Maggie goes for a sail - it's been a while!!

The planets must have been aligned on Monday, as it was a day off work with fine weather and no other commitments. So I took the opportunity to go for a sail - YEAH!!!

It was an ideal autumnal day on Western Port, the cooler weather had ensured the crowds had long since gone and only a handful of other boats were on the water and it looked a lot like this...

Before too long, I let the crew take control and I sat back and enjoyed the ride...

The autohelm does a marvellous job and I would definitely recommend one to anybody that does a bit of solo sailing. It is particularly good when you need to reef sails and do any other boatly duties and even gives you the freedom to wander about the boat and attempt to take artistic photos...

...or not...it was worth a try!

Well, the wind began to blow and we saw some good speed out of Maggie...

4.1 kts...not to bad, c'mon we can do better...

4.5 kts...now we're getting better...

4.8 kts...not a bad job, maybe I should take over from the autohelm just to see how quick this old thing will go...

5.5 kts...now we're talking...

At about this stage, I was holding the tiller with my foot, the mainsheet traveller line with one hand and the camera with the other and I could feel that Maggie wanted to accelerate...so unfortunately I had to ditch the camera...we got to 6.2 kts close hauled (well as close as a Jedda gets) in about 10-12 kts of breeze, which to my way of thinking isn't too bad for a heavy, slow, old yacht...

...a quick look behind still shows nobody about...

...and not too long after it began, it all ended...

 ...and we headed back into the marina...where we discovered...

...water...BUGGER...obviously the leak isn't fixed!!

And once again thanks to Mr Google...here's where we went...

So as you can see, it was a quick sail but a good sail...

Our Family Trip to Paynesville

I skipped out of work early last Friday so we could get under way on our weekend away to Paynesville, down on the Gippsland Lakes. We weren't taking our boat so a heap of stress was not going to be involved!! We were going to stay with Claire's auntie and her husband at their waterfront property - which we hadn't been to before. Last time we went down they lived a couple of hundred meters up the road, still waterfront but just a change of scenery. We arrived after dark, in a bit of a fog, so we had no idea what the view from the house was like...

... next morning we awoke to this...a very excited Emily!

...and once I got out on the verandah I could see why she was so excited...

 After breakfast we went for a little walk and met some of the locals...

 

...much to the excitement of the kids!

It was then time to go on a cruise and find a nice relaxing spot for some lunch...so we piled aboard the boat and we were off!

Here is the gang preparing to come up to the fly bridge...

James looking a bit nervous about the whole situation...

Emily looking very pleased with her lifejacket and generally happy with everything... 

Emily looking like an old salt...

On the fly bridge, James looking slightly less nervous...

Emily has found her sea legs...

Just a random bit of idealic loveliness...

Said boat moored up Duck Arm for lunch...

The crew assembled for lunch...

Some more locals...

James wandering back from visiting the locals...

Some of the other locals coming to sample our lunch, it appears they approved...

A little more relaxed, James steering from the fly bridge...

An old salt having a good time in a nice looking little yacht...

A little random cheekiness from Emily...

Going over to Raymond Island on the ferry...

Emily walking along the board walk, stopping to say hello to some birds...

Look Emily, can you see the Koala in the tree...

And of course no trip to the seaside (well close enough) is complete without fish and chips for lunch!!

Twilight Racing on Sydney Harbour

Well it happened...I got to go twilight racing on Sydney Harbour - and what a chaotic environment for somebody whose idea of a crowded day on the water is seeing another dozen boats!!

We were originally going to be crewing on a Northshore 310, however the owner's son had three mates with him so we jumped aboard a Tartan 30 (i think??). When I say jumped - that's exactly what I mean - jumped. We started off by jumping aboard the Northshore as it slowed down coming past the jetty we were waiting at...OK that was interesting. Then we had to go and find the Tartan. We spotted it and over we went...both boats slowed down as we passed and...JUMP...and on board the Tartan.

A quick introduction with the skipper and the other crew member and we were readying ourselves for the start.With the same start line being used for three races and probably 40 or so yachts, the pre-start was fairly intense - particularly for somebody who doesn't usually race - but there was at least 10cm between most of the yachts most of the time!!

The racing was fairly close for most of the journey - and particularly close to the harbour front homes and jetties, on numerous occasions I could have reached out and touched moored boats, jetties and boat sheds as we sailed past.

The sailing was mostly good, with a solid 8-10kts ensuring enough wind. A couple of lulls were experienced - particularly on the way back, where we spent 5-10 minutes drifting toward the finish line.

And just as soon as it started, the race was over - too soon, but apparently a shorter course than normal was raced due to fading light. Oh well, a quick sail on Sydney Harbour is definitely better than no sail.

And of course I had my GPS on for the race. Here is the log dumped onto Google Earth.

I would loved to have posted some photos, however as the racing was fairly close, short and intense, there was really no time to get the camera out.

Bye...