Journal Entries

December 2007

12 December - The past few months have passed so quickly and I've hardly had a chance to update this log. Finally December has rolled around again and I have lots of uncertainty in my life. My plans to sail to Tasmania are currently on hold. More about that later.

I finally finished up at work and have been struggling to get everything ready to get the boat to the slipway. I have to leave the pile moorings at 2am tomorrow morning to get the outgoing tide and be at the slipway by 11.30am.

13 December - I managed almost an hours sleep last night after reinstalling all the oil lines on the engine and re-commissioning it after a long rest. It's been 6 months since I last ran the engine. Time just got away on me and it was a stupid thing to do. I think I've sorted the oil leaks but now have a leak from the gear box. When I started the engine the temperature very quickly climbed to 200 degrees. Something was wrong! I stopped it and went through the manual. There were several possible causes but I started with the possibility of an air lock in the fresh water cooling system. I had to bleed the water pipes and fortunately this appeared to be the problem since it needed a lot of new water. After running it for 1/2 an hour the temperature stayed on 160 degrees and it purred like a kitten, albeit a kitten with a bladder problem since it was dropping gearbox oil. I later managed to minimise the amount of leakage but it remains an issue.

1.45 am, my alarm clock was coaxing me to get out of bed. I was tired! I immediately put a pot of coffee on and put it into a thermos for the day ahead. Cutty wasn't looking overly enthusiastic and she had no idea what was ahead of her. This would be her first time out sailing and I was slightly nervous about how she would cope.

The morning was looking good, a little overcast but a nice gentle breeze for the trip out. I started the engine, gathered the mooring lines and tied them together to reserve my mooring and then headed off down the river.

I didn't want to run the motor too long since it was losing gearbox oil so after a short time I stopped the engine and hoisted the sails. I have a new mainsail and this was the first time I'd had a chance to use it. It is a spectacular sail with maximum roach and much larger than the old one. I hadn't yet had a chance to put reefing lines in it so was counting on a gentle breeze.

So far Cutty was enjoying the ride and was very relaxed as you can see.

I was counting on a gentle breeze for the trip, but this hope was rapidly fading. The wind was starting to pick up and was blowing at least 15 knots. There is a saying about reefing which goes something like, "If you are thinking about reefing, it's probably too late".

I was thinking about reefing for some time since my big, new mainsail was overpowering the boat. I had another problem though. My tiller pilot (Raymarine ST4000) was playing up again. This piece of equipment has given me nothing but trouble. It's been in for repair under warranty twice and it still fails at the crucial moment. Without it I wasn't going to be able to turn up into the wind and keep the boat pointed in that direction to allow me to drop the sail. I would need to drop it completely since I had no reefing lines.

The wind was getting stronger and I was stuck in the main shipping channel racing at 6.5 knots, overpowered with the mainsail let right out. The situation was quickly getting worse.

I couldn't risk sheeting the sail in and turning up wind because I couldn't hold the boat on a steady course due to the tiller pilot not working. I would not be able to make it from the cockpit to the mast and let the sail down before the boat would turn side on to the wind again. If that happened I would be in serious trouble. I had to find a way to keep the boat pointed into the wind while I went forward and let the sail down. The only way I could think of at that moment was to drop the anchor.

I was doing 6.5knots, I lashed the tiller off, ran forward and let the anchor go. It ran out screaming until I tried to stop it. The chain jumped out of the gypsy and within seconds I was up to rope. I was trying to pull rope out of the locker faster than it was going out so I could get a loop around the drum on the windlass. The rope just tore through my hands and finally I managed to get a loop around the drum. The boat came about and sat to the anchor. This allowed me to then go and drop the mainsail.

You can see from the photo below that the rope is taught. It's incredible how photos don't show the state of the sea accurately.

The photo below shows the swell rolling in and the foredeck wet. With each swell the bowsprit would dip into the water.

In all the excitement I hadn't noticed that the rope had ripped through my skin. I noticed blood on the rope and on the sail.

