First trip in the new boat

We needed to haul out the new boat and ended up doing this at Bundaberg. So that meant a trip from Tin Can Bay to Bundaberg was to be our first trip. Enjoyed the trip but it was just a bit of a dash really. We, being as green as they come found it a little amusing to have picked up a follower as we passed Garry's anchorage through the narrows / shallows. Blind leading the blind perhaps? I guess if we touched down that would be a path to avoid I suppose as we draw 2m+. Our planning had paid off and we hit it at just the right tide times so it was all good.

Got a nice high wind warning for our second night and nestled behind Big Woody at anchor but at least in the morning we had worked out the windless and did not have to hand lift the 50m of chain we had out for a second time. That was not fun.

Sailing from Big Woody across to Bundaberg Port Marina for the haulout was interesting with OK winds but 1-2m waves est.. enough to occasionally splash over the dodger which is a fair effort according to the previous owner. We knew no better but the boat seemed unfazed by it anyway it was all very comfortable. With all the growth and the motor purring at it's fav 1500rpm we saw 8 knots but generally around 6.5 - 7.5 knots. We had to be there to get help with our first ever docking which went fairly smoothly expect for the fact that we got stuck on the bottom at our berth and had to wait about half an hour for the tide to lift us enough so we could pull the boat over to the dock properly.

Bottom cleaned and a different antifoul applied, propspeed, a number of seacocks and through hulls replaced and rudder gland packing redone (it pretty much fell apart when removed) and the holding bracket rebuilt in teflon this time as it had rotted. 2 new toilets bought but only back in so far. Lots of new hose too. Got the anchor chain galvanised and it looks new again but a little stiff so needs some working to settle it in I think.

The steering seemed lighter coming back with the new packing in place but next to no helpful wind so mostly just motored along at just over idle 1000 - 1200rpm. Did not get around to looking at why the autopilot is not engaging yet so that is still on the list.

Looking forward to many more trips but preferably not just for a haul out next time.

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2bish said..
Well done! tell us a bit about the boat pls?

And prepare for that list to get longer, a lot longer...

The boat is a Huntingford Explorer 45. In need of some cosmetic and other work to get it to where we want it but we will know the boat better in the end so we are happy to do that. It is perfectly functional currently, just not how we want it.

Stated as 1982 which is later than saildata says and is said to have been built for the manager of the shipyard at the time, so may have been the last one but not sure.
LOA 45' / 13.79m
Beam13.12' / 4m
Draft 6.67' / 2.03m (might be a little more)
Displacement 32,000 lbs / 14,515 kgs (could be more)
Cutaway long keel
Staysail Ketch (currently in need of new staysail - second hand maybe for now)
Ford Lehman 80 hp, reconditioned with very low hours it seems (about 170 hrs).

The list is already large but we are in this for the long haul with intentions to head off for extended periods and great distances at some point in the future which is part of the reason for the choice of vessel. We will of course have a million questions about things along the way before then and much practice to do.
A quick few pics below... Dodger style and colour needs a tweak I think but it works well.

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Cav30 said..
That is a v cool boat. I love it. Many adventures to be had.

Ed

Thanks Ed. We agree. Many adventures indeed.

Congrats! She's gorgeous!!

Hi About2
Nice boat
From the top of the mizzen mast i can see a light spar rigged to lead forward.
Have never seen such a rig before.
What is it?

Gary