Log Entry 15th October 2009

Over the years, and well before we acquired Lara, I had often thought about canoeing/kayaking as a suitable form of aquatic escapism. This was fuelled in no small part by a copy of the book "Canoes and Canoeing", published in 1962 and written by one Percy Blandford. It's a very typical example of those older style British texts, easily recognisable due to the fact that irrespective of whether one is engaging in carpentry, paddling a canoe or anything else for that matter, one must be suitably dressed in the correct clobber, usually collared shirt, tie and a buttoned jacket. It's one of the reasons we English once upon a time conquered half the world, attention to detail, standards, tea out of a proper cup and saucer and all that.


Yes Mr Blandford has a lot to answer for, for it was from this book that I lofted a line drawing and even got to the stage of constructing the frames for one of his Gannets. (I'm guessing that PBK 56 refers to Percy Blandford Kayak no 56).

Unfortunately that's as far as it got as I lacked the confidence and enthusiasm to complete the project due to my distinct lack of carpentry skills. Never make the mistake of mentioning these projects to a work colleague, unless you are sure you will finish it. Otherwise you will be subjected to years of "Have you finished making your canoe yet?" questions, accompanied by a smirk, because the enquirer knows damn well that you've given up.

Suffice to say, I'm not a traditionalist in any real sense of the word, and certainly don't need to be dragged kicking and screaming into the 21st century environment of CAD design, high tech Gen2 polyethylene plastics and U-V inhibitors. Hence I purchased one of these on Saturday past.

Pamlico 100 - Wilderness Systems Kayaks

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Reckon the last laugh is on you, Roy.

Log Entry 1st October 2009

Not a lot to report this outing, some video footage rather than photographs as I wanted to try something a little more ambitious regarding a trip record.



Left Wynnum around midday for Peel Island in a N/NW 10-15 knot breeze. Sailed around the northern end to take advantage of the wind direction which enabled us to track a nimble running-reach, gybing as we rounded The Bluff. Spent a couple of hours in Horseshoe Bay eating lunch. The water was a bit cold for a swim and with the breeze picking up we decided to head back around 4pm. As the wind had veered around to the N/NE and was now blowing 15-20 knots we returned along the same track, using the outboard to get us back around The Bluff. The 15-20 knot wind coupled with a one metre swell was not in itself dangerous, nonetheless made it quite difficult for me to raise the sails standing on the pitching deck. As a result I fell over twice smashing upper arm on something that later resulted in a huge bruise.

Boat fairly screamed along on the reach home, very exhilarating, particularly with the bow plunging into the swell throwing spray all over us. The sun set with us still about an hour from home but the wind eased and we enjoyed a beautiful dusk sail tracking beacons until we arrived back at Wynnum.

Night-time has to be my favourite time to sail. Difficult to explain why. As the darkness descends, the the water and land merge into the same dusky grey, the stars start to appear and beacons flash their presence here and there. Mesmerising - a sense of being alone without being lonely - I think.

Log Entry 23rd September 2009

This log entry is a bit of a kaleidoscope of items – haven’t sailed for a few weeks now. Last outing was on the 27th of July when we sailed a northerly loop around Green and St Helena. A flotilla of Sabots greeted us near the harbour exit. These boats always remind me of my teen years camping and sailing around Jacobs Well.

Took the opportunity to trial Steve’s handheld GPS, a Garmin eTrex personal navigator designed for hikers. Unlike the typical “street-use” models, this unit records and creates routes based on co-ordinates without an underlying streetscape layer, which makes it ideal for marine use. I was particularly interested in its speed function and was quite surprised to see the great variation in the rate of knots that Lara travelled through the water.

Travelling at least around 4 knots in the video below, however on reflection this would mostly have been current assisted, as the tide was about an hour or two past flood and would be flowing northwards as it ebbed. The little Garmin is certainly a useful navigation tool for tracking to places in the Bay, particularly as there is a growing trend to map points of interest as GPS co-ordinates. It is also one of the cheapest units available at around $120.



