Log Entry 23rd October 2010

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

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

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

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.