While the boat looked in reasonable condition, there are always a lot of hidden things in need of attention. Things that you do not notice till you start using the boat.
The galley shelving under the sink was unfortunately made out of chipboard.
Shortly after taking possession of this boat, I realised that there was a problem with the fuel supply to both engines. The engines would run for approximately 1 hour and then run out of diesel fuel. To get the engines running again required bleeding the fuel lines and then they were both good for another hour.
The engines are 3 cylinder Yanmar model 3GMD. They are original motors and salt water cooled. While salt water cooling is more prone to engine corrosion, it is also much simpler as there no heat exchange with only one water circuit. They also run much cooler between 50-60 degC because salt water is not good at higher temperature and causes a build up of salt depots in the engine. However running at the lower temperature means that the engine is not as efficient and therefore not used these days.
When I first discovered the problem I engaged a diesel mechanic to check over both engines and he told me that there did not appear to be anything wrong and it should not recur. How wrong can you be. We had this problem all the way back to Sydney.
Having a bad experience with Diesel mechanic I decided that it was best to try and sort out the problem myself. Not knowing anything about diesel engines, it was a steep learning curve. Firstly, you need to understand exactly how the engine is set up. Tracing through the cooling system, fuel system, electrical system and exhaust gives you a much better understanding of how everything works.
My first thought was that we were somehow sucking in air at either the fuel tank or the primary fuel filters. However, logic would indicate that this was unlikely to occur exactly the same on both engines. Maybe it was bad fuel? So the first step was to change the primary and secondary fuel filters. There was a lot of dirt in both primary filters and water on the starboard side. Maybe the filters have not been changed for a long time or maybe the fuel tanks have a lot rubbish in the bottom?
Tried running the engines again and they both stopped again after about an hour of running. A check of the filters showed that there was a significant amount of debris coming from the fuel tanks, but not really enough to cause the engines to shut down!
So the next logical step was to ensure that the fuel was good. There is no inspection hatch on the fuel tanks so there is limited access to clean them. Built a small fuel polishing unit that could access the tank via the fuel return line from the top of the tank. In this way it was possible to suck up the rubbish from the bottom of the tank and filter the fuel before returning it to the tanks.
Again tested the engines and sure enough they stopped after about 1 hour of running. But at least the fuel supply now was clean! So the problem was coming from some other source. So when checking out the fuel system for the umpteenth time I noticed that the fuel return lines coming off the injectors was being fed into the the primary filter. It was the same on both engines. This did not seem right as the return line to the fuel tanks had been disconnected? Not really understanding the significance of this I did some research and that it was not normal.
So I contacted Yanmar to get their advice and was told that this is definitely not recommended. When fuel comes out from the injector it has been put under a lot of pressure and this can cause a small amount of gas to come out of the fuel. When fed into the filter it can slowly build up and eventually make its way to the injector and the engine starves of fuel.
So this would explain why the both engines were behaving exactly the same. When looking at the plumbing it was a good job and obviously done for some reason. Could not figure out why though? Really did not make any sense. And why would the previous owner not had the same problem?
So I reconfigured the fuel return lines to go directly back the to fuel tanks and took the boat for another run. Voila, both engines ran for 3 hours without stopping. So problem solved.
However I was still not happy as the engines were both emitting a bit of black smoke. This could be because they are old, operating at a low temperature, burning old fuel or potentially lots of other reasons. The fuel looked a bit cloudy, so took samples of the fuel and let it settle overnight. Sure enough there was a fine sediment that settled to the bottom. So decided to get rid of the old fuel that had probably been sitting there for a number of years and replace with new diesel.
This boat has extra fuel tanks located in the bow to enable longer trips under power. When I checked out the installation for these, I was surprised to find that they had electric fuel pumps and primary filters installed back to front! This would never work. So obviously someone has been doing work on the fuel system that just did not understand what they were doing!
No more problems with the fuel system. Have done around 200 hours on each engine and not had any problems with the fuel supply.
As with all old boats, the wiring and instrumentation has to be upgraded over time. On my boat a lot of things are original, meaning that they are 40 years old and some items have need upgraded over the years. Unfortunately when the new stuff is installed often the old stuff is not properly removed, so you end up with a lot of redundant equipment and wiring. And of course there are no system or wiring diagrams.
