Living Contentedly

kangaroo damage on the first night. sea rescue practice, pt fairy Posted: 1/4/2025 Port fairy. A rambling, salty place with swagger.  pt fairy - stone church, rundown but good for a spirit boost. the GOR is am endless variety of sandstone shoreline being eroded by the the southern ocean swells.  Had a swim here.  wind power, Crookwell way.  GOOD VIBES: 1. Agent, Robert was prepared to end a relationship with Peter if he didn't compensate me for travel expenses.  2. In a small Port Fairy market a random shopper saw me looking  confused and cared to ask if I wanted help. (I could smell BBQ chicken from a long way off. Gr) The Port Fairy church was left open for visitors. A beautiful manmade stone edifice past its prime, but spiritually majestic.    Robert introduced me to a  seagoing design that he held dear to his heart, and sailing experiences. He remains comm...

After meeting R long enough for him to endear himself and sell me the notion of NIS18 owmership, I followed his recommendation to go towards Port Fairy.  I arrived around 0830hrs to a beautiful and unique place  I've just done my AM Routine and will let it settle before taking a swim.  But I'm feeling a bit pissed too bec lady night I spent a hellish 90 minutes driving slow and swerving to avoid a massive & plentiful kangaroo population. I rate my performance at 98% but the damage caused by the 2% was subtantial. My "new" Forrester is looking beat up. Well I feel it too  No excitement, a mock sea rescue exercise is going on. A big twin jet helicopter is stirring the place up. V After a swim. I will buysome tape to secure the guard before motoring on to The Great Ocean Road - an iconic  road that skirts the scenic coast. 

27/3/25: 10:46hrs Call from Robert Ayliffe, Straydog Boats Today Robert spoke sternly to Peter about the state of the boat& ballast set up. Peter was concerned that I was unhappy and offered a $5000 discount. Robert offered free hatches.  Also acknowledged him nor Peter has been in contact with boat for years. Less committed about trailer etc.  I clearly stated I wanted to quash the sale & had requested quotes to the boat trucked to South Australia.  Robert preoccupied with the keel profile said he eats yes to clarify whether of was foiled or not, and that he would relay my request to Peter & get back to me.  c.1630hrs Msg from Robert advising trailer is unreg in SA but that Peter will be fixing this soon. "Hold tight". 

Oh bother! I now have a boat whose recent sale I want to quash. I need to put this to the agent, a nice enough fellow who has $3000, his business reputation & mateship with the owner to resist this action on my behalf. I suspect if I put up a keen fight I will win. Then there is the not small task of returning the boat on its nearly unroadworthy trailer 1500k back to where I towed it from last week.  But beyond all that drama I am left alone again, with no potential offshore sailing boat. Back to square one on the online marine marketplaces where bargains are few & baldface lying is in spate.  My softness for Oughtred designs has hardened, as has my keeness for little Farrs with their massive companionways & popup decks. I should never again be tempted to purchase or deposit sight unseen. I may even insist on a test sail, like I had with my first sailboat purchase 44 years ago.  Perusing the for sales columns I see a West Wright Potter 19 for sale, in very goo...

26Mar25 Despite drizzling weather yesterday I we t through SELKIE tidying her, mopping up & really checking things out.  At the time I thought "that's strange". Five individual lead billets lay strewn about down below. The important element was that they were lose ; not fixed to the hull. This is a highly dangerous thing. Shifting ballast can cause damage or cause the boat to turn turtle & stay there.  I wrote the agent R & previous owner P. The only other thing I knew about the ballast was that P had fixed long steel plates to the sides of the keel.    R asked a rhetorical question about the centreboard "I hope its not plywood ". P later volunteered that a nonstandard CB made of aluminium had been fitted after the original steel & ply plate had delaminated. The ingots had been stowed (left sitting on berths) " to make up the weight".  I then went to replace the rotted out brake cable on the trailer, & the reality dawned on me. This...