Have also used some of the past “off water” time to modify Lara’s pushpit railing, replacing the top rail over the transom with a raised version. The plan is to permanently mount the solar panel there. An additional, not unexpected benefit of the modification is that boat entry and exit via the transom ladder is much easier as one doesn’t have to lift a leg over a rail, rather one can basically step in over the top of the outboard. I am quite pleased with the result, the welding is clean and tidy and the whole unit looks neat and professionally constructed.

Log Entry 12th July 2009

This entry was intended to be about an overnight trip planned for Thursday and Friday just passed, unfortunately the 25-30 knot south-easterlies put paid to that. Instead I used the two days to install the new toilet.

As usual nothing in life vaguely related to things mechanical turned out to be trouble free, well that's the way it always seems for me anyway. Wasn't initially happy with the tight fit of the of the toilet and seriously considered cutting a hole in the forward bulkhead to gain some extra space. I really wasn't keen to start hacking into any part of the hull though and so I let it be and thought about it Thursday night. It occurred to me that may of these toilets are constructed symmetrically, that is you can reverse the fittings so that the bowl and pump can be switched from left to right. Returned Friday morning to find that this was happily the case with this toilet. The photo in the previous blog shows the bowl on the left whilst the fitted version shows it on the right. Results in a lot more "not so squeezey" room to relax and read the paper or a novel while on the can.

Took this image of another Hood 23 in the dying light as we left Friday afternoon. It's the first time I've seen a full keel version of Lara out of the water. Nice lines, from the look of the hull I suspect it was slipped for anti-fouling.

Log Entry 6th July 2009

A non-sailing blog entry for a change. Friday past saw the family at the Gold Coast Q1 building because Santa had thoughtfully given me a 30 minute ride in a Boeing 737 flight simulator. It was lot of fun and I can highly recommend it as an alternative to socks and handkerchiefs. First landing put the undercarriage through the wings but managed to get her on the runway reasonably well the second time around.

Afterwards I shopped with the girls who bought bits and pieces for themselves, all the time waiting patiently to spring an"impromptu" visit to Whitworths, a large marine chandler at Southport. I had been "researching" the purchase of a marine toilet for Lara, getting sick to death of the porta-potty, which is in the habit of tipping over and draining all over the cabin floor. It's also a real pain to empty waste and to refill the upper reservoir with water for flushing.

Fortunately Lara still has the appropriate skin fittings and space for a dunny, having being fitted with one in a past life. Managed to determine from the mounting abrasions on the inside of Lara's hull that a TMC (or equivalent) manual marine toilet will happily fit in the nook provided. No prizes then for guessing what we came home with.

Already started collecting the additional bits and pieces needed to complete the task.

Drove to the end of the spit before we came home to have a look at the Gold Coast Seaway. Considering it was blowing 20-25 knots from the north-west, the passage looked reasonably safe, probably because the tide was about an hour away from flood. Lots of swirling water but no breaking waves. There were even a couple of skin-divers swimming in the water, albeit not too far from the wall, no idea why, must have been freezing with very little visibility in the water itself.

Log Entry 4th may 2009

Not a long post about today's outing, as we didn't even leave the harbour, thanks to some especially sloppy helming on my part. Aware that we needed fuel after Lara's previous trip, I was trying to follow directions through a myriad of pontoons and moored boats to a marine bowser at the other end of the harbour. Unfortunately I went too wide on a turn to starboard which a a 15-20 knot SE wind exacerbated and we "clipped" the rear of a catamaran close to her stern. Although we were traveling slowly, Lara's momentum was sufficient to drive out anchor clean through the side of the catamarans hull fairing. 

Not a scratch on Lara, but some significant damage to the cat. It was a big one too, 35-40 foot, very expensive. Got the owners contact details from the marina office, he lives locally and came down to inspect the damage. Obviously he was not impressed, I felt pretty low, clearly it was my fault and I said so. We exchanged details and hopefully our insurance will cover the cost, which I figure is going to be at least a couple of grand. He was quite good about it, not at all rude or angry, which I was thankful for. Again, very sorry Doug. 

