch. We met up at 9.00am at the sailing club and within a short time we were sailing, well drifting actually, out to sea. Soon the wind picked up and we had a no fuss sail out toward Gloucester Island. The day was sunny and warm and the crew made use of the ample deck space to soak up some rays. "Zenataos" performs so much better with a clean "bum" and I am taking more care with sail setting, a result of sailing the smaller lasers on the weekend. we tacked back into Funnel Bay and dropped the anchor and had some lunch, followed by a swim and diving off the cabin roof. About mid afternoon we had a gentle sail back to the mooring area and the crew pitched right in covering sails and tidying up. All in all it was a pleasant day sail and as the weather patterns become more settled I hope to get out a lot more often.

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Footy and sail training

Me acting as ballast with Catherine Dorman and her Helper Sheila Cars in the driving seat. I operate the sail controls and am on hand should Catherine "jump ship" unexpectedly. Normally these are two man boats but I am light enough to get away with this rather unorthodox set up.

Sailability boat designed by Alan Payne, 36kilo centreboard for safety and lots of fun.



Top photo shows the Bald Eagles A.F.L. in action at a recent "Veterans" football tournament. Thats me in Blue about to get clobbered by a teammate taking a "speccy" over the top.










In an effort to get fit and lose a bit of weight I decided to get involved with a sporting club here at Airlie. Started with the Soccer club but they proved to be very disorganised so I went over to the Aussie Rules club and was immediately welcomed and accepted despite my age. I have played in a few games with the seconds and participated in a "Oldies tournament" over the Easter Weekend. The games are shorter and the rules amended to protect the players a bit but the will to win was very evident with closely fought games and and we came second, losing by one goal and a few points. Lots of fun and a great group of "has beens" who turned up and played.

I have also been donating my time to "Sailability", taking disabled kids out sailing in specifically designed small boats. The boats are excellent and very safe and the kids have a ball and so do I. I also take schoolkids out during the week and on Sundays a gaggle of kids as well. The boats are all provided by the sailing club but skippers are a bit thin on the ground but I enjoy the sailing and get a great deal of satisfaction from the obvious delight of the kids. I have also been competing in the Sunday evening races in Laser class dinghy. It took a while to get a grip on the tecniques needed to successfully sail a Laser, I first sailed one on Sydney Harbour back in the 70's with Debbie, my first and last time on a Laser. My first couple of races were D.N.F. ( did not finish) but am becoming more competitive.

Life in Airlie

One of a school of catfish that regularly feeds on scraps

This cod was over a metre and a half long and spent the day under "Zen"



The catfish that I caught measured and returned and later turned up with the school of catfish.





At last it seems that the La Nina system is easing and good weather is becoming the norm rather than the exception. Today, and indeed the last few days have been picture postcard perfect, cool enough in the evening to sleep and fine and sunny during the day with moderate breezes. As "Zenataos" has become a rather permanent presence in the bay outside the sailing club I have begun to attract some company. Some weeks ago I caught a catfish that was over a metre in length and after photographing it I released it back into the water. A small group of fish clusters under "Zens" ample shelter and occasionally larger fish, including on one occasion, a metre and a half cod which spent the entire day under the boat. I then began to notice large catfish feeding on food scraps at the back of the boat and they have become a fixture, appearing to investigate any disturbance of the water. One of the fish is the one I released, identified by a scar on its back.

The calmer weather and lack of rain has made the water clearer and I often get over the side and remove any growth and barnacles from the hull. I still have a bit of damage that needs to be repaired(compliments of the cyclones) but will need to beach "Zen" to accomplish that.

Saturday, February 5, 2011

Two cyclones and a flood.

