Living Contentedly

I can't blame Xmas for my spinning head. Its the fact that I've recently resigned from my previous job, more a series of "thanks but I'm not coming back" notes to my wonderful customers. Between them & ALDI I survived being lumped with no household income & no job, while having caring responsibilities to my two children & my mother who has since passed. I'll always be thankful for the reliable trickle of money that came in for a job that had such flexible hours.  Anyway, I'm now largely commitment-free & have a new Oughtred Ness boat to get to know. Yesterday I rerigged the main halyard, fitted a proper bilge pump & bought flares & a radio. Today I plan to hoist the mains'l & muck about with parrel lines ? to ensure the sprit & boom maintain contact with the mast. Fit a tiller clitch & tidy the slab reefing systems. Then, if my son's car kicks over, go sailing.      Alongside all this good hearty fair, is the pro...

" I love the beauty of the open ocean.  I love not hearing news of greedy financiers and self-serving politicians." . "... perhaps the greatest of sailing’s freedoms:  the freedom to be myself ".           Webb Chiles I've recently discovered Webb Chiles on youtoob & the web. He sails a simple 24' sailboat, Mich on the form of a decked over dinghy & at age 84, still sales regularly.  What I take from his writing & short videos is his credo; that sailing is about escapism & freedom. Its NOT about status, the latest gadgetry or competing a spot at the top of the Consumerist Crapheap. Thank God some one still posts the good stuff. 

Reading Half Roth's advice on cjosing a bluewater boat, I am mindful of the benefits of GRP. Strength, beauty, durability* & low cost.  Roth leaves the door open for good steel hulls, but he is also won't to sail larger boats on serious seas. The asterix above triggers warnings on conditions that may compromise a GRP boat, namely:-    Osmosis - a degrading of the hull slowly by chemical decomposition.    Deck Delamination - due to ingress of water via staunchions, chain plates, hatches & deck fittings, the layers of the deck will part rendering a weaker structure.    Bulkhead Cracking - many production boats had plywood bulkheads tacked to the hull. Under years of stress & damage these can breakaway & compromise the rigidity of the hull.  There are several other issues to be aware of pre & post purchase, not all of them unique to GRP.  As I am limiting myself to a boat 20-30 feet, I think steel can be ruled out due to its ...

Overnight I discovered an excellent podcast aimed, I think, at ocean sailing & lovers of seamanship.  The episodes I heard were based on readings from Captain Voss about heavy weather, the narrator would them delve into detail & introduce his personal experiences & lessons from contemporary events. So, for example he gets onto deploying a sea anchor in heavy conditions including details on drift, sail trim & lashing the rudder. Yes the rudder, lashing the wheel or tiller can damage the machinery & sailors. Fascinating, educational & deeply entertaining.  It takes me back to the time I first read Roth, Adlard+Coles & Hoscock on heavy weather tactics. And lays bare all the BS that occupies the mouths & hi p pocket nerves of marina operators & boat salesman. 

A while back t here were not one but two LH24s for sale nationally. A green one in Hobart which was valued a little more, but looked the better boat in photos & the readup was more about her quality build & recent care.  The pale blue & white boat, located in tropical waters had a very different writeup. It quickly stated that she had "cruised extensively about Australia & South East Asia" before waxing lyrical about dreams & being like the Pardeys.  Guess which boat is still for sail literally rotting away at her mooring lines? So, t his informs my boat search how? Well, very s imply I will avoid all timber craft . Not only because this ome boat has rot, but because I was already concerned that timber yachts are hellishly expensive to repair, but also potentially very unsafe to the new to wooden boats sailor.  I looked at a sheathed timber  H28 locally some months ago. I saw wonderful coloured timbers below, all hidden behind a "protective" shea...

Not my kitchen, this image is copied from online. A few days since I ran out of gas & brought my Trangia into service. Its a wonderful machine, & the more its used the more efficient it has become.  It also impacts on meal composition eg. night one was tuna salad.  Just pumps out boiling water for endless coffees using only a dribble of method.  Funny how efficient machines, be the bicycles, boats or cooker, actually look better. 

