Lara's Log

Log Entry 22nd September 2011

2012-01-01T08:45:00.003+10:00

With Yolande and Helena in Nepal for a couple of weeks and me on recreation leave taking care of Johanna and Freya over the September holidays, one of our “to do list” things was an overnight sail with Phil and some of his clan.

Accordingly, as a result of a bit of pre-holiday organising, Thursday lunchtime saw us leaving Steiglitz with a motley crew comprising Phil, three of his kids, Genevieve, William and Sarah, and myself, together with Johanna and Freya. Lara herself underway with a dinghy and kayak in tow.

The wind was blowing reasonably steadily from the south-east at 10-15 knots as we motored sedately in a south-easterly direction towards South Stradbroke Island. Our original plan was to turn northwards into Canaipa passage and overnight at North Stradbroke Island. However our slow progress into the wind and tide saw us change our destination and stop at Horseshoe Bay at the northern end of South Stradbroke Island. The afternoon high tide allowed us to anchor close to a sandy spit and as we didn’t plan to leave until the afternoon of the following day our anchorage dried out overnight. This was the first time I have allowed Lara to settle on the hard. Fortunately the shoal draft keel allows her to ground at an angle that didn’t prove to be too awkward that we couldn’t clamber about in her, albeit carefully.

With five kids ranging in age from ten to thirteen years there was always a multitude of simultaneous activities going on including swimming, kayaking, fishing and just a lot of general mucking about type stuff. Consequently Lara took on a bit of a gypsy look with towels, togs, assorted clothes and fishing gear festooning the rigging and lifelines. The look contrasted sharply with the clinically clean tidy lines of the Baycruisers and motor yachts moored around us. I definitely prefer the gypsy look myself.

Feeding five hungry kids also took on a whole new perspective, and obviously Phil’s thoughtful wife Judith was well aware of this. She had provided a heap of tucker which combined with our supplies, meant the ship’s larder was well stocked and nobody went hungry.

Friday morning was spent exploring and clambering about the sand dunes before lunch and a sedate trip home.

Log Entry 22nd-23rrd April 2011

2011-08-06T14:31:00.011+10:00

Although the work refurbishing Lara isn’t finished, we used the Easter break as an opportunity for a two day family sail. These have been few and far between of late because of various commitments by one family member or another. Fortunately, the weather for at least the first two days of the break was fine and warm with light winds.

Being new to the lower part of Moreton Bay we decided to head further south into the upper Broadwater. Initially we sailed in an easterly direction between Kangaroo and WoogoompahIslands before turning south, sailing past the now closed Couran Cove Resort on SouthStradbroke Island. Deciding to overnight in the lagoon formed between Brown Island and SouthStradbroke Island we negotiated the narrow and shallow channel between Brown Island and its tiny unnamed neighbor to the north.

The lagoon is very well protected from the elements and in terms of marine traffic, very quiet compared to the Broadwater. This area appears to be a popular spot for over-nighting, particularly by houseboats. Don’t know the history around the partially sunk yacht, seemed quite a shame to see it looking so forlorn. Although that didn't dampen my desire for a bit of scavenging; not knowing the legalities of such things, (is ownership still recognized etc) I though it better not to plunder it for any remaining bits and pieces, particularly useful paraphernalia to do with rigging (turnbuckles, shackles etc) which a yachty can never have enough of!

Sail back to the marina at Steiglitz the next morning was pleasant and uneventful – looking forward to getting out on the water again soon.

Log Entry 26th February 2011

2011-02-26T21:18:00.001+10:00

Spent another day undertaking some maintenance. The acetone worked a treat and all of the residual carpet glue is off the floor. Got stuck into all the other internal glass work and although I’m probably only half way there, Lara is scrubbing up well.

Depending on the severity I found that bleach and sugar soap removed mildew and other stains. I brought all of the wooden locker covers home with me to work on at my convenience. They are also covered in mildew and need to be cleaned and revarnished. I wiped the the remainder of the internal woodwork with undiluted tea tree oil. It seems to be a very useful cleaning agent and leaves the boat smelling much fresher.

A few other jobs to do before the cabin area is finished. I brought the companion way ladder home with me. I’m thinking about removing the carpet wrapped around the steps, it’s partly hanging off anyway, and I’m warming to the idea of nicely varnished rungs. Stove and gimbal has also been brought home for a thorough cleaning. the stove itself has a fair bit of accumulated grease on it, particularly in the hard to reach places when it is mounted inside the gimbal.

Log Entry 12th February 2011

2011-02-23T22:29:00.001+10:00

A combination of poor weather and lack of time has seen poor Lara sit sadly neglected and unused since my last log entry. A visit last weekend indicated some long over due maintenance is required and I spent both Saturday and Sunday doing just that.

The first job was to pump and then sponge a couple of inches of rain water out of the interior. This has been an increasingly common occurrence after heavy rain and I’m not exactly sure why so much is getting inside. Until I do I will be covering the companion way hatch and cockpit area using the boom tent.

Just about every surface was covered in mould, the carpet on the floor was particularly bad so I have removed it. It was solidly held in place using yellow carpet glue, and while I managed to remove most of it with a paint scraper, the residual is proving difficult to shift. I tried using a nylon pot scourer with sugar soap, bleach and even some petrol without much luck. After a quick Google search to find out the best way to do this I have since bought a tin of acetone which might do the job. I’m not sure yet whether I will replace the carpet, if I can get the floor clean I’m thinking of covering it with some form of anti-slip floor paint – not sure yet.

Externally the hull is reasonably clean and tidy, though I will give it a thorough wash with my trusty Karcher to get rid of the ingrained dirt on the ant-slip deck surface. The hull above the rubbing strake could do with a cut back and polish as well, I’m not sure why this wasn’t attended to when the previous owners had the rest of the hull so beautifully painted. I’m confident that it should clean up satisfactorily though with a bit of hard work.