I had a nasty wound on my hand now from the rope and it was starting to hurt, but what was more annoying was that I had blood on my beautiful new mainsail. I should have been wearing gloves. Next time I'll remember.

I got the mainsail packed away, weighed anchor and set off under a heavily furled headsail.

My concerns that Cutty would be stressed by the ordeal were put at ease. She was content to sleep on her cushion even though we were heeled over and sailing in choppy seas at 5 knots.

We made it to the creek with plenty of time to spare. The creek is a very narrow and shallow waterway and I remember the first time I came up here I was worried I had the wrong place. Below is an old boat partially submerged. Maybe it ran aground?

Despite reminding me of a swamp, it's pretty in its own way. There are small jetties leading into mangroves all along the creek.

The port marker below is at a very narrow part of the creek. There are no lights on the markers and I recall last time I was coming back through here I almost missed the marker.

Finally I made it to the slipway. The slipping went smoothly and you can see how dirty the hull is after 18 months . The marks on the front of the hull are where I dropped the anchor chain at speed. Fortunately no damage was done.

She is looking better having had a water blast.

The Westsail is a beamy, but pretty boat. I think so anyway.

Peter Kerr's slipway is an interesting place. There are old boats all around the shed. This one is an old Tasmanian built racing yacht named "Vanity". Her hull is of Huon Pine and Peter is in the process of restoring her.

I decided that since my hand was in no condition to be put to work I would go to the coast for a few days and return on Monday. I have plenty of work to be done to the boat and will show the details as it progresses.

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15 December - Cutty had taken the last couple of days in her stride. She is completely unshakeable and has taken to sailing as I had hoped she would.

She was pleased that I had decided to go to the coast since it gave her an opportunity to visit the beach which she loves so much.

We walked to the beach and I didn't need to encourage her to go for a swim. Here she is racing for the water.

This beach is great as there are usually several dogs playing. Cutty is one happy girl.

She loves the surf and is not scared of the waves. She runs into the water and the waves crash over her. She disappears for a moment only to spring up from the foam with a big dog smile.

Hopefully we will get plenty of time to swim when the boat goes back in the water and we set sail.

Dogs can smile. See!

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20 December - The boats been up on the slip for a week now.

I had a list of jobs I wanted to get done and hopefully by next week they will mostly be done.

The first job was to replace the rudder cheeks. The teak pieces had bowed from moisture and cracked. The stainless steel plate below is the structural part of the

This is the original teak rudder cheek, its seen better days.

and the new rudder cheeks assembled.

Below is the old rudder cheek next to the new one, showing the difference in thickness. The new cheeks will definitely give the aft end a more chunky look.

Since the boat sits lower in the water than originally intended the bob stay fitting has been previously raised to sit above the water line. The original tab is mostly underwater and I've been concerned that it may corrode.

I wanted to have a zinc anode fitted to it to protect it and below is the finished job.

I never got around to finishing off the ends of the brass traveller rails and I couldn't stand the thought of putting a regular store bought plastic fitting on them. I asked Peter if he could knock me up some from teak.

Jason who works at the yard was more than up to the task and he made these lovely little teak stoppers.

Here is the finished product fitted. It will look beautiful when it's coated with cetol.

The next job was something which had been bothering me for a while. I had wanted to increase the size of the drains in the cockpit ever since the trip up from Sydney. There were a few occasions in rough seas when a wave broke over the boat and water came funneling along the deck and straight into the cockpit. It took what seemed like and eternity to drain. There was also nothing to stop junk getting caught in them. Since I've had Cutty onboard there has been several times when bones and bits of chewed up stuff gets caught in them.

The remedy was to increase the diameter of the drains.

The 1 inch plastic drain on the left was the original and the new bronze 2inch is the new one. The original setup was crazy since the skin fitting on the hull is 2 inch.

It's an enormous difference and water should drain from the cockpit much faster. The hoses have also been increased to 2 inch and are high quality reinforced.

The only problem now was that I had a 2 inch hole for junk to fall down. I went to the local plumbing supplier and came across some neat little chromed brass grates....exactly 2 inches in diameter.

Perfect! Removable grates.