So the first step is to establish exactly what is redundant and generate some accurate system and wiring diagrams. Looking at the main electrical cupboard, it is a big mess. There are wires and hoses going everywhere and nothing labelled. The engine compartments are a similar story.
Tracing out all of the circuits and systems is time consuming but an absolutely essential task. Otherwise it is almost impossible to trouble shoot and sort out problems that may arise.
The boat was built to survey and I believe originally operated on the Whitsunday Islands. As a result, the bilge pumping system was very over designed. In addition to the electric bilge pumps in each engine bilge, there was a large engine driven pump with 1.5 inch copper tubing to the bilge area of each of the 6 Hull sections that can be isolated with waterproof bulkheads.
The pump was disconnected and seized, so no chance of this operating during an emergence. As a backup there was also a large cast iron manual bilge pump that was also seized. It is unlikely these have ever been used other than for testing purposes. These all had to come out as they take up a lot of room, significant amount of weight and can never be operational.
After removing the redundant gear we are left with 2 small electric bilge pumps, one for each engine bilge and a larger capacity portable electric pump. Probably a bit light on, but if we have a serious breach, there are 4 sealable bulkhead doors that can isolate the damaged section. May have to look at more bilge pump capacity in the future.
Elimination of the separation between between house and power batteries meant that the switchboard had to be slightly reconfigured. Instead of house and starting battery separation, it become Port and Starboard battery separation. The engines can then be isolated via the 3 way selector.
Originally the shore power fed into a large transformer and rectifier unit to charge the 12V batteries. At some point in time the was replaced by a heavy duty battery charger but none of the redundant equipment or cabling removed.
A lot of old redundant power supply cabling was left still connected to the switchboard, so this needed to be removed. Then an accurate power single line diagram had to be drawn up.
A lot of instrumentation was so old that it was almost unusable.
A 27 Mhz radio in working condition but that frequency is now all but redundant. So no point in keeping it.
A hand held and a panel mount GPS unit look like they have come out of a museum. So no point in keeping those.
The chart plotter is so old that it is impossible to get updated ROM chips for where we want to go. However it does have a good waterproof display of position, speed etc, so worthwhile keeping till we upgrade. Can’t see much point in spending a large amount of money on a new unit as all the navigation information is available on my laptop and mobile phone and is very economical. Navoinics is brilliant in most situations. Electronic charts are also very cheap.
What is working well is the VHF Radio, HF radio, auto pilot, radar, wind speed and depth. Don’t really need much else.
One worthwhile addition is an AIS module. Not very expensive and they can be invaluable out on the ocean, especially at night. Being able to accurately detect ship movements in your area is absolutely brilliant. Knowing the speed and direction of the other vessels makes it much safer.
The boat came with a 2 way (Mains and gas) refrigerator that is in good working condition. Additionally, 2 eutectic units in ice boxes that run from either a compressor off the engine or a separate 240V compressor unit. Neither of these was in working condition.
As we intend to be living at anchor for most of the time on the boat, an eutectic is not going to work well. (operates by freezing a volume of refrigeration solution with a low freezing point inside the ice box, just like a block of ice) No 240V power to run the compressor and don’t really want to run the engine for a few hours every day just to keep the fridge cold. Besides the eutectic boxes take up a lot of space.
So decided to remove the eutectic units and replace one of them with a small 12V dc compressor and evaporator. Easy to install and are very efficient these days. So then we have diversity with one refrigerator running off gas and one running off 12V dc.
One of the most important pieces of gear on your boat is the anchoring equipment, especially if you want to spend time living off the hook. Getting a secure hold on the bottom means that you sleep well and don’t panic too much when the wind picks up.
The boat came with a 45lb CQR anchor and about 40m of 8mm galvanised short link chain. The Windlass is a Muir Cougar and there is a similar sized spare anchor with 50m of rope and chain.
The most obvious problem was that the anchor chain was badly corroded and needed replacing. Before sailing down from the Gold Coast I had to cut out 10m of chain that was badly corroded. Looking at the recommendations for a 40ft cat, it was obvious that the chain was under sized and the anchor size rather marginal.