Also on the shopping list is a flush mounted deck pump to keep the bilge and floor more easily clear of water. Hopefully will have the time to continue some maintenance next weekend.

Log Entry 23rd October 2010

2011-02-22T22:44:00.001+10:00

Lara has a new home. After finalising our affairs at East Coast, Phil, his daughter Sarah and myself said goodbye to Manly boat harbour and set off to Woongoolba in the southern part of Moreton Bay.

Leaving around 4pm to take advantage of the NNE 10-15 knot breeze, we beat towards the Huybers Beacon, through the channel between King and Green Islands. With the wind on our port side we steered south on a running reach towards Coochiemudlo Island. Making good time in the remaining two hours or so of daylight, dusk saw Lara tracking nicely on the eastern side of Coochiemudlo, with Macleay Island to port.

As I had still not connected the newly mounted solar panel, and was unsure whether Lara’s battery had retained any charge, Phil had brought a spare along. Fortunately however the battery was serviceable and well up to the task of powering the depth sounder and navigation lights.

Using a recent edition of Beacon to Beacon as our guide, we began in earnest to identify the appropriate green and red flashing markers we would need to guide us through the many sometimes tortuous channels that characterise the southern end of Moreton Bay. It wasn’t coincidental that around 7pm a full moon rose over North Stradbroke Island to help light our way. I had purposely chosen this particular evening for the trip, to take advantage of a NE breeze and a full moon, a window of opportunity between morning South Easterlies and forecast storms the following day.

I fried some sausages in butter on the stove as Phil steered us south. Sarah, perhaps wary of my ability as a cook, could only be enticed to eat a single sausage on a slice of bread. Whereas Phil and I ate the remaining snags, chopped up and mixed into a can of “stuff” I can only describe as the meal eaten by the “fully loaded man”. You know, the stuff eaten by the guy who slides down a mountain side in a kayak, off a ravine cliff into a mountain stream. The ad is suspiciously reminiscent of the old Solo lemon job as it finishes with a moustached guy grinning wolfishly while crushing the empty can in his fist. Phil didn’t say anything about the meal (he’s too polite), but I think he’d probably agree that fully loaded cans are best left to fully loaded men and hungry yachties should eat something more palatable!

Of course, unbeknown to us, we had misread key beacons at crucial channel juncture at the southern end of Russell Island and motored (the wind had dropped by now) inadvertently into Fisherman's Channel. Towards the western end we were overtaken by a string of jet-skis strung out maybe eight to ten strong in a long convoy. They looked surreal in the dark, each similarly lit by bright LED navigation lights, resolutely playing follow the leader. Clearly they were on a mission of some sort however I have no idea what it was. They disappeared in the distance as quickly as they had come.

At the end of the channel we instinctively steered south-east into what we later realised was Canaipa Passage with Cobby Cobby Island to our starboard and North Stradbroke to port. Rounding Stingaree Island we were confronted by the entrance to Jumpinpin. Although never having been to it in the past, its impressive width and open view to the ocean proper, silver and glinting in the moonlight, left us in little doubt as to where we were.

Backtracking west between Short and Crusoe Islands we steered south again into a narrow but well beaconed channel between Eden and Crusoe Islands to find ourselves again in more open water. A quick conversation with a group of part goers on a large houseboat moored off Green Bank confirmed we were at the eastern end of Tiger Mullet Channel. Having at last a clear idea of where we were it was a simple task to go about and head east past Kangaroo Island and north to Tabby Tabby Island where we turned south again at Cabbage Tree Point.

Passing Steiglitz it was not long before we sighted the entrance to the Horizon Shores marina on our starboard side. Navigating to the guest pontoon, we tied up just after midnight. After a quick look around we pulled out sleeping bags and set about sleeping the remainder of the night. A bloody restless one it was at that, hounded by the incessant buzz of mosquitoes and silent but no less annoying sand-flies. It was with tired eyes (well I was tired) that we awoke early the next morning to formally organise a dry berth for Lara and arrange for Phil’s wife Judith to collect us for the drive home.

In hindsight the trip had taken a lot less time than I had thought and had we not strayed from Main Channel it would have been shorter still. In the end though it was all a bit of an adventure and a lot of fun We are certainly looking forward to exploring a part of Moreton Bay we are not familiar with.

Log Entry 3rd May 2010

2010-05-08T15:11:00.009+10:00

The recent spate of long weekends finally gave us time to spend a day on the boat, albeit a shortish one. The forecast indicated a 10-15 knot SE breeze which is perfect for Lara. In such conditions she lopes along steadily and everything stays nice and dry. So it was a bit disconcerting to see as we left the harbour, streams of boats coming in. Once clear of the entrance we could see why, I was sure the wind was blowing well in excess of the forecast, and anything with sails either had them furled or were cruising with a reefed main or lone jib. Except for the crazy dinghy sailors of course, still racing in Waterloo Bay, one or two of them were capsized as passed them; however there is always a marshal supervising, we weren’t concerned for their safety.

We decided against sailing around the outside of Green Island and instead to have lunch in the lee of King Island, a much shorter distance. Unfortunately this course was also directly in to the prevailing wind, so I didn’t even try to raise the sails, motoring instead with the aid of Lara’s trusty outboard. Naturally we got wet bouncing of the chop, although it wasn’t cold.

Surprisingly King Island and its long spit to Wellington Point didn’t provide a lot of relief from the wind and we had two attempts at anchoring before we could relax. Lara wasn’t all that happy and swung to and fro on the end of a very taught chain while we ate hot-dogs, drank a bottle of wine and had a coffee.

As the conditions weren’t really ideal, and we had promised the kids a swim, we headed back to Manly early so they could play in the tidal wading pool on the Wynnum foreshore. Upping anchor, I hoisted the jib alone, which for a downwind leg was more than sufficient to take us home in reasonable time.

