Living Contentedly

I may have a fairly impeccably presented production yacht lined up.  I've done some research on the design, which I've known & loved for years, & she trumps the smallest two times,Golden Globe entrant (OE32) for Comfort & Capsize Ratings according to SailBoatData. Her design is old school seaworthy;  narrow & long keeled with a stout rig. The adjectives " ultraheavy " & " underpowered " feature in her ratings descriptions . She's a bit "WestSnail", but cute & slim.  Considering that I plan to be comfortable on the open sea, well she's right on the money. Speed is not my priority.  She's also stacked with gear, even tools, & she's right up to spec: new rigging, through hulls, below the waterline, interior fit out & engine. If what's advertised is correct, there's very little for me to add beyond a windvane, AIS & a liferaft. And she's $10-15k cheaper than all the others in her class tha...

I recent podcast on marine safety urged me to plan ahead by enumerating my fears & developing strategies to avoid them happening.  Today's fear is flooding the boat. This can happen for various reasons:- 1. Skin fittings, shaft seal fail. 2. Holing the hull. 3. Deck or hatch failure. 4. Overwhelmed by large seas. Avoiding Reason 1: a.Regular maintenance. b.Regular visual checks. c.Keeping bungs ready. d. Limiting hull fittings. Avoiding Reason 2: a. Cautious navigation b. Redundancy in nav tools c. Using cross checks in position fixing.  d. Enter on flooding tide. e. Keep kedge anchor. f. Avoid lee shores.  Avoiding  Reason 3: a.Proper construction b. Inspect hatches c. Secure hatches at sea d. Collision bulkheads, floatation.  Avoiding Reason 4: a. Safety at sea, weather routing, storm tactics.  b. Batten down & reef . Evacuating Water: Hand bilge pumps in cockpit & below.  Large volume automatic electric pump + care vs batteri...

Sadly its under offer. Lots of guff on the ad, but basically sou d, near new sails, Bukh engine. No mention of rigging, assume its old. 

OK, this one is more expensive. Probably trying to recoup big spend on paintwork. Does have "newish electronics" & I think decent sails. Below she looks basic & a bit tired. 

I think two or three days work. cutting partitions to screw to the frames of the boats. Dry fitting slats. Coating parts with epoxy.  This morning sanding the face of the frames preparing for glueing & I discover at least two frames are floating inside the clinker planks.  Going to see on a plywood hull?  Be vewy, vewy, careful . 

Following is a summary of a PBO article about 10 "must have modifications" for boats in the Jester Challenge .  Windvane Steering . Hebridean is a popular budget vane among Jesters. Its bought as a kit & assembled using timber cut to plans.  Adequate Sleep To avoid bad decision making or hallucinations, Jesters adopt a system of polyphasic sleep, or power-naps. Many of the Jesters use a simple kitchen timer, usually placed out of reach so they must get out of their bunk to turn it off. Mostly 10-15 minute intervals.  The key to successful solo or short-handed sailing is to grab regular short naps to preserve decision making abilities. Staying Attached to the Boat Jesters are fastidious about their lifelines, with many fitting additional handholds on deck to increase traction. Ladders, boarding ladders care fixed astern to reboardvif one goes overboard.  Many have led halyards and control lines back to the cockpit A general theme is to have the webbing...

Two days down working on the windvane. A not of time lost getting back on the groove & finding parts. noty photo, some of the parts! Once underway yesterday I skipped the recommended way of making molds & got cracking. For the bigger weight Iised the opt of a No More Gaps cartridge. This had two bolts & a central rod embedded in the mold. The spout base off the cartridge proved useful for centring the link rod. I stripped this out of it's mold today & its worked well. For the smaller mold I used a random irrigation fitting & a trimmed down pencil for the central pilot hole. Stripped down after setting, this turned out really well too.  Today I offered the counterweights up to the vane. The bigger weight was straight forward. The smaller. needed the pencil drilled out & a 6mm threaded bar inserted. Also today i prepped the longest linkage. Never straightforward, the fibreglass tube cut to length, timber dowelling glued into each end, copper caps p...

Today is the third day of heavy rain in a row & this in the last few hours a stiff southerly wind has begun ripping through. Although it is making life uncomfortable, there's a bigger risk of trees being upended. Ive already had to chainsaw & drag a large tree limb off the driveway today, but with sodden ground about, the probability of whole trees coming down, is high.  And after three days inside, despite a quick break to get groceries & hardware, things get a bit boring.  I have had to get out & bale water off m y boat covers & feed animals but mostly it's been inside, cleaning, reading & snoring.  Fortunately the Mini Globe TransAt Qualifier started a week ago & monitoring the Livetracker & social media has been enjoyable.      