Since the chain needed replacing we decided to install the 10mm short link chain. Of course the gypsy needed to be replaced too. The Muir Cougar windlass will handle up to 10mm chain but the cost of a new Gypsy was almost as much as the new chain. However I could sell the old gypsy as it was still in good condition.
Galvanised chain is rather expensive at around $18 per meter. So I decided to buy steel chain and get it hot dip galvanised. this has the advantage that the galvanising is more heavy duty and should last longer. managed to get a good deal on 230 meters of chain at $4 per meter. Galvanising is about $6 per meter. Decided on 80m of chain and sold the remainder on eBay. Because the galvanising has to be spun in a basket, the maximum length of chain was 90m. So got 3 lengths galvanised and the chain did not end up costing too much.
There was also a problem with the Windlass. The foot switch did not work reliably. After pulling it apart, found that the contacts were corroded but easily fixed with a bit of filing. Also the larger chain kept jamming as it fed into the anchor locker. Had to relocate the guide and stripper to get it operating reliably.
Additionally the Windlass would only operate coming up and not going down. Cabling looks to be in good condition and is adequately sized. Contacted Muir as the Windlass wiring did not match their schematic! My unit has four power wires coming out while their schematic only shows 4. So had to trace through the wiring and found that 2 of the contractors were faulty. Being an old boat, it was built with individual contactors to control the operation rather than the modern units with internal contactors. And finding old design contactors that used to be common on automotive applications proved difficult. Ended up sourcing them from Hong Kong! At least they fit exactly.
The anchor should be upgraded as well. The CQR is a plough type anchor and while effective under most normal conditions, it does not have the holding power of the current generation concave designs. The Sarca Excel No 5 at 22kg would be my choice for this boat but there are lots of others just as good. The new generation of anchors set faster and hold better according to data from lots of testing. So this is definitely an item on the “To Do” list.
After 6 months of cruising and living at anchor, the system has worked very well. Although the anchor should be upgraded, we did not have any problems with dragging even with winds above 30 knots. However we always selected locations with good holding such as sand and mud.
We will look at upgrading to a current generation anchor at some time in the future.
Our boat has spent most of its life on the Gold Coast, generally small outings and a lot of time in a marina berth plugged into shore power. Therefore the on board power system reflects that in so much as there is limited battery power and power hungry appliances.
Our plan for the boat is totally different. We want to be able to live off the grid for extended periods of time, mainly at anchor so that we can visit remote places and do it economically. While there are places where you must check into a marina, most of the time it is not necessary. The plan is to set up the boats power system so that we never need to access shore power. Indeed, the boat will be based in Sydney Harbour on a mooring so being independent of the grid is absolutely essential. Besides it also contributes towards minimising our carbon footprint.
The first step is to analyse what you have and then make appropriate changes. The most economical way to go is to seriously look at what you really need.
Do you really need the microwave oven or the electric kettle and toaster that came with the boat? While it may be nice and convenient they are not essential items. They are very power hungry and to run them on this boat you need to be plugged into shore power or substantially upgrade the 24V dc system and install a 4kw inverter. We have a 4 burner gas stove with oven and grill that is more than sufficient for cooking.
Most of the lights on the boat were incandescent or tungsten halogen. Very inefficient and easily replaced with LED lamps.
So on the power consumption side you need to stick with what you really need and then make sure that what you do have is using the available power efficiently.
On the supply side there needs to be enough battery storage capacity to last a few days and enough charging capacity to top up the batteries after a normal days usage. So an audit is required to find out how many amp hours you will use in a normal day be it sailing or at anchor. And then size the batteries and charging to match.
After doing the sums, we determined that normal usage at anchor would be about 70 amp hours and when sailing with all of the navigation equipment running it would be about 170 amp hours. The large increase when sailing is largely due to having old instrumentation and auto pilot and will in the future reduce significantly when new equipment is required.
The auto pilot and some of the instrumentation is 40 years old but while it still is working well there is no point to replace it. Besides, when sailing we will be running the engines some of the time and we can rune the Honda 2kVA generator if require. So not as bad as it seems.
