Royal Br ighton Yacht Club Cruis ing Group

CRUISING NEWS

Chairperson Will Merritt 9598 8626

Secretary Jenny Collins 9553 6156

Editor Pam Merritt 9598 8626

CRUISING GROUP COMMITTEE MEMBERS

Now, I have a confession to make. We’ve been caravanning. Yes, that’s right, hauling a small metal box all over the countryside. Actually found that the caravanning activity has some parallels to cruising. We tried to be ‘berthed’ by mid-afternoon. We also found reversing just as tricky with van and boat. We noted that seasoned ‘vanners’ were generally friendly and helpful. Stepping ashore was easier and there wasn’t such a long walk to the shower. Didn’t matter how bad the anchorage or how windy it was, the van didn’t rock at night. The weather had less impact on our daily travel plans. We had the use of transport when in ‘port’. In short, our trip to Mooloolaba via Canberra and Pittwater in a hired Avan was very enjoyable.

Am I going to sell the boat and buy a van? Nah! There’s no beating the open air, the slower pace, the adventure and challenge of sailing, the freedom from traffi c, the frolicking of whales and dolphins and I must admit the company of like-minded people. Don’t go all misty eyed on me. I still think yer a pack-o-mongrels, it’s just that yer a nice pack.

CHAIRMAN WILL

NOTICE BOARD

Ian Mather 9800 1474 David Pollard 9596 5633David Asprey 9592 5300John Sagar 9857 6284Mavis Sheedy 9347 5561Michelle Wale 0402 035 449

JULY 2009

NEWSLETTER ARTICLES If you’ve been cruising, know anyone who’s been cruising or even just dream about going cruising then we’d love to hear from you. Any articles, with or without photos, would be most welcome. Letters to the Editor are also welcome. Please e-mail to: willm@hotkey.net.au - thanks Ed.

“Watershed” is a Northshore 38’ built in 1985 as hull number 29. The fi rst Northshore 38’ was built for Sydney yachtsman John Buck and designed by well known designer Hank Kaufman.

Originally commissioned with a shallow draft of 1.75m to suit John’s mooring in Pittwater, subsequent yachts built by Northshore Yachts, Mona Vale were used more widely and a deeper keel was incorporated. Watershed is this later version with 1.85m and a lead boot fi tted to the keel base. This has made the yacht much more suitable for offshore sailing. She has a very comfortable motion through the water.

Inside is a huge forward cabin with an adjacent roomy head and shower compartment next to the mast. The saloon table is good and has accommodated eight people at Cruising Progressive Dinners. A fold up starboard settee can sleep two, but without much comfort. We will modify this area to provide more secure storage and a bunk with more practical comfort for a single person. A large starboard rear bunk area is used mostly by the skipper (because he snores and should be kept far away from the forward playroom). A useful sized galley and nav table on either side of the companionway complete the comfortable below decks area.

Many Northshore 38’s have competed in Sydney to Hobart’s etc, including the infamous ‘98 Sydney to Hobart where both participating Northshores fi nished. They have strongly built hulls with vinylester GRP throughout, a 7/8 fractional deck stepped mast and a very large mainsail. All halyards and sail controls lead back to the very large comfortable cockpit. We have self-tailing winches for halyards and headsails. Headsail furler and lazy jacks make sail handling quite easy.

“Watershed” was so named by Robyn Gray because it was a new signifi cant event for myself and part owners John and Robyn Gray; also most blokes have a shed, but ours is on the water. Thus “ET” became “Watershed”. We found her at RPAYC in Pittwater and after a much protracted purchase, refi t and delivery cruise down the coast, with several adventures, she arrived at RBYC very early one spring morning with little fanfare.

We have enjoyed some good voyaging in her over the last (nearly) two years with several races and cruising trips to QCYC and up the river to Docklands etc. plus general RBYC and ORCV club races on the bay. Also one not so good ‘half trip’ to King Island when Commodore John Spencer and I experienced a partial steering failure in Bass Strait. We sailed home carefully and I replaced all steering cables, pulleys and rudder quadrant so this failure will not occur again.