Below are the sea cocks for the cockpit drain. The Westsails originally used Groco valves which are exceptional. Unfortunately they don't make this type of valve anymore but they are so simple to service I wonder why they stopped. I had originally asked Peter if they should be replaced with new modern ones but after he inspected them he said these would last a lifetime and was really impressed with the quality.

After seeing how simple they were to service I did the rest of the sea cocks on the boat. Six in total, including the 2 cockpit drains.

While I was onto the cockpit area I had always had concerns about the method used for securing the cockpit floor. It didn't seem satisfactory to me and if the boat ever rolled over I would hate to lose the cockpit floor as it would leave a massive hole in the boat. Peter suggested some neat little fittings which would seal down the floor making the area water tight. While he was at it he offered to spray paint the floor since he was doing another hull anyway.

There were originally about 10 little bolt holes around the outside of the cockpit floor. These holes were patched up and below shows the holes cut for the new latches.

The new latches are fitted, one fore and another aft and they hold the cockpit floor down very securely. To remove the floor it's simply a matter of lifting the T handle and turning. When fastening it's the opposite procedure and they have a built in cam which squeezes a rubber grommet to make a really tight seal. I have also replaced the rubber seal on the actual cockpit floor which now makes an absolutely water tight seal. They are an excellent addition to the cockpit and I feel much safer now.

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22 December - Finally we went back into the water today. Here she is sitting next to Peter's lovely Pagan.

Just below the water line is the new zinc anode for the old bobstay fitting. I think this will do the job.

Now it was time to start the timber work. I had let the timber go over the last 18 months or so. Fortunately with Cetol it's not a problem. I gave the timber a rough sand with 80 Grit paper.

This made fast work of getting rid of the old Cetol. This doesn't normally need to be done, it's just I left it too long between coats. If it was varnish I be here for 2 days with a heat gun stripping it all off. Then another week applying coat after coat, one day at a time. What a nightmare.

With Cetol it's a simple task of roughly sanding then slapping a coat on. No sanding between coats and I hope to get at least 5 coats done over 2 days.

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24 December - It was the night before Christmas and the elves (that would be Cutty and myself) are very busy. It rained on and off for most of the day yesterday so I couldn't finish the sanding. However, after two family size blocks of "old Jamaica" rum & raisin chocolate, a few espressos, a few hours to ponder things and a little experimenting I think I've come up with the wonder solution to maintaining teak decks. No it doesn't involve the chocolate, that was thinking food.

I have tried a few things in an attempt to maintain a fresh teak look on the decks. Nothing seems to last and they eventually go that typical grey (or as yachties call it, "silvered") colour. I'm not going to reveal my little secret, but I will tell you that the product costs around $5.00, maybe $10.00 to treat an entire deck. Below is a photo of a patch I experimented with. I initially cleaned the deck with a soft brush and dishwashing liquid. That cleaned them up quite nicely. Then I did a small patch with my wonder product and the difference was incredible. You can see it in the photo below . The deck has that freshly sanded pinky colour. It's non abrasive and simple to apply. I did the remainder of the deck this afternoon. It was night by the time I had finished so hopefully I'll wake up to a lovely pinky clean deck.

I'm sanding cap rails and rub rail fairly heavily because it's been a while since it's been back to bare timber. The colour is getting darker each time I recoat.

I'm using 80 grit paper and what a coincidence, it's made in Portugal.

I explained this to Cutty, since she is a Portuguese Water Dog, however she seemed unimpressed with the connection.

The weather wasn't looking good but it was holding off for the time being and I thought I'd risk getting a coat of cetol on.

Cetol is a great product, it just goes on so easily and looks great instantly.

Finally all the hard work done. A couple more coats tomorrow and then for the remainder of Christmas day we might get away sailing. Here is my little helper. I know I always say this, but she is such an angel. The perfect boat dog.

I think she suits the boat. That cabin top in the photo is from the boat behind. Looks interesting. Maybe a hard doghouse would be a good idea.

Now the old Westsail's timber is starting to look like it should.

