Thanks brizzydave, I wanted to try and share my love and frustration of cruising in a sail boat. Iv been very lucky with my time living on Valkyrie, winched that anchor up 1000's of times and drifted along. Seen our beautiful coast from the outside looking in and been in touch with nature. And there is my boat and all the attention she needed, and with each improvement I got to know her a little better.
So Cast off those lines and set your boat free everyone, never know what is going to happen tomorrow.
I like Brizzy's idea Dezman, but it's a bummer mate. I've got to say though, sounds like you've lived a bit (a lot more than most).
Thanks spongeblob everyday is a gift.
It's a great idea of brizzy's for sure DrRog and yes iv been very lucky in someways. I try to push people along a bit in having a go and getting out there, in the bay here us boaties encourage one another. If its taking care of jobs on board or the big cruise, its all good fun and in the spirit. So open that tin of paint or call a mate to hoist a sail and live everyone :))....
Made a cover for the back seat of my yacht.
I used weather tex material which is still a new product I guess, its light and more washable. A bit slippery to sew but a normal house machine will do the job. Costs $30 a metre off a 1.5 metre roll, brought from sail contender near Pitt water 'a whole saler'.
Wish I done this years ago! I took the seat out of my vitara and just happen to try it on top of the bench seat across the davits.
Very comfortable and folds down easily, the cover will do for rain and light conditions when sailing. Or I can place it atop of the wheel house seat out off the weather when things are wild.
Well not quite my boat but my mates new one old one! "Vivaldi" has 5 Sydney Hobart's under her keel.....so I arrive to check her out and convince mate to take her and her garden for a motor and perhaps pull some headsail out if the furler works!
Anyway as we motor out into the marina basin heading for the leads he informs me he has released the pressure from the hydraulic back stay...so I check and it had no weight on it.....this rig was not swept back spreaders! So I grab the jack handle and pump up the fluid to take some tension.......BANG blew the back stay righto I say we are now not going to motor out the heads into the 1.2 m chop righto jury rig backstay and then spend next 1 hour motoring round marina with a cold beer........!!
And that's why cheap boats are ...well, cheap. The previous owner wasn't going to spend money on routine maintenance on a boat he wasn't going to keep as was never going to recoup his costs, better to cut your losses and run.
Yup, the big stick would have come tumbling down and prolly take a whole lot of the boat with it.
In cases like this it's possibly that a survey would not have picked this, who knows if the bloke was going to pump or not to pump.
Caveat Emptor (latin, means beware of empty caves) I think, my Latin is rusty.
Oh I worked out why it was still standing! The new black 10mm $50 mainsail halyard was attached to the end of the boom as no topping lift evedent and I cranked the main sheet on hard before we left the berth...lucky didn't pull the traveller out of the deck!
I drove over to Adelaide a few years ago to have a look at Vivadi. My first impression was just how large she was! The draft was a bit of a killer too. Big boat but very poor use of interior space. The hydraulic system seemed a bit over the top. When I looked at her she had a ram under the mast which raised the mast and applied extra tension everywhere at once! The Buhk had just been rebuilt. I boarded her from a dinghy and it was a major effort to get onboard. First project for your mate might be a boarding ladder!
The buhk ran like clock work, did not see the ram under the compression post but there are 2 other pump stations on the main control I think one said inner forestay and didn't bother to look at the other. She's a beamy boat I think it will sail rather well once he cleans the hull and get the rig sorted. There is a boarding ladder on the transom you can see in the pics I posted. Anyway it was a scary moment and could have been very expensive! It may have helped if the runners where also in place! The mast really is not such a racing stick as I expected with only double spreaders and quite a heavy section....I would think the hydrolic gear has been fitted for lazy sailors!
Southace you are a good luck charm in finding the fault easily and safely without having any sail up. Your friend should see it as a good thing. I bet he stole it in today's market....
It was only luck that no damage or injuries where sustained ......one would not expect a backstay (that holds a must up) to explode I guess it found its own fault I just controlled the situation by running a jury rig halyard aft . And it was luck that the main halyard was used as a topping lift!
Select to expand quotesouthace said..
Can you imagine how dangerous this situation was?
Quite I would say. Didn,t run outa beer I hope 
Select to expand quotesouthace said..
The buhk ran like clock work, did not see the ram under the compression post but there are 2 other pump stations on the main control I think one said inner forestay and didn't bother to look at the other. She's a beamy boat I think it will sail rather well once he cleans the hull and get the rig sorted. There is a boarding ladder on the transom you can see in the pics I posted. Anyway it was a scary moment and could have been very expensive! It may have helped if the runners where also in place! The mast really is not such a racing stick as I expected with only double spreaders and quite a heavy section....I would think the hydrolic gear has been fitted for lazy sailors!
