Finally got a Maricat 4.3 catarmaran out on the water for my first sail on it, that I bought in January, and took my young kids out on the lake too for their first sail, they loved it!, nicknaming it the "fun boat". Top day!, cheers
Select to expand quoteBlueMoon said..
Finally got a Maricat 4.3 catarmaran out on the water for my first sail on it, that I bought in January, and took my young kids out on the lake too for their first sail, they loved it!, nicknaming it the "fun boat". Top day!, cheers
So no gardening done on your hull BlueMoon? 
Saturday I took the grandkids and one son sailing out on Jervis Bay in my eBay Corsair. That Alan Payne knew what he was doing when he designed this dinghy, lovely boat to sail. Later in the afternoon had a dive under Ramona and scraped off some shell. Bit Knackered at the end of the day!
Sailed from Mooloolaba to Manly marina via anchorage at Tangalooma on 8th Oct. returned to Mooloolaba direct yesterday 12th ( single handed )
Select to expand quotePropwalk said..
Sailed from Mooloolaba to Manly marina via anchorage at Tangalooma on 8th Oct. returned to Mooloolaba direct yesterday 12th ( single handed )
Wonderful effort. Keep up the good work.
Select to expand quotePropwalk said..
Sailed from Mooloolaba to Manly marina via anchorage at Tangalooma on 8th Oct. returned to Mooloolaba direct yesterday 12th ( single handed )
Propwalk,
I'm planning a trip to Mooloolaba next month, do you know how much water there is at the entrance to the harbour?
Last time I was there I stay wide and come back around to avoid the sand bank to the north of the entrance
seabird,
Navionics shows 3.3m coming through the breakwater, my boat draws 5' 6" and I went out on low tide, my mate in the berth next to me has a Farr 39/40 and draws 7' and he did touch bottom one time but he was way off center channel and an hour or so after low water. Mooloolaba is an easy harbour to enter just follow the leads coming in.
A bit more info on my trip, the anchorage at Tangalooma was a bit rough the night I stopped there I almost got chucked out of my bunk a few times, and on my return trip on Sunday I was motoring east of St. Helena when the engine went into idle speed and almost conked out and having no wind I was in panic mode, but after I gave myself a good talking to I pulled out the steps and accessed the engine I found it very hot the raw water pump was really hot so off with the cover and was surprised the impeller was like new which it was, next the seawater filter but it was clean, Oh dear? now I was really crapping myself, I fired up the engine again but no water at all passing through the filter, ok, off with the intake hose to the filter and dragged it down below water level, nothing, I gave the hose a good blow and something gave way I think it was a jellyfish as there were lots in the water when I left Manly, I connected every thing up again and started the engine water began to flow again and the whole thing cooled immediately.
Phew!!
Put on the kettle and had a cup of tea.
These issues take on a totally different perspective when you are on your own, but in the end it was an easy fix, and not expensive which was a bonus.
Bill
Well done propwalk, that would have been stressful. Did the engine go to idle because it was overheating?
Havefun and I went out on MB with the intention of doing an overnighter. The aim was for Havefun to use the Fleming wind vane steering and get a feel for the boat prior to Lord Howe next month.
We achieved that in a couple of hours and as the wind was gusting up to 30kts rather than easing as per the forecast we decided that a stable bed was better than a moving one. Headed back in, tested the lights and went home.
MB is going well, touch wood, so looking good for the trip. We saw 7kts a couple of times, averaged 6.5 kts offshore.
This morning went to have a look at Morning Swan with Queequeg and Mrs Queequeg who are thinking of buying her. Morning Swan appears to be sound and with a fair bit of TLC and internal remodeling will become a fine cruising boat.
Think that's the max I'll get my old girl up too. It's way overpowered on a windy day like today . I haven't sorted my reefs out on the main yet, and the Genoa is a gigantic one. Sails were either luffing or we were rounding up at speed as if there was no rudder at all. Very old sails too. Impossible to get them flat. Leeches slapping around everywhere. Had a good sail though.
Select to expand quoteMorningBird said..