Well, the East Coast of Australia has really copped a flogging over the past few months. As we are in a La Nina year we could have expected an above average rainy season after years of drought but this is ridiculous. Late last year we had periods of rain lasting up to two weeks at a time. The ground became saturated and the dams full. As the New Year broke the rain intensified, particularly in Southern Queensland and then the floods began in earnest. First to go was Bundaberg on the pioneer river where boat losses were huge and riverside infrastructure was wiped out in many places. Then the Mary river flooded at Maryborough, again a lot of boat losses and marinas swept away and then it was Brisbanes turn. My usual spot on the pylons in the Brisbane River at the Botanical Gardens was badly affected. Some boats got away , with enormous difficulty and bravery from their skippers and crew, to then negotiate a river teeming with logs , broken off marinas and assorted debris, plus water filled with fine trash which blocked water inlets and led to motors overheating and threatening to fail. Other boats decided to stay tied to the piles and most survived even though the water went above the level of the tops of the piles. There was the one well documented sinking of the ferro cement ,which having submerged, suddenly burst back to the surface and attempted to take two yachties with it in its death plunge. not a good place to be.
I was busy congratulating myself on my decision to stay up here in Airlie Beach when news of the first real cyclone of the season began to come through. many boats had made the move South in the weeks before so were spared from what was to come. Work commitments kept me at Airlie a bit longer than I wanted and when I left to seek shelter at Gulnare Inlet the Southerly winds had increased to 20 to 30 knots and I was forced to seek shelter in Double Bay (Eastern). Cyclone Anthony, at category 1, crossed the coast just a few kilometres North of where I was and so I was hit with winds up to 50 to 60 knots for an extended period. During the night I dragged anchor and came to rest on a rubble beach . The full weight of the boat, about 10 tons, crashed down on the Port rudder and skeg for awhile before the tide fell and I was high and dry for most of the night. As the tide returned, just before morning, I felt "Zen" stirring and was able to get her off without too much damage. I had no radio contact and of course my Vodafail mobile and internet were useless so I had no idea of the cyclone's progress. Calmer conditions prevailed and toward the afternoon I sailed out of the bay and back toward Airlie. When I finally got internet service I immediately got onto the Bureau Of Meteorology (BOM) site and discovered that another cyclone was bearing down on us and it was huge. I went straight back to Airlie and next morning got more fuel and a few necessities and again headed out toward Gulnare Inlet. Gulnare is recognised as a safe cyclone"hole" and I was making good progress when the weakened port rudder came away and I was forced to go into Nara inlet to make repairs. Nara inlet is a fjord like indentation on Hook Island and is deep water all the way to the edges which are lined with imposing rock formations. I put out my 40 kilo Bruce anchor on all chain and attached my 40 kilo Manson to it in tandem with 2 inch silver rope. This setup should hold a boat of "Zen's" size easily. The really strong wind gusts began in the late afternoon and I made a decision to take all my important papers , log books and photo albums as well as some clothes, ashore and established a bush camp in the lee of a massive rock about 100 metres above water level, in case of flood surge. I settled in for an uncomfortable night, with incessant heavy rain which fed two waterfalls either side of me and enormous wind gusts. Luckily, cyclone "Yasi" crossed the coast some300kilometres further North with wind speeds of 200 kilometres an hour or more reported. Although the wind gusted from every direction inside Nara inlet the water remained relatively surge free and in the early hors my second anchor broke off (2inch silver rope) and "Zen" dragged and parked herself on a rock parrallel to the beach. Coditions at first light allowed me to get to the boat and I dived and untied both bridle lines on the anchor chain and was able to kedge her off as the tide rose and escaped with very little damage considering where "Zen" ended up. The rest of the day was spent assisting another yachtie to get his outboard going after it was dunked, and repairing the steering on "Zen". "Yasi" has gone on to be a rain depression inland and apart from some residual swell all is well here and I am back anchored outside the sailing club at Airlie. All appears to be well, "Zen" lives to sail another day, I need a holiday from my" holiday" and the sun rose this morning same as usual. I hope everyone is safe as I hear that the rain is now affecting Victoria and they are experiencing floods there as well. A big thank you to all those people who phoned to wish me luck or inquire about me.
As VODAPHONE continues to sponsor sports events all over Australia whilst refusing to spend that money on more coverage (oh, we are paying for the sponsorship, now I get it, I thought I was paying for a phone service that might work, silly me) I as a consumer can only apologise to anyone who could not get through. Stay safe and I hope we can catch up soon.

Friday, January 7, 2011

New Year

Safety rope snap shackle , straightened out. Indentation at end of shackle was all that held onto chain.

Storm cells passing by, later became an intense storm with hail and lightning that hit Airlie and caused minor flooding and blackouts.



Hi everyone



New Year hopefully not the same as the last year. The decision to stay in Airlie almost took a bad turn recently when I was caught out by a Northerly storm, with strong winds and big seas. The anchorage at Airlie becomes untenable during strong Northerlies, especially where I am, in shallow water close to the beach at Airlie. As the weather deteriorated I moved "Zen" to deeper water and reanchored. During the night the main anchor bridle broke and the full force of the waves came onto the anchor winch and safety rope. By morning the safety rope was hanging on to the chain by a millimetre of steel, the snap lock being straightened out by the wind and wave action. Had it given way the anchor chain and rope would have fed out and possibly snapped off and then "Zen" would have ended up on a beach or worse a breakwater. Also the hatch into my cabin was breached and my bed was soaked with salt water. But we live to fight another day.



