Antipodean Boats Connection

[WX]

A few jobs done this morning, but it ain't fun outside. The forecast is plus 35C.

[Hallam]

Not a convenient location for a cut.

[WX]

Not a convenient location for a cut.

Just a lump, that's gone down now.
Hottest day yet, talk about feel like a chook in a pressure cooker! Getting some rain now so that should cool things down a bit.

[WX]

Mircoburst hits Port Macquarie.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-02-...oast/101928700

• Top-floor residents of an apartment building rushed to seek shelter after the roof was blown off
• A private hospital was damaged, along with multiple vehicles and buildings
• The short and destructive storm appears to have struck Port Macquarie's CBD hardest

[skuthorp]

Big cold snap yesterday in Vic. 'Firehose' rainfall, and continued more gently overnight. Warming up now but still blowing a gale from several directions at once it seems.

[brucemoffatt]

Leaving the beach in around 15 knots. It was low tide so I had to juggle centreboard and rudder blade depths as well as sheeting and steering.

All in all it was a good day to be in an 8' x 4' cruising dinghy in the Gulf St Vincent. I got around 8 nm on the clock for the day.


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[WX]

More photos, and more story Jeff....I mean, Bruce

[Hallam]

That's great Bruce.

I bought a fiberglass cadet dinghy a while ago and your getting out in yours is inspiring me to get it back on the water. I deed to do a couple of hundred dollare worth of work on iot to class up the floatation compartments where the join to the hull has split and re attach the webbing to the floor.

[brucemoffatt]

That's great Bruce.

I bought a fiberglass cadet dinghy a while ago and your getting out in yours is inspiring me to get it back on the water. I deed to do a couple of hundred dollare worth of work on iot to class up the floatation compartments where the join to the hull has split and re attach the webbing to the floor.

That sounds like good progress so you'd better go test it out.


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[RFNK]

I met a guy with a very nice VJ he's done up from a wreck. He's on his way to the WBF. Inspiring, I'll have to get mine out of the shed too!

[Bruce Morley]

IMG_20230123_091253328.jpgArrived in Hobart, waiting for the festival to start on Friday. Thelma and Bruce SY Tui of Opua

[RFNK]

See you there tomorrow or Friday Bruce!

[Hallam]

I will be there Friday if my daughter doesn't go into labour today. I'm flying to Launceston in the morning for my father's 97th birthday then picking up a car with my son and his family and driving to Hobart in time for the sail past. Would be good to catch up.

[RFNK]

Hoping we see you Hallam but also hoping all goes well with the daughter! And 97, wow!

[WX]

I will be there Friday if my daughter doesn't go into labour today. I'm flying to Launceston in the morning for my father's 97th birthday then picking up a car with my son and his family and driving to Hobart in time for the sail past. Would be good to catch up.

How's he going for 97?

[Bernadette]

please, please, please take and post lots of photos of the WBF fellas......I cant make it this year despite prior plans for having booked accommodation etc. everything had to be cancelled at short notice. I have to wait til 2025 now.

[auscruisertom]

See you there tomorrow or Friday Bruce!

For a fleeting second I visualised our other Bruce attempting a record breaking tiny boat passage to Hobart.

Have fun guys.

[WX]

please, please, please take and post lots of photos of the WBF fellas......I cant make it this year despite prior plans for having booked accommodation etc. everything had to be cancelled at short notice. I have to wait til 2025 now.

I second that.

[RFNK]

Not toooooo many though! Anyway, the setting

IMG_20230209_145636914_HDR.jpg

Yep, that's the James Craig.

[Bernadette]

^

[gypsie]

That sail is looking in good trim Bruce.
How do you tension the luff? to the thwart/mast? From the forward end of the boom, or at the mast?

Its one thing i find about my little nutshell, I can get the sail nice and trim, but i think i have too much going on. I'm sure its simpler than i make it out to be.

[RFNK]

Tomorrow the boats come in for the WBF, after the sail past, so then we'll see how many boats will be here. I'll post some photos, of course, but Alan H aka Snow of Waitemata Woodys fame is here and will post lots of photos on his site https://waitematawoodys.com/ so there's sure to be lots of better shots there.

It was great to meet Alan today and to catch up with Neil C again. Neil has such a great memory and so much knowledge about boats.

And it was great to see Thelma and Bruce after yet another big trek to Hobart! Thelma's looking so well and, as always, Tui looks perfect - such a wonderful boat!

Late this Arvo, I saw Anitra V come in, looking beautiful too. She's a S to H winner of many years ago. and the boat my dad did two S to H races with, so always great to see her again.

This year there's going to be a classic sailing dinghies expo over in Hobart Town Hall ( I think that's where it is) and I'm really looking forward to that. I met a guy with a VJ on the ferry so we got to talkin' - he knows you Jeff.