Havefun and I went out on MB with the intention of doing an overnighter. The aim was for Havefun to use the Fleming wind vane steering and get a feel for the boat prior to Lord Howe next month.
We achieved that in a couple of hours and as the wind was gusting up to 30kts rather than easing as per the forecast we decided that a stable bed was better than a moving one. Headed back in, tested the lights and went home.
MB is going well, touch wood, so looking good for the trip. We saw 7kts a couple of times, averaged 6.5 kts offshore.
This morning went to have a look at Morning Swan with Queequeg and Mrs Queequeg who are thinking of buying her. Morning Swan appears to be sound and with a fair bit of TLC and internal remodeling will become a fine cruising boat.
That's an action packed weekend already and its not even Sunday yet!
Select to expand quotebrizzydave said..
Think that's the max I'll get my old girl up too. It's way overpowered on a windy day like today . I haven't sorted my reefs out on the main yet, and the Genoa is a gigantic one. Sails were either luffing or we were rounding up at speed as if there was no rudder at all. Very old sails too. Impossible to get them flat. Leeches slapping around everywhere. Had a good sail though.
Nice northerly today hey Brizzydave
Well, it wasn't *my* boat, but had a bleedin marvelous day on the James Craig today. Went out with for a family event but it turned out to be a brilliant sunny day with a fresh Southerly breeze; motor-sailed out of the heads then we sailed in a metre swell for a good while offshore. Went up the mast and was lucky enough to stay up there while all crew and many passengers scurried and heaved and hauled, executing a tack. They got her through the wind well and it was pretty exciting being up there while the boom yards (?) swung around and the ship heeled to the other side. I've got to say I enjoyed the whole thing more than I thought I would and reckon I'd enjoy volunteering and scampering all over the rigging. Great views.
Oh, and Doug Mulray (90's radio/tv dude) was onboard. Hauled ropes and chatted with him a bit. He has a 44 foot cat.
Select to expand quoteDrRog said..
Oh, and Doug Mulray (90's radio/tv dude) was onboard. Hauled ropes and chatted with him a bit. He has a 44 foot cat.
I used to be a Doug addict, loved him on WSFM.
The James Craig!! Lucky you.
Alan Villiers mentions her in his book "The Set Of the Sails". Great read if you can get hold of it.
Yeah, was good Andy. I'm back for more today. Just keeping my eye out for the fluffy clouds out west.
Left woodford bay sails up near kirribilli. Slow sail rose bay zig zagging up harbour. Camp cove then back home...lovely day
Select to expand quotebrizzydave said..
Yeah, was good Andy. I'm back for more today. Just keeping my eye out for the fluffy clouds out west.
Another great northerly
I struggled out the front of manly Sunday morning going through the leads. Was like a bloody washing machine. Grey beards on beneteaus were giggling at me as they steamed past.
Maiden Voyage
After a lot of stuffing around with the crane & travel lift on Friday I was late going in the water & then because I wasn’t getting water through the motor because of a blocked pipe / mixing elbow I couldn’t get out through the channel & do some sea trials on Botany Bay. Chris at Viking Marine made me a new water outlet first thing Sat morning, even with an added tee to feed water to the shaft seal, so we had plenty of water pumping through the motor & was ready to go.
I got away on time Sat morning with Mick & Adam & headed north out of Botany Bay keeping about 2 mile off the coast - I can’t go any further out because I don’t have an Epirb on this boat yet. About an hour out the motor started to die - it felt like running out of fuel so had to throttle back to keep it going. Further on it started stopping, we took the filler cap off to let air in - worked for a while but stopped again. So then had to go down into the engine & blow & suck on the diesel feed line to make sure it wasn’t blocked - even had an air pump into the filler to try to blow fuel through & heard air coming out the breathers so knew they weren’t blocked.
There was a lot of air getting in the fuel line so every time it stopped, & it was quite often now, the motor had to be bled - which meant head down arse up alongside the motor. We eventually limped into America Bay for the night but as we were going in to pick up a mooring I went for reverse & gunned it & we took off forward - no reverse!! We finally picked up the buoy after a few attempts when I worked out there was no neutral either. The bolt had vibrated out of the gear linkage - easily fixed.
