2011 in a flash and a blur.....

Hey there sailing bloggers. I have been pretty slack of late and decided that I must get back to blogging again. I am not sure where we left off but pretty sure I have missed a year. I will zip thru the end of 2011 and try to catch up. Here goes......


Easter Weekend 2011.........

Sailed to Mandurah with Hillary's Cruising Club. Courtney and Rigby joined us. A good time was had by all.

Going shopping, Steven and Courtney

John's boat (Banco) looking down from his apartment

Mandurah Marina

Easter Sunday breakfast on Sirocco!

September 2011.......

Johnny and Bradley sailed down to Geographe Bay, Busselton for a father/son bonding session. They had a ball, despite some inclement weather on the way back and a damaged main!

Brad with a tuna mackerel

John with a tuna mackerel

Rotten weather

December 2011

We moved Sirocco from Hillary's Boat Harbour down to Port Coogee Marina.  This new pen is much closer to home and all the islands (all three of them) around Perth.....

Founding members!!

Sailing with Sharon and Bevan - 5th November 2010

Friday 5th November 2010

Sharon and Bevan joined us on Sirocco for a trip across to Rottnest Island. You are probably saying "Rottnest, not again". But you must remember that we are still getting to know Sirocco and the waters around Perth. Little trips back and forth are fine for now.

We had dinner in Sorrento on the Friday night and headed off to the island on Saturday morning. The trip over was lovely - flat and calm and yes, I was seasick. I was fine until I took out the vomit bag from the medical aid box to show Sharon how it worked!!

We found our usual place to drop anchor and out came the GnT's and beers. Lunch was on board, thanks to Sharon's cheese and onion pie. Freddie (the Mercury outboard and tender) was launched and kindly took us off to the Island. We found the local pub and that was it - friends, drinks and dinner.

Sunday 7th November 2010

Mike and Charleen came out for the morning on Rusty and join us for brekkie - pity the gas oven was playing up. After a box of matches and much cussing - we eventually sat down to a most welcome bacon and eggs breakfast. We headed off home just before lunch and had the most wonderful sail back to Perth - broad-reach all the way. We also had a show of breaching whales and dolphins. Somebody pinch me!!

Our maiden voyage

Friday 1st October 2010

All aboard. We all gathered on Sirocco on Friday 1st October after dinner in Sorrento, at a little restaurant called The Beach Shack.

Saturday 2nd October 2010

Woke up to a howling wind, SW 20/25 knots with a confused sea. John and I went for a stroll out to the lighthouse to get a better look at the sea. We witnessed a few small power boats attempting to get out to sea but to no avail. After seeing them bobbing up and down in the ocean and then turning around to come back to harbour we realised that it was not worth going out. Rain was also forecast :(

The kids were mortified and told us to stop being "old wossies" and "lets get this adventure going". We decide to wait until lunch time.

12.00 pm - The wind dropped to 16 knots. The kids were champing at the bit!! We decide to throw caution to the wind and set sail. Off we went, through the channel markers and 10 minutes out to sea us poor ladies started turning green!! Then it started...."Mum, lets go back, tell Dad, we are still close enough". John told us that we were committed and there is no turning back. The sail out was pretty rough. I told the girls that there is life after sea sickness, but I got no response! Johnny very kindly defined sea sickness for us......when you are afraid that you are going to die and then you are afraid that you are not going to die!!

4.00 pm - we arrived at Rottnest Island. Once the anchor was down we all felt a little better. The dolphins came to greet us. John got the tender ready and the kids were off. We made tea and biscuits and got ready for our trip to the Island for dinner. The first thing Ellen and I did was to hound down the pharmacist for some sea sick tabs (we dragged the poor man out of bed!!). He was very helpful and we are forever in his debt. Dinner was lovely. The moon was out and John and I decided to walk along the beach to the yacht. Bradley and Rigby very kindly came and picked us up in the tender once we reached our bay.

Sunday morning - view from our cabin:-

Sunday morning was perfect. The weather was warm and still. The kids spent the morning fishing and doing burnouts in the tender! Johnny and I cooked up a yummy breakfast and it was well received by all. Our trip back home was wonderful. We encountered a baby hammerhead shark and loads of stingers. As we approached HYC we were greeted by all the boats coming of out of the yacht club for the Commodore's sail past. It therefore took awhile to get back into our mooring. A lovely first voyage and looking forward to the next one.

The Waters Family comes aboard.

So this is where we come in! The Waters Family. We have John the Captain, Maria the Helmsman, Courtney the Purser and Bog Man Brad (we use to call him Master Bates until he twigged on hehehe).

We promise to love and enjoy Sirocco as much as Jan and Mike have and take special care of her.

