This weekend on my X

[sunshinecoasting]

Yay for me, I finally got a break on the house chores and have from 5am tomorrow till late Sunday on my It is whale watching season here and they are plentiful according to reports.

The plan is to launch at Mooloolaba and take her down to Caloundra (10nM) out about 1.8nM and see if I cant do some whale watching on Saturday. I will also be testing endurance for fuel at 4kn until my 12 litre tank runs dry (I need to know for future trips, I have a 24ltr tank as well) and the round trip of 20nM will be a great test for distance, also testing Avionics for the tablet and my AIS ship location system, winds are forecast as light 6-10 knotts and swell under 1.5 at 11 second frequency, weather is sunny. I will overnight in the the river and Sunday I will just hang about the Mooloolaba area 2nM from shore enjoying the sail and looking for whales again. So all in all I feel like the cat that licked the cream. If I see whales i will get some pics and post next week.

Cheers, Dennis.

[Mac26Mpaul]

Awesome, so how did the weekend go Dennis, any whales?

[sunshinecoasting]

No, no whales, they wouldnt have been stupid enought to be out in that weather.....like me!
Forecast was wrong, swell was up to 3 meters frequency about 8 seconds, wind was from south and very gusty, 15-20 knotts, I tried to make it to Caloundra against the wind but only made it out about 7Nm before giving up and turning around, did manage to make 8.4 knotts surfing down waves under sail though, averaged 6 knotts coming back. Then while back in the relative calm of the harbour area I tacked, got the Jib caught on the bolt at the top of the mast raising stay cable and tore my Jib clean open in the wind. It was old and due for replacement soon anyway but I went back to the river to lick my wounds, I was exhausted, on my own in those conditions really wore me out, 6 hours was enough. I used about 10 litres to travel about 7Nm in to that headwind and against the swell, not ideal conditions for measuring fuel, I will have to try another day.

I anchored in the river with a strong gusty southerly swinging me about like a dogs tail, I set an anchor alarm at 75 meters and at 12:30am it went off, I was dragging the anchor in the wind, the bottom in the river is black, slimy mud and just doesnt hold well, I didnt worry about it, reset alarm and in the morning I was about 100 meters from where I started, still very safe though. Sunday was a much better day, not quite as gusty but still a decent swell so stayed in the harbour area and just played around under main sail only, covered 14Nm just tacking and Jybing around, was a lot of fun, stayed dry too which meant I was warm. Packed up early and was home by about 4pm. Learnt a lot, especially dont trust the forecast, Avionics is very good software and tracks you well, AIS on android is excellent, my wife was watching my movements every inch of the way from our PC at home and it doesnt cost a cent.

Cheers, Dennis.

[bartmac]

Fairly keen to head out in weather you describe given going out into the open ocean...my wife said #hi*...you've got to be joking and by yourself!!!
Interested in the Avionics...thought that was only for planes??

[sunshinecoasting]

LOL, sorry Bartmac, it was a freudean slip calling it Avionics, I work in the aviation industry, it is called Navionics. www.navionics.com.au Let me know if you want more detail on it, I also downloaded the AIS for android tracking system and that worked well too, see www.marinetraffic.com . I always log my details with the local Coast Guard via VHF before leaving port too. The conditions were rough and had I perished at least everyone would have known where to collect my remains. Those conditions didnt phase me at all, I never felt unsafe, just battered, the boat performed well and handled the conditions well, I just wouldnt do it again in hurry, you get very tired from the physical effort, sea movement and stress of staying on top of it all, I really fell in a heap by night and was happy to have an early night curled up in the front bed.

Cheers.

[Mac26Mpaul]

You're lucky, I don't get to play in those kind of conditions....(hopefully when the kids get a bit older, I'll be allowed to get out there by myself ).....
Sorry to hear your plans went to sh~t , and you stuffed your jib Still, sounds like you had some fun messin about with your boat.

So now that you have been messin with it for a while, whats your opinion of the boat, is she better, worse, or about what you had expected?

[bartmac]

No matter the conditions....sleep always comes easy on the water...we find our pattern is very much rise with the sun and sleep when sun goes down...never seem to last long at night...movies,reading,music....sleeping pills all of them. Our usage is mostly for a week or longer...12days last time and life takes on a different pace or rhythm...I long for it...does not come often enough unfortunately...cant go and mow the lawn or cut firewood or do the dishes...wait a minute still do the dishes!!!