The boarding ladder must be new! I had a hell of a struggle climbing up out of a dinghy. I remember the wheel being loose too, seemed to have the wrong taper but shims would have sorted it. It is certainly a very attractive yacht and I was very tempted. It was $52,000 at the time. Not bad for a big 36 footer. I remember the owner talking about having the Bukh rebuilt at some ridiculous sum.
Installed a boom brake this morning. Its a copy of a Fleming GybOmatic or a Walder. I turned up the alloy body from a pump flange. The rest is just stuff from the work shop. Fair bit of labour but cost virtually nothing.
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Nice boom break ramona, its a gift to be able to work with your hands.
Hey I see a wind rush cat in the back ground too, how about a pic and story?
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The Boss and I were going to spend the afternoon and overnight on the boat but winds from the nor east @ 25 kts and building to 35 tomorrow put paid to that. I thought however I should go and check on her as I had been down for about two weeks. While I was there I cut the old anchor chain off (flaky rusty) and replaced it with a much newer length. The new stern gland seems to be keeping the water out.
Must admit I enjoyed the hour or so just pottering.
I took my Valkyrie for a sail today to Newcastle, and left the butterfly's behind.
I'll put her on the beach New Year's Day for some hull maintenance and finish of painting the decks.
I will post some pics of her standing on her keel with ropes tied off the mast! It's more easy than you know, and save some slipways cost too. Oh before anyone jumps on me read 'leave only clean water in your wake' rules first.
We sailed around the harbour and under the bridge. Staying in black wattle bay tonight after a rolly night off the quarantine station at manly. We sailed up from Botany Bay on Friday, it was a comfortable 15 knot NE wind. We were pleasantly surprised with how well the boat sailed with minimal intervention just having the tiller lashed. Only had to make slight adjustments every 3-5 minutes. Like a poor mans self steering ;) absolutely loved the feeling of not being tired to the tiller 100% of the time.
Had to reef the main this afternoon in the harbour, it was a nice little blast.
How's your anchor holding up, keensailor? We r in Bantry Bay, Middle Harbour, and bloody glad we have a public mooring after this big southerly hit this morning. Even so, tied a second line to the buoy in case that kink in the RMS line gives out.
Saved a power boat yesterday. Watched him try to anchor next to us in a fresh northeaster. Must have been putting out only about 2:1. He's dropping, dragging by us and nearly into the $$$ launch on the next mooring. Finally gets it to hold. I'm below when my wife, reading in the cockpit, says, "He's going back again". I come up and he's flying past us and nowhere to be seen. Hes about 10 seconds from impacting the oysters. A few loud whistles and a couple of full volume yells and he's back at the helm in his budgies, kicks it over and keeps her unscathed. He waved and left the bay.
It's all experience for this newbie.
By the way, I haven't yet tested motoring this 31-footer (with a 25hp and about 6 kts max) in a blow. How many knots do you think I should wait for it to drop to before I attempt to motor upwind to the Spit Bridge then through the lifting bridge in a cross wind, then back through the harbour?
You will definitely get a replay of this exact scenario many times in the next three days
Remember to Yell and make various gestures as large boats try to anchor on top of you, I like it when a smallish boat anchors in front because at least a large one can't take that spot
Select to expand quoteDrRog said...
How's your anchor holding up, keensailor? We r in Bantry Bay, Middle Harbour, and bloody glad we have a public mooring after this big southerly hit this morning. Even so, tied a second line to the buoy in case that kink in the RMS line gives out.
Saved a power boat yesterday. Watched him try to anchor next to us in a fresh northeaster. Must have been putting out only about 2:1. He's dropping, dragging by us and nearly into the $$$ launch on the next mooring. Finally gets it to hold. I'm below when my wife, reading in the cockpit, says, "He's going back again". I come up and he's flying past us and nowhere to be seen. Hes about 10 seconds from impacting the oysters. A few loud whistles and a couple of full volume yells and he's back at the helm in his budgies, kicks it over and keeps her unscathed. He waved and left the bay.
It's all experience for this newbie.
By the way, I haven't yet tested motoring this 31-footer (with a 25hp and about 6 kts max) in a blow. How many knots do you think I should wait for it to drop to before I attempt to motor upwind to the Spit Bridge then through the lifting bridge in a cross wind, then back through the harbour?
It's lucky we were in close to the shore at black wattle bay (between the yellow bouys). Even then we were getting seriously buffered around in a 27 foot 2200kg boat. I was really surprised we didn't drag, although I had a lot of anchor out.
We are in castle cove Middle harbour tonight after an 8:30pm bridge.
Are you heading back to the harbour the fireworks.