Naturally while we were waiting quite a few boat owners came for a look and a comment. Apparently the splintering of overstressed ply was like a pistol shot. Everybody was quietly sympathetic with stories about their own bumps and scrapes. After sorting out the mess we took Lara back to East Coast and called it a day. We had an ice-cream from the kiosk next to Wynnum Creek where I photographed this Hood 20, a smaller version of Lara (on the left), 

and later a chap using a bosun's chair to climb the 8-10 metres or so to the top of his yacht's mast.

What an absolute crap day this one turned out to be. On the bright side (there is always a bright side I suppose), no one was hurt (except my pride/ego), the damage could have been worse, and Lara came out "scott-free" (where DID that idiom come from?)

Log Entry 19th April 2009

Finally able to get out on the Lara today after a couple of months of conflicting commitments and weather only intermittently suitable for sailing. The Moreton Bay forecast suggested S-SW 10-15 knot winds increasing to 20-25 knots in the afternoon with a 1.2 metre swell. As such, Yolande decided to stay home with the girls, not wanting to subject Freya to a bumpy ride that might damage her already fragile attitude towards sailing. "We not going sailing today Dad? Don't wanna go sailing Dad!"

Despite a couple of phone calls I was only able to press-gang Steve into a "decky for the day" role, Phil and Andrew both having to attend to other matters. We managed a reasonably early start, leaving the Manly boat harbour around 9:30am, steering due east towards the Hybers Beacon between Green and King Islands. The wind was quite gentle throughout the morning, (I later confirmed that it had dropped to less than 10 knots). After a bit of discussion we decided to sail across the top of Peel Island to Dunwich for lunch, with a view to visiting "The Little Ships Club", which is a popular drinking hole for boaties.

The chart indicated that a direct route (about 14 miles) would would allow us to sail on a continuous starboard reach, an efficient and pleasant point of sailing. This we did, loitering along until about a mile or so from the inlet to the Little Ships Club, where we ran Lara to ground on a shallow patch of outlying shoal.


View Dunwich-North Stradbroke Island in a larger map

This wasn't really unexpected as it was clearly indicated on the chart, more a case of allowing a what appears to be a clear expanse of water fool one into believing it will be sufficiently deep enough to navigate. A bit of judicious pushing by Steve got us off after which we carefully back-tracked to the main channel around the Douglas Light before entering the inlet.

There being no free space to tie up at the visitor's pontoon, we decided against actually visiting the club, and anchored off a spit to enjoy lunch. After an hour or so we cleaned up for the leg home, careful to follow the recommended small boat navigation tracks marked on the chart. The expected 20-25 knot blow-in did not materialise, rather the opposite, with the wind dropping even more. Across the top of Peel a trailerable Farr sailed along side travelling in the same direction, and we playfully tried to "race" it. 

Despite the Farr's and our sails flapping intermittently in the dying breeze, our companion slowly pulled away, although we were able to catch him several times due to the erratic nature of his course, probably chasing the wind, which by this time had died. In places, the water was as still and flat as to be almost mirror like.

Firing up the outboard, we enjoyed a leisurely motor across the Bay in virtually flat water until arriving back at the boat harbour around 6:00pm. Passed a beautiful yacht still under full sail also returning through the entrance. It was gaff rigged with a huge bowsprit to which were attached two jibs, rigged cutter style, it certainly looked a sight. Steve, who was at the helm for the entire return trip, performed a perfectly executed approach to the pontoon where we we tidied Lara and left her for the marina staff to berth.

Log Entry 30th December 2008

Eager to sail again before the end of the Christmas break, and with Yolande and the girls committed to other activities, mates Steve and Phil volunteered to crew for a "Boy's Own Adventure" day.