Several elderly components have been replaced or will be as dollars become available. We do like to fi x things correctly and only once! However John Gray (as part owner) wonders why only his parts fail and require expensive replacement! Robyn says I should just let him wonder!

“Watershed” is a nice, comfortable and at times quite fast racer/cruiser yacht. We like our guests/crew to have a good, safe and friendly time with us on board and would like to think they want to come back and share our pleasure. We look forward to much more sailing of all types in the future.

WATERSHED - CRUISING YACHT OF THE MONTHBy Ian Mather

FORTHCOMING EVENTS

FRIDAY 17TH JULY

FORUM DINNER MEETING GUEST SPEAKER – JOHN HOOPER, HOOPER SAILS

John will give us a run down on the best sails for cruising, caring for your sails and some new innovations in sail technology. This informative talk will be of value to both cruisers and racers alike.

Usual format – gather about 6.30pm, meeting and talk about 6.45pm followed by dinner at 8pm. Please book with Mandy 9592 3092 by Tuesday 14th July so the caterers have accurate numbers.

FRIDAY 21ST AUGUST

FORUM DINNER MEETING Guest Speaker TBA

FRIDAY 18TH SEPTEMBER

Keep this date free – we have a surprise in store!

CHAIRMAN WILL

Berthed at Yamba

PAGE 2 CRUISING NEWS JULY 2009 PAGE 5

Cruising Group’s Annual Classical Music Evening is always a special event, and this year was no exception. As we gathered downstairs for sherry and pre-dinner nibbles it was hard to recognise some members as formal attire replaced the usual wet weather gear seen around the club.

The Midas String Quartet, led by Melissa Chominsky, cello and with Hannah Forsyth, viola, Yi Wang, violin and Julien Dupont, violin, entertained us throughout the evening with beautiful music. Following the prawn cocktail entrée the fi rst musical segment, including spectacular works by Mozart, Bach, Haydn and Handel, set the tone for the evening. Elegant strings indeed! Appropriately, Handel’s “Hornpipe’ from Water Music Suite No. 2 was included in the selection.

After a delicious main course tables were cleared and we were treated to two wonderful Violin Concertos by Vivaldi followed by Mozart’s ‘Quartet No. 12 in G Major’. This segment certainly highlighted the talent and expertise of the group as we listened, enthralled. Special guest Jill Atkinson was introduced and sang Schubert’s ‘Ava Maria’ and Puccini’s ‘O mio babbino Caro’ – a real treat with Jill’s beautiful soprano voice.

Then came dessert, a very decadent chocolate crème brulee, and the fi nal musical segment for the evening – Haydn’s ‘Serenade’, Mendelssohn’s ‘Canzonetta Op.12 and Boccherini’s ‘Minuett’ followed by a selection of popular classics. The enthusiastic applause said it all.

Raffl e prize winners were drawn and successful Silent Auction bidders announced. Some were celebrating!

Of course we all know that these evenings don’t just happen by themselves. A lot of hard work was put in by the Music Night Sub-committee and we thank David Asprey once again for fi nding and liaising with the musicians, sourcing prizes, organising programs and more, Mavis Sheedy for handling bookings and table placements, making a new backdrop curtain and more and Jenny Collins for artistic coordination (table decoration), pre-dinner nibbles, and more. John Sagar kindly polished the candelabra once again and Chairman Will did a great job as MC for the evening. We are indebted to these Committee members for the work they put in.

A profi t of more than $3000 was made and this year will be donated to a fund for running the Australian Access Dinghy Association Championships for disabled sailors to be held at RBYC in January 2010.