Last night we retired during a booming electrical storm. Notmally I'd stay to enjoy the show but it seemed to go on forever.  This morning early yet another, but closer by with heavy rain.  Now over its  peaceful as ever. The twittering of little wrens in the garden seem amplified. Neon raindrops dangle under silver light, & a lone kookaburra can't hold back an involuntary  cackle. The cats are crazy energised; they stalk, then pounce for a quick bout of  wrestling.  

I wrote Premier Minns recently to express an opinion that the anti people attitude of NSW public services reflects poorly on his management approach. I closed saying I was surprised to learn he represented The Australian Labor Party.  Since then there's been no change. Its possibly because Premiers Minus is locked on a tussle with rail workers fighting for a living wage, in response to escalating costs of living. He & his lackies are running down "radical, greedy rail workers" in a very public campaign.  Meanwhile, in the public health sector 200 psychiatrists are resigning over failed pay increase negotiations. So, by the end of the month 200 frontline mental health specialists are leaving the public health service. Publicity? Next to zero. Asked how he may manage this, Minus says he's going to attack the problem with a strike team ... and the general health system will pickup the slack.  " NSW Health acknowledges it will cause extensive disruption to mental...

I've just fallen for Pilar pasanau currenylybat sea on Peter Punk, on the Mini 5.80 TransAt . I think the fact that she has competed on Mini 6.80s & an Amoca, & is a ship's captain as her day job, I find very cool. But her total devotion to competing, doing the race, getting the boat working at its optimum etc. What's not to love? Go Pilar! 

" The helmsman can’t do anything with a motionless ship, because the rudder only works if the ship is under way. " Recent days have dragged on a bit as I go over Ilona with acfine-toothed comb. Reefing, main halyard & outhaul systems have all been tuned in or replaced. Respect to her Builder, but he wasn't a sailor! Some of those knots are plain weird. Anyway, the forward bump strip & lower rudder fitting were breaking away & needed reseating in a bed of epoxy. And the trailer rollers had to be wrapped in carpet to prevent chaff on the paintwork. Today, it was time for sailing & arriving at a really high tide was a bonus. I disconnected the trailer & let it tip up for easier launching. As happens, we were underway for all of a minute before the breeze picked up & I needed to reef. I can't say my first effort with the new system was quick, but it was easy & the sail set better that it has before. We made good way with the ebb, about three m...

I've just read am acpumt of an "adve tire seeker", after having circumnavigated on an aeroplane: " we ended up with a gentleman's family, a girl & a boy .... It was rewarding simple, fun with the kids. My project at this time of my life was to complete, over four years, a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology ".   My story was similar but different; we had the " gentleman's family" if you like, & I found it rewarding, simple & fun but critically my then partner did not. She re-entered a period of clinical depression for which she was medicated. I studied her psychology & felt that she resented having children as it took away her availability as a sexual being, made her not the centre of family life & created extra work. You can never tell how a person is going to respond when the demands of parenthood arrive. She unfortunately never made the leap [ & I am dismayed that she continues this day to refer to my 24 year old...

Fecund The air is fecund with moisture & electricity. Joe rides north to a new job prospect, fecund with hope & challenge. I enter further into retiremt, with fewer responsibilities for others, fecund with opportunity.

A new day a new lesson. I've been dwelling on what boat design to go for into my first chapter of serious sailing for many years. I think I am narrowing this down; from thinking biggest possible I have whittled down to about 21', definitely well under 30'. Why? Well for one, if I ever position myself in England mid year, I would love to enter the Jester Challenge. While this may be a surprise, it is not really because I have loved the attitude, comradeship & history of the OSTAR, later the Jester, since it's conception.  The other reason I like  21' is because its a punchy size. At sea on this boat you cannot wallow about, you must sail & be alert. If I'm honest too, I believe the minimal size keeps people honest & on the edge, on a 21 footer you cannot hide.  Beyond these factors, I have my hands tied somewhat, there are limited moorings available locally, marina expenses in Australia are extortionate & the smaller centreboard vessel is me sendi...

A youmg medical student that got lost in the Blue Mountains after being separated from his buddies has been found alive & well. While it is summer, weather conditions have been wet & windy. Searchers were  confident that with natural  water water available, survival was possible. His father spoke emotionally about wantingvtp brongvhom hone, alive, soon.  Great mews.  

Just putting it here for history's sake. US people voted for this loony. 

