Journal Entries

May 2007

2 May - You may recall a many months ago I was upgrading my anchoring system. I did a bit of research on anchoring and today I finally got most of the new equipment. I had to import the anchor chain from a firm in New Zealand and customs slugged me a small fortune despite the chain not being available in Australia. The government will manage to extract money from you for everything. I could have a big whine right now about how inefficient and rude the people are at customs but I'm not going to waste my time. It's behind me now and I suppose anyone who has a monopoly on something can afford to treat their "customers" like crap.

The current anchor system onboard is getting a bit old and although it's probably more than adequate I will sleep better knowing all the gear is upgraded. The new system consists of the following:-

Primary -

45lb(20kg) CQR anchor;

100 metres of 9mm (high test chain). This has a break load of 4000 kilos.

150 metres of 18mm 8 strand nylon rope.

Secondary - 45lb Manson Plough anchor + 35lb Bruce anchor.

50 metres of 9mm high test chain

70 metres of 18 mm 3 strand nylon rope

I plan to get a 50-60lb admiralty anchor in the near future as a storm anchor and for use in rock. I would also like to swap the 35lb bruce anchor for a spade 100 anchor. The spade would then become my primary anchor.

The only way to describe the new 8 strand rope (also known as octiplait or square rope) is 150 metres of "pure sexiness". It is soft and silky and has an amazing load capacity of 6400kg. It is simply the absolute best rope available. Below is a picture of the new rope stowed in the anchor locker. One of the excellent properties of 8 braid is that it stows in a small area and does not kink. I could barely fit 100 metres of the old 3 strand nylon in this locker, not there is 150 metres and room to spare.

and an up close photo. Keep in mind this is 18mm in diameter so it's big! You know you just want to reach in and touch it....caress it...drape it over your body..... don't you. mmmmm 8 braid rope.

Moving right along from the sexy rope, I'm planning to get away this weekend to a classic yacht regatta. The weather has been beautiful the past couple of weeks and the evenings and mornings are quite cool. There is a full moon at the moment with nice big tides. I'm really looking forward to it and I also need to give the bottom a scrub and get rid of the barnacles on the prop.

3 May - El Viajero is well overdue for new sails and if I'm heading to Tasmania at the end of the year it is a priority. I have been doing some research and I often read that many Westsail owners experience and complain of bad weather helm. El Viajero suffers bad weather helm and the solution for many has been to shorten the boom of the mainsail. This bothered me somewhat as I'm sure that the rig was designed the way it was for a reason. I read a few books on sail dynamics and design and discussed the issue with several sail makers and finally I found one who seems to understand and appreciate the older style rig. It seems that many just lump the boat in with new style rigs and don't allow for the hull shape, displacement etc. Many people are also not sailing their Westsails with the staysail as a true cutter rig (I've been guilty of this) and this has the effect of reducing the balance. The first thing this sailmaker asked me for was a sail plan, pictures and details of the boat. He needed to determine the pivotal axis of the boat and eventually designed a new sail plan to suit the boat. It is very similar in size to the original sail plan but the headsail is slightly larger. He feels very confident that the sail plan he has come up with will allow the boat to sail balanced and eliminate the weather helm. I'm confident that he is correct and I really liked his way of approaching the problem. All of the other sailmakers have suggested (without seeing the boat or sail plan) a full battened main and a big furling headsail and a couple have said to reduce the size of the main. We'll see what happens.

Sizing of the new sail plan is as follows:-

Main - 31.8 sqm

Headsail - 19.94 sqm

Staysail - 13.27sq

Total Sail Area: 65.01 sqm

I am currently reading a book about the Golden Globe solo around the world yacht race called "A Voyage for Madmen". It is a fascinating read and Robin Knox Johnson on his little 32ft double ended "Suhali" has just passed New Zealand. His self steering gear has failed and he has worked a way of balancing the boat so that it sails on its own while he sleeps. From reading this book I believe that you get to know the nuances of your boat over thousands of miles of sailing and each boat reacts differently to each situation. I hope to get to know El Viajero that way.

5 May - At last the long weekend I have been looking forward to has arrived. I had hoped to get away on Friday night but it didn't happen.

I left the marina around midday to catch the outgoing tide. On my way down the river I saw another Westsail anchored named "Flight Risk". For some reason when I first read the name I thought it said "flying fish". A dyslexic moment.

When I got to the main channel of the river the wind was fairly strong at around 15-20 knots. Of course it was coming straight down the channel which is always annoying since the waves pick up and make it difficult going. As soon as I had clear water on the southern side of the channel I killed the motor and sailed south/east. It's amazing how sails stabilize the boat and I'd much rather be under sail in bad seas than motoring.

I was heading to a place called "Horseshoe Bay" at the southern end of Moreton Bay. I haven't been there before and knowing how many sand banks there are around that area I had to be fairly cautious particularly since it was getting dark. I finally picked up a couple of beacons and made my way under sail around Peel Island and into horseshoe bay. There were at least 60 boats in the bay and I decided to drop anchor a little farther out from the other boats.

