Nelligen Yacht Club

Position Report TEKANI II

2012-01-14T13:59:00.001-08:00

TEKANI II at Muddy Bay

"Navigation, sail changes, engine maintenance, etc. are all part of the rich tapestry of the cruising life, but an iced-up freezer willl eventually get your attention - a squeak like a gecko caught in an electric fan which I had been ignoring (as you do) got so loud that I finally identified it ... the fan blades were fighting a losing battle with an iced-up wireguard and there could be only one end, with ransom money for Wayne or Charlie from Ice Cold Refrigeration ooming - no worries:

!. Unload freezer and put contents into supermarket freezer bags.

2. Point $15 fan-heater into freezer, turn it on and stand back.

3. Pour a small scotch, and wait 20 mins by which time all traces of ice, frost, cold etc. will have disolved into H2O.

4. Reverse 3.2. & 1.

5. Put everything back and turn freezer on.

Works for me ☺ "

Position Report TEKANI II

2012-01-09T23:29:00.000-08:00

Paguro means Hermit Crab. Makes sense! ☺

"Paguro Genset update

This will be the last time I bore you all with the ongoing problems of this piece of Italian exotica - promise.

A diesel engineer and a marine electrician came on board this morning and after an exhaustive series of tests and experiments, both agreed that the machine was impossible to either start or run in its present condition. Neither was prepared to attempt to work on it further in situ and the only alternative offer was to unbolt the entire unit, including the separate water-cooled inverter, and dismantle the whole thing on the work bench.

Since the nearest spare parts are in Brisbane, or more likely in Milan, we agreed that this was better left until T2 reaches Mooloolaba, within striking distance of Brisbane where the agents are based.

The boat is still fully operational without it, so this is what I've decided to do.

Time for a scotch.........or two X;{"

Position Report TEKANI II

2012-01-08T13:45:00.000-08:00

"This Google earth image from 2009 shows the bottom end of Curtis Island as it was then. It's now a major construction site for the world's biggest liquid natural gas terminal which will join the other huge ship-loading terminals already here.
I could hear thumps from pile-drivers and see the dust cloud as I passed it on my way to Gladstone Marina on the other side of the harbour.

Gladstone is busy 24/7 with what seems to be every available fast ferry, barge, dredge, workboat and tug in Queensland cris-crossing its waters,all human activity thereon defined by the fluorescent orange and yellow neck-to-knee clothing and compulsory hard hats now demanded by BigBrother for workers who survived in shorts and thongs in the bad old days.

If I was job hunting, (I'm not!), this would be the place to be for an octogenarian ships master, but spare a thought for Curtis Island as it was 25 years ago. Ivy and I found the wreck of a deserted farmhouse there with the remains of a Ford T, a couple of steam-powered tractors and other relics rusting away untouched. Wonder what happened to them?"

Position Report TEKANI II

2012-01-07T00:35:00.000-08:00

"The Cattle Crossing at Curtis Island Narrows. Tekani II was here earlier today. They walk cattle across at low tide when it dries right out. The sounder said 1.9 metres at 6 AM which left 0.5m under the keel. Not recommended for anyone with blood pressure problems.

We are now in Gladstone and an electrical engineer will be on board on Monday to fix the genset.....or else!'

"ROXXAN" arrives!

2012-01-06T14:11:00.000-08:00

The 46-foot ferrocement Hartley Tahitian-design ketch "ROXXAN" anchored off the Nelligen Yacht Club yesterday. As Commodore and only member of the Club, I rowed out to welcome them.

On board was a family of five from the little inland town of Cobargo who had bought the boat quite recently in Sydney and had it sailed down the coast by its previous owner. The new owners have never sailed a boat before - let alone owned one - but are keen to learn.

"Roxxan" is now permanently moored in the Batemans Bay estuary which means a 1-1/2 hour drive for them every time they want to go sailing!

Catamaran "RUSH" of Pittwater in Sydney ...

2012-01-05T14:42:00.000-08:00

... came in on last night's tide and anchored a short distance upriver from "Riverbend". Of course, I rowed out to meet skipper Allan and his companion Kath and welcomed them to the Nelligen Yacht Club.

"RUSH" has been Allan's permanent home for some years and he's taken her all over the world, to Fiji, to Tonga, and as far north as Norway. Now he's on his way to Tasmania.

The rainy weather was no inducement for them to stay. They left at first light, well before I could take a happy snap for the Club's blog.

Fair winds and following seas and long may your big jib draw!

Position Report TEKANI II

2011-12-29T01:45:00.000-08:00

"Update from Rosslyn Bay: TEKANI II isn't going anywhere until the weatherman gets his act together and brings some reasonable weather back to sunny (?) Queensland. The remains of Cyclone Fina are still producing strong SE winds with sea and swell to match, and Cyclone Grant is about to start a new life in the Coral Sea after jumping Cape York, probably Saturday AM.

I will make a final attempt to get the Paguro genset repaired and working again at Gladstone Marina where there may even be an electrician who has seen one of these exotic Italian imports, before junking it for one that works.

Happy New Year everybody!"

Position Report TEKANI II

2011-12-24T15:00:00.000-08:00

"I had a very enjoyable week at Middle Percy Island. Memories of previous visits on Nialyn and Tekani 1 came flooding back when I found home-made plaques still in the A Frame from 1988 and 1991, both showing Brian and Ivy as crew.

Andrew Martin's cousin Cate Radcliffe is now on Middle Percy, having wrested it back from the villain who conned Andy into giving the island to him for $10 shortly before he died! Read more about Middle Percy Island here.

A magic place, but don't tell the Greenies about those coloured sands at Whites Bay ... some interesting minerals there ?

TEKANI II is in the Marina at Rosslyn Bay near Yepoon for Christmas, waiting for the remains of Cyclone Fina to go away. The small Paguro gen-set has again failed and I won't waste any more money on repairs from electricians who have never seen this exotic Italian import and seemingly can't cure its numerous ailments. It's heading for a watery grave unless the not-very-helpful Brisbane-based distributors can a) fix it and b) convince me to hang onto it when I get close enough to frog-march one of them aboard.

A wind charger and perhaps a far more reliable small Yanmar at a third of the price of the fault-prone Paguro are the way to go. Meantime TEKANI II can continue south without it with no problems.

A very merry Christmas to you all."

Position Report TEKANI II

2011-12-21T16:01:00.000-08:00

"Back on line! TEKANI II is anchored at North Keppel Island and the internet is again accessable for the first time in almost 2 weeks. Going in to Rosslyn Bay Marina this morning for fuel, water, scotch and other essentials.

The small Italian gen-set on which the extensive array of electronics, plus freezer and frig, TV, H&C water and other home comforts depend, has died again. Hopelessly unreliable and will be partly replaced by a new generation wind charger ASAP. A bit lke a Lamborghini: expensive, good-looking, but prone to sudden stops at inconvenient times.

Weather so far has not been friendly to anyone sailing south on the Queensland coast despite the forecasters' best efforts to produce northerly, or even easterly winds - they just don't happen. Relentless and consistent southeasters at between 15 knots on a good day and 20/30 knots most days make progress uncomfortable, slow and expensive with the big Perkins helping to butt into strong headwinds with seas to match.

Looks like Xmas either here or somewhere south of Gladstone at this stage."

And while Brian is 'marooned' off Gladstone for Christmas, he dreams, with the help of GOOGLE Earth, of the island of Tekani, now deserted and abandoned, but which he and his family will always remember as it once was when they were all there for Christmas.

Position Report TEKANI II

2011-12-17T18:26:00.000-08:00

"At Middle Percy Island sheltering from 25-knot headwind [1 knot = 1.852km]. no cellfone, fm/am radio or tv. Satphone ok for email text or voice calls."

Running repairs off "Riverbend"

2011-12-10T19:29:00.000-08:00

My little motor-sailer needed some tender loving care and so, equipped with a can of WD-40 and a bottle of my favourite Pino More, I set to work.

Position Report TEKANI II

2011-12-09T15:59:00.000-08:00

"I've stopped listening ... promised northerly winds just don't happen ... 7 a.m. and I'm anchored at St.Bees Island opposite Mackay. Leaving shortly for Middle Percy via Digby Island.

Wind is ESE, almost the exact oppposite of the forecast NE to NW wind. No problem! Chief Engineer Perkins can cope.

