In terms of being oceanworthy, East of the Lizard leaves plastic fantastic Zofia in the shade. Hope she finds a new owner soon. Little ships are not meant for the harbour.
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Sunday, July 13, 2014
East of the Lizard - a piece of a dream
Sadly it's end of days for the sailing adventures of Jim and Janet Cameron. Their beautiful, John Duncanson designed former Sydney to Hobart racer 'East of the Lizard' is sitting in the Port Vincent Marina waiting for a new life with a new skipper. She's been well loved and meticulously maintained.
In terms of being oceanworthy, East of the Lizard leaves plastic fantastic Zofia in the shade. Hope she finds a new owner soon. Little ships are not meant for the harbour.
In terms of being oceanworthy, East of the Lizard leaves plastic fantastic Zofia in the shade. Hope she finds a new owner soon. Little ships are not meant for the harbour.
Saturday, July 12, 2014
Homage to Le Tour de France
Gigabytes have been consumed and alas live streaming of Le Tour has been banned by the Bloke. I am restricted to the highlights. Bytes are needed for weather forecasting etc... We head for Wirrina tomorrow.
I ruminate over the possibility of buying a (itsy bitsy teeny weeny) TV. We have so far resisted.
On our car 'Tour de Yorke Peninsula' yesterday we spotted this fabulous fence.
I ruminate over the possibility of buying a (itsy bitsy teeny weeny) TV. We have so far resisted.
On our car 'Tour de Yorke Peninsula' yesterday we spotted this fabulous fence.
Just brilliant!
Copper Triangle and the Pickey Boys
The rain held off today until we'd completed a wonderful round trip to parts of the Yorke Peninsula historic Copper Triangle.
We were hosted by Jim and Janet Cameron who own a gorgeous yacht in the Port Vincent Marina called East of The Lizard. Jim had earlier in the week visited for Fivers and arrived with a bounty of home-made Red Capsicum Paste, Quince Jelly, Marmalade, blood oranges, grapefruit, lemons and some fresh herbs! Quite amazing and we are hugely grateful for this stunning generosity. Jim barely had enough hands to hoist himself on board with his bottle of red. It's OK though, we made him take the red back home with him, only it was IN him, thus ensuring his hands would be free to steady himself getting back onto the jetty. The plan wasn't a total success with feet encountering our springer leads in the darkness. The Bloke was very sympathetic having a bottle of red in him as well.
We knew that it was to be a cracker of a day when we met Henry who shared the ride on the back seat with us.
The towns of Moonta, Wallaroo and Kadina on the western side of the Yorke Peninsula form the historic Copper Triangle and it was to Moonta that we headed for morning tea. Copper was discovered at Moonta in 1861 and subsequently mined, principally by Cornish miners, until 1923.
By the 1870's Moonta grew to be the second largest town outside of Adelaide and the Town Hall building certainly indicated the prosperity that the Moonta copper mining operations delivered. There are plenty of restored buildings capturing the history of this era.
Although the mining in Moonta itself is long gone, an operational open cut mine exists near Ardrossan on the eastern side of the peninsula, with an estimated further working life of 80 years. Plans for a new or expanded mine are being vigorously opposed locally owing to the extremely productive arable land on the Yorke Peninsula. With South Australia being the driest state on the driest continent, sacrificing scarce and profitable farmland to mining is always going to be a contentious issue.
We arrived at the site of the old Moonta Mine just as the hourly train ride was about to leave. The whole site plus the impressively extensive narrow gauge railway, is lovingly managed by volunteers. In a fit of impulse we thought "Why not!" and jumped on board with half a dozen other passengers; none of us knowing what to expect, including the young couple whose first baby was due in only 4 days. With every jerk and shudder of the trip, all eyes darted in the direction of the mother-to-be.
We were given a live commentary by the driver who had a voice like old-man-time himself; except with a stronger accent. From the parts of the information that we could understand, men, women and children were employed at the mine although only men (16 +) went down below into the mine. Boys as young as 11 were employed as Pickey Boys and their task was to sort the ore after it had been brought to the surface, dropping the different grades (rich, low, waste) down sorting chutes. In the evening the boys would attend school classes at the end of which they'd receive a token to present to their mine superintendent the next day as proof of attendance. Failure to produce the token would result in the their pay being docked. The Mine Museum is quite literally an 'old school' style museum and is housed in the Mines' old School House building.