Interestingly, I checked the actual weather observations the following day to note that inner bay wind speeds were more in the vicinity of 15-20 knots, with occasional gusts in excess of 20 knots. Good weather if you want to hammer but a bit excessive for nervous kids.

Log Entry 21st February 2010

2010-02-24T21:28:00.003+10:00

Due to a combination of commitments and unfavourable weather poor Lara has been left landlocked at least by us over the last couple of months. Unfortunately this was also compounded by the fact that Lara needed some work undertaken to her keel. I was aware from our last trip that something was amiss. This was confirmed by Phil who sailed her in our absence late last month.

Thus today found Lara sitting on East Coast's travel lift so we could inspect her swing keel. The problem was eventually traced to a worn out shackle, which secured the cable used to raise and lower the keel plate. The pin had worked loose and was wedged between the plate and the case, effectively preventing the keel from swinging down. We replaced the shackle and also the cable itself, which was badly kinked and whiskering in places due to its age and wear.

Phil's account of his January sail and his experience with the keel:

I had a good look at the swing keel. The keel is free but the wire from the small winch to the keel is stuck fast so the keel doesn't drop. It is locked up. I pulled the winch off and there are no problems at that end so the next thing is to pull the tube out. It is split in two pieces so the top half is easy. Not sure how much room there is under the keel when it is in dry dock but would be good to lever it down if no problems are found in the top half of tube. I think the wire has knotted and is wedged hard, and I think it is at the bottom of the keel. The wire has plenty of little kinks that would knot if they had the chance.

The kids really enjoyed the boat trip. A little rough on Tuesday afternoon but we made it to behind King island and nestled up near to the main land. It rained a little on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning but clear by 9:30am. We took our little 8 ft tender with us with its 2 HP motor. Hasn't been used for a couple of years and I don't think the cooling works as we would just make it to the beach and it would stop. But as with all trusty Mariner outboards, it would start again for the trip back to the boat after a cooling off period.

On Wednesday afternoon we sailed around St Helena Island at the same time the WAGS race was on so we had plenty of company, although we were slow towing the tender and the kayak. We sank the kayak near Mud Island as we turned to head with the following seas. That was fun getting a kayak full of water onto the deck of Lara.

We stopped at the jetty at St Helena for about an hour. The kids went for a swim and a quick look and then we headed back to the marina dodging the small rain squalls. We got back to the marina at about 6:45pm without using the outboard. Slept there Wednesday night and headed home Thursday morning so we could get to Harrisville on time.

Log Entry 15th October 2009

2009-10-15T09:41:00.019+10:00

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

2009-10-13T21:46:00.008+10:00

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

2009-09-23T17:46:00.007+10:00

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

2009-07-12T19:59:00.005+10:00

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

2009-06-22T21:04:00.010+10:00

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

2009-05-05T21:48:00.005+10:00

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

2009-04-20T22:11:00.019+10:00

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

2009-01-01T17:39:00.015+10:00

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

2009-01-01T16:32:00.018+10:00

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).

Log Entry 12th October 2008

2008-10-12T21:48:00.008+10:00

Today’s voyage was deliberately planned to be “shortish”. Each of the girl’s having recently been given a fishing rod and reel, we thought it would be fun spend some time fishing. However as all our previous attempts using handlines had not been successful, I wasn’t overly confident this time would be any different.

Leaving the harbour around 11:00am under an overcast sky and a 10-15 knot north-easterly, we tacked in a northerly direction toward St Helena. I intended to anchor in the bay on the western side of the island, which would shelter us from the prevailing weather while we fished. Beating into the wind on a starboard tack, we passed the island jetty when I misjudged our lateral drift and under full sail we glanced off the bow of a large trawler anchored just off our port side. The sound of our fibreglass hull striking steel was horribly loud; enough to literally wake the dead. I have no idea where the crew of the trawler were, no one came on deck to investigate, it was quieter than the Mary Celeste. I couldn’t see any damage to trawler hull, naturally enough, not even a scratch, and I was too disgusted with myself to see if we had scratched Lara.

At least the fishing was successful; Johanna and I each caught a small whiting, whilst Helena also caught a small whiting (probably the same one) and three small bream. All of the fish were tiddlers and after being given pet names by the girls and amidst frequent pleadings to take them home as pets, we released them hopefully to grow into pan-size “big-uns”.

Try as I might I couldn’t entice a fish onto Freya’s hook so that she could share the excitement of reeling one in, hopefully next time.

After lunch we set course for home on a long port reach until reaching the harbour channel where we ran before the wind into the harbour. Along the way Yolande tactfully pointed out that we were sailing awfully near to a channel beacon, which I acknowledged seeing, but denied we were too close, when the boom and sail, which extended well out on our starboard beam, struck the pile with a resounding clang. For one horrible moment I thought the mainsail was going to catch on the triangular plate and rip itself to bits, but thankfully nothing caught and we sailed on.

I resigned myself to having a crap day on the water, I mean hitting one thing on a trip is bad enough but two? I have no idea what was going on but determined to regain some pride decided to sail as far into the harbour as my nerve would allow me. We were well up the channel between the marina pontoons to our starboard and pile moorings to our port, before Yolande politely expressed a complete lack of confidence in my ability and requested that we start the motor. Looking ahead, I could see a large yacht using the entire channel to manoeuvre into its berth and decided that if he muffed it and baulked, we’d plough straight into his stern. Common sense prevailing, I dropped the sails and we motored slowly up to our pontoon where we tied Lara up for the night for the guys to rack the next morning.

Log Entry 30th September 2008

2008-10-04T21:49:00.012+10:00

With the September school holidays in full swing I arranged to to take two days recreation leave from work so that we could enjoy a couple of family days on the water. We had talked for a long time previously about an overnight trip in Lara and decided we would sail to Peel Island on the Sunday, anchor overnight in Horseshoe Bay, and return on the Monday. We left Wynnum Manly harbour a little after 1pm in a 20-25 knot NE wind. After passing between Green and King Islands we steered south west on a running reach. The wind had whipped up up a few white caps and with it a half metre to a metre swell, which occasionally had Lara surfing gently down the face of a wave. Overall though, we were quite comfortable, despite the motion of the hull due to the swell rolling in under our stern quarter.