Goolwa is an amazing place; birds, waterway & proximity to the southern ocean . despite all the real estate spit and pollish, beyond the village nature's raw energy prevails.  The boat, was not as polished as had been promised. Certainly she's well designed & put together,  but she has been neglected in recent times, the finish is tarnished despite the covers, the paintwork is grimy & the trailer displays corrosion. But I'm happy the nuts & bolts are there, & she's very robust looking spacious below.  On the trip back to Central West NSW we blew out a wheel bearing & another growler was replaced, despite adding fresh grease before leaving.  I had a chance to scrub the topsides today & can't wait to get home & scrub out below, the cockpit, lockers & decks. From there timber scraping & oiling, checking the rigging & so on.Unfortunately the trailers interstate transfer will need a full mechanical inspection. That could presen...

After a mosquito infused wrestling match, I got up as the servo was flung open for business. I booked a space in the park & brewed coffee. After oats I stripped the offside front wheel & found a collapsed bearing. I needed a dolly & hammer to remove the cups & drove 50k to Robinvale. I bought tools & a bearing kit (Ford variety) & soon after returning I had it boxed up. Shower, dim sim & on the road again. The local fruit, wine & not orchards were really beautiful, on the right glimpsing the Murray.  At R, I replaced the spare bearing kit & drove on to Benanee Lake to check  the other bearings. One got grease, (LR) & another (RR) needed bearings!  Spoke to Karl a nice gongoozler (working on power lines, from Goldie hinterland). Sent a cranky msg to Robert about old trailer. Hope hr discounts the sale? Nice guy, but a salesman. New bearings, River Bend.  The rush & predictability of this trip shattered, I am rela...

Well our collective fear of burning out a wheel bearing was not without cause. The one closest to the corrosive southern ocean sea breezes gave out last night.  It had been warm from the start, but after easing the brake tension & it still getting hotter than its opposite partner, I braced myself.  Lady Luck was in though as in my tiredness I took the longer route to Robinvale & in the dark, parked by a beaut little camp ground attached to a servo with restaurant. The village is called Boundary Bend due to its location on the state boundaries.  Earlier I,bought a bearing kit, because it had a grease cap included, but also because I might need a bearing. If it fits, this could be a very quick fix. But I'm learning to prepare for the least best options in life.  

admiring the raw beauty gazing over a patch of waitpinga beach on the southern ocean, there were patches of storm foam beyond the break.  Storm foam, a browny spume, typically banks up on beaches after heavy storms. It seems that stormwater runoff & extreme wind & wave agitation literally whips up a foam. But why it would be evident after mild, dry weather is anyone's guess. Fortunately ABC radio is asking around & the SA government is doing a mirror job.  Sharky waitpinga beach sa Beach looking west.

Its the day I leave my daughters place with some sadness & begin a solo drive 100+ kilometres south west. I'll skirt desert lands, seek off piste roads if possible & dawdle at cool places. I know that the main highways will not provide. Let's go! But first some exercise & oats.  1000: my daughter pops in for morning tea (her) & breakfast (me). While we sat talking my son called to report that he had scored a full time position with a local fire management mob. This is huge, his first independent job since finishing homeschooling some years earlier. This news buoys my mood for the day; having him at home will lessen my responsibilities feeding pets & remaining close to home. After I motored almost across the state, my daughter calls to report that her seniors have asked her to apply for several positions on Council that she might prefer. Wonderful to hear my children beingvrewarded.  After sunset I find a lake in the middle of nowhere, known only...

I now love my Forrester even more! Leaving home, I wondered whether I could push it 50k to the next town with just a little over a half tank. I decided the little oil burner should do it easily, so I popped  a  Cloudstreet CD in the slot & settled back. Srowed away in the back I had my new MR twin softboard, camp, surf & sailing gear, some clothes, water & tool pouch.  At the next town the needle hadn't moved & the scenery was rolling by quickly so I decided to keep peddling. I decided to stop at Sandy Hollow, about a third of the distance to today's destination. A little financial support for the Indian couple there would be appreciated. But flying into SH I had trouble slowing our roll, i scoffed at the crowd by the little servo, changed the disk & kept going.  We never Denman never raised any interest. At Merriwa my tank needed a top up so I grabbed a veggie pastie & energy drink to stave off dehydration. I could have left the little diese...