We have planned our first trip for Friday the 1st October, sailing out to Rottnest Island for the weekend.

Excitement reins in the Waters Family at the moment and we cannot wait. Watch this space for more details on our first sailing trip in 6/7 years since the Med.

Life Changes

Mike and I have made some huge decisions recently.
Sell the house, sell the boat, fly off, buy new boat, sail home. Nutshell version.
A lot of people can’t believe we would ever sell the magnificent Sirocco, but it is a means to an end and trust me, the adventures that lay ahead for us more than compensate for losing our baby.
Meanwhile, I would like to introduce Maria and John, Sirocco’s half-share owners, who will love her as much as we do and hopefully keep up this blog for Sirocco fans everywhere!
I’d also like to introduce the good ship “Fully Involved” a 2000 Island Packet 420. We will be meeting her in person for the first time in early November, you will be able to read all about her here.
On a personal note, I’d like to thank all our followers for putting up with my drivel over the past three years 
Fair Winds, and may your splices never unravel.

News!

To all those who contact us on a regular basis,

please note our new email address, current as of 03/08/2010

mdandjadrury@gmail.com

It doesn't get any better and floating objects

This photo was taken around 1am, about 50 miles offshore in between Port Denison and the Pelsaert Group. If you have never experienced sailing by moonlight I can tell you it is one of the most incredible things to do, gliding gently through the water under a full set of sails, a soft rushing noise of water to the side, phosphorous glowing behind, it is quite simply magical. A hot cup of coffee in one hand, rugged up in warm clothes, the love of your life, who is confident enough in your abilities to be able to drift off to sleep after a 3 hour watch below decks, you realise that you have never felt more content or happy. To quote a trendy phrase "....now THAT'S what I'm talkin' 'bout!"

This photo shows our rescued lump of wood, which we came across (luckily before hitting it) just floating in the middle of nowhere. Responsible sailors that we are, we performed a man overboard exercise and retrieved it. And took it all the way back to HYC, where we transferred it to the jetty to dry, thinking we could keep it as a rather unusual trophy....except that pretty soon it began to absolutely stink, and so it was committed to the bin.....just thought I'd share ....... hey it's my blog, I can write what I want :-D

What an adventure!

Sirocco, Mike and Jan have been to The Abrolhos Islands (well, one of them, anyway), Geraldton, Port Denison, Green Head and Jurien - all of which, for the benefit of our loyal overseas reader(s) are substantially NORTH of Perth!
We were away from our home port for almost three weeks, during which time we experienced several firsts - first time up North in Sirocco, first time overnight passage in Sirocco, first time provisioning, first time being on our own out of sight of land etc....we had a fabulous time even though we were beset by awful weather sometimes, but we learned from it and neither of us wanted to come home or get off Sirocco.
Also, another first for us was using our newly fitted auto-pilot, 'Otto' - have to say he did a wonderful job of steering for us and we can't believe how much easier things are with him! Although it must be said, Mike did a sterling job of getting us into strange harbours at night time (aided by me at the bow with a torch). A total of 574 nautical miles was recorded in our log books, with our best distance being 158nm in one 24 hour period.We both have the itchiest feet now and cannot wait until the end of this year for our next, even bigger adventure.....but more of that at a later date....meanwhile - a few photos....enjoy!

Mike at Port Denison

Sirocco at Port Denison

A lovely sunset

A lovely sunrise

Replica of Capt. Pelseart's longboat, Geraldton

Mikes Tech update.

Sirocco has just been out for her yearly antifouling and engine service. The new rudder we had fitted last year under warranty looked like the 'Great Barrier Reef' as there was that much growth on it! It looked very much like the primer did not take prior to top coating, so that was taken care of under warranty as were the 3 small blisters noted on the starboard side of the keel. Jan and I decided we would try our hand at the art of antifouling, it was an interesting experience and not too messy, for the money we saved it was well worth all the effort. While on the hard stand we got all the standing rigging checked over, to see the guy climb the rigging was a sight to behold, he shot up the mast, a true professional!

Once Sirocco was back in the water we took her for a sail only to notice the head sail had a 1 foot rip in the leach, after a closer inspection we decided to furl it back in and return to the pen. We took the sail to the local sail loft who easily diagnosed the problem; there was no UV protection strip and all was coming apart! After consultation with the agent a repair and addition of said strip was carried out under warranty.

Our wind turbine decided to stop producing power while we were down in Rockingham and had to be sent off for repair in Melbourne, the regulator board had a short and has to be changed, hopefully it will soon be back on Sirocco working as specified.

Sailing with the family

Last week we took out some of Mikes family - his Sister, Barbara, her husband, Bob and their daughter, Anita. I think they all enjoyed the morning, I know I did !

Three Mermaids.........!