Well stocked with the amber fluid and tucker; Phil, purist that he is, decided we would sail off the wharf and out of the harbour, which we did (after a couple of 360's - Steve at the helm) albeit with the help of the trusty outboard. Beating east across Waterloo Bay, between Green and King Islands, we continued on towards the northern side of Peel Island. With an almost high tide we cut across the coral banks off Cucumber Point (doesn't look like a cucumber at all). With Steve at the helm the entire leg, poor Phil was constantly called upon to "adjust the strings" to satisfy Steve's lust for speed; which just goes to prove, you can take the man out of his stink boat, but you can't get the stink boat out of the man (a bit of sailing trivia Steve, there are sheets, halyards, painters and warps on yachts - but no strings, twine or ropes!)

Gliding around The Bluff, past the wreck of the Platypus, we ghosted under full sail between a flotilla of boats into Horseshoe Bay, anchoring close to the beach in a metre or so of water. Wasting little time we cracked a couple of Cascades whilst enjoying a swim in the cool clear water. Frying sausages, rissoles and onions, we ate the usual Lara-Lunch sitting in the cockpit under the shade of the boom tent, before a second cooling dip in the water.

Had an interesting conversation with the owners of another shoal draft Hood 23 anchored adjacent to us. Hoodwink is an example of the rare factory designed and built cabin topped Hoods. 

The thoughtfully constructed coach house provides full standing room in the galley area, and I quite like the look of this variant, the cabin lines complimenting those of the hull without any hint of a "tacked on" look. Would be interesting to convert Lara, although as Phil commented, would probably be cheaper to sell Lara and purchase a cabin version.

Departing Peel mid afternoon westwards around South West Rocks, we beat north on a starboard tack towards some ominous looking weather. The forecast afternoon storm had eventuated and was tracking eastwards across the northern end of Moreton Bay. Adjacent to Cleveland Point Lara was greeted by by a northerly squall which had whipped up a metre plus swell. I'm not sure what the wind picked up to but it was whipping spray off crests as Lara tried to bury her bow in the swell, thoroughly soaking us. 

An exhilarating ride ensued with the boat heeling 30-45 degrees under full sail. Interestingly, it was the first time I have seen the mast flexing under the strain of the wind. Phil expressed a desire to reef the main, which would have been a prudent thing to do, however the consensus was that it mightn't be overly safe given the boom was thrashing around a fair bit as the mainsail flogged. Crawling forward Phil dropped the jib, which reduced the strain on the boat to a more manageable level, and using the outboard we motored gently onwards before turning west into the relative shelter of Waterloo Bay, where we raised the jib and headed towards the harbour channel markers. Tying up at the wharf we tidied Lara and left her for the marina boys to rack, absolutely buggered from the big day out.

Sure was fun, I really enjoyed the varied conditions we experienced, which only served to confirm my belief that Hoods are a sturdy, reliable family cruisers. Have to do that again sometime soon guys!

Log Entry 27th December 2008

With Christmas Day now behind us and our holidays in full swing, I was eager to spend at least a couple of days sailing. Impetus for a trip was generated by my cousin Peter, visiting from New Zealand.

A balmy summer’s day greeted us at the marina, with a 10-15 knot south-easterly wind and an overcast sky which provided relief from an otherwise scorching sun. As a late start scotched an extended trip to Peel, we meandered across Waterloo Bay to King Island,

where we anchored a couple of boat lengths off the sand spit. After an hour or two swimming, sun baking (Pete the expat Pom) and shell collecting (the girls), we enjoyed the usual Lara-lunch of snags on bread rolls, washed down with a bottle of sparkling white wine – a very nice Spanish import chosen by Peter. Hauling up the anchor, we headed north for a couple of hours, circumnavigating Green Island before turning west into the channel and the harbour.

After tidying up the boat we drove up to Wynnum and enjoyed a fish and chip dinner at the “Fish n Chips”, a popular seafood café on the foreshore opposite the newly renovated tidal pool. A post dinner walk to the end of the jetty topped off a perfect day, where Peter, impressed by the nature and design of some of the local amenities, snapped pictures of them using his camera phone. (Pete works as a project officer for the Wellington City Council managing public works).

Image and video footage courtesy of Peter McEvoy (c) 2008