Dropping the Sails

Taking it while it's going has proved a great mantra. On our return trip from delivering our anchor and chain to be galvanized, we spotted a sail loft right opposite the marina. A chance too convenient to miss. We were only 2 days into a 1 week marina booking and it was right on the doorstep. Just a wheelbarrow ride in fact.


Calm conditions at dawn the next morning and The Bloke was on to it. No time for tea and toast. The loft opened at 07:00 and it looked likely we'd arrive with our sails soon after.

 

We already knew that the main needed the UV fabric to be replaced at the clew and quite likely along the leach. The bolt rope seems to have slipped up its sleeve near the tack too and could be responsible for the furler problems we'd experienced in recent months. When he'd examined the sails the sailmaker commented that bolt ropes were prone to shrinking. Well ours has had 9 years to shrink so maybe, maybe?

  

Evidence of the torn UV on the mainsail

The end of the bolt rope sleeve was empty (crumpled left side) and not plump and round like it should be if it contained the rope (see right side of picture).

 

Our Genoa is our workhorse and delivered the biggest shock. The UV strip was not covering the luff-side of the head, around the top of the bolt rope, and had begun to tear! Golly, we had possibly been only a wind gust away from Armageddon!

Chaos in the making awaiting!

Reinforcement strip at the clew showing signs of wear

As the pictures show, the sails came down and not a moment too soon. It's hard to think they would have survived until Mooloolaba where we had previously planned to drop them and leave with a sail loft over Christmas. Our choosing to drop our sails is a world of difference to the elements doing it for us - a concept we don't even want to contemplate!

Sprucing Up the Ground Tackle

When we asked the chandlery about buying new anchor chain before leaving Mandurah, which is close to 3 years ago, we didn't know that there is chain and then there is Australian certified chain. The cost for 65m (150kg) seemed reasonable. We swapped out the original 6 year old 40m which wasn't rusty but too short. We marveled at the weight we would now had available to deploy and augment the work of the anchor. We painted it at 5m intervals in alternating luminous pink and yellow strips to make knowing the length deployed easier and away we went.

Within months of leaving Mandurah and before we had even left West Australian waters, we noticed the galvanizing was coming off, especially around the 35m mark where the chain was getting a lot of work on the bow roller. Of course once the galv came off, the chain began to rust and as they say, "rust never sleeps". What we have since learned is that knowing the size of chain you want (in our case 10mm short link) isn't the only specification you need to note when replacing anchor chain. We hadn't for example stipulated 'Australian' or 'certified' and had in fact bought chain manufactured in China. Oh no! Next time, it will be Australian PWB grade with each link stamped and tested and not the Chinese junk. We know that we will need longer chain in due course, and a 100m replacement is on our 'hit list', so the lack of longevity of this pile is not as critical even if we do rate it as a 'fail'.

 

178kg of metal ground tackle ready to go

 

Our cruisers grapevine recommended Bundaberg as an inexpensive and efficient place to to have our ground tackle regalvanized. The anchor needed to be treated too as the point was beginning to have a carrot coloured tip of rust . So we booked a week in the Bundaberg Port Marina seeing as we obviously wouldn't be able to anchor out, got a 10% 'Shaggers' (SICYC) discount, plus were eligible for a seafood platter (valued at $40) because we'd booked for a week. A golden deal that only lacks "Steak knives"!

It seems that our mission has been accomplished regularly and routinely by others before us. We hired the tray top utility for $49 from the Marina.  There was a pallet already in it and the marina keeps an old Otto wheelie bin on hand to transport the chain from the jetty to the vehicle. Too easy!

Goodbye rust!

Our ground tackle will have an acid bath overnight and if Kenco deem necessary, will have the anchor sandblasted at the business next door. After our Monday morning drop-off, it should be ready on Wednesday. All up, including 2 lots of car hire, the exercise will cost around $400 and except for the fact that we'll actually have to stump up the cash, the process looks like it will be relatively painless. Amazing!

Kenco Galvanizing
(07) 4151 2944
60 Enterprise St, Svensonn, Qld

Going Pineapples!

