The other hobby....sailing

[drikko]

So Ernie and Scott wanted some almost winter sailing pics so here goes.

We sailed from Tin Can Bay to Fraser Island and back (for the locals). We are 3 weeks off winter but the days are still hot, the nights coolish although I still didn't get a jumper out!

Firstly an old pic of the boat, it's a small 19ft wood/epoxy trailable yacht that I built back in the late eighties. Took about 2 years to turn a pile of ply and timber into this. Been sailing it regularly ever since. Gave it a full paint job inside and out a few years ago. Never want to see another piece of sandpaper ever again!!



So here's the lardarse crew working hard, must get a better crew, preferably a female one....



We were following a race with about 200 other yachts in it. This one made us look like we were anchored....sigh....



The boats kept piling in all afternoon on this particular day, one of my favourite anchorages, went for a swim as the water is still really warm. The anchorage is called Gary's, and is on the back of Fraser Island which is World Heritage listed, being the largest sand island in the world that supports a fully functioning rainforest. It also has a swag of pure bred dingos which regularly eat small children, they prefer foreign children fortunately :-



A shit load of beer that night required the exact right compensating breakfast :-



The anchorage clears out back to it's peaceful normal state:-



As the fleet heads north:-



We turn back south straight into a 20 - 30 knot blow under reefed main only!:-



The OH SHIT meter hovering around the 20 - 30 degree mark with peaks of 40:-



So that's a typical sailing weekend, score for days 1 and 2 of the 3 day trip was 24 bottles of Apple Cider (crew is gluten intolerant which is great as he can't pinch my beer or biscuits) 47 cans of VB (heavy beer also known as Vitamin Beer) and a bottle of Malibu. I did have some help with the beer from an intruder from another boat. Can't really drink on the third day as we had to tow the boat home dammit.

So weekend after this it's off to the Ruptured Budgie rally for some 2 wheeled liver abuse and fun!

It's a tough life, but someone has to do it....

[SugarHillCTD]

Nice craft there, Captain and great pictures.

Did a bunch of sailing as a teen aboard our 19' daysailer and then a 24' sloop. Since then several week+ charters with me as captain- our last was 2 years ago on a Beneteau 42'.

[Geoff]

Nice pics. I'm a boater, too. I have a 20' Hydrodyne inboard ski boat with a 260 hp Ford 351 V8. I do slalom skiing and wake boarding with family and friends. The way gas prices are going, I need to mount a mast and sail on the thing.

[drmalacarne]

Great boat!
And thanks for the pics!
With my stomach and labyrinth, that breakfest shold put me inside out!! Maybe some oranges and toasts....
Gui

[Off the grid]

I've been a water rat my entire life, living on an island. Started on 12' Sunfish and Lasers back when I was a wee lad, then purchased my 16' 1987 Hobie Cat in 1990 to celebrate my giving up alcohol. (I know, you Aussies can't understand, but trust me it was for the better)

I owned her for 18 years, finally sold in 08. Some of the best times and best trips of my life were on this boat....I honestly believe it is the most adrenaline-filled fun you can have at the cheapest price. Flying a hull in the blue Atlantic when Mahi-Mahi are following you and you are trying to keep the boat under control while the rigging and hulls are screaming at 25knots is a memory that stays with you for a long, long time. I finally decided to sell her because of lack of use...2-3x in the last 3 years or so.

Sailing is not for everyone, but I have met some of the nicest people sailing. It's one of those universal things like motorcycling that brings people from all around the world together.

I'm glad you Aussies had a pissa and also glad none of you blokes drowned or got stabbed in me heart like that Irwin fella.

One of the non-negotiable things about where we buy a home is that I can't be more than 20mins from the Ocean. I need it like Superman needs the sun. Like Bill Cosby needs Jello. Like Jo needs air conditioning.

[drikko]

Great stories all of you who sail It's surprising how many of my sailing friends also ride bikes though, more than half I reckon. Must be a not just sitting at home on the couch rotting thing. Why would you, unless your leg is broken or something.

Oranges hey, must go and google that!

[Off the grid]

How about some pics of the drunken gits manning the tiller!!

[drikko]

How about some pics of the drunken gits manning the tiller!!

I was holding the camera...but I do have a pic of the fat bastards that were drinking all my piss coming, we are just waiting for the owner of that camera to come back. They are still sailing around out there this week!!

[drikko]

So here's todays entertainment! A Floridian GFC victim boat heads to aussie shores:-

So the day finally arrived when my brothers newish Corsair 36 was released from customs after it's long trip from Florida. So this morning we trooped down to Port of Brisbane to collect it and launch it for a quick motor down to Manly.