Had a coupla beers & we all had a hot shower & a good feed & then hit the fart sack for a well-earned rest. Up early & after a coffee Mick (I did the washing up) put a new fuel filter in the first one - there are three & all were replaced before launch. I also hooked the fuel line up to my electric fuel pump, which is for the genset, just to see if it helped getting the fuel through - it also made it easier to bleed. I wanted to get away at 0600 on Sunday to catch the highest tide possible to get up Swansea Channel & we were on time but when I hit the starter there was nothing on the start battery (or so I thought) & not enough left in the house batteries to start the motor. I wasn’t worried about using up the house battery power with the hot water system & the induction stove running off the inverter - these will run off the genset but it was only lifted in with the crane on Friday & wasn’t hooked up yet. The start battery should have been full so that had me baffled why it was flat.
I called Marine Rescue & they gave us a jump start & we were heading out of Broken Bay at 1000, 4 hrs late!! All went well for a while but the same thing started again - air in the fuel line. I bypassed the first filter - we found a tiny chip in the glass & thought it might be sucking air. We got going again after head down arse up bleeding the system again - I am now an expert at bleeding an 85hp Ford Lehman engine!!
Next time the motor just stopped dead - no gradual dying. Just like running out of fuel so I opened up the second tank to equalise the fuel & let more into the tank with the pickup. I have two 300 litre diesel tanks & they were both over half full with 360 lts for the trip - I was only running on the main tank (with the filler, pick-up & gauge sender) & using the other as a reserve. Off we went again, only to have it dying an hour later. I lost track of how many times of the stopping & bleeding but it was becoming much more frequent.
We were way too late to get over the bar at Swansea so had to keep heading up to Newcastle with an ETA of 1900. We got as far as Redhead Point & she would go no further. Marine Rescue Newcastle was called & came down to pick us up. Did I mention this boat really rocks with no mast - especially while not under way!! Expert seamanship from the MR boys had us docked at Newcastle Cruising Yacht Club about 2030. It wasn’t quite the arrival I wanted but at least I was closer to home. The girls picked us up & some Maccas on the way home - lucky it stayed down after being mixed with all the diesel!!
Adam & I were back down on the boat Monday morning with 55 litres of diesel in drums & I bought 4 more fuel filters so I replaced two & kept 2 spare. I ran a fuel hose directly out of a 20lt drum through the electric pump through the main lift pump missing the first filter. Ready to head off so I hit the starter & there was not enough to turn the motor over with the start battery - it should have been full!! I added the house batteries (fully charged) as well to help, 770 Ah all up, & still wouldn’t turn the motor over!!
I gave the battery isolator switch a “wiggle” & sure enough there was plenty of power to turn over the motor & fired up after a bit of a final bleed. Apparently the battery isolator switch is faulty & if I had “wiggled” it Sunday morning it would have fired. We had a great run down the coast with a tail wind & she didn’t miss a beat. We kept the 20lt drum topped up just so I didn’t have to do any more head down arse up bleeding. Crossed the Swansea bar with plenty of water underneath at 1300 & had the bridge opening booked for 1400. We picked up a courtesy mooring & had lunch & I started to relax for the first time in 3 days.
We headed up the channel on max high tide (allowing for the delay in the channel), Adam up front to let me know if I was heading for any sand bars, & were going great guns …………………………………………… until Adam started pointing in all directions at once & we a sand bar off Pelican airstrip. It wasn’t Adams fault, there was nowhere to go - it was a bar right across. The boat wouldn’t budge so this time it was Marine Rescue Lake Macquarie that was on their way to help - I could see them from where I was, their base is at Pelican. They tried pulling & then they tried going around us making waves to try to wash us off for an hour or so. They then decided they’ll get the other, bigger boat to tow while they make the waves. We had to wait another hour, with the tide running out, before we had both boats pulling & washing for half an hour & then a big southerly came through & we finally broke free - I was starting to think we were going to be spending the night there on our side!! The dredging of the channel starts next week …………………I was watching them setting up while sitting there waiting.