Filling in time at Rosslyn Bay (Kepple Bay Marina) is no hardship. Although the weather system that kept us in the marina again from our intended 4-5 days to 8 days was not of the same magnitude as in our Northward journey, we were more than happy to extend another day, then yet another while 35knots piped through. We managed to get through our boat jobs and even find some new ones and in between catch the Youngs #20 into Yeppoon per chance for The Bloke to sample another sausage roll, to buy a paper, a coffee, and generally act like normal folk. As the saying goes, time and tide wait for no man. In this instance, no woman either. The clock has ticked over to make me eligible for a seniors fare on Young's buses!

We like Yeppoon and this dynamic town has some fun. Distinctly Queensland style fun. What about a Pineapple Festival?

This is the stuff street parades, themed balls etc are made for! In preparation, the burgers of Yeppoon had embraced the local Lions club initiative and promoted the event by including pineapples in their shop windows. Who could have ever have imagined that the humble pineapple could be the inspiration for so many objects? Here is a sample.

The best in Qld kitsch!

Sadly, there would be no possibility of attending the parade as we were going bananas, or should that be pineapples, over a newly arisen boat related issue and didn't want to extend our stay yet another day. Stand by.

A Cruisers Pilgrimage

Every cruiser you speak with who has sailed up the Queensland coast toward 'The Whitsundays' talks about visiting Middle Percy Island and in particular dropping off a little memento of their boat in the 'A Frame'. It's almost a pilgrimage so we thought we should check it out. Luckily, after a 'permission denied' situation only the day before, a day of very light winds was forecast and West Bay became 'doable' at last. What a lucky break because it's untenable in anything over 15 knots and what wind there is, needs to be an Easterly!

Looks idyllic

A lovely beach that provided a welcome dip when we returned

  Heading for the A Frame
When we reached West Bay, effectively completing a circumnavigation of Middle Percy, it was barely recognizable from the day before. Conditions were so light that The Bloke even agreed to go ashore to visit the A Frame AND walk up to the Homestead (about a 5.5km round trip).

Among the memorabilia in the A Frame

Messages

It was clear that many cruisers had gone to some trouble when selecting or creating an item to mark their visit. Poems and specially carved items were nailed, hung and attached from every surface. We left a very modest anchor buoy.

The European story of Middle Percy is that it was visited by Matthew Flinders and settled by only a handful of people and used principally for sheep grazing. This was the case for many surrounding islands with the wool clip collected by barge once a year. Since the pastoral activity was accompanied by a lot of ringbarking of trees and the even earlier introduction of goats, coconut palms and other vegetation by the Royal Navy to provide sustenance for passing sailors, the current vegetation is not really 100% 'authentic' but is lovely none the less. The current custodians and National Parks are attempting to 'restore' the Island, but eliminating introduced species such as weeds, cane toads and grey kangaroos is a task as unrealistic as unscrambling eggs. The matter arouses great passion and attracts some volunteers who wish to enjoy a simple life for a while.

For more info check www.percyisland.com.au

Our trek was rewarded with fabulous vistas, walking through glades full of fluttering Blue Tiger butterflies and a short visit to The Homestead. Oh, and something we'd missed for a week ... A brief phone signal! A sure sign of how pathetically dependent we have become on our electronic communications. We naively expected the signal to be accessible from more than a single location and failed to get a weather update - doh!

The Homestead

Goat kids

Decorated coconuts add a bit of whimsy and provide assurance you are on the correct track

A lagoon can be entered at high tide by shallow keeled vessels.

Sunset over Piney Islet

A Day in The Percy's

We were anchored for a NW at Whites Bay, Middle Percy but knew that a southerly change was predicted at 'something stupid o'clock'. When it arrived, we'd be on a lee shore in a falling tide and as a result of the late (sunset) entry of a few catamarans who'd claimed the beachfront as their own, we'd have a crowded and diminishing anchorage to contend with too. The Bloke who is generally very nervy about such situations was conveniently anesthetized by the evening's libations and had a great night of sleep, if snoring intensity is a measure. Luckily captain has a handy First Mate and night time checks showed that despite an extended swing to the west, all was well.. at least until it wasn't.

Dawn view across to NE Percy

 

At 04:30 a new story announced itself. The southerly was IN and building. Our anchorwatch track indicated a few wiggles as the chain and anchor repositioned but we decided to leave ahead of drama. At this stage we were the only ones up. On the back of the coming SE change we had planned to visit West Bay and the famous Middle Percy 'A Frame' and trying to calculate the tides and guess which was the shortest and best way, we chose the northern route. This was very attractive and provided a lovely view of the sunrise over North East Percy as well as a sheltered run along the northern cliffs.