Doubtful internet access from here on, so no guarantees on regular contact."

Position Report TEKANI II

2011-12-07T15:21:00.000-08:00

"Northerly winds have returned, so TEKANI II is off again. Leaving Abel Point Marina at Airlie Beach after successful repairs to the gen-set by an electrician who found loose connections and other legacies from the work done but not-very-good people supplied by the agents when it was still under warranty....you get what you pay for ☺

Blue skies and light NE wind here at 6 AM; time to go; next long stop Middle Percy Island."

Position Report TEKANI II

2011-12-02T16:46:00.001-08:00

Muddy Bay

"I'm anchored in Muddy Bay, around the corner from Airlie Beach in the Whitsundays. Wind is gusting to 30 knots+ ,but a nice muddy bottom, (sea, not mine) means good holding and no problems. This weather will last for a few days at least, so no further moves until the wind gods relent.

The price of diesel fuel has crept up as TEKANI II goes down the east coast. $1.58 in Cairns; $1.62 in Townsville; $1.82 here. A wind change to allow some sailing as opposed to using the motor to get on south would help, but we can motor for 10 hours a day for about $35 worth of fuel, so the chief engineer can expect no rest until the NE wind which should be on by now for at least some of the time comes back."

Position Report TEKANI II

2011-11-27T12:56:00.000-08:00

"Arrived in Bowen yesterday after 8 hours motor-sailing into a 10 knot ESE wind that hadn't read the forecast for NE 15. Good internet access here.

The big 50 HP Perkins diesel rumbles away at an economical 1400 RPM in conditions like this and is an asset indeed. Twice the weight of its modern oriental successors and designed to be maintained by the village blacksmith rather than white-coated techies with laptops and surgical skills, it suits this ancient mariner just fine. :-)

I won't linger in the much-hyped Whitsunday Islands, (tourist and bare-boat charter country with prices ashore to match) and will make Middle Percy the next stop for R&R.

Always a spare bunk waiting for any of you who would care to join me."

More and more and then some more information on Middle Percy Island.

Position Report TEKANI II

2011-11-26T00:05:00.000-08:00

Click on map to enlarge

"Am off Cape Upstart between Bowen and Ayr. Will update on progress tomorrow from Bowen where internet access should be OK ... one bar here with dropouts to match."

From Captain Cook's Journal during his first Voyage Around the World made in H.M. Bark "Endeavor" 1768-71:

June 1770

"Tuesday, 5th- Winds between the South and East, a Gentle breeze, and Serene weather. At 6 a.m. we were abreast of the Western point of Land above mentioned, distant from it 3 Miles which I have named Cape Upstart, because being surrounded with low land it starts or rises up singley at the first making of it..."

Position Report TEKANI II

2011-11-21T03:40:00.000-08:00

"Sorry to leave here. 10 sqare miles of the Great Barrier Reef all to myself and one set of footprints on the beach - MINE !
Hinchinbrook Passage today."

Position Report TEKANI II

2011-11-19T16:30:00.000-08:00

After putting in at Mourilyan and departing from there on 19th November, Tekani II has reported in from Garden Island off Cardwell where Brian is putting in some 'lay time'. As he writes, "Too good to leave, so I'm staying here today."

"The speed readout shows what T2 can do under reduced sail, six knots without the mainsail, just the mizzen and headsail ... very relaxing !!"

TEKANI II's Log

2011-11-16T12:59:00.000-08:00

14 Nov 2011 Ready for Sea
Sailing tomorrow Nov 15. Email and cellphone should work most of the way. Satphone will be on permanently and will always work. Freezer is full, wine cellar likewise...time to get going :-)

I've moved the photo of Tekani Island to the fwd bulkhead...looks much better.

No rush, but I should be somewhere south of the Qld border in about 3 or 4 weeks.

17 Nov 2011 False Start
The small Paguro power plant failed after a short battery-charging run at Fitzroy Island and I went back to Cairns for repairs to a terminally defunct cooling water pump.

Not sure who the Italian inventor was who designed this mini-marvel, but I suspect it may have been one of the less successful ideas of Leonardo da Vinci.

Departing again today....let's see how far we get this time.

Sail Ho!

2011-11-12T14:17:00.001-08:00

Brian Darcey, an old PNG-friend, has just emailed to say that he'll set sail from Cairns on the 15th of November and should be anchored off "Riverbend" sometime in late December.

Fair winds, Brian, and see you soon! (And here are your sailing instructions up the Clyde River - in German, of course!)

A few naming suggestions for your next boat:

2011-09-26T00:28:00.000-07:00

Andrew Holt has gone a-sailing!

2011-09-24T04:27:00.000-07:00

Andrew's new home and berth in Mackay

An old Canberra friend got divorced some years ago, found himself a new wife, a new home, and a new business in Mackay, to which he added a boat and, following his recent 61st birthday - and perhaps feeling his own mortality creeping up on him - , decided to up anchor.

He refitted his boat - whose name I don't know but it is not "OVERSIZE" - and is now heading for Papua New Guinea and beyond. His last few messages read:

7.8.2011
We are due to clear customs in Townsville tomorrow afternoon. Then we go out to Magnetic Island and then over to the Louisaides Archipelago islands on the South East corner of Papua. It should take around a week as we will stop at a couple of reefs on the way.

11.8.2011
Waiting in Horseshoe Bay on Magnetic Island. Cleared out by Customs yesterday. Heading over to the Louisades for a couple of months. If we like the idea of cruising then may go up to the Solomons for Xmas. And then who knows.

Click on map to enlarge
18.8.2011
We are currently anchored up at Willis Island which is pretty much on the 200 mile mark out from the coast. Tomorrow we leave here about 5pm for the biggest jump so far about 400 miles nonstop up to Rossel Island in the Louisiades. We're hoping to do it in around 3 days. Halcyon struggle more than us during these sails because of them healing over so much. So much for keeping in touch with FB.

23.8.2011
Well, we're here at Sudest Island in the Louisiades Archipelago PNG. The trip from Willis Island to here took 50 hrs non-stop. A very eventful experience. For those of you who don't know, we're travelling with Ross and Yvonne Stewart. Their boat is called Halcyon, ours is Settlement. [Editor: according to the Australian Register of Ships, Settlement is 13.8m long and was built in 2002]

Anyway, we arrived here on Sunday about 5pm. Well, since 7.30am on Monday we've had a constant stream of locals coming out to the boats to trade things, e.g. sweet potato, some horrible looking green stuff, eggs etc. The stories we're going to have to tell when we get home!!!! We did do a deal yesterday: about 6 dozen oysters for 6 AA-batteries. We went into a village this pm. Mind boggling. We don't know how fortunate we all are. There is a feast on in another village early next week that we've been invited to, so may stay here till then. It sounds like a travelling kind of show that they put on whenever someone dies.

One guy that came out yesterday wanted Andrew's help with some electrical probs with his generator. He said enthusiastically, "I can pay you with a pig", to which Andrew answered, "WTF am I going to do with a pig?" The income some of these people get here is from alluvial gold up the river. So guess what were doing in a couple of days? Taking a picnic lunch and Andrew's wizz-bang metal detector up the river for the day.

1.9.2011
Left Dumaga Bay and the Ru Village on Tuesday morning. Just sailed north till we found something that we liked which is Bada Bada Bay, about 13 nm away. Of course, it has a couple of cillages. From here we'll go around to Targula station at Bobo Hai P.T at the northern end of the island. Its about 20 nm, The people so far are very friendly with every village with a pastor either Uniting or Catholic.

2.9.2011
Well, we're now anchored off Nimoa Island, the beginning of the Calvados group. It was really hard leaving that first spot. We became quite fond of Christopher and little Kevin.
We never did get to go to the feast as it was always in a few days and we had to move on. We stopped off today at a trading post to get some diesel and check out their shop. I've never seem so many different brands of bully beef. I was hoping for some tomatoes but alas there was none. We stopped at Badda Badda Bay which Ross renamed Gooda Gooda Bay because of all the Crayfish and Mud Crabs that they brought out to trade. We really wish there had been more info on what these people need. Something we'll rectify when we get normal internet again. The most common thing they ask for is soap. I had a snorkel here this pm. One of the best I've ever had. Will have to drag Andrew in tomorrow. We'll probably stay here till Monday. Yvonne and I are planning a Father's Day lunch for the Dads. Lamb shanks and Yvonne's bread and butter pudding.