For full specs see here for the newer Corsair 37, but they are identical hulls, just some cosmetic changes primarily:-

http://www.corsairmarine.com/index.php? ... tail&id=10

You can watch a thousand videos and documentaries about the Grand Canyon, but nothing prepares you for the jaw dropping experience of sticking your head over the side of the thing and looking down, put that on your bucket list BTW. Well so it was with the C36! It was freaking big!!



At last a TS with headroom even for me at 6'3" or more.... Lotsa stuff to put up in here!!


A quick stop at the weighbridge to see what sort of car bro' needs to buy...bugger around 4 tons...too much even for a Rangie. Back to the think tank on that one....


The tide was at the bottom on the first attempt, bugger not enough water. So off to the servo for steakburgers and chips and we'll wait for a few hours:-


So attempt #2 and we're away, once it was deep enough it was a doddle to launch!! :-


So one ama down makes it 2/3 of a boat. Surprisingly easy to do:-


Looks like a real one now:-


So the 25HP Honda 4 stroke launched us effortlessly and quietly to Manly in next to no time. You could tell that with the rig up and it's carbon main and carbon screacher flying in the 25knot Moreton Bay breeze, this thing is going to hit the sides of the bay in no time! It feels like a flyer!


Looks fast even at the marina:-


So it's mast up time on Sunday. Will post pics of that. Can't say I'm looking forward to it! It's a freaking big heavy mast!!!!

[SugarHillCTD]

WOW!!!

That is one huge but FAST looking tri. Bet it rips compared to a monohull.

[drikko]

He's had a 31ft version of it for a few years which is for sale (and sail!), it is ridiculously fast. The first time we went out on it we were down the back stuffing around setting things up. We really had no idea what we were doing and no one was actually looking at where we were going. I think we were trying to get the outboard up. I glanced up at the GPS and we were doing 17 knots straight at an island!!

We got it up to well over 20 knots on that first trip out! As we sailed it we got used to how fast it went, the rudder would vibe at 17-18 knots and stop at 20, not unlike the vibe at 105 - 110k I get from the brick!

Pretty sure we should be able to crank this baby up to 25 - 30 knots, which is about 50 - 60kph! He got some seriously big go fast sails with it. Hope no one gets in the way!

[Off the grid]

That is one seriously beautiful boat....and I know the feeling of which you speak.

Although my 16' cat was a moderate pain in the ass to refit and refurnish every season...I can't imagine what it takes to keep a vessel like that seaworthy year after year.

What's something like that cost in Aussie land?

*NM I see it.....330k for the top model and 265k for the "entry level"

[drikko]

I can't tell you what it was landed for as it's not public but suffice to say he could have landed 2 of them here for that price....GFC is a good thing for those with cash!! Not mention all the electronics already fitted! Enormous radar/satnav/depth thingy, Autopilot, extra GPSs, solar etc etc etc. All add ons for the standard price.

[drikko]

Firstly, a pic of us in the back of my boat trying to consume all the booze within 100 metres. You can see me with the K11OG shirt on in the corner:-



Now to this weekend, up with mast he says, easier said than done.....

So first you need some managers including one who can read, or at least look at pictures:-


There's a specially made mast foot, hinge with an attached gin pole to get some triangulation in the lifting ropes, and a frame of stabilising (yes it's S not Z you stupid spell checker) poles which run in the sail track in the mast, much like some of the mast raising systems seen in the mast raising topics here (Trailer Sailer forums, not K11 ) :-


Up she goes! It took some winching!! I couldn't help on the winching as I was official photographer.....sorry bro' :-


A closer shot of the mast hinge and pole arrangement. The mast literally sits on top of a towbar ball and nothing except shroud tension holds it down!!


It's up! Big sighs of relief all around!


Time for a cuppa on one of the crews Benetoe First 44.7. At last a boat with enough headroom for me! Unfortunately the offer I made on it wouldn't buy the sails.....sigh.


Main and jib on, the main and boom alone weighed about 150kgs!!


Jib furled, screacher and bimini and clears all installed. Should be comfy in there!


So that's it, all ready to head out, pity we didn't have time to take it for a spin!! That'll happen.

So reflections on whether it's a trailer sailer or not? Definitely is, but you'd need some practice to get it into a reasonable time frame, definitely not for a weekend sail somewhere else, but for a few weeks away, yep. However you must have 3 people to rig and unrig, simply because some of the tasks are heavy like rolling the mast back and forward, setting the main up etc. But definitely you could have it unrigged and retrieved in half a day if you all knew what you were doing. But that's not it's purpose, it's really designed to stay in the water with the trailability making it very affordable to relocate it when needed.

So would I buy one? Nope, I don't like anything that I can't rig/derig launch/retrieve on my own.

BTW be warned, don't even think of mooring here if your boat isn't called 'Free Spirit'...


Has to be the most common boat name as even my little Caper Cat is called that!