There is a lot of evidence of all elements of the mining operation and the little train makes a journey lasting around 40 minutes with a couple of stops to look more closely at the various sections. We all agreed it was fascinating. Jim and Janet confessed to never having previously ridden on the train and are now pleased they have.
We were hosted by Jim and Janet Cameron who own a gorgeous yacht in the Port Vincent Marina called East of The Lizard. Jim had earlier in the week visited for Fivers and arrived with a bounty of home-made Red Capsicum Paste, Quince Jelly, Marmalade, blood oranges, grapefruit, lemons and some fresh herbs! Quite amazing and we are hugely grateful for this stunning generosity. Jim barely had enough hands to hoist himself on board with his bottle of red. It's OK though, we made him take the red back home with him, only it was IN him, thus ensuring his hands would be free to steady himself getting back onto the jetty. The plan wasn't a total success with feet encountering our springer leads in the darkness. The Bloke was very sympathetic having a bottle of red in him as well.
We knew that it was to be a cracker of a day when we met Henry who shared the ride on the back seat with us.
Handsome Henry is knitted from the fleece of a sheep named 'Henry'.
The towns of Moonta, Wallaroo and Kadina on the western side of the Yorke Peninsula form the historic Copper Triangle and it was to Moonta that we headed for morning tea. Copper was discovered at Moonta in 1861 and subsequently mined, principally by Cornish miners, until 1923.
Moonta Town Hall - part of it anyway.
By the 1870's Moonta grew to be the second largest town outside of Adelaide and the Town Hall building certainly indicated the prosperity that the Moonta copper mining operations delivered. There are plenty of restored buildings capturing the history of this era.
Although the mining in Moonta itself is long gone, an operational open cut mine exists near Ardrossan on the eastern side of the peninsula, with an estimated further working life of 80 years. Plans for a new or expanded mine are being vigorously opposed locally owing to the extremely productive arable land on the Yorke Peninsula. With South Australia being the driest state on the driest continent, sacrificing scarce and profitable farmland to mining is always going to be a contentious issue.
The Bloke, Jim and Janet viewing the current copper mine
while Henry took care of the vehicle.
Toot! Toot! Our carriage awaits.
We arrived at the site of the old Moonta Mine just as the hourly train ride was about to leave. The whole site plus the impressively extensive narrow gauge railway, is lovingly managed by volunteers. In a fit of impulse we thought "Why not!" and jumped on board with half a dozen other passengers; none of us knowing what to expect, including the young couple whose first baby was due in only 4 days. With every jerk and shudder of the trip, all eyes darted in the direction of the mother-to-be.
We were given a live commentary by the driver who had a voice like old-man-time himself; except with a stronger accent. From the parts of the information that we could understand, men, women and children were employed at the mine although only men (16 +) went down below into the mine. Boys as young as 11 were employed as Pickey Boys and their task was to sort the ore after it had been brought to the surface, dropping the different grades (rich, low, waste) down sorting chutes. In the evening the boys would attend school classes at the end of which they'd receive a token to present to their mine superintendent the next day as proof of attendance. Failure to produce the token would result in the their pay being docked. The Mine Museum is quite literally an 'old school' style museum and is housed in the Mines' old School House building.
There is a lot of evidence of all elements of the mining operation and the little train makes a journey lasting around 40 minutes with a couple of stops to look more closely at the various sections. We all agreed it was fascinating. Jim and Janet confessed to never having previously ridden on the train and are now pleased they have.
There are lots of beautiful masonry walls like these.
The green rocks betray their copper content.
We completed our coast-to-coast travels across the peninsula with a late lunch at a golf course in the dunes at Port Hughes with a view back into Spencer Gulf. We never imagined we'd be seeing Spencer Gulf again so soon.
No day would be complete without Fivers back on Zofia
Yes, another 'diamond day'!