18.9.2011
Well we've been on Rossel Island for 11 days. In the one anchorage at Tyron Bay. In this time we've been to church last Sunday. Don't fall off your chair Mary!!! It's the best upper arm exercise I've had in a while. All that clapping, CYC church??????

Friday was the celebration of PNG's 36th anniversary of Independence from Australia. So we along with about 9 other dim dims(white people)we were the special guests of the proceedings. Sadly we were about 20 mins late and missed the majority of the visiting Pastors service!!!

Anyway let me tell you their was no bbq or cold beers. They put on a buffet of local food. I must admit I was slack and apart from pawpaw I couldn't bring myself to eat any of it. Even cast iron gut Andrew was a little reserved. Ross ate enough for all of us.

Forgot to mention Thursday. A special day at the school. The kids all dressed in there traditional garb and exchanged gifts. Which is a grass skirt for the girls and a g string made out of banana leaves for the boys. So once again we're seated in the front of the proceedings starting to understand how Royalty feels. When they start marching off to the left to go to get there exchange baskets. Well as Ross put it "Andrew what a boob fest". The funny thing is that it's actually female thighs that are taboo. So when I get out of the water every pm I have to get Andrew to pass me a towel to hide my sexy thighs. I wish.

Andrew's sitting with me having a glass of red and said to tell you about the visiting the Anthropologists. So here goes. They have been here for 8 weeks and came over to the celebration for the day only. One hawaian and two kiwis from the ANU in Canberra. They're here to find out about Rossel Isl residents of the past and to see if these people left from here to colonise the Solomon's and other islands. As you could guess, maybe, but the weather is wet, still waiting for a fine day to do the washing.

To say these last 11 days have been an interesting insight into how other people exist would be a enormous understatement. Poor Ross tonight has found that the small boy he befriended has probably stolen from him has been a real bummer. But lets not go there at the present. We farwelled our adopted family tonight, very sad, Jonathan, Willy, Enidth, Lucy and there mother, Nina. We have also found out there is no marina facilities in the Solomon's so are rethinking strategy for xmas, maybe Darwin who knows.

Andrew would like the rugby results anyone!!!!!!!!!!!

24.9.11
Currently at Robinson Anchorage at the island of Abaga Gaheia in the Calvados Group. Heading over to Alotau for fuel and customs clearance. Thanks for the rugby results. We had intended going to Solomons for Xmas to leave boat but there is no marina. Prefer marina for security as boat could be there a month before we go back.
So are looking at other options. Maybe go to Cairns then Darwin to do the Kimberlies next year then maybe sail Indonesia rally. Then sail Malaysia rally.
Would look at sending boat from Singapore to Med then sail home via Atlantic and Pacific but who knows.

25.9.11
Had a very nice coral trout for lunch that Sue caught. Still waiting for mud crabs but the locals suck too much beetle juice. Off to Pana Numara Island to dive at the blue lagoon. Eventually will get to Alotua hopefully for the RWC finals.

13.11.11
The Truth about the trip to The Louisiades

What you are about to read is the ramblings of an old man and you will probably get sick of it after the first page, however I am going to tell my story, no matter what.

What I and for that matter Yvonne think of The Louisiades.
Just because we have been together for 48 years doesn't mean that either one is brain washed by the other. Maybe I am?

Also in my ramblings things are not necessarily in order or context but read on, it may become apparent.

These are some of our considered opinions and if we offend anyone (Henry and Jeane) we apologise in advance. You've read all the stories so far and can tell we have had a fantastic time, but there are some negatives that we think we should tell you, to fulfil the picture. The following has in no way been influenced by our boat problems that could happen anywhere.

The Trip Over:

Most of these incidents occurred on the passage, the night and morning before we arrived.

Radios:
We had troubles with reception on both systems HF and VHF, but due to Andrew's ability with electronics, he was able to fix both problems. (At Willis Island before departure from Australia)
Yvonne's eye:
Tea time, whilst thickening a stew, mixing cornflour with water, with both hands full and not supporting herself a wave hit and she was thrown into the refrigerator door headfirst. She turned her head to protect it and had a glancing blow high on the cheek bone enough to break the skin. I Band- aided her up and Sue, being an ex nurse, came over the next day and put a dressing and some Steery strips on it. She now has another wrinkle to go with the rest of her love lines.

The Dingy:
I was on watch and noticed that the dingy although still held to the davits by a chain at the bow and stern, had snapped a 6mm stainless steel turnbuckle which allowed the other to dislodge and the dingy was on a severe angle swinging back and forward crashing into the newly painted davits. The outboard petrol tank was dangerously close to falling out so I called Yvonne to come and watch me whilst I tied it temporarily into place.

The Safety Harness:
When I or we, even in good conditions, leave the pilot house, on a sea passage, the rules is put on your self inflating life jacket/safety harness and attach yourself to the boat with a seat belt type strap so you can't fall or slip overboard. These conditions were not good so I donned the regalia and went to work. I completed the job slipping and sliding on the back deck, came inside with the safety strap and went to unattach myself from the strap only to find out it wasn't there. I had been clipping onto the boat but wasn't attached to the strap. There's a word for that, something head!

Lost Danbouy:
See above (Dingy)

Lost Life Ring:
See above (Dingy)

The Headsail:
I took over the watch from Yvonne at about 3.00am, she complained that the boat wasn't answering the auto Pilot and she had a hard time keeping it on track. I looked at it made some adjustments to the rudder sensitivity and rudder angle movement and found that it was hopeless. I looked out and noticed that the navigational lights were brighter and more visible than normal, why, because there was no Headsail. The end result being that the halyard had broken and the sail was in the water acting as a sea anchor. Hanging over the port side pulpit and coming out on the starboard side mid ships. Pitch black, raining I informed Andrew that the sail was down but still attached and he turned around and came back. By this time I now knew the problem, and while he circled the boat, at 5.00am (first light) in 25 - 30 knots of wind I winched the sail up stopping every now and then to empty the water and securing the sail on deck. A great surprise and relief was that the sail was still in one piece, a bit dirty from rubbing against the anti-foul but still intact.
We motor sailed the next twelve hours to Sudest Island.

The Port side Stainless Steel Pulpit:
Bent see above (Headsail).

The Anti Foul:
Removed see above (Headsail).

The wind vain:
I have the arrow and one arrow tail.

Whilst There:

The Cap Shroud:
One day I was looking at the rigging as you do, and saw that the port side Cap Shroud was frayed like a rag dolls top notch, holding by the thicker centre wire still in place. So we taped it up put two hose lamps on it and supported the bottom spreader with the spinnaker halyard curling down the existing shroud (Andrew's idea)

The Main Halyard:
Putting up the main sail and jamming it in the rope clutch (we say jammer) I noticed that the outer shield had come away from the inner rope below the jammer, fortunately I could bind it with insulation tape to allow it to go back up and not cut it down. I am now using my topping lift as a halyard and my halyard as a topping lift.

The Gear Box:
Well the truth is we have no forward motion what so ever only the wind. We anchored and sailed away from The Louisiades with no clutch, sometimes we have reverse, but we can't back all the way to Australia and we would have had to have waited in Port Moresby for a replacement Automatic Gearbox, for who knows how long.

The Return Passage:
The trip back certainly wasn't as bad as going over. If the winds had dropped too much, motoring wasn't an option so we had to press on no matter what. The weather was better, the sea state was better, the angle of the boat was worse in means of comfort. The last day was as good as it gets, we think, and we still weren't happy at sea.
Entering Grafton passage at night was to say the least daunting, but calling a ship and getting no answer was scary, An Asian Captain on a large ship, that couldn't speak English made matters worse. When he eventually spoke he said in Asian English "Wot is ya teson" (What is your intension) I felt like saying "Not to hit you, you big pri.k". It was horrifying, seeing his profile on the radar screen on a collision course would scare the s..t out of anyone. The fact that your six nautical miles away (that's only about 20 - 30 minutes at max and it would take maybe 10 minutes to cross his path), the fact still remains that if he hits then you're gone.