Anita takes the helm

Captain Bob looking very serious!

At Last

We seem to be using Sirocco as she should be used: during the last 4 weeks we have spent time both at Rottnest and at Rockingham, plus spent more time aboard than at home!

We both feel a lot more relaxed now and enjoy getting 'into the groove' of life aboard.

Also, rather excitingly, we have signed up for a 20 day cruise in company with FSC to The Abrolhos Islands in May next year!

Meanwhile - here are a couple of photos of our beautiful girl.

A new season begins

Just to conclude the ‘up North’ saga: September saw me again aboard Eaglehearts, this time crewing from Denham to Geraldton.
Having given up on waiting for ideal weather the realisation that sometimes you just have to go head down, bum up was reached
and we headed out of Steep Point into a confused sea state and battling Southerlies head on. Lots of breaching whales and
some 40 – odd hours later we arrived safely in Geraldton. Eaglehearts is a strong, solid cat, I felt that we didn’t take any unacceptable risks.
The skipper did admit that he was concerned about him breaking, rather than Eaglehearts.
Luckily, neither broke.
And so the new sailing season is upon us, this time we hope will see us adventuring on Sirocco rather than other vessels.
First up is a small shakedown cruise to Fremantle on 24th October.
Stay tuned!

Sirocco is green!

Solar panel

Sirocco now has a 65Watt BP solar panel installed to the cross braces of the davits to run in conjunction with the wind generator. An SBC-7021 solar controller has been fitted to regulate things before going to the battery bank. Interestingly the solar controller has a facility to connect a night light or anchor light to that will come on when panel voltage drops to 3.5V and extinguishes when it reaches 3.5V (night time) it will self adjust as the seasons change, it will also display the panel voltage input for the last 3 days, neat piece of kit.
I bought a NASA BM-1 battery monitor recently and fitted it. This will constantly monitor all input and discharge voltage of the battery bank so we know exactly at what state of charge they are at and how long to go till we run them flat! It is very handy for working out a daily electrical load sheet, as it is capable of showing the amps of every item that is turned on, even one cabin halogen bulb! In an effort to quieten things down, I removed the blades from the wind generator and cleaned them up by removing all the small moulding plastic that was attached to them. The leading and trailing edges were shaped accordingly and 2 coats of marine varnish applied to fill minor blemishes on the surface. In the lighter winds we are now experiencing they do sound quieter, the summer sea breezes will be the true test of any improvement.
The next project is to install and commission the Raymarine S1G Type 1 linear drive ST6002 autopilot system we have just bought, this will be a challenging piece of kit to install, especially the actuator, but once this is done Sirocco will become a real Cruiser.
Till next time, fair winds, Mike.

Battery monitor

Solar regulator

Just when you thought I’d fallen overboard

SKP at Cape Couvier

Hello people, so sorry for the hiatus – obviously I am now back from 'up North', and a trip to Adelaide, and then catching the cold from hell (don't worry not Swine flu)....
The crewing adventure aboard Eaglehearts continued with just Graham and myself cruising in company with another yacht 'Escapee' (SKP). We left Carnarvon and overnighted at Cape Couvier – what a spectacular place, two tug moorings are available for passing boats to use, which is fine except that pulling them up is a Herculean task in itself – be warned! Next morning, we set off for Gnaraloo Bay. I have to say Gnaraloo is now one of my favourite spots. Nothing there particularly, but the water and the beach are pristine and it was there that I snorkelled for the very first time in my life. After a couple of days we headed to Coral Bay. The public moorings are located at Point Maude and are a good 30-40 minute dingy ride away from Coral Bay itself – there is no chance of arriving in Coral Bay dry! Despite its reputation, to be honest it was a little disappointing – just caravan parks, a resort and a couple of shops – unless, of course, you want to go swimming with the whale sharks ($275). Whilst there, we received reports of an expected 6m swell and bad NW weather, so rather than carry on to Tantabiddy, we sadly returned to Carnarvon. Thanks to Graham for making it possible and for being a brilliant skipper, and to Elaine for making sure we ate like Lords and Ladies! Mike and I are completely committed to doing this trip in Sirocco next winter, perhaps in company.

Meanwhile, here are some photos.

Sunset

Cape Couvier

Captain Graham

Eaglehearts at Gnaraloo

Another not race event

'Tis with great pride that I can report Sirocco won TWO more pennants on Anzac Day, participating in the Diggers Cup....
We won 'Fastest' division 3 and 'Second' division 3 - actually if you think about that it doesn't make sense, how can one be fastest in division and come second - well, we were handicapped after the event, hence the second place pennant.
Between you and I, dear reader, what gives me the greatest pleasure is knowing that the racing keel boats really don't think cruisers can go fast - let's put this into perspective: from a field of 27 yachts, Sirocco finished in the top ten overall....not that we were racing in any way shape or form of course ;-)

Many thanks to Chris (bilge boy) Paul (trimmer) and Sue (most enthusiastic crew member) for their participation.