Dorrie, Hugh and Jo

Sue, Karen, Andrew & Murray

Dorrie, Kathy, David

& Jenny

Maree, Roger, Ronda & Jenny

OH WHAT A NIGHT!By PAM MERRITT

Midas String Quartet - Yi, Julien, Hannah & Melissa

Folie A Deux became Folie A Quatre as the two skippers (always a problem, not really), Mel Chambers and Peter Dove set off. We gathered with the many (not all as Happy J and Y Knot had already gotten a head start) at QCYC and all the skippers disagreed about the next move. Apollo Bay was downwind so the Lady Skipper was keen to pursue that option but the gentlemen overruled and Mel remained diplomatically neutral. As the weather window looked short it was decided to head off with the next slack at the Heads ie. 0400 hours. The GPS and the leads had different opinions about where ‘4 fi ngers west’ actually was but Lonsdale Light, helpful as always, indicated we should go “ a little bit more west” as a bloody big freighter slid silently past. Once out the heads it was us alone until we passed the gas platform during the following night. We got some beautiful sailing in at night and during the day there was some great excitement of something in the water. It happened to be a dead seal being feasted upon by large seabirds. Not that exciting ...but when all you can see is the wide sea anything unusual is a thrill. The skies were blue and Bass Strait settled and we entered the Tamar, had the usual enthusiastic discussions about following the leads, arrived at Beauty Point to be met by Ray and his camera and were ushered into one of those berths with 2 big piles to get past. The Gentleman Skipper masterfully backed us in with the minimum of impact and we raised our glasses to the fi rst crossing of Bass Strait by the Folies.

Mel had been cooking up a storm but here at Beauty Point she proved her worth as a providor by fi nding wild tomatoes for the casserole and wild blackberries for the scones ...mmm. We checked out the metropolis of Georgetown and the Bass and Flinders Museum. It has the replica of the Norfolk which circumnavigated Tasmania in 1988 and is held together by 10,000 “Trunnels”, or tree nails, small wooden nails held in by a small wedge. The 37 foot boat was very spartan, made us very thankful to be sailing in this century and in awe of the bravery of those navigators and seamen who had no idea of where they were going. We also caught up with Craig and Gaye on Y Knot with their crew of Andrew, Trudy and Liam (aged 3) who had also made the Bass Strait crossing, via Refuge Cove.

Together the two boats headed up the Tamar stopping at the pub at Rosevears for lunch and just managing to beat the turn of the tide at Launceston. There is a beautiful marina in the middle of Launceston but because the river has silted up most of it dries at low tide. The dredging just takes the mud downstream where it is washed back up again. We enjoyed a walk up Cataract Gorge in beautiful weather and checked out the Design Museum dedicated to modern wooden furniture . In addition Bryan and Pete gave the boat a big scrub with fresh water which, it being Tassy, is not restricted.

The tide governs passage up and down the Tamar so we had an early start and arrived too early at the wineries to taste...curse. When we got back to Beauty Point everyone was there and we all enjoyed a reunion in the pub for dinner.

The Folies became A Cinque when Dick Cowles arrived from NZ and we headed off with a plan to visit Deal Island. The sea became very unpleasant and dark in colour. It was disconcerting to hear, care of the Andalucia crew, that conditions were worse further out. We retreated back to Georgetown and met Bryn of Tamar Coast Patrol who came to the wharf to check us out after brekky. After testing the pub we reluctantly set off deciding to have a short day and headed into the Mersey River at dusk. This was a good move as the yacht club have a very small, comfortable fl oating marina for guests and a very friendly bunch of locals at the bar...but best of all really hot showers. Andalucia followed a bit later and we caught up for drink. How unusual.

The trip back was fun. To avoid being lonely we headed back on the same course as the Spirit and the Searoad Tamar so as they neared us we had a little chat and they deviated to avoid us! We tested our radar which picked them up at about 8 NM out, and when we contacted them they had seen us on their radar about half an hour before. It’s amazing how that extra height greatly increases the detection range (something to do with the Earth’s curvature I think). After a very pleasant crossing we arrived back at QCYC to fi nd the bar opening at 4 in afternoon just for us.

It was a great fi rst overseas cruise for us and reinforced the fact that cruisers always watch the weather and stay put if it’s going to be a bit rough.

THE FOLIES TAKE ON TASSY CRUISEBy Bryan and Sue Drummond

Beauty Point pub.

Folie a Deux and Andalucia at

Mersey Yacht Club, Devonport