My battery bank sizing is based on dropping the 85% to 50% in one day under full load and no charging. This means that you need a capacity of about three times the maximum daily usage or about 500 amp hours. Allocated space for the batteries is limited to 110 amp hours for each of 6 batteries based on commercially available lead acid type.
The existing battery set up consisted of four batteries for house power and two starting batteries for the diesel engines. So adopting the existing arrangement would mean the house batteries would be undersized by 25%.
So the battery system needed to be reconfigured. One option is to use a single battery for starting both engines. That leaves potentially 550 amp hours for the house batteries. It is very common practise to separate the starting and house batteries for the simple reason that the batteries can get too low to crank the engines.
However, starting batteries do not do very much. Starting duty is very transient with minimal discharge. So to my mind, provided that you have a reasonable excess of capacity in your house battery and good charging and battery monitoring, the starting batteries are a bit superfluous. While house batteries are deep cycle and not designed for high starting currents, if the starting current is distributed over the 6 batteries, it becomes insignificant. So without finding more space for additional batteries, doing away with the starting batteries means in this case 30% additional storage capacity. That can only be positive for battery life operation.
The other side of the equation is of course how to keep the batteries charged. These days solar panels are very efficient and super cheap so that is generally the best option. On a catamaran there is normally adequate space on the cockpit roof for installation.
As the majority of time is spent at anchor, you need to be able to comfortably charge the batteries during normal sunny days to adequately replace the daily usage.
Based on solar panel efficiency of 50%, operating 6 hours per day with a battery charging efficiency of 80%, you need around 400W of installed solar panels. This is only an intelligent guess based on the above assumptions.
The four existing solar panels were very old and inefficient. On a bright sunny day the measured output was only 100W. So definitely needs upgrading. Fortunately the with new more efficient solar panels they fit into the existing space.
The other important consideration with solar panels is the charging regulator. The industry standard for many years was simple PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) type of charging. While they work well, they do not optimise the output of the solar panels as the current coming out of the panel at a higher voltage is the same as the current going into the battery at a lower voltage. Modern MPPT (Maximum Power Point Tracking) chargers select the best output voltage from the solar panel and then transform this electronically to maximise charging current into the battery. This typically gives a 20% higher charging current into the batteries which is really significant.
So for an investment of AU$1000 for batteries and AU$500 for solar panels and some labour the 24V dc power supply can be upgraded to a very reliable and adequate system for total independence from the grid.
Of course nothing is as easy as it seems. The brackets for the solar panels had to be changed and new cabling run to handle the higher current output. However the resultant system is a massive improvement.
Having a good battery monitor is absolutely essential. The boat came with one and it is good to know exactly what your batteries are doing.
When sailing the boat down from Queensland it was necessary to start the generator half way through the night to top up the batteries. In 2019 we spent over 5 months living on the boat and never had to run the generator.
The original calculation on usage at anchor was spot on and most days the solar panels would top up the batteries to 100%. In fact there was only one occasion where the house battery dropped to 80% and that was sailing with a few overcast days. Of course running the motors helps and then there is the generator as a back up. The estimate of solar panel output was good too with typically 12 to 15 amps charging into the batteries on a normal sunny day.
So what we have installed is more than adequate for living off the grid for an extended period of time.
In fact on the topic of lowering our carbon footprint, we have 40 year old diesel engines that are probably not very efficient. But they still work well we use wind power most of the time so no point to change them yet. However they will reach their use by date at some time. Then I will be looking seriously at electric propulsion. And while with current technology the range is limited by battery storage capacity, it is a sailing boat and besides there is less noise, less vibration, less maintenance, less weight and cheaper to install. And as time goes by and technology improves it can only become a more attractive option.
After 3 months travelling in Europe and China we arrived back to Sydney in early June 2017. After settling back in, it was a high priority to get the boat back to Sydney. So we headed up to Port Macquarie to check out the boat and make sure it was ready to sail.
The boat was filthy and a couple of seagulls had taken up residence. Battery voltage was low so the solar panels are not coping well. Inside needed a very good airing. Ran both motors and the starboard motor stopped after a short while. Some water in the primary filter but that should not cause the engine to stop. Definitely need to sort out why the motors are running short of fuel. After bleeding the fuel line it ran okay.