Not my kitchen, this image is copied from online. A few days since I ran out of gas & brought my Trangia into service. Its a wonderful machine, & the more its used the more efficient it has become.  It also impacts on meal composition eg. night one was tuna salad.  Just pumps out boiling water for endless coffees using only a dribble of method.  Funny how efficient machines, be the bicycles, boats or cooker, actually look better. 

Launched at creek ramp LTP. Initially the wind was light x ME. Launched like a buttered dolphin. Easy to get underway. With mast installed &_rudder hung, we drifted & rowed off & set sail. Yesterday, while dry testing, I tied in a reef which very soon came in handy.    Tacking through the Passage with ebb tide & sheltered from building NEr, felt relaxing, dreamlike, the ecstacy of a new boat but also one so well mannered. It felt surfboard pure, fine & slippery through the water. Yes, I did see the Walker H28 for $12k, bit it looked big, me ssy & expensive to prepare for any type of sailing. Life's too short for unloved boats.  Arriving into the channel the wind bared its teeth. But without fear of grounding or capsize (she felt initially soft, but firmed up nicely), I sailed easily about the marked channel - narrow & dead upwind.  Out in the bay, we sailed effortlessly, slightly sprung in wind that settled in at around 12knots. The fine b...

I have a theory about television. Its all about being seen & heard & it has nothing to do with talent. All you have to  do is hold peoples attentions, & you don't have to entertain. In fact if you're as annoying as a blowfly, it works. Tonight, for example, we have a "famous" UK TV personality with an obvious speech impediment idiotically exploiting it by talking about "Welsh Wearbit" , "oweegins & weebirth" & as many r words you can fit in in as many seconds & annoy the cwap out of voowers. Ffs. 

√Lifevest.  N √Anchor.  R √Bailer on lanyard.  N √Pump.  N  √Chart.  N √Oars.  N √Compass.   R √Chart.  R XFlares.   R XRadio & Phone in pouch.   R √Sound alarm    R √Torch.   R XFirst aid kit.  R √Tools.   R √Water.   R XEPIRB.  R _____________________________ OFFSHORE Lifevest.  (per person) Anchor.   Bailer on lanyard.   Pump.  (manual) Chart.   Oars.   Compass.    Flares.  (2 smoke, 2 handheld) Radio & Phone in pouch.   Sound alarm   (hooter, ) Torch.   First aid kit.  Tools.  Water.  (2l/person/day) EPIRB.   So with Nessy home, I went over the systems Rig : Excellent condition. Needed: Shorten reefing lines.  Mainsheet tackle is cluttered. Hull: patched flakeypaint under. Needed: Blank off  motor well.  Lash rudder to ...

Arrived at Bermagui after am 8 hour drive to meet David & his Ness Yawl. Its his because he built her, but its mine, I bought her sight unseen a few days ago.  On the wat I was a bit nervous whether  she'd measure up ... & she does, with bells on!    

I bought a Ness Yole, Iain Oughtred. It was the inability to secure a local mooring, bullish slipping ratees & the blood-freezing costs of anything "marine", that turned my head. The prospect of buying a beautiful wooden boat that could cruise the rivers & coast influenced me greatly. The Ness Yawl is also human scale. She can be handled solo at sea, in the shed or the beach. Sailing & rowing thin & quiet waters sets my heart adrift.  This is Ilona, David her builder is to the left, is now too unwell to go sailing. So, good for me  she was begrudgingly offered for sale, or sail.  Part Viking & Scottish in appearance but modern in design she sails like a proverbial witches broom.  My vision for her is a beautiful & seaworthy craft to cruise hard into my early retirement at least. Yes, I could have bought a kit & built for around the same money, but I'd Rather Be Sailing! And that's due to begin days from now after an...