Anchoring in the dark, with no motor, in a strange location, with no moon (Andrew got that wrong, it was covered in cloud) and even with Settlement's spreader lights on and her blue aft lights, Andrew with his search light it's still hard to know how far away they were . I knew where they were but not how far, consequently I dropped anchor miles from where I should have and consequently we rocked and rolled all night in the middle of the bay. Not that we knew, we were out like candles.

From what you have read so far (in this email), I know there have been a lot of negatives.

It was really good, relaxing and something that not everybody can do and I appreciate the fact that I could (you have to have a boat). I loved interacting with the people, especially the kids and for the little something that we could bring to them. The naturalness of an incredible country with natural beauty friendly and happy people will remain with us forever. The food, sea food fruit chicken eggs, but not many vegetables is limited in quality and variety

Vegetables:
Sweet Potato, different varieties, Pumpkin, Ibeka (type of spinach, it's a green - yuck even cooked in coconut milk as recommended), Yams - yuck (but maybe we could have experimented more with them although I doubt it) beans and tomatoes.

Sea Food:
Oysters, Reef fish including Red Emperor, Coral Trout, Sweet Lips, Lobsters (two types) Painted Cray's, Medium to King Prawns (but we left before the prawns were received) Cockle type shell fish.

Fruits:
Bananas by the bunch or hand, Passion fruit, Mangoes, Paw Paw, Pineapple, Oranges (which are green) Limes.

Chicken Eggs:
There are Bantam chickens running around every village. Sometimes people own them; sometimes the village owns them so you can't be too sure of the quality because someone will just pick up and egg and go and trade. Some are bad, real bad so we used to sink them in some water those that floated even a little bit were returned to the trader before negotiations.
All of the above foods were negotiated and traded at the back of the boat, with kids from seven to oldies, Magistrates and local Councillors. What we bought would cost us thousands of Australian dollars in any standard country.
Although some, the greatest minority of the people were out to get as much out of you as possible and not in a nice way; for the most part they were all fantastic, really inquisitive about us, our way of life, our worldly possessions, our children everything they could learn. We went along with their bartering and usually gave more than they asked for however if they were greedy I would either say enough or give back their goods.

The Bad Things (summary only):

The Trading:
As well as being fun, this can be a real pain when you get a lot of canoes parked off your boat all wanting something any time of the day. You can ignore them and they will sit and wait giving out the occasional cough or a quiet hello until you practically have to order them away. There is only so much fruit and veggies you can take. And if you let them on board, they will sit and talk amongst themselves, perfectly relaxed, while you just sit there and wait for them to go.

The Poverty:
Most of their houses are constructed of timber frame with woven frond walls and a woven grass roof. They are built above the ground on stilts, to protect themselves from the pigs, if they have pigs or on bare earth, with a raised floor where they sleep eat and cook.

The Hygiene:
Because they have nothing you see the same people wearing the same cloths every day, sometimes inside out, probably when there dirty. Swimming to them is washing, that's what they call it.

Beatle Nuts:
This is the worst thing. It is some sort of nut that grows on a tree that looks like a coconut palm. It is a cultural thing. They have been doing it forever and it is killing them. It's a drug and is habit forming like cigarettes. If they just did that I could possibly accept it, but they also use lime, in their mouth which interacts with the beetle nut and produces red foam, which they spit out, leaving their gums and teeth red and rotting. I knew all this before and I imagined that the lime was from the fruit of a lime tree but no it's lime that you use in concrete, they get it by crushing up coral. No wonder their mortality rate is so low.

I've been told by so many people that PNG has not changed in thirty years and is likely not to change as the politicians are apparently all corrupt.

What will we do now?
Well we have learnt a lot in the two crossings, and our trips around the islands and intend to sail even in light breezes and not just start the steel spinnaker (motor). We are now prepared to do the occasional overnighter if we want to, even a two nighter (only along the coast, never in the open sea again) but that's about it. We have done things we couldn't have imagined our selves doing, things we have seen others do and marvelled at, like sailing to anchor and sailing from anchor. Now we are there, or not quite yet, after this morning's episode.

After going to bed at 2.30am, we awoke and got ready for the Volunteer Coast Guard to tow us into the marina, and finally home safe and well. It could have been a lot worse if there was no wind; we could have been still out there or whatever.

We have established that we are Coastal, Fine Weather Sailors; we are not Blue Water Cruisers.

When after we did our first overnighter going to Magnetic Island from Bowen, we told Andrew and Sue that were not confident in ourselves or in Halcyon - We were right on both counts, still you have to have a go and we don't regret it.

Last but not least

The Company:
Andrew and Sue are now life time Friends (with a capital F), we kicked our relationship off when we met firstly in the Hinchinbrook Channel, then sailed south with them from Fitzroy Island to The Whitsundays some three or four years ago. A nicer couple you could not find, they are generous, helpful in every way and the best friends, plus they are also "Foodies".

It was them that suggested we go to the Louisiades, it was Andrew that planned and organised the whole thing. Sue organised the renewal of our Passports and obtaining of visas, the changing of currency and probably a lot more that I can't remember. Andrew organised the Australian Registration of Halcyon, including the delivery of papers personally to the Canberra office.

On both passages Andrew and Sue slowed their boat down to stay close to us. During the headsail incident Andrew and Sue returned (some two hours) back and circled Halcyon until we were under control then went ahead and found an anchorage, and advised our entry into the reef and the position which we just made before dark, in the rain.
Through the whole adventure Yvonne and I were just following on, trusting in Andrew's judgment on the weather, the rout, and the method in which we cruised the islands. During our passages Andrew kept me informed on the waypoints, the position of ships and called them to advise them of our position. This was especially helpful when entering Grafton Passage, last night, Andrew called a big ship up, advised him of his position and more importantly our position in regards to moveability.

On the return passage Andrew contacted Customs, the Marina, and the Volunteer Coast Guard for towing..... .... Anything and Everything.

We did have some issuers on occasion, as four people tend to do, spending so much time together. However the conflicts were resolved over a beer or a meal (Sue can cook anything and make it tasted good).

Today at 10.00am the Coast Card came out and towed us into the marina. We have been busy with Customs, Quarantine, getting mechanics, getting riggers and getting a stainless steel fabricator (more money) and finishing this monumental disaster of an email that changed into a novel of sorts.

Since we left Magnetic Island on the 12th of August until we arrived and anchored in Cairns the total trip covered 1,531 nautical miles and took eleven weeks six days and twenty hours. You could say twelve weeks or you could say three months but being pedantic as I am, I must quote the exact time.

Well as Bugs Bunny said:

"That's all folks"

Much Love

Ross and Yvonne

Thanks to so many of you that enjoyed my musings and encouraged me to write more (you fools, given an inch I'll take a mile).
Ross and Yvonne Stuart
The Good Ship HALCYON at sea somewhere

Good on you, Andrew! "Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did." Those are Mark Twain's words, not mine, but I fully agree with them.

Es löscht das Meer die Sonne aus

2011-09-04T17:24:00.000-07:00

QUEST II

2011-02-18T00:42:00.000-08:00

Another yacht, QUEST II, with Peter and Janette on board, anchored off "Riverbend" yesterday. Originally from Sydney, they have lived aboard their yacht since 2009 and sailed through Fiji (yes, Rob, including Savusavu) and are now on their way to Tasmania, after which they head for South Africa and then the Baltic Sea in Europe.

They don't know it yet but this evening they will be guests of the Nelligen Yacht Club and treated to dinner and a showing of the English version of the film The Riddle of the Sands to prepare them for the fury of the Baltic Sea. (Read the book [online].)

To our Honorary Member Nicos Ligakis

2011-01-09T21:14:00.000-08:00

It's his 61st birthday today!

χρονια πολλα!

My next boat?

2010-12-26T15:41:00.000-08:00

The Innespace Seabreacher (or Sea Breacher) is a two-seat submersible personal watercraft, designed by Rob Innes and Dan Piazza of the American company Innespace. It is the production model of the single-seat Innespace Dolphin.

This larger two-seat vessel is powered by an Atkins Rotary Marine engine coupled to a Hurth V-drive transmission.

The vessel's shape is based on the shape of a dolphin, and imitates a dolphin's movement.

Too stingy to buy a trailer?

2010-12-16T14:20:00.000-08:00

What are you sinking about?

2010-12-09T01:32:00.000-08:00

Love Love from julien berthier on Vimeo.