Friday, July 11, 2014
Tidy Towns
The cleanliness of the South Australian towns we've experienced so far will of course be in part a result of civic pride and we are guessing the particular ethics of Scottish, Welsh and German forebears but could also be a spin-off from South Australian re-cycling policy. All other states should take note! The sky is not going to fall in if shoppers are asked to pay for a shopping bag or if there is a surcharge on bottles and cans. The fact is, here you don't find plastic bags on road sides or other random places. One adapts to taking ones own bags very rapidly in lieu of paying 15c per sturdy reusable bag available at the checkout. If some thoughtless person does toss a can or bottle to the ground it won't remain there for long since it represents a 5-10cent return value. We suspect that the policy has a winder spin-off that keeps litter and recycling 'front of mind' too.
The 'Bottles and Can only' bins are evident everywhere and the money recouped is retained by the locality from which it was collected. These funds are then channeled to various civic projects. In Port Vincent, the annual collection can be as much as $20,000 and this has funded street landscaping, walking trail maintenance an so on. It's hard to present a downside to the policy unless you can provide a compelling reason for an individual's human right to trash their surrounds.
The Bloke treated me to another surprise and suggested completing the last of the local walking trails which took us south behind the caravan park and in the direction of Stansbury. THANK YOU to all the rubbish collecting that made this such a joy!
The 'Bottles and Can only' bins are evident everywhere and the money recouped is retained by the locality from which it was collected. These funds are then channeled to various civic projects. In Port Vincent, the annual collection can be as much as $20,000 and this has funded street landscaping, walking trail maintenance an so on. It's hard to present a downside to the policy unless you can provide a compelling reason for an individual's human right to trash their surrounds.
The Bloke treated me to another surprise and suggested completing the last of the local walking trails which took us south behind the caravan park and in the direction of Stansbury. THANK YOU to all the rubbish collecting that made this such a joy!
Community involvement
The poor Bloke, he reckons he's up for another walking 'trial'.
Watch out!
It's quite a drop down.
Tuesday, July 8, 2014
Weather Bulletin
The Blokes's Suunto watch with inbuilt barometer is flashing "Storm Alert". I guess all that yanking on the mooring leads and screeching in the rigging means something after all. The watch also has an audible alarm if the pressure drops rapidly between it's half hourly polling. Yup, it's been singing too.
All the mooring leads have been inspected and extra ones added as a precaution. The Bloke witnessed a water spout in the bay and the butcher reported waves lapping over the sea wall and onto the marine promenade at high tide.
This isn't localised bad weather. We have heard that the Kangaroo Island ferry between the mainland and Penneshaw has been cancelled for today and a yacht anchored off the town beach in Port Lincoln was washed ashore. The latter does not come as a surprise.
984 hPa and dropping?
All the mooring leads have been inspected and extra ones added as a precaution. The Bloke witnessed a water spout in the bay and the butcher reported waves lapping over the sea wall and onto the marine promenade at high tide.
This isn't localised bad weather. We have heard that the Kangaroo Island ferry between the mainland and Penneshaw has been cancelled for today and a yacht anchored off the town beach in Port Lincoln was washed ashore. The latter does not come as a surprise.
The beach outside PLYC.
It's a surprise that it didn't wash up a few weeks ago.
It's a surprise that it didn't wash up a few weeks ago.
Even the Shags and Terns are unimpressed.
We think these must be the young ones as there are even more hunkering down this evening.
We think these must be the young ones as there are even more hunkering down this evening.
Monday, July 7, 2014
The Erratics
Having begun the day with a visit to a number of racing yachts and a lovely BBQ cooked breakfast in a sunny spot out of the wind, this heavy consumption needed to be walked down. A nearby coastal walking trail beckoned.
The Bloke gave up protesting against going for a walk, so bottled water and apples were thrown in a backpack 'in case'. We were off to view 'The Erratics'.
1 1/2 hrs later the Bloke rewarded himself with a visit to The Kiosk for a cup of coffee. Feeling it was insufficient, he topped up with a plate of chips. That childhood nickname of 'Tuck' has a ring to it.
The Bloke resigned to another session of 'boot camp'.
