Well I may not have admitted all. Sailing home from the 2016 Compass Regatta was a splendid run down the coast to Port Hacking, with E30 The Black Pearl always in sight but not closing. Squaring off we continued 2 miles up Port Hacking’s channels on the flood tide, then turning south toward South West Arm our speed diminished. My ego wanted me to continue to Maeling’s Hole but with progress diminishing, I started our trusty Drofin Diesel. She cranked once-twice-before starting on the third rotation, unusual I thought, backpressure, the following sea must have filled the exhaust water box.. The next night, motoring back to Maeling’s Hole I thought something’s wrong with the engine. Very fumey, hot and I could hear a ticking – blown head gasket again!
I promised myself if I blew another head gasket, that was it, I’d get a new Beta Diesel. Glenn Townsend gave me a good price and Dave Dee on the Harbour was the suggested installer BUT I was in upper Port Hacking.
Watching the weather I could see a window in the north easter’s for a run to the harbour on Thursday 10/3. But, top of tide was 23.00 and I needed to go out with it, I couldn’t count on my diesel. I wasn’t sure it would start, I wasn’t sure it would keep running. My backup plan was to lash my rubber duckie alongside and use it’s 3.3 Mercury to give me steering in slack and calm. So on Wednesday afternoon I took the rubber duckie to Yowie Bay boat ramp and equipped with a spare 5 litres of fuel, motored it around to Maeling on Gymea Bay.
Getting on board at 20.30 I let the mooring go and proceeded to set up the #1 and main, occasionally I could feel puffs of wind. Then I mounted the outboard on the dinghy and pulled the ripcord – nothing. Ten minutes later, cycling choke and throttle – still nothing except the thrust of my pulling the ripcord. I dragged the engine onto Maeling. Half an hour later I made The Broadwater (less than 1000 metres). Was I too hasty with the outboard, I remounted it – still nothing, I dismounted it.
I could feel a very gently breeze and sailed toward the first channel, a confusing set of winking lights in front of each other. Three hundred metres short of the channel. I found myself head to wind – one and a half kilometres in one and a half hours! I wound up the Drofin and bravely she fired up and we ran with the tide. The fumes from the blown head gasket was terrible with little wind to disperse it. Two knots from the Drofin and two from the tide it wasn’t a bad trip to Bass & Flinders Point. Without tide or wind it took some time to get to Jibbon and was 1am before we secured to a public mooring.
At 2am I put my head down to be woken at 6.30am by the alarm. It was a slow morning, making sure I was fed and ready and Maeling readied for sea, with everything stowed, lifejacket/harness on and lazyjacks rigged. After a half hour and getting 500 metres, again I reluctantly started the Drofin. Crossing Bate Bay at 2 knots I despaired meeting my Sydney Heads ETA of 1pm. We chugged along under tiller pilot, sailing a very tight course. Off Botany Bay Heads there was a breath of wind. I goose-winged the #1 to starboard and with the main to the lee found I had enough boatspeed to shutdown the Drofin.
Steering with the tiller between my legs and hanging onto the companionway in a slight following sea we were making slightly better than 4 ½ knots GPS. It was a really good time to test whether it was faster to lock the prop or not.
Three and a half hours later at 5 minutes to the hour I called Marine Rescue Sydney thanking them for their coverage and logged off at South Head. Proceeding up the Harbour on a broad reach I slipped a piece of “plastic” cheese onto a piece of dry bread, my second, for lunch followed by an apple and water. It was good to have some provisions handy, as we always do at sea.
Still before the wind we ran up Humbug into the Lane Cove River, I tried the Drofin once more and she fired up, so I stowed the jib and as I got to Woodford Bay the main. It was good to see Max’s mooring exactly as arranged. By 1800 I was an automaton having trouble commanding feet and hands to move.
Glenn Townsend from Beta is coming aboard Monday to assess the engine change-out and the installation of the Beta 16. More on that later
Geoff Raebel