The Love Love boat was built to look as if it is sinking.

French artist Julien Berthier has designed a fully functional boat to look as if it is sinking. The 6.5m (21ft) yacht was cut in half with a new keel and motor added so it remains in the sinking position while being fully functional. He describes it as "the permanent and mobile image of a wrecked ship that has become a functional and safe leisure object."

Berthier has taken the boat (or should I say half-a-boat) across the English Channel to London and has toured it around Europe, getting plenty of offers of assistance from unwitting Good Samaritans, who would presumably be either very annoyed or rather bemused by the contraption.

The ship that never sank

2010-12-03T22:13:00.000-08:00

Part 1    Part 2    Part 3    Part 4    Part 5    Part 6    Part 7
Part 8    Part 9    Part 10    Part 11    Part 12    Part 14
Part 15    Part 16    Part 17

I've just discovered Robin Gardiner's book The Great TITANIC Conspiracy in which he unearthes a wealth of new evidence for his theory that the sinking of the TITANIC was a vast conspiracy, and that the ship that went down on 14th April 1912 was in fact OLYMPIC, TITANIC's sister-ship, and the sinking was planned as one of the world's greatest insurance frauds.

To the present day the most common maritime insurance fraud involves changing identities of ships. But tragically the planned staging of the sinking of Titanic, whereby other ships from the company would be on hand to rescue all the passengers and crew, went disastrously wrong and 1500 souls perished on the supposedly unsinkable ship's maiden voyage.

This book concentrates on the conspiracy, with evidence of why the White Star company intended to defraud the insurance company by swapping the identity of Titanic and the recently damaged Olympic in a collision with HMS Hawke, with new conclusive photographic and documentary evidence of the swap. The story starts with financier J P Morgan's takeover of White Star and the Royal Navy's investment in the company's new liners as potential troop carriers.

Following the Agadir crisis in 1911 Morgan began to ship gold and other treasures back to the safe haven of the US. The pressure on White Star to make up the cost of the damage to Olympic, which the insurance company would not cover, through swapping the identities of Olympic and Titanic, was also the opportunity for Morgan with the collusion of the British government, to quietly ship GBP8 million of gold to the US.

But unbeknown to the government, the gold was spirited away. The subsequent staged collision with the iceberg went horribly wrong as those in charge of Titanic completely underestimated the scale of the panic and the ensuing disaster as the ship quickly sank and the rescue boats failed to arrive became a disaster that would reverberate around the world.

This gripping account recounts the author's theory on the whole build up to the disaster and its aftermath in which all parties were involved in collusion, conspiracy and cover-up on an unprecedented scale. Is it true or is it fiction? Only the reader can decide.

Need a survey?

2010-11-29T13:55:00.000-08:00

This looks rigged!

2010-11-29T12:39:00.000-08:00

What a ship!

2010-11-27T15:01:00.000-08:00

The Emma Maersk, owned by the Danish Maersk Line, is the world's largest container vessel ever built.

This monster transports goods across the Pacific in just 5 days!! This is one of three ships presently in service, with another two ships commissioned to be completed in 2012.

These ships were commissioned by Wal-Mart to get all their goods and stuff from China . They hold an incredible 15,000 containers and have a 207 foot deck beam!! The full crew is just 13 people on a ship longer than a US Aircraft Carrier (which has a crew of 5,000).

With its 207' beam it is too big to fit through the Panama or Suez Canals. It is strictly transpacific. Cruise speed: 31 knots. The goods arrive 4 days before the typical container ship (18-20 knots) on a China-to-California run. 91% of Walmart products are made in China. So this behemoth is hugely competitive even when carrying perishable goods.

The ship was built in five sections. The sections were floated together and then welded. The command bridge is higher than a 10-storey building and the ship has 11 cargo crane rigs that can operate simultaneously, unloading the entire ship in less than two hours.

Additional info:

Country of origin - Denmark
Length - 1,302 ft
Width - 207 ft
Net cargo - 123,200 tons
Engine - 14 cylinders in-line diesel engine (110,000 BHP)
Cruise Speed - 31 knots
Cargo capacity - 15,000 TEU (1 TEU = 20 cubic feet)
Crew - 13 people !
First Trip - Sept. 08, 2006
Construction cost - US$145,000,000

A documentary on the History Channel noted that all of those containers are shipped back to China EMPTY! Yep, that's right - EMPTY!

We send nothing back on these ships. What does that tell you about the current financial state of the Western world? Just keep buying those imported goods (mostly gadgets) until you run out of money. Then you may start to wonder what the cause of all the unemployment might be!

Living on (bread and) water

2010-08-19T01:24:00.000-07:00

So you're thinking of living permanently on your boat? Think again! You may need a larger boat just to store all the rules and regulations that govern such an innocent pursuit:

The appropriate laws are contained in the "Management of Waters and Waterside Lands Regulations—N.S.W."

The maximum amount of time you can live on board is 21 days in every 6 months. Beyond this, your vessel becomes a "moored houseboat," and there are requirements.

Firstly, you need special permission from NSW Maritime, or from the Crown.

Before it even comes down to a NSW Maritime decision, you must have two things:

1. Written permission from the landowner who owns the land you will use to access your vessel, that they approve of the use of the land for that purpose;

2.Written approval from the council of the nearest adjoining land, that they do not dissapprove of you living on board the vessel, and the standard of living therein.

A new neighbour?

2010-08-17T00:43:00.000-07:00

The sun was over the yardarm and we were enjoying a drink on the verandah when a rubber-duckie came up the river. He waved, we waved, and he came ashore!

It turned out to be the 64-year-old sailor Brian Metcalfe who, a couple of weeks ago, had spent an excruciating night stranded off Batemans Bay suffering from hypothermia and medication withdrawal. [Read more].

Brian lives permanently on a 24ft TRITON 721, and is anchored - indefinitely, it seems - in the Bay off Square Head. Now that he has explored the upper reaches, he wants to move upriver.

An example of a TRITON 721 but not Brian's
Welcome to the Nelligen Yacht Club, Brian!
Wear our yacht club t-shirt with pride!

Ahoy there, AMBER LADY!

2010-08-12T22:59:00.000-07:00

Click on image for another patch
I've rowed out to AMBER LADY to inspect the patches - and they are looking good!

After all the rowing, I had to have a coffee-and-cake break while I ran the engine for ten minutes or so.

Click here for a close-up of the book's cover

Nick, I left you this book to expand your mental horizon as we sit around the infinity edge pool at the Banjar Hills Retreat in Bali.

I also left some housekeeping material to keep the boat clean:

Travelling North - at a snail's pace

2010-08-02T19:39:00.000-07:00

CHARON at the 1972 Sydney Boat Show
Richard and Wendy's CHARON is currently tucked up at a jetty alongside the Wangi Wangi Workers Club at Lake Macquarie where it is blowing a gale.

They took the train down to Sydney to visit the Boat Show. There they were given an old photo of CHARON when she was the centrepiece of the 1972 boat show.

P.S. Wendy, Padma has just finished reading Rosamunde Pilcher's Winter Solstice and highly recommends it!

If it fits, wear it!

2010-07-28T03:22:00.000-07:00

New lifejacket rules to improve boating safety and reduce deaths from drowning will come into effect from 1 November 2010.

Under the rules, people will be required to wear lifejackets at times of heightened risk.

The reforms are the result of a NSW Maritime discussion paper on the issue, which generated a strong response from the boating community with a record 3615 submissions.

The new rules for wearing lifejackets include:

By children less than 12 years of age when:
- in a vessel less than 4.8 metres;
- when in an open area of a vessel less than 8 metres in length that is underway;

By all boaters in a vessel less than 4.8 metres in the following heightened risk situations:
- at night;
- on open (ocean) waters;
- on alpine waters; and
- when boating alone;

At times of ‘Skipper Judgement and Direction’ in ‘heightened risk’ situations such as when the weather worsens or the boat breaks down;

When water-skiing or wakeboarding;

When operating a canoe or kayak on:
- enclosed waters, when more than 100 metres from shore; and
- ocean waters.

There will be a 12-month advisory period while boaters get used to the new rules, where NSW Maritime will only penalise repeat offenders.