Horseshoe Bay on the southern side of Peel offers a safe and sheltered anchorage under these conditions and arriving there around 5pm saw us anchoring amongst the usual large flotilla a yachts and cruisers. The girls tried their hand unsuccessfully at fishing while Yolande prepared and cooked a very nice stew for dinner. Settling in for the evening, I was anxious that we were secure and had allowed sufficient room to swing on the tide without hitting any of the boats around us. My vigilance proved warranted, as later in the evening it was clear that Lara was dragging seawards on her anchor. Motoring in and resetting it seemed to fix the problem, although I must admit to being somewhat puzzled, given the length of heavy chain and weight of the plough we use. (Retrieving the anchor the next morning, I could see that the shackle was installed the wrong way round, allowing it to twist and jam sideways, thus any tension on the warp was putting sideways tension on the anchor shaft.)

The following morning after a bacon and egg breakfast the girls spent a couple of hours walking along the beach and bomb diving off the back of the boat, We left around 12:30 for the homeward trip as an afternoon change was forecast bringing with it 25-30knot winds, which I preferred to avoid. Arriving back at the marina around 4pm we tidied Lara and left her moored to the dock for the guys to rack.

The next morning, with 20-25 knot winds, this time from the south-east, we headed out for simple day trip, taking with us two of Helena’s school friends who were keen to go sailing. We decided to head to Peel Island again although the outward leg turned into a bit of a slog beating to windward the entire time. Horseshoe Bay in a breezy south-easterly isn’t really pleasant as the anchorage is open to the weather in these conditions.

After lunch and a swim we decided it would be fun to sail around the eastern end of the island and return on a long downwind run alongside the Amity Banks. We arrived back at the marina around 6:30pm enjoying a glorious sunset along the way and the delights of sailing in the evening dusk.

Log Entry 2nd August 2008

2008-08-06T21:29:00.012+10:00

A Sunday forecast of falling seas and 10-15 knot winds promised a pleasant day's sailing, which we decided to take advantage of after a break due to an overseas holiday. Arriving at the harbour around 10:15am, it took the marina guys only minutes to launch Lara after which we loaded her with all the usual paraphernalia for a day on the water.

Today we also had the pleasure of the company of two of our nieces Lauren and Jacklyn, who were free for the day and keen to experience sailing. Motoring out of the harbour, surprise, surprise, the wind was no where near the anticipated strength as we raised the sails and bobbed almost motionless in the water. Restarting the outboard we set a course toward the greater part of the Bay passing between Green and King Islands, before heading north to St Helena for a roam around the island. Anchoring at our favourite spot just to the east of the St Helena jetty, the older girls went for a walk whilst the younger two splashed, paddled and generally messed about on the beach.

Knowing that we had anchored on a falling tide, I was a little anxious about Lara grounding, so every five minutes or so I waded out and pushed her another meter or two further from the beach. Unfortunately, I think at some stage the bottom plateaued and there was no further scope to push Lara into deeper water. Consequently within a very short space of time she became firmly stuck! Well, no amount of grunting, pushing or dragging would shift her, luckily however a group of jet skiers who saw our plight immediately rushed over to assist. After a solid ten minutes and with the combined effort of at least five others, we finally dragged and pushed Lara into deeper water. The relief I felt was absolutely palpable.

We collected Yolande and Lauren from the end of the jetty as they hadn't managed to scramble aboard as Lara slipped into deeper water. The jet skiers by now had taken off and were exploring the island, waving as they passed us. I was certainly very grateful for their unsolicited help and the mighty effort they provided, without any hint of humour or bagging at our predicament. I haven't generally had a lot of nice things to say about jet skis (or their riders) but after the unstinting help provided by these fellow mariners, I made a promise henceforth to change my poor opinion of them and refrain from any future disparaging comments.

Usual lunch of fried sausages on bread rolls followed, after which the wind picked up sufficiently for us to sail home to the harbour under Jacklyn's expert helmsmanship.

(Pity about the photographs, I mistakenly had the Leica set at 400 ISO which really makes for horribly noisy images.)

Log Entry 25th May 2008

2008-05-26T20:17:00.014+10:00

A Sunday forecast of SE-SW 10-15 knot winds, tending to the NE in the afternoon, saw us out today for another leisurely Sunday sail. Took the opportunity to invite my father along as he has always had a keen interest in boats, although hasn't owned one himself. Dad was instrumental in fostering my interest in sailing when he purchased a Sabot for us kids in the early 70's. In fact our destination for the day, (another short voyage to King Island), is where I had sailed the Sabot as a fourteen or fifteen year old many, (many!) years ago.

Many yachts on the water today however most were almost stationary in the light breeze. I used the outboard to help push us along at 3-4 knots towards the spit between King Island and Wellington Point. Dad had the helm for the outward leg whilst I stood on the bow taking photographs. It was about this time that one of the plastic handles on the forepeak hatch decided to detach and fall overboard. I don't know exactly what sort of plastic it was made of but it sank like a stone!

Anchoring by the stern we waded ashore and went for a wander. As usual the girls collected a truckload of dead coral and shells as we took all of ten minutes to circumnavigate the grass and mangrove hummock that comprises the island itself.

