Trip report – Fifth Annual June Sail-Away
Well it’s Monday morning and I am freezing in a cold kitchen, the weekend is by no means over. Doug still has to get Saltair II C28 back to the Harbour solo and Colin, Rita and Misty, Midnight Lady C29 back to Port Hacking.
What a great weekend, thanks Jim and Tish Pumpkin C28 and to those who braved the winter weather to make a truly great weekend – oh and a special thanks to Bruce and Sue Spindrift C29 for catering for the weekend.
Lynne and I had to make a hard decision on Friday night not to take Maeling C29. While only a short trip we had to acknowledge my hand wouldn’t stand up to the trip home. The long range forecast wasn’t too far off except that Sunday’s wind came from the south and not east.
I can’t say too much about Saturday except that it was a drifter. My first contact was a call from Glenn and Jen the new owners of Anebo C28, they were off BBYC and exhausted. In 20 hours they had driven from Bateman’s Bay to Pittwater and motor sailed for about 10 hours. By remote control, I guided them onto Pumpkin’s mooring. By a miracle they got onto the right one and slept. Pumpkin Pip’s friend Yorick did not get launched in the end and we may hold man overboard recovery off until the October Sailaway. The diminished fleet met at Yarra Bay, due to concerns about a return trip Andrew and Lynne Malua Bay C29 stayed at Pittwater, Mark Lillian C28 crewed for Doug on Saltair while Steve Mecca C28 drove down for Sunday night.
Jen and Glenn must have been heartened listening to the talk given by Ivor and Deb Kareela C29 in positioning their boat from Botany Bay to Moreton Bay ready for 7 months on the Reef. Ivor and Deb have only been sailing for 4 years, they haven’t been insular, learning by racing on other boats as well as their own. In Ivor’s view they remained in his comfort zone for the whole trip. They learned a lot of lessons all effecting their safety that they will change tactics in the future.
Before dinner we had three talks. Ivor and Deb put on a slide show of the lessons of their trip showing courses, current flows and discussing with the group what had happened including a blue vein cheese story which will go down in Compass legend. Never used it to combat seasickness myself!
Doug delivered a talk on sheeting and trimming in his natural style. Sailing by feel since he was a boy, he was free of theory and with good teachers and lots of sailing he learned to sail to win. I think we all got a lot from it. My talk was drier, on communication. I did a hypothetical on the radio comms Lynne and I had on a bad trip south one year when we actually had to issue a PAN, later cancelled.
Then followed dinner. What a dinner, hot soups, Beef and Burgundy, Ratatoule and cakes, wine flowed and we really enjoyed ourselves. The night was so quiet outside fog was threatening, what a wonderful world!
For those on board, they felt the first shivers of the front about 4 am as the wind piped in from slightly west of south with the temperature dropping. By 10.30 when we met in the BBYC Club house for Jim’s talk on how the YA rules could sensibly be applied to Compasses it was up to 30 knots and everyone was glad to be inside, freezing!
Jim’s talk went very well and lasted five hours, punctuated by another hot lunch courtesy of Bruce and Sue and entertainment episodes in seamanship(?) provided by a hapless couple on a Santana. Jim quickly made it apparent that while our Regattas are raced under Cat 7 most of our cruisers would come under Cat 2 if we were under sailing rules and that those rules have come from accidents in which Mr Murphy had a hand. It was salutary to consider each requirement and why it had been made. Things like stowing the dinghy on the forehatch for a passage restricting the fire escapes to one. It is not don’t do it but consider and weigh the risks why an offshore racing yacht at night is not allowed to do it. Similarly there must be a fuel shutoff external to the engine compartment. Image if your starter lead shorted onto the engine, starting fibreglass burning and the whole lot was being fed with distillate that you couldn’t reach into the engine box to shut off.
Most of the rest, I hope we have covered for our relatively short ocean trips. I hope we can put Jim’s YA Summary and notes up on the site soon. Of course we can’t give advise which to adopt and which not to bother with but we can encourage discussion on reducing risks and making Mr Murphy’s job harder. Do you have an automatic bilge pump and never bother with the manual bilge pump. Doug related an incident he was involved with on the Harbour in a big racing boat that sprang a serious leak, no one had used the manual pumps in years and had no idea they had ceased working.
I learned another clue on the mysteries of seamanship when I watched Jim rig a second head line in 35+ knots from the mast to a different post, silly but sure. Leaving all boats safe in the wind we adjourned to St George Motor Boat Club for the Annual Dinner for our Group. We talked long and hard, what a great group and what great friends. Bruce and Sue took Glenda and Jen ashore for the night and will but Anebo on a free mooring until the weather improves for the final stage to Bateman’s Bay.
Today Monday, Dougie should be rocketing home in a following sea and good westerly. Colin, Rita and Misty will have a harder, wetter time across Bate Bay but at least it is a short sail with the sun valiantly trying to warm up the cold air.
We are looking forward to Port Hacking in October when we can practice some of our safety drills and really test things.
Regards to all
Geoff and Lynne Raebel
Maeling C29