Another fourth Greek letter

2010-07-27T19:19:00.000-07:00

Steve Leonard, the originator of the Deltacraft range of boats, with fellow boat builder John Gale are setting out to recreate the Deltacraft Islander in a 2010 guise. They are presently building the moulds and hope to be in production by Christmas 2010.

The new boat is a metre longer than the old ones and fitted with a rear gate and a lovely shape to the transom with an full-width moulded landing platform. Accommodation includes a larger shower/toilet cabin, larger modernised galley, 50mm (2 inches) more headroom taking it to nearly 1.9 mtrs, around 6' 3". The cockpit is huge, seating 8 and sleeping 2, with 3 sleeping in the cabin all on full-length bunks.

A new deep full-length keel with ballast stiffens the boat up enormously and designed hull alterations make the new boat the best ever. With the Volvo 3-cylinder engine driving a 4-blade propeller, the fuel usage is expected to be only 1.5 litres per hour at hull speed. For its weight and size, this makes it a most economical boat to run, thus the most eco-friendly.

Priced at $59,900, it is a lot of boat for the money. Trade-in Deltas welcomed.

For more details, email Steve at steve@deltacraft.com.au or visit the website of the Delta Islander Club.

Cheers from CHARON

2010-07-23T14:41:00.000-07:00

According to their latest blog, CHARON and her crew are still in the Pitt Water/Broken Bay area. However, fellow yachties gave them a spare chart of the Whitsundays which may induce them to set sail for warmer climes soon.

They may cross paths with TEKANI II who has had her new name emblazoned on her mainsail-sock and is now ready to head back to her home port Cairns.

Tekani II

2010-07-19T00:56:00.000-07:00

In December last year I wrote this blog about my 82-year-old mate Brian Darcey from Cairns who was about to set sail in an ocean-going yacht which he had bought in Zealand.

There were some last-minute problems with that particular boat. Brian has since bought this South Coast 36 ketch which he renamed Tekani II (after the island of the same name in Papua New Guinea where his old mate Graeme Carson used to lived).

He spent the last couple of weeks at Mooloolaba Marina where he familiarised himself with his new boat and is now ready to set sail for new horizons.

Good luck and fair winds, Brian!

Playing with boats and getting paid for it!

2010-06-24T18:23:00.000-07:00

Here I was in sunny Samoa in 1978, assisting in the formation of the PACIFIC FORUM LINE.

I am the second from the right. I have forgotten all the other people except for the General Manager, a dour Yorkshireman by the name of Captain Dewsnap, who is the fourth from the right.

Those were the days! And here are more pictures.

I revisited Samoa in April 2007 and found a far more glamorous PFL office:

Not a yacht but a ship all the same

2010-06-23T02:26:00.000-07:00

A photo of the "Mofarrij-D" (built 1960, LOA 172.9m, GT 17826, DW 25867), one of six ageing bulk carriers which my Saudi boss Sheikh Abdulghani Abdulrahiem Mofarrij, in a sudden rush of blood to his head, had bought in mid-1983.

I will never forget the day he asked me to accompany him to the offices of the Greek shipping company INTERTRANS in Piraeus. There a Greek lawyer presented him with a whole ream of legal papers which, entirely drawn up in the Greek language, documented his purchase of six rustbuckets that would become the company fleet of "Mofarrij-A", "Mofarrij-B", "Mofarrij-C" "Mofarrij-D", "Mofarrij-F", and "Mofarrij-G".

Despite my whispered urgings not to sign anything he could not read, let alone buy ships which, judged by their appearance, where in worse shape than Lord Jim's "Patna", he initialled every page and signed on the dotted line.

Not surprisingly, all six vessels finished up with the knackers in Chittagong in Bangladesh and Huangpu in China less than two years later but by that time I had already resigned from my position as Group Financial Controller as I simply couldn't bear to see the business go down the toilet through sheer stupidity.

See related story TAREing my hair out.

Pirates and how to handle them

2010-06-20T18:14:00.000-07:00

This advice was given to me by my old seafaring mate Brian Darcey in Cairns. It is intended for those yachtsmen who still want to do what he did in more innocent times than the present: sail away in a yacht and cruise the South Pacific.

The good news is that you still can. The bad news is that there are people out there who will kill you for whatever they think you might have on board and no-one will stop them. Offshore, in countries like Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands, you are on your own and must be able to look after yourself and your ship without outside help. The Indian Ocean is worse and piracy is a growth industry.

You still want to go? Then hear this:

Piracy is not new. In the 18th Century, it was alive and well and any vessel that ventured offshore armed itself. The better armed you were, the less the risk that the villains would attack you. British and American ships were rarely attacked, as they all carried guns and people trained to use them who would open fire on any vessel which came too close and refused to stop and identify itself. The pirates were well aware of this and usually sought softer targets than well-armed British and Americans.

You need some defensive hardware, not all of it legal in civilised countries like Australia.

1. A loudhailer (and I mean really LOUD)
2. A spotlight with at least a 0.5km range
3. Two grenade launchers with 5 rounds for each (ask at a waterfront pub, or contact easily found unofficial gun dealers at your first port of entry in PNG or the Solomons.) Use a few rounds for practice on a floating log well offshore. You will be pleasantly surprised at the spectacular results.

On passage keep a good lookout and leave the radar turned on. If approached by any small vessel, day or night, warn them with the loud hailer to back off, ONCE!

If they keep coming, open fire with the grenade launcher, being careful to lead the target to allow for the speed of both vessels. The first shot should be aimed ahead of the suspect vessel and will almost always be enough to halt it in its tracks.

If it keeps coming, correct your aim and forget the survivors, as these killers hunt in packs and their friends will be close by and will pick up anyone still swimming. Do not, under any circumstances, report the incident to police, customs or military who may be in nominal control of the area.

Illegal? Of course it is: the law frowns on this sort of thing, but be aware, that the same law won't be there when you are boarded by people who are not afraid to die and to take you and your crew with them. Get rid of the artillery over the side in deep water before re-entering Australia.

Security in anchorages

Leaving a dinghy in the water overnight in an anchorage is a message that a live one has arrived. Hoist it on deck or in the davits before sunset. Overnight anchor watches are not practicable for short-handed cruising yachts, but the risk of finding armed intruders in the cabin after dark is a real one.

One safety device is available for legal purchase in Australia from any agricultural equipment dealer. It won't work on a steel hull, but the ship's company on a glass, timber or ferro boat can enjoy a good night's sleep free from unwelcome intruders if you connect a 12-volt cattle fence unit to the lifelines with appropriate insulation to isolate it where necessary. This will give a non-lethal, but powerful jolt to anyone who touches the lifelines if they try to climb aboard. Try it yourself standing barefoot in a wet canoe for a convincing demonstration.

Bon voyage.

Life doesn't get much better than this!

2010-06-19T21:03:00.000-07:00

Sitting on my boat lying at anchor in a peaceful cove, with a glass of Jacob's Creek Merlot in my hand and the radio tuned to FM Classical Music - life doesn't get much better than this!

David Glasheen on Restoration Island, Horst Berger on Uiha Island, the Hepworth Family on Pigeon Island, Ron Brandt on Packe Island, "German Harry " on Deliverance Island, Tom Neale on Suwarrov: they all had their reasons to shun civilisation but I can enjoy their lifestyle and yet rejoin the "real world" anytime I want by simply driving down the 8 km to the Bay.

I may even sleep aboard "Lady Anne" tonight. With the companionway left half-open, I can watch the stars as the waves gently rock me to sleep. I have all the victuals in the galley: tinned baked beans, tinned braised steak, tinned rice cream pudding, bread, tea, coffee, sugar, and another bottle of Jacob's Creek!

I drink to that!

Sail ho, CHARON!

2010-06-19T15:10:00.000-07:00

We've just heard from Richard and Wendy who stopped at Ulladulla and Greenwell Point (Nowra), and got liquored up at Wollongong (see picture), before heading for Sydney.

[Click here] to read their sailing blog.

Gale Warning

2010-06-16T22:16:00.001-07:00

It's blowing a gale down here and we're wondering if Richard and Wendy made it safely to their next port-of-call, be that Ulladulla or Jervis Bay.

We'll keep you posted as news comes in!