So the Boat was not in great condition but I needed to get it back to Sydney so I could sort out the problems. The sails are new and although the engines are not that reliable, there are two of them and we can get them working if they stop. My sweetheart had visions of sailing down with the boat but she suffers from sea sickness and would probably be more of a burden than help. So I drove her back to Sydney and waited for a good weather window to sail down.
Sailing is one activity that depends heavily on the weather conditions. If the conditions are right it is a pleasure to be out there. If the conditions are not right it can be an absolute nightmare, hard on the boat and physically draining. Unfortunately your crew often has other commitments and they are not always available at the right time.
The first week in July looked like really good conditions to sail back to Sydney. But try as I might, I could not get anyone with sailing experience to come with me. So I decided to go solo. Not the best option when you are not that familiar with the boat and have very limited ocean sailing experience.
Headed up to the boat on first of July. Spent a day getting ready and servicing the engines. Monday 3rd July looked like a good day to leave. The strong southerly wind was abating and was forecast to swing around to the NW by morning. The southerly swell was abating and high tide in the morning should mean a safe passage over the bar at the entrance to Port Macquarie.
Left Port Macquarie at 7am to catch the high tide as the bar was still a bit rough with the SE swell. Very nervous as this is the very first time solo sailing on the ocean and handling a 40ft catamaran is not easy if the conditions deteriorate. Not much breeze but it was forecast to increase during the day.
Managed to negotiate the bar with both engines running.
Fortunate because shortly after Starboard motor stopped. Down to one motor till I can get the motor running again.
By 9:30 the wind picked up enough to cut the motor and sail. A bit slow to begin with but the wind was slowly picking up. Really nice sailing once you get out a bit and the swell is very gentle. By this time I was feeling a lot better. Very good sailing for rest of the day. The boat sails very well with a tail wind. Only sailing with the Genoa just to keep it simple.
Most of the day was moving at between 6 and 8 knots. Originally I planned to come into Port Stevens to take a break. Reached Port Stevens at 11pm so decided to continue through the night.
Was sailing about 20 miles out to sea to take full advantage of the South current which adds 1-2 knots of speed. This puts you right in the shipping lane and vigilance is absolutely essential. Not a problem till passing Newcastle where there is bulk carrier traffic. Difficult at night because some are well lit with deck flood lights and it is often difficult to make out the navigation lights. Many are anchored waiting to go into port. It would be very nice to have AIS on board!
In the early hours of the morning the wind died down and so did our speed. No way to get up the Parramatta river in daylight hours and don’t really want to be sailing through Sydney Harbour at night. So decided to head to Pittwater. An easy harbour to enter and plenty of mooring at this time of year. As i was entering broken bay a large whale surfaced just in front of the boat. A magnificent sight against the sunset. Pity I could not get a photo!
Coasters Retreat is an idyllic spot and at this time of year it is easy to pick up a mooring for the night… Would like to spend a few days there! But
have to get the boat back.
After sailing overnight single handed you need a very good nights sleep to recover. Easy to sleep for 12 hours.
Headed out of Pittwater at 8:30am. Takes about 7-8 hours to get the boat back to the mooring and would like to do it in daylight.
Beautiful day to sail down to Sydney Harbour but a bit more breeze would be nice, only doing 3knts! Wind picked up as headed down the coast.
Wind was coming from the NW but as you enter the harbour the wind swings around to the west as it funnels through the heads. Had to motor sail to get through. Just ran the Port engine as that was proving to be more reliable.
Had to furl the Genoa at Bradley’s Head so just running on rather unreliable motors. With westerly wind of 12-14 knots fighting into it all the way!
All good till just past Cockatoo Island and the wind increased to over 20 knots.
Struggling to keep course and then the port engine stopped. Started the starboard engine with the intention of finding a sheltered place to fix the port engine. After another 5 minutes the starboard engine also stopped midway between Cockatoo Island and the Gladesville bridge.
No other option but to throw out the anchor! Dropped right to the bottom and ran out of chain. Amazing how deep it is! It was going dark – not a good look. Drifted a bit and then the anchor took hold!! Bled the
fuel system and port engine started. Started to raise the anchor and the windlass stopped after about 5 meters.