Despite its relatively small size it is an interesting place, just large enough to generate (in me anyway) what travel writer Thurston Clarke refers to as "islomania", idyllic fantasies of fiefdoms and laird-ships, dreams of self sufficiency, a sense of isolation and of being in control of one's destiny. The island was in fact inhabited from 1904 to 1906 by a banker, his wife and family of seven children, one of whom suffered from polio. It was thought that the sea air and regular bathing were helpful in moderating the effects of this terrible disease. Hard to imaging any formal structure existing even then on a place so small, but apparently it was somewhat larger in area until eroded by the destruction of protective mangrove banks. The family lived in tents and a marquee and according to surviving notes from a grandson, were very happy with their lot.

In 1943 the US Navy built a gunnery school on the tip of Wellington Point where they practised shooting what ever sort of guns they used at that time. King Island also proved useful to them as a "bombing" range where aircraft dropped silk drogue targets after gunnery practice. (These notes courtesy of Peter Lulow's "Moreton Bay People" and the Redland Shire Council's record of local history.)

We shared the spot with other families in tinnies and cabin cruisers, along with some sea kyakers and the obligatory jet ski. Had a yarn with a couple of gents who turned up in a beautiful little trailer-sailer that I mistook for a Cherry 16. The older chap, a designer and boat builder by trade, was responsible for building this very attractive boat called a Redfin 520. Apparently they are available in plan or kit form from his firm "Trailaway Boat Kits" in Loganholme. The thing fairly flew along in the light air.

After a lunch of coffee/tea and fried snags on bread rolls we retrieved the anchor for the trip home. The wind had swung around to the NE by this time, enabling us to reach at a reasonable rate of knots northwards to intersect the harbour channel. Joining the usual queue of returning boats we ran slowly towards the harbour, using the outboard for the last kilometre or so. Started the usual tidy-up dropping the sails and bagging them. As the marina staff had finished for the day, we Left Lara against the East Coast pontoon for them to retrieve in the morning

Log Entry 5th May 2008 (Labour Day Sail)

2008-05-05T20:53:00.009+10:00

Arrived at the harbour around 10:30am this morning to find Lara bobbing alongside the landing as arranged. Yolande's Mum and Dad were with us as they had expressed a desire to see the boat. Whilst they did not wish to actually sail, we persuaded them to at least go for slow spin around Manly boat harbour which was a lot of fun in itself. The myriad of moored watercraft are very interesting and much more visibly accessible from the water.

Dropping them off back at the landing, we waved good-bye, and motored out into a a gentle 5-10 knot north-easterly beating towards St Helena Island for a shell collecting expedition that we had previously promised the girls, (but weren't able to undertake), on our trip to Peel Island.

We anchored on the southern side of the island near the jetty, as this area offered the least shallow water. Despite this we still had to moor Lara about 25 metres offshore to maintain half a metre of water under her, and due to a dropping tide, I constantly readjusted the anchor, pushing Lara out another couple of metres every quarter of an hour or so so that she wouldn't ground. The ladder proved to be a very worthwhile investment and there were no problems boarding or climbing down from Lara's transom.

Re-boarding and moving Lara into deeper water off the island, we consumed a late lunch consisting of sausages and onions on fresh bread rolls, coffee, and a very nice caramel swirl pull-apart bun, which I had bought from the bakery earlier in the morning.

Whilst eating, a Hobie Cat with brightly coloured sails breezed past our stern. Hoisting our own sails, we ran slowly back to Manly in a very gentle sea. The oldest and youngest girls snoozed on the vee-berth while daughter number two sat on the bow and wrote about the day's adventure in her journal. Johanna really enjoys writing as I do and loves to conjure up short stories.

Yolande did a very good job at the tiller to bring us up to the channel beacons where we turned to join the long queue of boats returning home. Tied up at the landing around 5:30pm after which we put on the sail covers, tidied up Lara and headed home.

Log Entry 3rd May 2005

2008-05-03T22:38:00.006+10:00

Various family commitments were always going to prevent a sail today, and so the opportunity was taken to rectify some of Lara's faults mentioned in the previous log entry. Our experience at Peel Island had more than convinced Yolande of the need for a boarding ladder, and having purchased one earlier this week, I was ably assisted (well actually he did most of the work) by Phil to fit it to Lara's transom.

We also identified an unattached wire as being the culprit that prevented the stern light working, which was quickly fixed. It also turns out that if there is a masthead light, there are no wires running to and up through the mast to power it. Not really concerned about it though, because if anchoring at night, we can easily haul a battery powered strobe up the forestay using the jib halyard.

Finally, we also fitted a bracket on the pushpit rail to hold the horseshoe float that usually sits, not very sensibly, on Lara's quarter-berth when we are under sail. It really needs to be to hand to throw to someone who falls overboard.

Log Entry 25th April 2008 (ANZAC Day Sail)

2008-04-26T12:09:00.038+10:00

Today we had earmarked as a family outing, particularly as the two youngest girls had not sailed since the trip on the 10th March. As the conditions then had made their sailing experience a nervous one, we were hoping for a nice calm day to alleviate their concerns. The BOM Bay forecast earlier this week suggested a small low off the Queensland coast would generate 15-20 knot winds from the west, south-west, which resulted in a slightly lumpier sea than we would have preferred. The day didn't start too well with Freya expressing her misery about the impending voyage, lamenting loudly that she wanted to go home!

We left the marina about 11:30am, on a running reach under mainsail towards the Huybers Beacon, turning SSE towards Peel island, our intended destination. The sea was a bit lumpy, although reaching into the wind meant the boat stayed fairly dry, not so for yachts we saw beating into the chop. The waves weren't a problem either,as Lara occasionally surfed gently sideways down the bigger ones adding a knot or two to our speed. A largish expanse of greyish cloud blowing in from the SW idly threatened the possibility of a shower, which didn't happen, but the intermittent overcast did cool off the afternoon.