Today's ceremony

2010-06-12T21:42:00.000-07:00

The Management and Board of

Nelligen Yacht Club

Issues this certificate to

Richard and Wendy

in recognition of their endurance stay

of one whole week in the Clyde River

The entire Nelligen Yacht Club, its Commodore, Secretary, Treasurer, and only-member-all-rolled-into-one, will present this certificate to Richard and Wendy on their ketch Charon at a lunchtime ceremony today.

Cheese will be served with the Commodore-Secretary-Treasurer-only member's usual whine.

left to right: Roy, Padma, the skipper Richard, David, the skipper's mate Wendy
[Click here] to read Richard and Wendy's sailing blog.

New arrivals

2010-06-08T21:49:00.000-07:00

Richard and Wendy aboard the Seven Seas 37 ketch "Charon" anchored off "Riverbend" yesterday. They are from Hobart and will sail for tropical Queensland in a day or two. The best neighbours to have!

Richard taking a photo of their ketch from Riverbend

The four of us had dinner by the fireplace, washed it all down with mulled wine, and then started on our sing-a-long. Richard plays a mean honkytonk piano and I joined in with my squeezebox and it turned into a really great night.

[Click here] to read Richard and Wendy's sailing blog.

Life is a genuinely artificial beach

2010-05-19T21:07:00.000-07:00

One more reason to join the Nelligen Yacht Club: a genuinely artificial beach! Does life get any better than this?

Don't spoil it by joining!

2010-05-02T21:50:00.000-07:00

The Nelligen Yacht Club, Australia's most exclusive yacht club with a membership of just ONE, is up and running.

Shipboard entertainment

2010-02-04T00:32:00.000-08:00

With my Van-Gogh's-ear for music, it could be argued that the Germans should have been required to lay down their accordions along with their arms at the end of the war.

REMYdial action completed

2010-01-31T21:52:00.000-08:00

A certain vessel has returned from the obscurity of Cyne Mallows Creek, refurbished and restored to her former glory.

Welcome back, REMY!

She's a Compass Easterly 30 who's spent all her life at Pittwater and Gosford before coming to Nelligen.

The Reception Committee:
John McSmith, Harbourmaster, Port Nelligen
Nick Ligakis, Neighbour-at-moorings and shipping magnate
Peter Goerman, (self-appoint.) Commodore, Nelligen Yacht Club

Looking out for Lucas!

2010-01-01T21:54:00.000-08:00

Click on image for a close-up of book

An (unfinancial) member of the Nelligen Yacht Club phoned to say that the Alan Lucas was sailing up the Clyde River.

Of course, anybody who has sailed the east coast of Australia or read any number of sailing magazines over the last four decades will know the name. Alan Lucas hit the sailing scene in 1968 with the release of his indispensable pilot book, Cruising the Coral Coast, now in its eighth edition. So to attract Alan's attention, I sat on the jetty and waited, nonchalantly displaying a copy of his Cruising the Coral Coast (albeit an old 4th edition which I picked up from the local op-shop - remember, I'm a self-funded retiree!).

Altogether twenty-three books and cruising guides have been published by Alan Lucas since the 1960s, covering not only Australian cruising grounds but the Pacific, Europe, Red Sea and Indian Ocean, along with a plethora of How-To Manuals. Alan is quick to add that most ‘never went to a second edition or were unceremoniously remaindered.’ Regardless, many of us have more than one well-thumbed Lucas book in our library and remain on the look-out for additions to the collection!

Born in July 1936, the young Alan Lucas began his lifelong passion for life afloat on the Lane Cove River, “…much of it trying to drown myself in a strange range of home-made craft, from tin canoes to rafts, war-surplus rubber dinghies and aeroplane wing fuel tanks…” In his early teens, VJs and open 12’ skiffs replaced the earlier prototypes before he became the proud owner of a “dilapidated 6-metre launch” which he ketch-rigged. Although a foundation member of the Sydney Junior Offshore Group, racing has never featured heavily on the Lucas sailing agenda. ”Big time racing doesn’t grab me being a non-competitive person,” he says. “However racing is the best way to acquire sail trimming skills. In that area, cruising makes you pretty slack!”

Alan's flair for graphic layout has origins in his trade as a commercial artist. Freelancing in advertising agencies kept him afloat financially in the early years, enabling him to dabble in a variety of far more alluring odd jobs like his stint on a 22m Tasmanian trading ketch running fishing charters out of Sydney and working in the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron boatyard. This was “the best” - says Alan and no doubt the beginning of his love affair for ‘mucking around with boats’.

At 22, he began building the first, a 9.5m plywood ketch called ‘Rendezvous’, launching her two years later as his first live-aboard home. For 11 years, 'Rendezvous' carried Alan up and down the East Coast, to the Top End, Timor, the Solomons and New Guinea (where he was lucky enough to meet Robin Lee Graham of Dove fame. ”His cat and mine got along famously.”) During this busy period he also married, had a son and penned the first Coral Coast.

”The inspiration for the book came in 1963 when I proposed a series of anchorage articles for the now defunct ‘Powerboat and Yachting’ magazine. When told the pay, I decided to risk doing a book! I tried getting a Queensland publisher to no avail so I sailed down to Sydney where Horwitz Grahame finally accepted it in 1964. Why they then took four years to release it is beyond explanation – I just don’t know because by the time it was at last published, I was in the Torres Strait.”

The ‘Hippy Era’ was in full swing and Alan says the guide was well received more for its “folksy, life changing ways” than its anchorage descriptions. “Incredibly, I received quite a few letters thanking me for wrenching people out of their nine-to-fives to do something different. The most extraordinary incident was when I found a castaway on a Torres Strait Island who had accidentally been abandoned there by a charter boat. He reckoned his battered copy of 'Cruising the Coral Coast' was the only thing that kept him alive (in those days it had a lot of bush tucker and cooking-type stuff in it). He wasn’t fawning because he had no idea I was the author and I didn’t tell him!”

While ‘Cruising The Coral Coast’ lured legions of ‘squares’ seaward (and sustained the odd castaway!), 'Rendezvous' was meandering its way far from the limelight but indelibly into Alan's memory as one of his favourite boats. He affectionately remembers his first live-aboard home as “Rough as guts but a good sailer that never needed a hand on the tiller – she balanced on all reaches with nothing more than sail adjustment.”

If only life ashore could have been as easily trimmed! After moving onto Palm Island where he worked as skipper of the cargo boat, his marriage failed and 'Rendezvous' was sold. By 1972, life on the land had lost its novelty – forever. “I have to tell you, living ashore was the most vile period of my life”, Alan emphatically maintains. When asked to share his most frustrating cruising experience, his answer is simply, “None. The only frustrations I’ve experienced were living ashore.”

Over thirty-five years of living aboard lay ahead but back then he simply longed to return “to a lifestyle that never hurt me.” Leaving Palm Island behind, he bought a steel hull and deck in Gladstone, refitted her over a few months and set off on this original ‘Soleares’ to cruise the East Coast, completing the second edition of Coral Coast and the original guide to the NSW Coast along the way.

In 1975, he found a kindred spirit in second wife Patricia. A widow with three children and a sense of adventure to more than match his own, Patricia was immediately at ease on the water. The instant family demanded a bigger boat and a very run-down motor sailer named 'Silver Spray' was quickly purchased. Once again, a refit was needed, this time at Mosman Marina before a quick jaunt north where 'Silver Spray' was sold. Moving ashore behind Hervey Bay, the couple set upon building themselves a ‘real family-sized boat’ – the 18m ferro schooner, ‘Alegrias’. In just 15 months their new home was launched and fitting out completed afloat.

So with their newly-built ‘real’ boat, the Lucas family headed off for “points North, South, East and West, doing the usual coastal thing plus the SW Pacific.” Alan nominates “Watching the joy of my second family as they saw New Guinea for the first time” as one of his life's cruising highlights. "My tearing them out of Sydney suburbia was more than vindicated." Diminishing family numbers and the high cost of running a big boat eventually saw 'Alegrias' delivered to Darwin for a new owner in 1980 and the next chapter began.

Another stint of shore life was narrowly avoided when “going ashore from 'Alegrias', wondering where the hell we were going to live, we stumbled on a 14m ferro-cutter in the Sailing Club yard – just a bare hull and deck plus an engine, mast and a bit of hardware. We bought her, stowed most of our gear aboard, then drove to Sydney to round up equipment and revise my NSW book.”