The mosquitoes are horrendous up the creek. There are mangrove swamps all around and each night the boat is filled with the annoying insects. I've used aerogard to stop them biting but after about 3 hours I need to respray myself. I've also been spraying Cutty, although I think they have trouble getting through her thick coat. I remembered that generally mosquitoes aren't around on a windy night. So I put the fan on me and that seems to be keeping them away. Hopefully I'll be anchored somewhere else by tomorrow night.

25 December - Merry Christmas. I dodged the rain today and managed to get another coat of cetol on. Cutty was quite content to hang around here but I wanted to move on.

We left the creek on the outgoing tide around 10pm. Coming down the creek on a dark night is not particularly appealing especially since I had left it a bit late. I was willing to take the risk to avoid the mosquitoes

26 December - The weather has been terrible with a cyclone building on the north coast. Winds have been 25 - 30 knots and are predicted to get to 40 knots with 6 metre seas. I was hoping to make the trip down the coast to Southport on the outside of Moreton Island but in light of the big seas it would make crossing the bar at Southport extremely dangerous. Instead I have been hiding in sheltered spots hoping for a change in the weather.

28 December - Up until now the weather has been tolerable however the predictions are for the cyclone to develop and hit the coast over this weekend. It was time to get some serious shelter. Below are the radar images and weather charts. It's not looking pretty and the wind is building to 40 knots.

I have had some problems with the gearbox leaking so I'm still without an engine. Fortunately there is plenty of wind around and I prefer to sail anyway. I have given my new mainsail a test and it produces plenty of horsepower. It feels twice as powerful as the old one. Out of caution I have been sailing with a triple reef set as pictured below. Even with the triple reef it is very powerful and the maximum roach makes an enormous difference.

I tried heaving to just to see how the new sail performed and unfortunately it doesn't do it as easily. I was drifting sideways and creating slick from the aft quarter but still laying hull to against the waves. I will have to play around with sail configurations. Maybe I need to set a small amount of staysail to bring the bow up into the wind.

Before I left I sorted the reefing lines and made some reefing pennants. Here are the pennants which gather the middle part of the sail when reefed. My whipping is not particularly good but it will do the job.

I had some trouble trying to get the sail down in strong winds since my Raymarine ST4000 tiller pilot is not working again. I hate that %#$# thing! It's been back to Raymarine twice along with the wind instruments. Why people put all this fancy electrical crap on boats I'll never know. I'm going to get a wind vane organised as soon as possible so I don't have the hassle of the tiller pilot. By using the wind vane I can get a cheap little tiller pilot which can work the wind vane paddle if necessary. I'll take the ST4000 back to Raymarine again and no doubt they will want to charge me to fix it since it's out of warranty. It's never worked properly since the day I have had it. I want to kill it...I want to kill it... I want to kill it... !!!!!!!

The alternative is to teach cutty to steer up into the wind while I go up and drop the sail. I don't think that's going to happen. Single handing is difficult sometimes. I wonder how Joshua Slocum, Robert Knox Johnson and all those other legends managed to do it so easily. I'm sure there is a trick.

29 December - We are now at the QCYC which is in shorncliffe just north of Brisbane. It's blowing 30 knots outside and probably every bit of 40knots out on the bay. The waves are rolling in and it looks like the next couple of days will be some wild weather. You can see the foam gathered around the bow of the boat below which is washing in from the sea. Shame I didn't have a wind generator as I'd be cranking the amps in right now.

I've booked in here until Sunday after which I hope to make a run for it down the coast. I'll take this opportunity to train Cutty some docking techniques. She is getting the hang of it. I'm planning to pull up to the dock and have her jump off with the bow line and pull while I attend to the aft line. So far she is learning quickly.

Also a quick thank you to all the people who have sent me emails over the Christmas period. It's really good to know so many read this site and it gives me some encouragement to continue with it. So thanks again and if there is anything specifically you would like to see on the site of suggest an improvement, feel free to let me know and I'll try to oblige.

I took Cutty for a walk around the point today and despite the wind blowing like crazy she was keen to get into the water. You can see that the water in the background is full of white caps.