We were drifting with the anchor dangling! Had to pull the remaining 40 meters up by hand and that was tough. The chain is old and corroded it was jamming coming off the windlass.
Resumed the journey hoping that the port engine would last the distance.
Got to Kissing Point ferry wharf and my sweetheart was waiting there but I didn’t see her. Too busy with the boat to notice her. Too preoccupied to hear the phone ringing.
Got to Brays Bay and couldn’t find the mooring in the dark. So after 4 attempts picked up the one I thought it would be. So decided to row around and eventually identified the right mooring.
Went to shore to get my Sweetheart – so good to see her after the voyage.
So now we have to change moorings and the wind has increased again so needed to wait for a break. As we manoeuvred the boat the Port engine stopped again. Fortunately it is easy to drop anchor here.
Finally secured to our mooring I could relax, head home and have a hot shower. Good to be home. Good to get there safely. Don’t have to stress out about not having a crew anymore!
Got up early and had breakfast, prepared the boat and cast off at 9am destination Sydney. The weather not as good as yesterday and category 1 cyclone Debbie is forecast to hit the north Queensland coast in the next couple of days. But not much choice as we have a limited window of opportunity to get the boat back to Sydney. Hopefully we will be far enough down the coast to limit the impact of the approaching cyclone.
There are 4 of us on board, myself, Jim Felton, Trevor Bell and Sam Cheng. Slow to motor out to the seaway and both motors stopped at about the same location as the day before. So we definitely have a problem with both motors. But we know what to do and can get them running again.
As we head out of the seaway it is calm. (maybe the calm before the storm?) We report our plans to marine rescue Southport and head south.
We need to motor almost to Coolangatta before there is enough wind to set sail.
Then it is blissful Sailing and the boat performs really well. I am happy. Sailed on through the night rotating watch shifts. The plan was for 2 on watch 6hrs at a time. Sam with Jim and Trevor with myself. That plan did not work out as Sam got rather seasick.
We went well out to take advantage of the southerly current but that puts us right in the coastal shipping lane. Need to be vigilant here. One large freighter came within 1 nautical mile and that was after we altered course. I am sure they did not even see us. Can often see 4 or 5 vessels at the same time.
By morning the apparent wind had picked up to about 15knts and we were pushing 8-10knts. All good but cyclone Debbie had been upgraded to category 4 and was stronger than expected and winds set to increase during the day. Further to that, there was a strong Southerly change forecast to hit late Thursday or early Friday. As the day wore on the wind steadily picked up.
As the sea state grew worse we had to make a decision on what to do next. The next safe Port was Port Macquarie and after that Port Stevens. We figured that to get to Port Stevens before the southerly hit was risky as it was another 100 nautical miles further than Port Macquarie. We would easily make Port Macquarie.
What we did not take into account was the increasing wind speed and swell. In the afternoon we furled the head sail and by sunset the main. We were still doing 8-10knts peaking at 12 knots. The wind had picked up to 20 knots and gusting to 30knts.
We needed to slow down or we would pass Port Macquarie before daylight. Not good, we don’t want to enter a strange port in the dark. So we furled in the small stay sail to reduce speed.
I needed some sleep so left Jim and Trevor on watch. About midnight I was woken up. The boat was out of control. We were laying ahull and Jim could not get the boat back under control. Very confusing and I was not fully awake. Not responding to the helm and moving sideways with the wind.
After some deliberation discovered that the auto pilot had frozen and locked the rudders. So we had to deactivate the auto pilot and regain manual control. Not easy in the middle of the night but we managed.
Then start the engines and get and get the boat moving down wind. But when we shut the engines down the auto pilot lost control again. We did not have enough speed to maintain control so the auto pilot had lost its mojo and failed.
Solution to unfurl the stay sail so we had enough speed for control. Then the auto pilot was happy but we were going too fast!
So we had to tack back and forth in order to slow progress. Port Macquarie could have been the wrong call. If we had pushed on fast could have made Port Stevens but too late for that now.