I had the pleasure of taking the owners of "Alia" for a day sail. "Alia" is the only other Hitchhiker 15 metre Cat that has been built. It is more conventional than Zen, being narrower in the beam and having crossbeams rather than the Aluminium "A" frame of "Zen". John and Lee, the owners, have built a full cabin on "Alia" and it is much nicer and visually acceptable than the "dog box" on Zen and they have more clearance under the bridgedeck. John was very complimentary about the sailing abilities of "Zen", impressed with the speed, acceleration and pointing ability. In 15 to 20 knots we consistently sat on 8 knots with bursts up to 11 whilst pointing quite high. We came back on a reverse course at averages of 10 knots. Not bad for a grossly overweight cat with a dirty bum.



The last two days have been reminders of why Airlie can be so good with gentle S.E. winds and sunny skies. While most of Queensland has been inundated in the past few weeks the rain here has not cut too many roads. The weather is warm enough for cold showers out on deck each day and the living is good.



I still have "Zen "on the market but having seen what can be done with a revised deck layout and perhaps a reduction in beam another option has been presented to me if I wish to rebuild "Zen". This is not something that I want to do so would seriously consider a reasonable "offer" for "Zen".

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Recent trip

Tough work but someone has to do it.
A French Koala

Lea (the assassin)


Elodie (streaky)



Leonie




Lenais





Full size dinner plate, fish was clean and very fat.






37 ich Catfish that took 20 minutes to land and was released unharmed.







17.11.2010








Finally decided to go for a sail, got together a crew and away we went. The weather up here has been tragic with constant strong South East winds and plenty of rain. I was lucky that the crew turned up at all as it was overcast with spits of rain. I ended up with 4 young ladies, 19 thru to 21 two from Germany and two from France. Despite the conditions we enjoyed a dive at Stonehaven Anchorage, where we were challenged for a mooring by a Catamaran which raced in to snatch it from under our noses as we manouvered to pick it up. I have never seen such blatant stupidity or rudeness in years of sailing. The boat was called Mischief. After the dive we went into Nara inlet for the night. The rain came in just after dark and the bullets of wind were strong. Sunday dawned reasonably fine and the late starters (10.00am) finally got going. I took each of them out in the dinghy for a fang and to show them how it all worked. We then geared up for a dive but had a bit of an explore and a feed of oysters, well myself and Elodie, the others abstaining. We then went for a dive and surprisingly enjoyed good coral in shallow water with lots of interesting animals to show them and explain about. After getting back to the boat we tried to go to Whitehaven but the wind was on the nose (again) and we settled for an anchorage in Macona Inlet. A walk on shore was followed with a bit of fishing. I hooked a monster fish , or shark but it broke off after walking me around the boat once. It was decided to try for Whitehaven in the still of the next morning but the wind and rain at 5.30am was intense. We settled for a trip up Hook inlet and then set sail back to Airlie and the wind dropped out almost completely and we ended up with a slow sail back arriving at Airlie at about 4.pm. The swell was up but I got everyone ashore safe and sound and that completed a successful, enjoyable trip, made that way mostly by the attitude of the girls who endured the rain, cold showers, and deckwork with laughter and good manners. More trips like that would be good.

Thursday, November 11, 2010

back to the blogasphere

O.K. so it has been a while since an update. This has been mainly due to the abysmal weather up here and my appearance on Hot Seat Millionaire which I was unable to chat about until it went to air. Anyone who saw the show will know that I was doing o.k. until I ran into the question from Hell. I always thought that Gummi Bears were a lolly. Still, I had a good time on the show, lots of fun in Melbourne and thoroughly enjoyed myself.

"Zen " has not moved in over a month and I have had to dive underneath and knock off a bit of weed and barnacles. Hopefully I will be out next week for a sail with a few guests.
I entered "Zen" in the fun race and we had a good day with a lively crew on board. The boat was still having heaps of weather helm as the speed increased so I have removed the rudders ,yet again, and repositioned the pivot holes. That however did not detract from the fun day. A curious aftermath of the race was that during the race I lost overboard a floating winch handle which disappeared into our wake, supposedly never to be seen again. Well over a month later, as I discussed beachcombing with Yabbie off "Chinook", he mentioned finding a winch handle on Gloucester Island. You guessed it, my winch handle , complete with epoxy resin stains, emerged from a locker. The chances of finding this winch handle again were astronomical, in virtually hundreds of square miles of ocean, to be talking with the one personwho actually found it, to even be discussing that topic, beggars belief. And I still can't win Lotto???!!!
I may stay up here for the cyclone season, not that anyone has been able to go South with unseasonal , constant strong South easterlies, and have identified a few bolt holes to hide in should Airlie be unlucky enough to suffer yet another cyclone.
I have had no serious enquiries on the yacht at the moment but remain quietly confident that a buyer is out there somewhere and our paths will cross soon. I would really like to be in the States at the moment and take advantage of the strong Aussie dollar to buy a nice trimaran and sail her back to Oz. Wish me luck.