Rounding the beacons off the southern end of Peel Island we ran into Horseshoe Bay, where I had promised the girls a beach walk to collect shells. Unfortunately at about 4:30pm the tide was only an hour or so off low and the gently sloping bottom resulted in Lara grounding 20 or 30 metres off the beach. The area here is beautiful, all yellow sand and clear water, not surprisingly it is a very popular anchorage. The stiction between the Lara's long flat keel and the sandy bottom made it very difficult to push her back into deeper water and we were assisted by two very helpful blokes from a nearby speedboat, one of whom even went down on bended knee so Yolande could step up over the transom. (Oh, do we ever need that transom ladder!) Thanks again guys. Suffice to say the girls didn't get their walk, instead we anchored amongst the other boats for an early tea consisting of salad sandwiches washed down with coffee and chocolate chip biscuits.

Most people I have spoken to mistakenly confuse the penal colony and old hospital leprosarium sites believing the latter situated on St Helena Island. The hospital, or Lazaret as it came to be known, was in fact located on Peel Island. The hospital evolved from the original quarantine station located at Dunwich, an initial planning decision to move it to St Helena revoked after it was decided that St Helena would make a much better prison site. The availability of new drugs and treatment regimin negating the need for strict isolation resulted in the last ten patients (seven men and three women) being relocated to the Princess Alexander Hospital in August 1959, after which the Lazaret was closed.

Heading homeward at about 5:30pm we were treated to an awesome sunset of blues, purples, oranges and yellows until we were were off Cleveland Point where darkness overtook us. As the wind had dropped we motored northwards navigating from beacon to beacon through a slowly quietening sea. The Bay at night is truly a beautiful microcosm, the coastal lights and starry sky seemed both near and distant. Whilst surrounded locally by the dark of night, Lara's interior lights shone through the cabin windows bathing the water immediately around the hull with a comforting white light. I really felt like we were sailing in a giant snow dome in which everything around you is contained in a confined world seemingly so far away and yet deceptively close enough to blanket you with feeling of comfort and security.

Arriving at a point where I thought we should turn west to line up with the lead lights into Wynnum Harbour we found ourselves too far north in very shallow water as I had mistaken the distant lights of the Caltex oil refinery as the Wynnum promenade and had passed through the channel between St Helena and Green Island. Fortunately, with a little common sense and forethought, it isn't too hard to differentiate between landmarks, even at night, to backtrack one's course. The giraffe like cranes of the Port of Brisbane are very distinctive day or night, as is the huge vertical ariel rising up from St Helena Island. Despite this experience we were never lost in the true sense of the word and now knowing what the area around Wynnum harbour looks like at night, I doubt we will become disorientated sailing under these conditions again, (famous last words)?

Finally arriving at the marina pontoon around 8:45 we offloaded and tidied the boat before driving three tired but quite content girls home to an early bedtime. Actually both Yolande and I were also quite tired by journey's end too. Raising and lowering flogging sails, hauling a heavy anchor and chain is satisfying but very physical work. According to Google Maps and its handy distance measuring tool our entire trip was in excess of 50 kilometres. I constantly have to remind myself that Moreton Bay really is a large expanse of water, certainly felt like a great adventure!

Haven't had a chance to properly clean Lara for a while now so I will probably spend my next free day washing her and doing some maintenance. While adequately lit on the bow by a port and starboard light, we noticed that the stern and mast head lights don't work. The mast light will be tricky, and I no doubt will call on my good mate Phil for his advice on lowering the mast to check it. I am slowly leaning that the old yachty joke about boats being money pits needing constant work is true.

Log Entry 13th April 2008

2008-04-17T22:04:00.010+10:00

Various commitments prevented us from sailing over the last fortnight, so the Sunday forecast of fine weather with 10-15 knot south-easterlies was the clincher that determined we would definitely be out on the bay this weekend. Unfortunately Yolande and the two younger girls had other engagements and so the crew consisted of Helena and me, and because we had loads of space, my brother and his partner also came along for the experience.

As usual, wind direction and strength determined our course and after thinking about it, I decided a straight beat out through the channel between Green Island and King Island might be best. Lots of boats on the water although the wind was quite light and many were running under power as well as sail. Passing the Thorpe Memorial Beacon off King Island, couldn’t help smiling when I heard a distinct thump as another yacht further inshore grounded, the skipper issuing a startled expletive.

The wind being quite light, I had decided to experiment with Lara wanting to see how well she sails without the centreboard dropped. The casing which holds it forms a long, shallow keel and I thought it would still provide enough resistance to reach and beat to windward. Sailing into the wind was certainly successful however there may have been some lateral drift in excess of that which normally occurs with the board down, was a bit hard to tell with tidal currents mucking up the wake behind the boat.

In hindsight, this may well have been the case, as a tinny, originally anchored off our starboard bow, seemed to slowly “drift” in front of us as we approached it. As we came to within about ten metres or so I decided to bear way to starboard, passing to the leeward side of it. All would have been well except the bloke’s fishing lines were all on that side as well, and I watched with fascination as our keel picked up first one line then another and dragged them along with us. Suffice to say the two fishermen in the tinny were not amused despite my apologies as we sailed past!

Turning on to a starboard tack we rounded the Hybers beacon, and headed north, along the windward side of Green Island, passing over an expansive shelf of coral and rock which in most places, despite the nearly high tide, was only a metre or two below the surface. The girls amused themselves looking at the bottom while dangling their feet in the water to cool off. At about this time a lovely old ketch converged on us from windward and I took several photographs of her as she overtook us. I am really curious as to the manner in which she is rigged as the sail between the masts is some form of jib rather than a mainsail and it certainly gave her an unexpected old worldly charm.

Approaching the southern end of St Helena, we sailed slowly up to a coarse sandy beach adjacent to the rock spit where I thought we would moor and explore the island by foot. We anchored stern first a couple of metres off the beach itself over a gently shelving bottom consisting of sand and rock. Stepping off the boat into crotch deep water isn’t too bad in itself, however having to lift one’s foot up to near chin level to climb back up further reinforced the need for an extendable transom ladder.