What I embrace is shaped by these facts: be curious. seek out interesting people and places. be optimistic have fun. search for adventure. be fascinated Thanks ti Lloyd Kahn .

I've taken a big step towards fetching my new boat. I've driven over 400k in my new to me Forrester on high 30s temperatures. She never missed a beat & all the way out I listened to "Cloudstreet" a read aloud novel by Tim Winton. Spending a few days with my daughter, we're off to see a tractor pull at Trundle.  Great to be on the hot dry air with an old dog, & my only girl. 

"dissonance between my lifelong propensity toward optimism and my growing sense of despair".  This is how I've spent many of my years, my brain in a headlock over how good the planet could be & how shit it actually was heading.  Vaclav Havel’s version of hope : “It’s not the conviction that something will turn out well, but the certainty that something makes sense, regardless of how it turns out . Then today I read this & realised that the guilt I feel over not continuing to be extremely green & feeling like I have sold out to the Capitalists, is not justified. I can continue to maintain a green lifeste, chose better options, hang back from shiny new capitalism, in the comfort that what I do .takes sense to me ... and that's all that .matters. I'll keep voting Greens, even though they won't rule in my life's time, simply because it makes sense to me.   "I don’t know if any of these efforts are going anywhere, and I most certainly won’t liv...

As I took possession of my new surfboard today, the surfshop guy picked up on my stoked feeling & suggested o might have to wait to get some waves. I'd tied two straps joining the Jesus handles in the Forrester and the board slithered on there like it was made for it. No fuss, no difficulty closing the hatch. I was so stoked to see clean little waves aty old home break. But, I hadn't ridden a surfboard under 7 feet for absolute years. I'm talking decades. I tool the only car space available, right outside MRs house. Well he lived there years ago, and I imagined he was eyeing my new board with a grin.  Plastic wrap off, new hard fins fastened into position and I'm off. Actually one fin was still lose, so back to the car.  I felt so excited, because the board looked and felt fab u lous. The big test, wade through the shorey, jump aboard and yep she feels buoyant and paddles well. Winner winner! Actually the rides were quite short and my first wave was unbelievably goo...

Trickcyclists (ie:psychologists), welfare workers &_definetly Abraham Maslow,  asserted that warmth & shelter from the elelments are essential human needs. Though I'm sure the Average Bear knew it already.  For perhaps two weeks now, due to cyclonic weather to our north we have had an overdose of dark, cold, windy & wet weather, and it has been miserable. I've pumped myself up by resurfacing the floor I my Little Home (not quite Tiny), & cleared a stone wall by the house. Now I can enjoy  sparkling floors & a lovely usable clear space beside the cottage, and it makes me feel quite comfortable. But as the autumn sun eases unspectacularly into a lightly layered cloud morming, I  feeling a deeper comfort that no man can provide. I know that in a short time the soft sun will caress my skin & radiate its deep warmth and dryness through my bones. My smile, just an upward turn in the corners of my mouth, will prevail as I look about at the animals an...

Not again! After a big week of rain & wind & genuinely shitty weather, we had a fine afternoon. Then another day of drizzly mizzly bloody rain.  Luckily Ive got good shit in the pipeline; I've ordered a new MR twin softie, the Knights are playing the Fins on Thursday & then I'm going on a massive road trip to pick up my new sailboat.  I also found a half decent book "Modern Hippie". I've been hunting for a good read on this topic for a good while & it really seems like this chick knows shit.  Keep sane

Having lunch today, watching Viceland; and o hear a freeclimber talk about his passion for scaling tall buildings. Without safety ropes or a parachute, he goes up glass fronted high rise buildings.  Scarey shit. But what he said was invaluable. He described being s mad xlomber as a kid and freaking his parents out to the point where his dad signed him up to a climbing gym on the proviso that he stopped climbing around the town. It fuelled his passion & he described how he never eaycjed tv or did much of anything other than training for climbing increasingly difficult buildings. Epic! I recall when I was younger, it was work, girlfriend, college , sailing & fitting out my new boat. Nothing else mattered, & I consciously chose to spend time at my chosen goal than socialise or lay around. 