[brucemoffatt]

That sail is looking in good trim Bruce.
How do you tension the luff? to the thwart/mast? From the forward end of the boom, or at the mast?

Its one thing i find about my little nutshell, I can get the sail nice and trim, but i think i have too much going on. I'm sure its simpler than i make it out to be.

Yes it should be simple. Halyard, downhaul, bleater, mainsheet. Mainsheet dynamic, bleater semi-static unless the centre of effort changes too much at different points of sail, halyard and downhaul static.

The yard and boom are held close against the mast. The downhaul has to be super tight. It provides luff tension. The mainsheet gives boom tension with downforce mid boom and fully aft, hence the need for lots of downhaul tension. A 'bleater' line hauls the forward end of the boom back towards the mast.

The guy that built her used a downhaul from the forward end of the boom to the mast base plus an angled vang/downhaul. I reverted to bleater and vertical downhaul as per design.

Not sure if my words paint the picture but the bleater, downhaul, mainsheet combo provides good solid boom control, luff tension and sail shape.

The sail should have a loose foot per design but this one is lashed to the boom. It's a polytarp sail and it works very well, but is now a bit old. I may or may not ever get around to modifying everything back to original design though as it performs quite well up to around 6 knots. At 5-6 knots in 15-20 knots unreefed the boat is remarkably stable. No foot straps installed and they have not been missed so far.

If my words aren't clear enough remind me to take more photos.


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[brucemoffatt]

For a fleeting second I visualised our other Bruce attempting a record breaking tiny boat passage to Hobart.

Have fun guys.

It's possibly doable coming from Portland to Tas, but one bit of bad luck would be a disaster. I don't think the risks could be adequately mitigated, so you'd have to be ok with the idea of drowning at sea. Of course I've given it a cursory thought or two, but no. No need to worry.

I'm now thinking that most of the coast of Gulf St Vincent is in scope for camp cruising, and in very mild conditions a jump over to KI is on the cards, at least the Penneshaw, American River, Kingscote bit.


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[WX]

Bruce regarding camping, I assume you pull the boat out of the water?

[brucemoffatt]

Bruce regarding camping, I assume you pull the boat out of the water?

Too early to know. I camped at anchor on Romana once and enjoyed it. Plan B does now have an anchor and I can imagine a night camp in still conditions in shallow water. But being in SA the opportunities for that aren't great. The East coast of Yorke Peninsula should have opportunities to try out all the ideas. Beaching at high tide and camping over on the beach until the next high tide would work pretty well, I think. Anyway, it's a suck and see thing for now.


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[auscruisertom]

It's possibly doable coming from Portland to Tas, but one bit of bad luck would be a disaster. I don't think the risks could be adequately mitigated, so you'd have to be ok with the idea of drowning at sea. Of course I've given it a cursory thought or two, but no. No need to worry.

I'm now thinking that most of the coast of Gulf St Vincent is in scope for camp cruising, and in very mild conditions a jump over to KI is on the cards, at least the Penneshaw, American River, Kingscote bit.


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You are brave even entertaining those thoughts .
.I cannot see that little coffin boat being suitable for any sort of sailing of the coast ,except perfectly flat seas with a light breeze of the land. Great to see you sailing your little craft .

[auscruisertom]

Trimming and shaping spars for Rosalie.The sail is a modified sprit sail that started its life as a Mirror sails jib and main sown together.
The spars laminated from pine and Mahogany are rather heavy and I have trimmed them in order to lighten things up top.

772B3718-DDD3-409D-9A80-C4AD257E00D3.jpg

[WX]

It's nice to glue something back on.
Base piece glued in.jpg

[skuthorp]

Sorry not to be in Hobart, but the club has it's own show on in a fortnight...
https://sgycinverloch.com.au/?cat=35

[RFNK]

An event I'd love to join in but not until I have a boat ready to go.

[Bernadette]

looks like a wholesome event there Jeff...plenty of good sponsors too by the way. would be a good excuse to hang around Tasmania after the WBF then swing by Victoria if one had the time and a dingy on the trailer!!!

[auscruisertom]

looks like a wholesome event there Jeff...plenty of good sponsors too by the way. would be a good excuse to hang around Tasmania after the WBF then swing by Victoria if one had the time and a dingy on the trailer!!!

Or better yet a dinghy on a roof rack. I have repeatedly toyed with the idea of attempting to do some Dinghy sailing coinciding with the WBF. While Jim would be a handful and require a Ute ,Rosalie would be much more doable .
Thanks for the idea guys now just to convince SWMBO.

[RFNK]

The dinghy display here includes a couple of Moths, a couple of VJs, Herons, Mirrors, Rainbows, Sharpies umm, a few others. VJs arrived on roof racks, so did the Moths, I think. Plenty of light dinghies you could take to both events.

IMG_20230210_120434539.jpg

[Bernadette]

I used to sail a Heron. then a Mirror. Loved both of them.