The island itself is quite picturesque, very green with lots of cattle grazing in open paddocks. Disappointingly, the remains of the old penal settlement were fenced off; the signage indicating that inspection is only open to officially organised tour parties. Still, the island has large public area, a covered picnic table nicely shaded by mature trees, as well as composting his and hers toilets.

The reach back to Manly took us back along the western side of Green Island, which effectively dampened the wind such that we started the outboard to reach the harbour channel. Helena has become very adept at helming and controlled Lara masterfully as we negotiated the entrance amongst a large number of other vessels, large and small, all returning home. Safely moored against the pontoon saw us quickly tidy up the boat and head off home just in time for Sunday dinner at the in-laws.

Log Entry 21st March 2008

2008-03-22T11:45:00.017+10:00

Today marks the start of the annual Brisbane to Gladstone yacht race and I was invited to sail with a work colleague and his crew of regulars to see the race on the water. Darryl has a Ross 830, which he stores at the Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron, located adjacent to Lara’s berth at East Coast Marina on Manley boat harbour.

After a slow start from the harbour where the mainsail flapped uselessly and the spinnaker refused to fill we motored to the north side of the Mud Island well into the bay. Eventually the south-easterly picked up and we sailed over to a marker off Tangalooma (Moreton Island). This marker was part of the course around which contestants sailed before heading north out of Moreton Bay.

It certainly was a prime viewing spot and it was very exciting to watch the boats reaching powerfully up to it before turning north onto a spinnaker run.

The Bay is a very busy place commercially and the deep water in this area is vital to the navigation of large ships in and out of the Port of Brisbane. This Origin vessel, which I think is a natural gas carrier, was one of the smaller vessels we saw.

Thanks for the invite Darryl, and thanks to Dave, Andrew and Dave (2) for sharing a beer and some good boating conversation.

Log Entry 15th March 2008

2008-03-16T20:21:00.019+10:00

The wind continued to blow strongly at 20-25 knots from the south east all of this past week, with more of the same forecast for today. Rather than wait for fine weather, my good friend Phil, highly experienced sailor that he is, volunteered earlier in the week to crew with me, so that I might gain experience sailing in heavier weather; particularly the sort of conditions that require sail reefing and a greater awareness of the sensitivities of the boat. As our two younger girls were not keen to experience the heavier going Yolande volunteered to stay home and babysit, so the final crew comprised Phil, his son William, Helena and myself.

A revised BoM forecast earlier in the morning indicated an easing of the conditions to a 15-20 knot south-easterly and we left the harbour under a crisp clear blue sky and steady breeze. A minor mishap that may have contributed to a later problem was the outboard stopping prematurely as we exited the harbour. I don’t think I attached the fuel line properly and the engine ran dry. As we already had both the main and headsail up, we simply tilted the outboard up and out of the way and didn’t worry about it, (big mistake).

The conditions in the bay were very favourable for boating as we beat steadily north-eastwards out of the markers, towards the passage between Green Island and King Island. Lara cruised along at 4 to 5 knots until were about level with King Island where we tacked to head south. Helena was very keen to beach the boat, perhaps have a swim and try her luck fishing with a hand reel. Passing close to the Thorpe Memorial Beacon we continued into Waterloo Bay until we were well past a coral outcrop before tacking to starboard, sailing until we gently nudged and moored on the long sand spit that joins King Island to Wellington Point. I was surprised but pleased that despite the shoal keel we were able to anchor so close to terra firma, climbing down from the bow into only about two feet of water. The sand comprising the bottom and the spit itself is quite coarse but still very pleasant to walk barefoot on.

Watching the kid’s gymnastics trying to climb up on to the bow though, I think however that we will have to invest in an extendable boarding ladder on the transom, and moor stern in; although I am grateful to Phil for demonstrating the ancient art of walking up the anchor chain, which made the boarding task easier. After a bit of a wander, in which Helena and William collected a few shells, we had a bite to eat and thought about returning to the harbour. Unfortunately today coincided with the local council election, and neither Phil nor I had voted as yet and I was mindful of the waste of money an electoral office fine would be for failing to vote should they decide to impose one. (The electoral office had imposed one against me some years ago – ouch!)

Leaving the spit was uneventful as the south-easterly blew us gently away from shore and we headed off on a broad reach south before practising a few gybes and starting the run for home. The water near the harbour beacons was full of boats participating in Saturday races and we were mindful to adjust our steerage several times so as not to interrupt their course.

We entered the harbour under full sail, ghosting down an avenue of tightly packed boats moored on either side of us, until reaching the ninety degree turn to starboard required at the end to approach the mooring pontoon. We dropped the sails at this point and intended to use the outboard however it refused to start, not a flicker of life at all. After some frantic fiddling and starter cord pulling we gave up on the engine, luckily realising that the gentle south-easter was blowing us in the right direction anyway. As the pontoon space was already taken up, Phil jumped over the bow at the last minute to cushion Lara as we nudged up against a dive boat against which we rafted up. The marina crew had already shut up shop by this time so we tidied Lara up and left her there for the staff to rack in the morning.

Phil had an expert look at the engine, drawing no doubt on his vast experience and knowledge accumulated from twenty plus years as an RAAF engine fitter dealing with things mechanical; after which he pronounced he had no idea what was wrong with it! He did manage to start it though by bypassing the hand throttle (which automatically engages the prop on any setting other than idle) and opening the throttle fully. I am now wondering whether the float bowl, (do they have one still?) was bone dry from my earlier error and needed to refill before the engine would start. I’ll read the instruction book during the week and have a fiddle with the outboard on Friday to test my theory.

Thanks again Phil for your expert tutelage, we didn’t reef a sail but maybe next time! (And yes I at least voted locally, arriving at the booth with fifteen minutes to spare.)