I am similar vintage to the awarded author Tim Winton. . i enjoy his writing as its heavily influenced by his love of the sea: surfing, diving & fishing. Watching the tv movie based on his book Breathe is probably an all time peak tv viewing experience, & I genuinely avoid watching tv.  It was a classic movie about growing up surfing, being mentored by an older surfer. My experiences growing up on the east coast mirrored  Tim's even though he was based on Australia's west coast.yentor Bill wasn't a pro, he was at the beach a lot, & made surfboards. I really cherish the series of days he & I, & my mate Marty, had surfing Winda Woppa the year I left school.  Also surfing at my home break was the four times world champion, Mark Richards. When I first saw MR he was just a teenage surfer, not famous, other than his father owning the local surf shop. Soon after he started winning amateur comps, then just boomed into the fledgling pro tour.  Anyway, I go...

Lesson for today :       Better to accept what is    before you than to resent what    is not. I'm reading "Five Year Voyage: Exploring Latin America's Coasts & Rivers " by Stephen Ladd. Its very cheap on Kindle, & documents an epic voyage with great modesty. Ladd also wrote "Three Years in a Twelve Foot Boat" as a younger fellow. He voyaged dinghy style US to Brazil I think. I can't read it because the writing drived me mad, due mainly to the author's expression. Ladd apologised for it at the beginning of this latest book.  Anyway, 18 years on from that first hitout  Ladd (now fifty something & with his girlfriend) take off in a decked over Sea Pearl (18 or 21'?) dinghy. Its still dinghy cruising style with lots of rowing, bumping the bottom, mooring to trees etc. I love the read & the doggedness of their adventure.  As I read this I am aware that with my upcoming ownership of a bespoke timber trailer sa...

To the state's north & further into central Queensland, residents are bracing for cyclone Alfred. He remains 250nm offshore will swing to cross the coast in a few days. As this happens increasing from a 1 to around a 3, bringing flooding rain & damaging winds & sea conditions.  Coincidentally we are getting rough weather, no good for my projects, ao my thoughts are drifting towards the good ship  Selkie  in Goolwa. With the chamge of season the prospects of extreme heat out west  is fading so I am thinking itsas good a time as any for a long drive.  On the way I'll visit my daughter Mia & her partner Dan.They were recently involved in a pretty heavy motor vehicle accident & I feel they need some company. with them on the way is calling. Not only has Dan lost his pride & joy Shorty Landcruiser, they've both been made aware that police support is nonexistent. Its literally dog eat dog. That & the fact that the roads are dangerous enough...

As most of the downstairs floor has received a coat or three of tung oil, & my new car is ready & waiting, I am very eager to drive interstate to meet SELKIE & her builder, before towingcher home. But I'd rely like to tidy off here, finish oiling the floors & get my bike Hondo through her registration check. She would probably pass already, but some months ago I damaged the left side mirror. It was the Knights last home game of the season, Joe & I were parking up on a heavily cambered road near Beaumont Street & the stand flicked up as I hopped off & she lobbed down on her side. When a Honda 750 decides to surprise you like that, yoicamt argue much. Anyway, I only got to ordering a replacement mirror yesterday, & it may take a week to get here. Mind if there are any delays, I might just go & sort it when I get back.  Meanwhile I am oiling every morning so if will beostly dry for lunch & dinner. 48hrs more should be enough if it all goes to pl...

My friend Peter Furze, an Acorn builder, built Selkie about four years ago. He added an extra strake on top which has the effect of making look a little finer than other standard to plan ones I have seen. (Its now incorporated in the drawings.) Peter had an outboard motor on his, hung on a bracket to one side of his own design & manufacturer. Its works, but for me the jury is still out on that one. He got Don Lucas* to do the sails on traditional materials, & it looks truly majestic. I had a very happy  day sailing with Peter & his friend & mine Ronald Jesche ( Grey Seal builder). I made a video which has helped sell more plans around the world. Peter's boat featured on the front cover of Australian Amateur Boatbuilder accompanying a two page colour spread on the building & sailing of Selkie.My impression was of an easily trailed & surprisingly roomy boat with real sea capability & a pocket cruiser for two people, four people day sailing. Sel...