Battled through the night with strong northerly winds. They were pushing us too far south to make Port Macquarie! Could not go too slow as you lose steerage so we tacked and kept well out to sea. By 3am we were level with Port Macquarie entrance. Did not want to go too far south only to fight our way back against the wind. So turned into the wind in hove too position on autopilot and drifted slowly south west towards the coast. Quite rough into 3m waves and 30 knot winds.
By daylight we had drifted about 5 miles south so started the engines and battled up the coast for an hour with stay sail still up. Jim spoke with marine rescue Port Macquarie and fortunately the tide was high with reasonable conditions for entering the harbour. Jim took the helm while I navigated and kept the engines running. . We needed to get a bit north of the entrance to come in with the north east wind behind us.
Once in position I took the helm with Jim controlling the stay sail and Trevor standing by as needed. Of course it was raining so visibility was poor. Sam was still very much under the weather.
Everything went to plan with a smooth entrance to the harbour. We then had to find an anchorage. Trevor phoned the Marina and relayed directions to a vacant mooring. Not much width in the channel and a lot of shallow mud flats.
Jim took over the helm and myself and Trevor tried to locate the correct mooring bouy. We got it wrong and ended up stuck in the mud. I took the helm again and eventually managed to get off and to our allocated mooring. Secured in a safe mooring we could relax and enjoy some breakfast. Has been rough couple of days but we are all safe and well. Did not expect Debbie to have so much impact this far south!
The forecast for the next week was not looking good as the southerly change hit. Strong southerly winds and a rising swell is not good for the journey south.
It would be almost another week before there was another good weather window to Sail on to Sydney. Everyone had commitments including myself. So we decided to abandon the journey south until we returned from our overseas in June. Trevor managed to get a loan of a car from a friend so they could all drive back the following day.
I had to stay on to arrange for the boat to be left for 3 months. Rang my sweetheart and she drove up for the weekend.
In the morning had breakfast and the crew packed gear and rowed to shore. Car was there by 10am. We had a coffee and they left for Sydney. I arranged with the marina manager to keep the boat there for 3 months and started essential work in order to leave the boat. My sweetheart arrived in the afternoon. Wind strong from the south and tide very strong too.
Not everything goes according to plan and the most important lesson to be learned was that fixed schedules do not work in well with sailing. Your plans need to be flexible and match in with the conditions that Mother Nature dishes out.
With cyclone Debbie lurking in the background we should have waited. To go out into those conditions is not advisable and in a boat that you are unsure of is definitely not good. But everyone has commitments and we did not have that luxury as it would have meant cancelling the trip. It was a rough trip and my sincere thanks go out to the crew I had sailing with me. There were a few scary moments but cool heads and experience carried the day.
Now the boat is half way to Sydney. Need to make the last half in July when I come back from overseas.
When you buy an old boat that has not been used a lot in recent years, getting the boat back to home port is the first project. Everything about the boat is new and reliability and seaworthiness is always an unknown quantity.
The boat needed new sails and the windows replacing. We placed those order with local tradesmen immediately after purchasing the boat with the intention of sailing it down from the Gold Coast to Sydney early in the New Year of 2017.
Of course nothing goes quite to plan! Murphy is always lurking in the shadows. The sails and windows were both late. Then there is the Christmas shutdown for 4 weeks. Settlement of our business was also delayed so couldn’t get time to go up Gold Coast anyway.
Finally in early March 2017 things were coming together. Both the new windows and sails were ready to be installed. So headed up to Hope Island on the Gold Coast by car on 17th March. My brother in law Sam came along to help. The rest of the crew were to fly up just before we set sail.
We arrived late in the day to find that there was no access to the boat. The contractor George who is installing the new windows had taken the keys home! Great start! However we managed to find his home and gain access so we had somewhere to sleep.
The next day George was back installing the new windows. Unfortunately there had been a lot of rain in the New Year and more water damage. So we spent the day planning what to do and sorting through all of the rubbish left on the boat.
There is always a lot more to do than you anticipate. The hydraulic steering was leaking fluid. The RIB tender and life raft had to be consigned to the rubbish tip. All the through hull fittings were badly corroded or seized. Port holes were all leaking. The fire extinguishers and safety gear was generally out of date. All things that can be fixed but only had allowed for 1 week to get things sorted.