One of the dream, or living my best life things, that *may* eventuate from my next adventure is that I participate in a Jester Challenge. I have for years been a big fan of the Corinthian Spirit embodied by the JC. Attitudes such as independence, self rescue & old fashioned seamanship, come to mind. So, regardless of whether I get to enter the JC, I should like to sail wherever I do while embracing the spirit. So, that means, I invest in a rugged & simple vessel that I can independently, & affordably, maintain. Another consideration is size. Only boats between 20 & 30 feet may enter. Slightly longer boats may only sail in company with the fleet, bit may not enter. So, a vessel of 30' or below must suffice. . Just watching a video of a fellow crossing the Atlantic from Bermuda to the Azores, I am struck by the number of hours spent chasing wind. So, those handful of steel or even timber hulled boats are probably not well suited to economic seafaring. Apart from the c...

Scrolling through lists of sailing boats for sale, I discovered this Joubert designed Magpie 34. She is set up for blue water & has cruised Australia & S E Asia. She's being sold due to her owner's " age & ill health ". The list of cruising extras is sufficient motivation to buy her.  Launched 1994, " well equipped for shorthanded cruising " Australian registration SSB HF marine radio Chart plotter & AIS Wind instruments Windvane & autopilot Multiple anchors (Rocnas) & warps Inflatable dinghy Stern chainplates for JSD 12 yrs on rig, checked 2017 Fresh stern gland Cutter rig, in & out furlers BMW 30hp donk, serviced Argh! How good is that!   

Although he suffers from Krohns Disease, Erik (above) loves to portray the tough Viking image. He sails Tessy in the North Sea, seemingly unafraid of storm conditions. The images of Tessy being overwhelmed by icey breakers as he navigates towards port, are hard to overlook. Let's say Erik's testosterone rating is quite high.  So, as I convalesce at home after a procedure to remove a benign skin cancer & anticipate surgery in the new year to remove a cataract, I have niggling doubts. Am I up to this cruising life? Even if I avoid the North Sea, there remains the Tasman Sea on my doorstep, can I play hard enough?  Well, the thing is, I'm going anyway. And, if i have my boat's "systems" working & make myself familiar with them under pressure of weather & lack of sleep, I should be fine. But a nervousness persists, which will keep me sharp.  Then there's 84 year old Jeanne Socrates who is currently cruising the South Pacific, on her own...

    Did you hear about the      budgie with no teeth?     No.     He was bound to suck seed .                  Australian Dad Joke.  Most tales of circumnavigation begin with the overhaul of the boat. Whether by agents ot a loaded retiree or refugee from finance & marketing, or some down & out young couple, there's some whining about costs & delays, before they head off.  What beats me is how they have the gumption or advanced knowledge, to announce a desire to circumnavigate. How does anyone know that? The boat could be driven onto the rocks at the next port, you could sail into a lovely harbour & never leave, or get cancer. You could just shit yourself & never go to sea again, or be totally crap at navigation, avoiding weather or just a hopeless at sailing over any duration. How does anyone know in advance that they're going to blithely forge ahead over 40 000 ...

As a surfer from my childhood years I escalated to surfing most days. If i wasn't surfing I was just going on or out of the surf, or at school or in latter yesrs work. Some school days would see me run home from the beach dripping wet, stuff cereal down & jog to school. At lunch break I would grab a bike & get a surf in.  On my twenties i took up sailing. If I wasn't actually sailing I would be working on my boat getting things ready. I spent two enjoyable winters on the tropical north.  In later life, I've mowed lawns for an income & continued to swim & sail when I can.  As old surfers know, there's a toll on your skin. Some surfers I know have died or been treated for skin cancer, so it's a vocational hazard.  Added to this, I have a genetic weakness towards skin cancer. My great grandmother passed in midlife & her daughter, my grandmother, had several skin grafts on her nose to manage skin cancer.  Last month my younger brother Pete had a ...