6 May - I woke up early this morning to catch the sunrise. Below is a photo of El Viajero on anchor.

There were a few clouds around but it was shaping up to be a beautiful day. Notice the moon still visible in the sky at sunrise.

Breakfast this morning was fresh espresso and pancakes with blueberries and maple syrup. It was going to be a long day.

The regatta was to commence at 11am so I weighed anchor and began to sail up to the start line on the other side of the island. There was virtually no breeze and I was now running late. I had to start the motor and reluctantly motored to the start line. By the time I arrived the regatta had begun and I was well behind the fleet of about 15 yachts. Fortunately I'm not competitive and I was happy just to sail in the company of beautiful classic yachts.

Below is part of the fleet as I approached the start line.

This lovely little Tahiti Ketch was also a late starter.

It was turning out to be a long day and a slow sail since there was very little wind. For most of the course I was sailing at 2.5-3 knots. As I was sailing between Green Island and Saint Helena Island I noticed a small pod of dolphins in the distance. I tried my best to make a noise like a dolphin (I think I said "free fish") and to my surprise a couple immediately started to head toward me. There is a fin in the middle of the photo below.

Pretty soon there were 3-4 dolphins swimming along with the boat. They swam just in front of the bow and under the bow sprit, then disappeared under the boat before returning to do the same. I have just put a new video in the "video" section of these dolphins.

Two dolphins (an adult and a baby) stayed with El Viajero for at least 20 minutes.

below is the baby dolphin which was only about 2.5ft long.

It had turned out to be a beautiful day and the visit from the dolphins topped it off.

The sun was falling and I was heading to St Helena Island where only a handful of yachts had finished the race due to the light winds. Several gave up and decided to motor. The good old Westsail managed to sail the entire way and even anchor under sail.

7 May - The next morning the weather had turned foul. There were strong winds and showers. The yachts who had finished were making an early exodus to get back before the weather got worse.

Below is "Wraith of Odin". She is a stunning classic and unfortunately she ran aground and was stranded for some time, eventually motoring to the anchorage later last night.

Below is another of the big classics, "Laurabada". She is a regular competitor in the Brisbane to Gladstone yacht race.

Peter Kerr with his wife Linda at the helm and son Jack were also making a break for it onboard Pagan.

I also decided to get out of the anchorage and headed North to Redcliffe. There were some nice breaks in the weather at around midday.

After stopping at Redcliffe I headed back out onto the bay. I heaved to for about 1/2 an hour and made some lunch. The weather was turning foul again and after looking at the charts I decided I would head back South toward the river. The photo below shows the patchy rain and squalls running across the bay. By this time it was blowing at least 20 knots.

I put a reef in the mainsail, furled the headsail to around 80% and left the staysail up. El Viajero was in her element. She kicked up her heels and was storming across the bay. For those people who refer to Westsails as "Wetsnails" take a look at the photo below (I'll be putting some new video up soon also).

Where are all those fast Bavaria and Beneteau yachts now? Of course, they have all gone back to the yacht club because the wind is over 20 knots.

The weather really wasn't looking good, but I'm out here on my own onboard a Westsail and loving every second of it.

Just when I thought there were no other yachts out sailing I saw one way off in the distance. Funny thing was that it looked very similar to a Westsail. I decided to tack and head toward it.

Sure enough as I got closer it was another Westsail. It was "Flight Risk", the Westsail I had seen anchored in the river on my way out.

As I crossed his stern we gave each other a wave and as El Viajero was blasting across the bay in perfect comfort I considered the probability of the only two yachts sailing on the bay at this very moment being Westsails.

Below is a map of the approximate route for the weekend. About 80 nautical miles in total.

18 May - The last couple of weeks have passed so quickly. I'm afraid I'm getting caught up in the mundane routine again. I am back working at the office all day everyday and barely have time to eat lunch. I don't sleep well as I am under pressure and trying to formulate work solutions in my sleep. I haven't been for a run or done any exercise. I've eaten crap all week and I feel like crap. I really don't like this situation but I figure I'll do it for the next month since I have some big changes happening at the end of June.

I finally got away from work tonight at 8pm and came back to the boat to relax and try to finish a book I have been reading. I was sitting back and finally feeling relaxed when I heard a loud bang and bottles breaking outside. Being a Friday night the city explodes and the war zone occasionally crosses the border into my quiet little world by the river. Three young men decided it would be a good idea to smash the marina garbage bin. Now there is rubbish and broken glass strewn all along the boardwalk. I wanted to confront them but I know from experience that no matter what the outcome I would still end up the loser since they know where my boat is. So now I'm left to clean up a pile of rubbish. There is something seriously wrong with this situation. As I sit back now on the boat and listen to sirens in the background, drunken people yelling, music thumping from the surrounding night clubs and party boats I am reminded why I need to get away from this.

Perhaps the incident tonight was a sign to remind me not to fall back into the system.