The Bloke gave up protesting against going for a walk, so bottled water and apples were thrown in a backpack 'in case'. We were off to view 'The Erratics'.
...and here they are.
What the fuss is about.
Top of the hill.
It's dead flat inland as far as the eye can see, on this stretch of the Yorke Peninsula.
Birds eye view of Port Vincent Marina
1 1/2 hrs later the Bloke rewarded himself with a visit to The Kiosk for a cup of coffee. Feeling it was insufficient, he topped up with a plate of chips. That childhood nickname of 'Tuck' has a ring to it.
Could almost be somewhere tropical.
A beautiful day with less and less breeze.
Racing update
Zofia is leading the mono-hull division for our trip and until today we were winners overall. Easy Tiger however, left Port Lincoln on a good weather window yesterday and like us, traveled overnight and have now reached Marina Adelaide which is due east of our current location. So we concede to Easy Tiger. For now anyway. Urchin are a scratching, having succumbed to the charms of Port Lincoln.
Mid-winter racing seems to be all the rage. CYCSA in Adelaide hold an annual weekend race across to Port Vincent. We had heard that as many as 20 yachts would be coming our way. How exciting! The westerly conditions resulted in a number of scratchings but around 13 hardy sorts arrived between 1600 and 1830 on Saturday afternoon.
It seems that Julia's skipper Richard, and Commodore Jonathan from PLYC have a bit of a 'thing' going on the subject of torches. We are not sure of how the banter goes but Richard has a similar LED Lenser torch to ours so we think that we might have the last word. (Ours is the diving version and we like it because it can fit in a pocket plus has a long beam). Bad luck Wendy- we outvote you!
The Bloke had a good chat with the owner of a racer called Gee Whiz. It had an elaborate array of push buttons in front of both helms that automated every sheet, winch, water ballast movement etc... she was Gee Whiz all right! Somehow the conversation turned to fuel and condensation. The skipper who said he owned a fuel company, handed the Bloke a small bottle of an additive. (Compelling credentials for the advice he was about to impart.) We'd only need a 'splosh' apparently and it was not 'aggressive', meaning that it would not do such a great job of microbial destruction that the byproduct would clog the fuel filters as effectively as the contaminants that it was designed to arrest. Full of enthusiasm, the Bloke has given Zofia the magic 'splosh'.
Before we knew it, 13 boats headed out to commence the spinnaker run home. Such a contrast to the trip over which was 'on the nose' all day.
Mid-winter racing seems to be all the rage. CYCSA in Adelaide hold an annual weekend race across to Port Vincent. We had heard that as many as 20 yachts would be coming our way. How exciting! The westerly conditions resulted in a number of scratchings but around 13 hardy sorts arrived between 1600 and 1830 on Saturday afternoon.
First into the marina was the racing trimaran - Carbon Credit
Gee Whiz (the Whizzer) was the next racer to arrive
Next came Outrageous who we helped into a pen on our wharf
It kept getting darker
We were particularly excited as we thought a sister ship to Zofia was in the fleet. It turned out to be a different Julia; a lovely 40' Dufour Grand Large that arrived.
It seems that Julia's skipper Richard, and Commodore Jonathan from PLYC have a bit of a 'thing' going on the subject of torches. We are not sure of how the banter goes but Richard has a similar LED Lenser torch to ours so we think that we might have the last word. (Ours is the diving version and we like it because it can fit in a pocket plus has a long beam). Bad luck Wendy- we outvote you!
Specialist opinion about a torch
The Bloke had a good chat with the owner of a racer called Gee Whiz. It had an elaborate array of push buttons in front of both helms that automated every sheet, winch, water ballast movement etc... she was Gee Whiz all right! Somehow the conversation turned to fuel and condensation. The skipper who said he owned a fuel company, handed the Bloke a small bottle of an additive. (Compelling credentials for the advice he was about to impart.) We'd only need a 'splosh' apparently and it was not 'aggressive', meaning that it would not do such a great job of microbial destruction that the byproduct would clog the fuel filters as effectively as the contaminants that it was designed to arrest. Full of enthusiasm, the Bloke has given Zofia the magic 'splosh'.
A crew desperately trying to dry their kit in time for the return trip
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