They dragged me the rest of the way up the channel & into the lake before we unhooked the tow line. I had no propulsion!! I thought I’d lost a prop or stripped the key with all the revving etc trying to get off the bottom. We hooked back up with Marine Rescue & got a tow up to my mooring at Bolton Point but, I heard the shaft turning as we were being towed, I knew the sound (from past experience) but I even lifted the floor to check - this meant my prop was still functional so the problem must be in the gearbox. Oh boy, am I looking forward to fixing this problem - NOT!!!
Anyway, Larrikin is at home on her mooring & I don’t have to pay hardstand rent or travel to Taren Point any more ………………….well just one more time to retrieve my car. To top it off I am waiting for two “letters” to arrive this week as a result of camera flashes I saw in my car mirror last week.
Thank fark for Marine Rescue, I don’t know where I would be without them - they all did an absolute fantastic job I cannot thank them enough - I am a member of Lake Mac & pay my subscription so they didn’t want any payment but I think I may have to make a donation as well. I just happened to know the skipper of the MR Newcastle vessel who came to save me - he is ex Water Police with a Coxswains license & “he knows boats” & is a top bloke as well!! A big thanks to Adam & Mick, could not have done it without you, also to Mel, John & Chris, Kriss & Todd for picking us up from different locations & a special thanks to my darling wife , Kathy, who has been a nervous wreck & took up smoking ……….again!! She now wants me to sell the boat & buy a Winnebago. As if!!
As Adam said to me today, “I knew it was going to be an adventure, but no way did I expect that”.
More pics - www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.880156468663584.1073741839.100000077181867&type=1&l=a99b0081b3
Larry
Select to expand quote
Anyway, Larrikin is at home on her mooring & I don’t have to pay hardstand rent or travel to Taren Point any more ………………….well just one more time to retrieve my car. To top it off I am waiting for two “letters” to arrive this week as a result of camera flashes I saw in my car mirror last week.
Keep on trucking Larry. You will get there eventually if you just throw enough time and dollars at it.
I had the bright idea to head from manly to Redland bay this morning. Bit of a fresh southerly thing going on. Punching into it the whole way. On the western side of peel island I thought I was in the southern ocean or something. The waves were bl#@dy huge. My fault for picking a bad day. Not a soul on the bay, just me getting totally smashed up. Boat stopped going forward, so I turned around and surfed back to manly.
You're really livin the high seas life arnt ya BrizzyD !
Punching through The Southern Ocean in that bullitt-proof Hood 23.
None of that soft deck rubbish under your feet.
Select to expand quotespongeblob said..
You're really livin the high seas life arnt ya BrizzyD !
Punching through The Southern Ocean in that bullitt-proof Hood 23.
None of that soft deck rubbish under your feet.
Sponge Blog
BrissyD probably ran out of beer and turned around to get some more
He he , Chrissie and I just read that and laughed out loud to both :-) he he. Spongey....I've got one little half foot square spot of delamination left to do (Laziness) and I wouldn't have been suprised if the poor boat broke into a million pieces on one of its 45 degree pitches today. HG....Joizes....I needed a few stiff ones to calm down after that. 23 feet. Too small. Thank god for keels though. 
A nice sail from wood ford west to concord In 35 kph then a sail up wind back. Was flyin.
Select to expand quotebrizzydave said..
I had the bright idea to head from manly to Redland bay this morning. Bit of a fresh southerly thing going on. Punching into it the whole way. On the western side of peel island I thought I was in the southern ocean or something. The waves were bl#@dy huge. My fault for picking a bad day. Not a soul on the bay, just me getting totally smashed up. Boat stopped going forward, so I turned around and surfed back to manly.
in the bay its not just the size ( barely about 1.5 meters at best) that causes issues. its the wave period that is awful due to the shallow depth. going upwind into the chop is awful sometimes.
So true mate!! But we encountered this weirdo thing where the waves Crests were about fifty foot apart!! Waves higher than the deck of my boat ( not incredible really) . Not just the usual heavy big short chop. You chaps in large vessels will laugh at me. All good. 
Cruised down to kilaben bay on lake mac. on saturday and watched the air display complete with catalina flying boat doing flyovers man you should have been there.
