Journal Entries

September 2006

10 September - Having had my decks recently recaulked and sanded I really didn't like the thought of letting them go grey again. The yachting term is of course "silvered" but whatever you like to call it they end up looking old and weathered.

I did some research on a way to keep the new sanded look and other than using cetol, which would be way too slippery I came across a product called Semco teak sealer.

This product apparently seals the teak and prevents the weathering process. There are a variety of colours available and I decided to go with the most popular being "natural". It's not cheap since it's imported from the USA but I'm assured by the company that it will keep the decks looking like new and only needs to be re-applied about every 12 months.

I started at around 8am giving the decks a good scrub with some soapy water. After they had dried the Semco goes straight on. Below you can see where I have applied it.

It is applied with a rag and has a consistency of water. Below you can see the mustard/yellow coloured semco which I put into a smaller tin for application.

I am glad I wore gloves since within about 10 minutes the latex had been eaten away.

and the finished deck.

I am happy with the end result. I applied 2 coats which has given the timber only a slightly darker tone. Time will tell if the company's claims are correct. Check back in 12 months. Below is the Starboard cockpit deck looking aft.

and looking across over to the port side of the cockpit.

16 September - The weather was not looking good for the weekend but I was determined to get out for a sail. The wind has been exceptionally strong for the past couple of weeks with 20-30 knots most of the time. I was hoping to get some good winds to take El Viajero for a run.

I left this morning at 6am and caught the outgoing tide. I hadn't decided where exactly I was going and was waiting to see what the weather was doing and where the wind would take me. As I headed out across the bay I saw a pod of dolphins off my port side. They obviously spotted me since they soon caught up and started to swim around the boat. It's such a privilege when this happens and it's just beautiful to watch these playful creatures. They swam around teasing me for a while then got back to the serious business of chasing breakfast.

The wind was blowing from the south/east at about 10 knots and I was clipping along nicely at 6 knots.

After sailing across the bay for most of the day, I decided to head up to Scarborough. There is a small rock wall with a couple of public docks tucked behind it. Boats can pull up to the docks for a maximum of 3 hours or tie up to the piles for 48 hours. You can see the pile moorings in the background of the photo below. Since I arrived there at about 5pm I decided to stay the night. This was such a nice place to tie up to, since it was fairly protected and at the end of the jetty was the cafe precinct of Scarborough.

After I tied up I went for a walk up to the shops and although I could have had dinner at one of the many cafes, I much preferred to come back to the boat and make dinner.

17 September - I had a pretty restful night last night knowing that I wasn't going to drag anchor, although I did wake a few time when some locals came down after the pub closed. They were too drunk to be a problem and they soon left.

I decided to head off at about 7am and the wind was blowing from the south. I love to avoid using my engine and I figured if I untied the bow first and pushed it out then waited for the last minute to untie the stern, the boat would turn 180 degrees and then I could set the genoa and cruise right out of there. I did exactly as planned and the breeze took me straight along the rock wall then I turned hard to starboard and had the breeze on my starboard quarter. I was very happy with that little motorless exit and sailed off across the bay heading south / east.

Below is a photo looking back at Scarborough.

The weather wasn't improving much and there were scattered showers around. I thought this would be a good day to practice for bad weather.

I wanted to practice heaving to again. As usual I lashed the tiller to leeward with a reefed main and within about 30 seconds I saw the slick off the hull appear to the windward side. You can see from the photo below the turbulence from the hull (marked in red) slowly slipping sideways. When hove to properly this should be evident and this is what helps calm the sea and hopefully prevents it from breaking on the boat. This is such an easy thing to do with a Westsail since it has a nice big long keel and enormous rudder.

Since I was hove to, I decided to make a cup of tea and then set the genoa and I was off again.

The sailing was fantastic today. This is the type of weather the westsail was built for. I was gliding along at 6.5 knots with a reefed main and a cup of tea. Since there is quite a bit of weather helm on the tiller, I just tie a piece of cord to the windward side and she will sail all day on that tack. I can comfortably walk around the boat or go down below to make a cup of tea without touching the tiller.

In the distance I could see a large ship heading my way. We would eventually cross paths. It was moving quite quickly in the main shipping channel and I estimated I would cross just behind it.

When I did finally cross behind it, I noticed a trail of brown patches. I thought that perhaps the ship was dumping something or it had a leak. I tried to contact it on the VHF without success. I then tried the Brisbane port authority. I finally made contact with the port and mentioned that a ship might have a leak or be dumping something. I was quickly informed that the ship was a dredging ship which maintains the depth of the shipping channel. Ok, so now I felt pretty stupid. Below is a photo of the brown patches which ended up being just dredged mud.

As I continued across the bay there was another large tanker anchored. I was struggling to maintain a course to get around the front of it, since I was pointing quite high. It was going to be close but I figured I could do it.

By the photo below you can see how close it was. I still had a few metres left. I'm just glad it was on anchor and this is the only time I want to be this close to a ship this size.

I continued across the bay and down to peel island. I was going to stay out another day but I had a call from the guy who is doing some stainless steel work for me so I can mount my outboard motor just aft of the boom gallows. He will be available to come measure up the job tomorrow, so I decided to head back since I need to get the work done ASAP.

I turned back for Brisbane river which was still about 4 hours away and maintained 6.5 knots and occasionally clipped 7 knots. "Wetsnail" my a$$.

Hopefully I can get this stainless work done quickly and get back out again in the next couple of weeks.