You need a boat to revise a cruising guide! And yes, yet another refit ensued. This time a Tasman Seabird named ‘Response’ was given the Lucas touch before ‘doing’ the NSW coast. After serving its purpose, 'Response' was sold and the couple returned to their new cutter, ‘Tientos’ in Darwin. “There were just three of us by then, living in a perpetual dust storm as we fitted her out and rigged her.” 'Tientos' hit the water in September 1981, Indonesia in sight. But endless trouble with failed equipment saw them returning to Darwin, “I think all companies sent their duds to Darwin back then!” Alan muses. After a second failed attempt they finally gave up, sailing to Cairns for what Alan termed a ‘proper recommissioning!’

Perseverance paid off and in 1982 they left Gove on a circumnavigation covering 5 years and producing some vivid memories, like Alan's most nerve-wracking moment at sea when they were “fired at by an Ethiopian gunboat, ordered alongside in a 3-metre swell and interrogated under a row of cocked rifles.”

Returning home in 1987, 'Tientos' was one of the last boats to be cleared in Maryborough before the customs office closed mid-year. Another revision of the Coral Coast was due and the family again headed north for Torres Strait.

Son Ben was ready for high school the following year, prompting the next round of musical masts. ”We deluded ourselves into believing we couldn’t handle the correspondence schooling so moved into a home unit at Point Clare, near Gosford NSW.”

14m of boat was obviously more than they now needed and 'Tientos' was sold to make way for ‘Renee Tighe’. As with most of the Lucas’ purchases, the 9m wooden ketch was in deplorable condition. “We bought her in Queensland, then sailed (and bailed!) her back to Point Clare. I put her in an industrial yard and spent all of 1989 restoring her before launching in 1990. While Ben enjoyed high school (and a peer group that didn’t sail away), Patricia found a good job and I spent much of my time at sea somewhere along the coast.” A few years later, Alan and Patricia moved aboard permanently, leaving Ben where he wanted to be - ashore. “It worked out well” Alan says “because he could ‘man the base’ for mail transfers etc!” Five years' cruising followed as the couple took on the massive job of self-publishing the Coral Coast. ”The pay is better but the commitment to be somewhere within reasonable reach is a tough balancing act”, Alan says. “Going foreign again was out.”

However a new project beckoned – more than big enough to temporarily quell any wanderlust. “For some time, Patricia and I had wanted to build the ‘ultimate’ boat which, regardless of how experienced one becomes, remains a vague notion. But our choice was a 15m shoal draft ketch developed from the lines of a Chesapeake Bay Skipjack. We built 'Soleares II' of fibreglass over seventeen months and launched her in June 1999. 'Renee Tighe' was sold during the period, having overlapped nicely as a home. This all happened in Maryborough, just 20-odd miles from where we built 'Alegrias' twenty-three years earlier.”

This undeniable icon of Australian cruising and ceaseless adventurer has passionately charted a life many of us can only dream of. Along the way, he has inspired and guided many towards their own calm anchorages while quietly living by an all encompassing philosophy. ”When you live life on your terms, in your preferred environment and can support yourself within that environment doing something you love, life doesn’t get much better. A billion dollars couldn’t buy my scene!”

Well, I would have liked to have met Alan Lucas but unfortunately our Club member is not only unfinancial but also bad in spotting a boat as the one sailing up the Clyde was not Alan's! "Storm Boy", you must have had your head buried in the bilge these past ten years because Alan's "Soleares II' is a two-masted ketch, not that single-masted 'weekender' anchored outside your front yard!

P.S. Some interesting reading on Australian coastal cruising and cruising guides for the east coast of Australia.

Better late than never!

2009-12-18T18:11:00.000-08:00

My old mate in Cairns, Brian Darcey, who was also on Bougainville when we built the mine, phoned me some weeks ago to say that he had had enough of looking at the walls of his suburbian unit and that he was going to live on a boat instead and do a spot of sailing. Well, he's just SKYPEd me from Picton in New Zealand where he's bought himself a H28 sailing yacht.

The Herreshoff H28 is a popular New Zealand design which was originally built in timber but later, when Compass Yachts started production, in a material her designer referred to as "frozen snot".

Brian will sail "Dara" back to Australia in late January after he's renamed her "Tekani II", after an island in the Nuguria Group in Papua New Guinea with which Brian has a personal connection. Not bad for an octogenarian (you know, somebody in his 80s - like October, the eighth month! The eighth month? Well, yes, it used to be the eighth month in the Roman calendar which began in March) who's also an aviator and a self-confessed late-blooming writer.

Brian's purchase almost fell through - literally! - when he fell into the water in Nelson Harbour and lost his driver's license, money, and credit cards. However, he phoned the credit card company's hotline and good ol' Betty in Bangalore had him all fixed up within 24 hours!

Need a crew, Brian?

Clyde River Salvage Company

2009-11-26T21:57:00.000-08:00

Nothing much ever happens at "Riverbend" except when a neighbour's craft breaks down and my trusty "Lady Anne" has to spring into action to tow the stricken vessel back to its mooring.

This is what happens just now when "Delta Lady" required a tow from "Lady Anne". It was a very lady-like affair!

Meet the Nelligen Yacht Club Committee

2009-09-03T21:58:00.000-07:00

They are all stalwart supporters of the Club and men of ...

The mystery of Cyne Mallows Creek

2009-08-28T21:59:00.000-07:00

Members of the Nelligen Yacht Club have expressed their concern about the fate of a certain watercraft which left its Nelligen mooring and disappeared up Cyne Mallows Creek quite some time ago.

Frantic riparian activities have been reported from the upper reaches of Cyne Mallows Creek which would suggest that said vessel is located at S 35 degrees 38.066’ E 150 degrees 09.954’ (give or take a ') where it is being converted into Noah's Ark while awaiting the next biblical flood.

An expeditionary force, made up of members of the Nelligen Yacht Club and other rubber-necking volunteers, was assembled to reach the stricken vessel. As the following video clip shows, they failed to navigate the hazards and the mystery of Cyne Mallows Creek remains unsolved.

Extraordinary Meeting of Nelligen Yacht Club

2009-08-05T22:01:00.000-07:00

Business to be tabled:

To consider an application for membership from a boat owner who recently arrived in Nelligen - see photo below

Notice to Members

2009-07-16T22:02:00.000-07:00

How NOT to launch your boat

A night at the ARIA

2009-07-04T22:05:00.000-07:00

Jeff, the Bay's marina boss and would-be-member of the Nelligen Yacht Club, rang yesterday afternoon to tell me that an ocean-going yacht was making its way upriver and would probably spend the night at anchor at Nelligen. And she didn't just drop anchor but berthed alongside the Nelligen wharf which made it even easier for me to introduce myself to the skipper, Bruce from Tasmania, and his beautiful Alaskan Malamute.

Bruce turned out to be a mad-keen snooker player, and so we spent the evening at the Steampacket Hotel, playing snooker, drinking beer, and swapping yarns. Bruce has been sailing for the past year in his yacht "ARIA" and is now on his way north to the Coral Seas and points beyond. No real plans, no real time limits; as he said, "I stop when the money runs out!" I saw him off with a couple of sailing novels and Alan Lucas's "Cruising the Coral Coast" which will be of more use to him than me!

He's now heading downriver again to catch the lunchtime bridge-opening at the Bay. Good luck and fair winds, Bruce, and a pat on the back for Max the Malamute!

Minutes of Meeting of Nelligen Yacht Club

2009-07-01T22:06:00.000-07:00

Should persons of non-Anglo and non-Saxon background be admitted as members?

Resolution: "That Greeks who bear gifts, especially retzinas, be made welcome."

Moved: Peter Goerman
Seconded: Jeff Percival

"Amber Lady"

2009-05-13T22:06:00.000-07:00

A new boat is permanently moored at the Nelligen bridge: the 32-footer "Amber Lady", owned by a Nick Ligakis in far-away Wagga Wagga. I invited him to join the Nelligen Yacht Club but so far no response.

Nelligen Yacht Club

2009-03-22T22:07:00.000-07:00

The waiting-list is growing but the Commodore (me!), Secretary (me!!) and Treasurer (me!!!) of the NELLIGEN YACHT CLUB are resisting the pressure of increasing its present membership of just one (me!!!!) Please don't spoil the club by joining!