I am off on my adventures aboard Eaglehearts again in early May. Not sure if I'll get a sail in before then, but check back now and then for any news and/or posts from the Nor'west cape!

An insight

Sitting on the bow, just watching the waves and the sky I was thinking to myself how nice it all was. Suddenly, out of nowhere, emotion swept over me like a blast from a furnace and I found myself shaking and sobbing uncontrollably. Inside my head I screamed to myself “what’s wrong? Why are you crying?” and when I listened, my heart told me the answer.
At that moment, I knew with absolute certainty that I was exactly where I was destined to be, and felt an overwhelming sense of oneness with where I was and what I was doing. I think it was one of the happiest moments of my whole life.
Sailing isn’t just about fun, or sport, or challenge. Sailing nourishes your soul.

Back from Carnarvon

What an adventure!

It all began at Two Rocks Marina, leaving at first light heading for Dongara, an all day – all night – half of the next day sail, by far the longest we'd ever done, and our first all-night watch.

I was mesmerised by the blackness of it all, although there was some moonlight, it seemed velvety and inky, and the stars! I knew they'd be bright, but I didn't expect to be able to actually see the galaxy.

We recuperated for a couple of days in Port Denison, then headed to Geraldton, a short day hop away. The yacht club there provided us with an overnight pen, and it was a pleasant place to be, apart from the abundance of seagull crap!

Next day, again at first light, we headed out for Steep Point, some 180 nautical miles away. Another night watch. I was so excited to see the depth instrument reading "DEEP" for the first time!
The entry into Steep Point is interesting with choppy seas and I was glad we did it during daylight hours. We anchored at Sunday Bay (Dirk Hartog Island) overnight: well, that was the plan – somehow we managed to drag anchor in the middle of the night and got well and truly stuck on a sandbar, and spent the rest of the darkness hours rocking backwards and forwards from hull to hull.....not a fun time, but we all banded together to make Graham feel better about it and managed to make the best of the situation.

At first light we moved to Shelter Bay and anchored for the night to catch up on our sleep and gather our thoughts.

Then it was onwards to Denham: a great sail, and a lovely mooring when we got there. We spent a couple of days there exploring the area and having a little retail therapy – not that there was terribly much to buy!

After Denham, we set off for Big Lagoon, but when we reached the approach, we found it far too shallow, even for our 1.1m draft, so it was decided to head for Herald Bight, overnight there, then set off for Monkey Mia the next morning.

Low water prevented us from going ashore at Herald, but from what I could see it looked pretty desolate and not terribly inviting.

Monkey Mia was an absolute delight, we picked up a mooring quite near to the beach, and we could sit on deck and watch the dolphin feeding . We hadn't been there for almost 20 years, and we both agreed it had changed for the better: the development has been done in a very environmentally conscious way, and we spent some very happy hours ashore there.

Next, we headed off to Carnarvon. What an amazing approach – so shallow and so tight! Graham has a mooring in The Facine, so we hooked up there for our first night. As we had sustained some damage to the rudder at Sunday Bay, Eaglehearts was lifted out of the water the next day, which resulted in us spending the last few hours of our trip on the hard in Fishingboat Harbour. It was fascinating to watch her being taken from the water, we floated her onto an awesome trailer-like thing called a Jinka, which was then pulled out of the water by a tractor.
Repairs were arranged, and it was time for Mike and I to head back to Perth. All the flights were booked out, the cost of a hire car prohibitive due to the one way levy, so we bit the bullet and travelled back on the Greyhound bus......all 14 hours of it.....leaving at 4am and arriving in Perth at 17.00 hours.....YUK!

We had an amazing couple of weeks, learned heaps and boosted our log books by 566 nautical miles. Many thanks to Graham for making it all possible!

Exciting News!

New posts may be a little scarce for the new few weeks.
Mike and I have the wonderful opportunity of joining Graham aboard Eaglehearts for a REAL adventure, North to Carnarvon, via Dongara, Geraldton, The Abrolhos Islands and Shark Bay.
We will be leaving either today or tomorrow (Wednesday or Thursday) and will be away for the rest of March.
Graham will be home for the whole of April, leaving Eaglehearts in Carnarvon, after which, he and I will again join Eaglehearts in May and set off to explore the Montebello Islands - unfortunately Mike must return to work, so won't be with us in the Monte's.
I will, whenever possible, post reports and photos to the blog.
What an opportunity and what an adventure - I am blessed!
Take care everyone, and forgive me if I don't email much :-)
Fair Winds

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!