Longreach, Rottnest Island

Here's the gang at the Geordie Bay Cafe on Saturday night. We had a great day, starting off with a kite flying competition on the beach, followed by a sundowner aboard Eaglehearts, then dinner ashore.

It was quite an experience being aboard a catamaran: coming home on Sunday we had 30+ knot 'breezes' and hit 34 at one point - whilst it did seem a little odd to be 'straight and level' so to speak, I did enjoy it very much, and will look forward to being aboard again over the coming weekend, cruising to Rockingham.

Thanks to all who participated in the cruise to Longreach, but thanks especially to Graham and Elaine for being such gracious hosts and for putting up with my endless questions !

Getting knotted and other gems

Yesterday I made a turks head knot on the wheel of Hollandaise to mark the center. So what? I hear you ask...which leads me nicely onto the subject of knots.
I GET knots - there is a logic and a symmetry to them which I find not only pleasing but quite beautiful also.
Whilst sailing last Sunday with the HYC course people onboard Sirocco I came up with a (what I think is great) way to remember how to trim the jib by observing the tell-tails.
WINdward tell-tail flapping, wind it IN
therefore, by process of elimination, if the leeward one is flapping, it must obviously be the opposite, ie: let it out. Now I know all you seasoned old salty dogs out there will be collectively going "well, duh...." but I was never taught anything about sail trim, and whilst I worked out a long time ago exactly how to trim , the easy way to remember (and to explain to new sailors) only came to me last week. What can I say, sometimes I'm slow :-)
Cruising in company is going to Longreach, Rottnest Island next weekend, followed by yet another cruise to Rockingham the weekend after.
For both of these cruises I have been invited aboard Eaglehearts, and I am looking forward to that. Much as I love and adore Sirocco, it will be a good learning experience to be aboard another vessel, plus it will give me a small indication of what it will be like in May/June, when I will be (hopefully, weather permitting) crewing for Graham when he goes to the Montebello Islands.
Tomorrow (Sunday) I will again be aboard Sirocco whilst the new sailors are put through their paces.
Happy Valentines day!

Small update

Since my last posting I have participated in two more twilight sails, plus spent the Australia Day long weekend aboard Sirocco in Rockingham, which is fast becoming a favourite cruising destination for me. This time, Steve and Miriam (Hollandaise) came along and a wonderful time was had by all. Perfect cruise-mates!
The following week I was treated to a twilight sail aboard Hollandaise - jib only as the SW's were blowing hard, but I was reminded of what a lovely yacht she is.
The trend this summer seems, unfortunately, to be howling SW's all day, increasing in late afternoon/early evening, so this Friday twilighting was cancelled (28 knots). Whilst I quite enjoy a couple of reefs and a small amount of headsail, it can't really be called relaxing, which is the whole point of twilights.
This week I saw that a photo of Sirocco had made it onto the competition pages of The Bavaria Owners website, so "Vote Sirocco"!!! This Sunday sees Sirocco being used for training purposes at HYC, it gives me a great deal of pleasure seeing the reaction of people who have never sailed before as they finally realise how wonderful sailing is (and occasionally seeing so many white knuckles when we heel over!)
Fair winds everyone - may your splices never unravel :-)