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
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
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 !
Friday, February 13, 2009
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!
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!
Friday, February 6, 2009
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 :-)
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 :-)
Friday, January 16, 2009
Twilight sails begin
Yesterday afternoon/evening, we participated in the first Twilight Sail for the year. It seemed almost everyone with a yacht was on the water, and it was a wonderful sight to see so many sails up. We were joined by Claire and Darryl again, plus Jane and Gail (also from a sail course) and Sue and Den, our old neighbours.
In what can only be described as delightful conditions, we sailed into the sunset, covering just over 5 nautical miles. Sheer Bliss – can't wait until next Friday for the next one!
Fremantle
Once again, Cruising in Company sailed en masse to Fremantle Sailing Club. This time, Mike and I were joined by Claire and Darryl, who had previously completed a HYC Sailing course aboard Sirocco. Six HYC yachts tied up at FSC Collector jetty. Much eating and drinking ensued, and I have to admit I suffered a slight mishap whilst trying to get off one of the other boats (after way too much wine, followed by Baileys). Bruised ego, backside and ribs – thank God no-one was sober enough to operate a camera by then - here's a photo of the bunch taken earlier in the day :-)
Technical talk from Mike
I have now added 2 more 120 Amp Hr deep cycle batteries to the house bank to give us 360 Amp Hour plus the standard start battery. The batteries are correctly connected in Parallel (there are 3 different ways in case you were wondering!) to get the best results. I constructed a bus bar arrangement to allow me to connect the wind generator, alternator and external 12 Volt power socket to and still allow space for further additions as required.
As previously mentioned by Jan the davits are on. The design has been very well thought out and executed. They incorporate a removable extension for the wind generator as well as 2 cross braces between the lifting arms for future solar panels if needed. The wind generator works like a dream. In 15-20 Kts of wind I see 5-6 amps and 18 Amps in 24 Kts of wind on the ammeter. 
As previously mentioned by Jan the davits are on. The design has been very well thought out and executed. They incorporate a removable extension for the wind generator as well as 2 cross braces between the lifting arms for future solar panels if needed. The wind generator works like a dream. In 15-20 Kts of wind I see 5-6 amps and 18 Amps in 24 Kts of wind on the ammeter.
Sirocco has just been on the hard stand for her yearly antifouling. During this time I replaced the hull and sail drive anodes as well as changing engine oil & filters as well as both fuel filters. Bavaria had a recall on the rudders fitted to some yachts and ours was one, so this was replaced free of charge during this time.
I have replaced the inverter with a 3000 Watt unit now that we have a decent set of house batteries, this will allow Jan her toast in the mornings when we are over at Rotto !
We were thinking of having the dining table in the saloon cut to give us another drop leaf, this would have cost quite a lot to do, so instead we have moved it over to Starboard 3 ½ inches, not a great distance but it does make a difference walking thru to the front cabin, no more sore & bruised legs now.
Mike.
I have replaced the inverter with a 3000 Watt unit now that we have a decent set of house batteries, this will allow Jan her toast in the mornings when we are over at Rotto !
We were thinking of having the dining table in the saloon cut to give us another drop leaf, this would have cost quite a lot to do, so instead we have moved it over to Starboard 3 ½ inches, not a great distance but it does make a difference walking thru to the front cabin, no more sore & bruised legs now.
Mike.
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