Log Entry 10th March 2008

2008-03-10T12:13:00.048+10:00

Lara has sat patiently for more than a fortnight now, waiting for us to take her out for an inaugural sail. Unfortunately the weather has not been kind over the last two weekends due to blustery 25 to 30 knot south-easterly winds, not ideal for us as inexperienced sailors on an unfamiliar boat. However Saturday the 8th March seemed promising with a 10–15 knot south-easterly tending to 15–20 knots later in the day. Arriving at the marina around 9:00am we loaded Lara with food, water and other odds and ends after which I finalised the transfer of the berth into our name and had her launched.

Moored to the pier we removed the sail covers, familiarised ourselves with the rigging and prepped and started the outboard, (a reliable 8 hp 4 stroke Mercury). It was then we experienced crises number one. Lara’s large rudder, permanently mounted through the cockpit floor just aft of the shoal keel doesn’t “bite” and provide steerage until there is reasonable forward movement. Moored on the port side with a strong SE wind blowing across our starboard bow, Lara would not initially move away from the pier, turned to port instead of starboard when she finally did move and ended up perpendicular to her starting point facing a cul-de-sac bounded by moored boats. Feeling like an idiot and expecting to look up and see a couple of hundred boaties gleefully enjoying our predicament, we were rescued by the marina hands who sympathetically commented that a SE can make casting off difficult.

With a helpful push of the bow, we finally made it into the harbour channel and motored at a gentle 2-3 knots to the beacons at the harbour entrance. Motoring well clear of the entrance we turned Lara into the wind to raise the sails. Crises number two! Whilst I was attempting to raise the mainsail Helena pointed out that the lower mainsheet block had unmounted itself from the traveller. Returning to the cockpit it was clear a retaining shaft had worked free due to a missing split pin. After reattaching the block and inserting the locking pin I returned to the mast only to find the mainsheet halyard had wrapped itself around the shroud spreaders. Ten minutes of juggling, swinging and swearing finally saw it free and with the main up Lara took off on a starboard reach towards Green Island.

Given the strength of the wind, we decided against raising the jib, particularly as nearly every other yacht we saw had either a main or a jib or a reefed combination of the two. Approaching the lee side of Green Island we decided to turn north to take look at St Helena Island, where the ruins of the former penal settlement are still plainly visible. With Lara now running, the apparent wind speed dropped substantially as we gently rocked and rolled towards the southern end of St Helena.

Of course there is always a price to be paid for an easy sailing leg, as we were to find out. After passing the long jetty and admiring the ruins from a leisurely distance we decided to head back. Rather than gybing I thought it safer to go about to reverse our track, which is when of course we experienced crises number three! Lara would not turn through the wind, each time stalling as we came about. After three or four attempts I decided that the boat probably doesn’t tack well without the jib, so I coaxed her around using the outboard.

Returning south proved to be quite uncomfortable as we were now beating into a wind blown chop, particularly as we crossed the passage between St Helena and Green Islands. We could see rain from several showers crossing the open bay towards us however we were spared a drenching from these, having only to contend with a sray as it whipped over the bow. Helena had the helm for almost the entire trip back and did a very good job of keeping us on course. Yolande, Johanna and Freya sat below deck, as the combination of wind and spray showering the cockpit was actually quite cold. The jib we had left flapping in the pulpit threatened to blow overboard so I bagged it, crawling on my hands to and from the bow, not particularly graceful but certainly safer than walking without a harness.

Approaching the lee side of Green Island from the north we decided that we weren’t travelling quite quickly enough and so I again started the outboard, which we used to gently push us along at a more constant 2-3 knots. Entering the outer beacons we dropped the main (after struggling with the halyard which I had mistakenly cleated in such a fashion it took me a good five minutes to release) and continued to cruise in using the motor. By this time a lot of skiffs were leaving the harbour with their crews out on a trapezes, one passed us on the port side and I watched with some amusement as it recovered from a near capsize by way of some impressive gymnastics by the crew.

Motoring back thought he harbour proved uneventful, as did our jetty approach and mooring. The marina staff were most helpful in retrieving and berthing Lara after which we flushed the outboard tidied the boat and had coffee in the marina café before heading home, (satisfied but very tired)!

What did we learn? Check the running rigging thoroughly before a departure. Decide to steer the boat under power using the outboard or ship’s rudder but not both, learn to tie off sheets and halyards properly. Overall though, I am very happy with the way Lara handles, at no time did I feel that we were in danger. The boat felt solid and sure when we were sailing her and heeling was gentle and I suspect predicable when we are more experienced.

Can’t wait till our next trip.

Log Entry 8th March 2008

2008-03-08T22:32:00.024+10:00

Lara is the sixth and newest member of our family (yet another girl!) whom we officially “adopted” on the 21st of February 2008. Although twenty-four years old she presents extremely well having undergone an extensive refinish in 2006. Having sailed a Sabot well into my teens I have always enjoyed sailing and reading sailing adventures, particularly small boat global circumnavigations of which there have been many over the years. More recently but still some years ago, Yolande and I had the pleasure of overnighting at Moreton Island on a friend’s Star 22, a comfortable aluminium trailer sailer, as well, I was lucky enough to crew in a two-day social trailer sailer race on another friend’s Red Jacket. Yolande has always dreamed of owning a boat and since we are not getting any younger, we decided this would be an opportune time to take the plunge, particularly as our other girls are growing up fast and this would enable us to enjoy a pastime as a family.

At just over twenty-three feet (or seven metres) and 1.8 tonnes, I’m not sure Lara qualifies as a trailer sailer, although she is certainly trailerable. She sleeps four (or two adults and three kids) and with all the conveniences of home (sink, stove, icebox, dinette etc) she will be a comfortable and cosy overnighter. We are fortunate that she is also a Hood 23SD (shoal draft), which I think is more convenient for the shallows of Moreton Bay than the keel version. Lara is currently dry berthed at the Wynnum-Manly boat harbour, which means she sits fully rigged and can be launched and retrieved by the marina’s boatlift at very short notice.