The Pandemic Era of 2021 is still fresh in Western minds, countries struggling for democracy &/or basic food & health provisions are probably into a new disaster.  Anyway in recent months we've heard confirmations & received apologies from Flakey Politicians for overriding peoples' personal freedoms during pandemic. So all those lockdowns, mandatory testing & vaccinations were too onerous. Sorry they say, but don't commit to law, limiting the state's powers to direct citizens to remain at home, wear masks or undergo invasive testing. They won't limit the state's authority to force business closures, detain or force travellers into rental accommodation. Nor will they commit to destroy the genetic database they have created as a result of mandatory testing. So, my point is, the state can get away with scaling up social control however of sees fit. Others have noted that these efforts are usually made just before close of business on public holidays...

The Pandemic Era of 2021 is still fresh in Western minds, countries struggling for democracy &/or basic food & health provisions are probably into a new disaster.  Anyway in recent months we've heard confirmations & received apologies from Flakey Politicians for overriding peoples' personal freedoms during pandemic. So all those lockdowns, mandatory testing & vaccinations were too onerous. Sorry they say, but don't commit to law, limiting the state's powers to direct citizens to remain at home, wear masks or undergo invasive testing. They won't limit the state's authority to force business closures, detain or force travellers into rental accommodation. Nor will they commit to destroy the genetic database they have created as a result of mandatory testing. So, my point is, the state can get away with scaling up social control however of sees fit. Others have noted that these efforts are usually made just before close of business on public holidays...

Sons are different. My son is: tall & tiny, aggressive & vulnerable,  powerful yet laconic.     Untapped power can blast out, like a lurching burnout by a  novice drag car on the launch pad.  Potent & highly destructive.   Done wrong that uncontained raw energy can scald spectators, but for the driver it brings on depression, smouldering resentment, anger & confusion. He quietly reverses the dragster into a dark corner of the shed. The driver sits & stares over many lonely & quiet hours, trying to configure a way to maintain steerage as the power hits.  In his chest he knows, if he can master this machine, victories will come. But the threat of a violent death or permanent incapacity hovers.  

Up! up! my Friend, and quit your books; Or surely you'll grow double: Up! up! my Friend, and clear your looks; Why all this toil and trouble The Tables Turned, William Wordsworth A critic reasons here that Wordsworth’s ‘The Tables Turned’ asks readers to quit books and rediscover the natural world’s beauty and wisdom.  Truth & wisdom dwell in nature. So today, a certain fellow wandered forth into nature, not ready for any  learn per se just a little sport! This bold, someday foolish, fellow even had his destination pegged; just across to the far corner of the waterway,  where a peaceful whitesand beach rests.  Meanwhile Nature did  what nature does. And this bombastic sailor got the lesson he wasnt ready for. He left the scene soundly trashed exhausted, frustrated & shaken.  And when he recovers, he has a job list to work through.  A Different Sailor learned a lesson here too . I consider myself humbled.  

Blest, who can unconcernedly find    Hours, days, and years slide soft away, In health of body, peace of mind,                             Quiet by day, Sound sleep by night; study and ease,    Together mixed; sweet recreation; And innocence, which most does please,                             With meditation Excerpt from: " Ode on Solitude ", by Alexander Pope. I got some of this today! Having retired from gardening work I have time to follow my energies & interests. Today my hope was to sail my new boat, I was deeply in need of peace & knew the popular waters would be flooded with people at play & the highway im between, just as hectic. On my aimless drive I crossed a bridge ove...

We've all heard the one about the size of the boat bring inversely proportional yo the amount of use it gets.  An aspect of boat ownership that proves this is on the amount of msintrnance. I've spent hours just sorting the rigging on Ilona & blocking out her old outboard well. My mind boggles   at the time & expense needed to set up a keel boat. Yesterday I re-read Sven Yrvind's thoughts on safety & small boats. Interesting about the increase in hull loading that accompanies bigger boats.  Here's an image Sven uses to illustrate how dangerous racing yachts have become; they can be quite stable when fully inverted! Like a multihull! Ye gads lads! 

I have a mind to, rather than discard J acaranda or flog her off too cheaply, to modify her for ocean sailing.  Yesterday I ordered the Study Plans for Welsford's Fafnir, his mini blue water design. Jac' will remain vastly different, but what a great little boat to emulate!  Major aspects of the project will be:- Deck over, with companionway & possible small cockpit or Swaggie wheelhouse. Install front hatch. Crash bulkheads & floatation. P & S berths, sea seat, galley, nav station, storage. Windvane, remote steering. Modified structure Adapted rig - tabernacle,  bowsprit & cutter rig.  Inspirations & Resources  G'Day Australia - an eggshell I saw in person.  Baluchon - simplicity, deck space, rig. Fafnir -  use of cabin space Tinkerbelle. attitude, basic build process & tiny craft capability.  Wave Rover - a tad large, but she's well documented from drawing board to sea. Yrvind  -   the man, his philosophy & ...