[sunshinecoasting]

Yes dishes dont go away.

What do I think of boat now?

Definately the right choice for me and as a beginner, I find it very forgiving for us newby's, the water ballast has its advantage in shallow water but is definately tender, I find the first 15 degrees occurs very easily but you can definately feel the ballast come in to play beyond that. I dont have the rig set right yet, I have not played with it but I know the mast is leaning back too far, this tends to make her want to round up as soon as the wind gets high, not a bad thing for a new player so I will adjust that later, most stay's and shrouds are too loose. Accommodation is excellent but the PO installed a pump out toilet (proper marine head) which in the States may be a good thing but here is too hard to empty. I either have to put in a macerating pump and empty far out at sea or replace it with a porta potti which is what I currently use in the main cabin area. Anyone want to buy a used but good pressure flush marine toilet? I love the conveniences that come with this boat, shallow draught, walkthrough transom, boarding ladder, big cockpit, head room, big table, sleep six, mains pressure water to two sinks, 50HP motor for when you have had a gut full etc etc.

[bartmac]

Been said before BUT .......its a good floating caravan with a mast

[Mac26Mpaul]

I was setting my boat up on the Cabbage Tree Point ramp at the end of last year and an RL24 came along under power with a couple probably late 50s in the cockpit. I distinctly heard him SHOUTING to his wife, above the noise of the screaming little outboard “ Is that a caravan or a trailer boat!”. (which is of course a standard but rather tied Mac bashing remark)

I saw the look his wife gave him which had me standing there laughing at them, while casually raising my mast with one hand on the winch and giving a wave with the other

Even his wife could clearly see that that caravan (with the stick and rag) was a hull of lot better boat than the horribly uncomfortable (full crouching headroom) noisy, smelly old real sailor’s sailboat she was on

[bartmac]

Having had a RL24 in the family (Boats are always better if you don't actually own them....much cheaper)I would characterise a RL24 as a skiff with a very small cabin...fun to sail but useless accommodation!!!

[Mac26Mpaul]

The RL24s don't do it for me, but the RL28 was pretty much the other boat on my list when I bought the Mac. However, setting up, launching and retrieving are a nightmare compared to a Mac. Would have been impossible for me because setup launch and retrieving are things I pretty much have to do completely by myself....

[Fresh Breeze]

Hi Guys,
Dennis, the rounding up of your boat is called "weather helm" where the boat has a tendency for the boat to turn into the wind, that means your "Center of Lateral Resistance" or CLR (Center of your sail above the water line) and the "Center of Effort" (Center of your boat below the water line) might be out of wack. When the CLR and the CE lines up vertically you will have a neutral helm. This can be fixed or at least help by rig adjustment. A sail maker or rigging person should be able to help. It's not as hard as it sounds to fix, just a few tweaks where or there.

Now back to the weather forecast, Have you ever heard of the old saying "Red sky in the morning sailor take warning, Red sky at night sailors delight" that is so true.
When we plan to go out, we take more notice of the nature around us than whats on the radar and what the forecasters say in a office, see we are surrounded by nature here where we are, when the female roo's come and visit us with their joey's we know that there will be good weather to follow for a week or more, that is the most reliable forecast ever. But I know every body don't live on sixty-six acres and no close neighbours either.

We should be heading out up the Great Sandy's soon (in the next week or so) to see whales, (would have like to have been there last week to see the Killer whales) and do some serious lounging around on deck and fishing and just doing what ever we like when we like, can't wait.
There were six roo's visiting this afternoon just hanging out in the house yard.

Cheers

[sunshinecoasting]

Geez Breeze, I'm jelous, I'm stuck in suburbia on a block too small for my boat, I have to leave it at a friends place 3 klms away, makes maintenance hard to do, I always forget something when I get to the boat, a tool or even sometimes the bloody keys!!!! I am very good at forecasting using nature but have never had to forecast swell before, the wind was manageable but the swell is what nabbed me, the coral sea here is a bit unpredictable, the swell comes from the south then it is seeded byt he Tasman, if it comes from the East it is seeded by the Pacific and from the North (rare) it is usually mild becuase of the shelter from Fraser and the barrier reef further on. Trouble is that a storm 1000nM out to sea in the east or south can casue swell here days later, even when the weather looks sunny and fine, I blame the Fijian's. Cheers, Den.