Rounding Howards Headland however revealed the full ferocity of the Southerly and the tide which switched direction half way down the channel. We kept going in case there was any shelter at all behind the small headland at West Bay. This anchorage looked like it might elude us again.

West Bay looking very unprotected. In a word - "rubbish".

Deciding to turn about found us in 25-30kn following seas + current as it switched from slack to full-on, propelling us back in our track at 8-9kn! And that was despite towing our dinghy which was custodian to many litres of rain water courtesy of a thunderstorm the previous evening. By the time we were 3/4 the way back and headed for Blunt Bay on NE Percy, the rest of the Whites Bay anchorage had emptied with 50% heading to where we'd just rejected! What surprised us greatly is that none turned about. But that's catamarans for you, they probably put themselves on the beach to get out of the wind and chop.

 

For our part, we finished up in Blunt Bay with the rest of the boats. We could have been there in 30 minutes instead of 2 hours and 30 minutes. Lesson for the day:- If you anticipate being blown out of an anchorage by a night wind shift, have a plan to pop to the very NEAREST viable alternative!


On the upside, we did our tour in daylight and were in another splendid bay with an interesting pebble, pumice and coral rubble beach.

Tiers of pebbles, then pumice balls which rolled like ball bearings underfoot!

Giving in to a Rainman

Owning Zofia for nearly 8 years and having lived aboard full time for close to 3 of those years, one could easily think that we'd got most things sorted out and everything we need aboard. Wrong. Just when we think we've pretty well 'nailed it', something else comes into focus. There is probably a hierarchy of needs and the list so long that you don't see items well down the list until they suddenly emerge as the next big thing. Take for instance, the matter of a desalinator. We have managed our water consumption thus far, and half way around the continent too!

 

The installer  

 

We are pretty abstemious with water consumption averaging about 20-25L per day. The salt water tap helps too with rinsing dishes, cleaning the sink and so on. 20 minute showers under streaming hot water are not the rage aboard Zofia. The sump in the bathroom signals that 9L has been used. Electricity has been used to pump it out the tap and more pumping will occur to remove it from the sump. The Bloke (AKA the 'Amp Nazi') has a thing or two to say about that and showering will generally occur while the motor or generator are operating to save the batteries. We've acquired stingy habits when it comes to water use.

   

The Rainman de-desal unpacked.

Membrane unit + filters + the pressure unit.

So, why a desalinator now? There were 2 triggers. Firstly, we'd been given water while out in the islands en route to The Whitsundays and it enabled us to stay 'out', i.e. off-shore for a whole month and still arrive at Abell Point Marina with 100L in the tanks. This was really a game changer. We'd normally be looking for water after 2 weeks with a margin of 1 week to 10 days to achieve it. Ambitions to attempt a trip to Lizard Island next season require capacity to be self sufficient for 6 weeks. Tradewinds, which are typically in the 30knot range might be blowing the wrong way and prevent trips for resupply. A desalinator could also reduce our dependence on marinas.

    

Installation progress.

The Bloke partially installed the system by fixing the membrane unit with the supplied brackets inside our stern lazarette.

Our other motivation was visitors. In particular, the kids were coming and we didn't want to be standing over them every time they were near a tap. It would be a tension that would simply spoil the visit.

Coil hose bringing in the seawater.

Green hose returning the brine.

We chose a Rainman Desalination system because it made sense as well as dollars and cents. We already had a Honda 2Kv generator (power supply). The system is portable and manual. Being less automated, there is less to go wrong. One thing we have learned is that the more 'seemingly sophisticated' a boat's systems, the more agonizing the failures, with accompanying cost and disruption. From the various options, we selected one with a 50-70L capacity which meant that running it every 2-3days would replace our usage. A higher capacity unit would not only cost more but 150-170L per hour would over-fill our tanks or if used less frequently result in extra maintenance of the membrane. Rather than select the membrane in 2peices we chose the single 40" unit which saved quite a bit on price too.

Hey presto - here is the fresh water ready to be fed into our water tanks!

Our timetable is now driven less by the requirement to top up our water tanks. We sacrificed a 20L diesel Gerry can and replaced it with a 20L ULP Gerry to fuel the generator. The outcome has been very liberating.