Arranged to have the boat taken out of the water on 21st March at Maratimo boat works to replace the thru hull fittings, anti-foul and get a survey done. The boat was bought without a sea trial or survey – an impulsive buy.
Enlisted some assistance to take the boat around to dry dock as I had not sailed the boat prior to this. We had only gone a few hundred meters and the port engine stopped. Appeared to run short of fuel! Then a few hundred meters further the steering failed. Not a good start! Of course it was raining heavily and wind was blowing. So we got out the emergency hand tiller and limped around on one engine.
Never mind, we made it safely and the boat was lifted out. Water blast took a couple of hours while we waited, cold and wet before we could get back on the boat to get some dry clothes. Rather despondent we booked into the closet hotel for a hot shower and a good night’s sleep.
So we had more work to do. The hydraulics was leaking near the slave cylinder and at the back of the helm! Had to replace the flexible hoses to the slave cylinder and discovered after pulling it apart that the reservoir for the hydraulic fluid was more cosmetic and could not be filled as there is an overflow at a lower level!! While the boatyard replaced the thru hulls and did the anti-foul we worked on the hydraulics and port holes. The port engine had stopped because of air in the fuel line and when that was bled it worked fine.
The surveyor came around in the afternoon and did the survey inspection. Did not find anything that we did not know about but you need to do this to get insurance coverage. The boat was starting to look much better.
Boat was relaunched on 24th March. Of course it was raining and windy again but this time we were more confident. After 10 minutes of motoring our confidence was shattered as the starboard engine stopped! Tried bleeding the fuel lines and it was good again, but something is not right. So I booked the local diesel mechanic to come around the following day and check out the engines.
My sweetheart flew in and we went out for dinner. We were running out of time as the rest of the crew were arriving tomorrow and there is only a limited time that they can stay for the sail south.
The Diesel Mechanic came at 10am to check out the engines. Spent time sorting out the cooling system replaced hose and pump rotor. The Yanmar engines are salt water cooled! A simple cooling system, but more prone to corrosion. The mechanic said he could not find anything wrong with the fuel system. He suggested that the air in the fuel was probably because they had not been run in the past 5 years!
The new boat had to be named before we sailed. Part of the deal to buy a boat was to name it “Water Lily” in honour of my sweetheart Lily Cheng. Boat naming is a serious business if the wroth of the sea gods is to be avoided.
We had a short renaming ceremony presided over by John Penn-Davies, the broker we purchased the boat through. A bit of fun and reassurance for the superstitious amongst us. Some ceremony and lots of red wine. Hopefully we appeased the sea gods Neptune and Poseiden and wind god Aeolus. My sweetheart flew back and the rest of the crew arrived.
With the full crew we set about getting everything shipshape for the first test sail. All the running gear and standing rigging was checked and navigation light globes on top of the mast replaced.
Decided that tomorrow 27th March we set sail for a test run and if all goes well we continue all the way to Sydney. Fairly optimistic but why not?
Really need to get out of the Gold Coast Broadwater into the ocean to do any real sailing. It takes a couple of hours to get out of the seaway. Lost the Starboard engine about half way out. Not a great start. Had to bleed air out of the system to get it running again. There was a nice breeze of about 10 knots.
Once clear we put up the stay sail, then the head sail and finally the main. All good and the boat performs better than I expected! Really well balanced and we can do 7 knots reaching in a 10 knot breeze! And the auto pilot works perfectly. Easy to adjust and operate, that will make the trip so much easier.
All good but the head sail halyard was not properly tensioned and the halyard was jammed. Looking through the binoculars it was obvious that something was jammed at the top of the mast.
Reluctantly I decided that we should head back to Port to sort out the problem rather than risk Sailing on even though the weather was perfect.
Got back before dark and climbed up the mast again. Didn’t take long to sort out the problem. The head sail halyard was loose and operation the furler had caused the wire rope section to wrap around the stay and jamb.
So we were ready to set sail the following morning.
What is the right boat to buy? The answer is probably going to be a bit different for every person. fortunately there are a lot of boats out there to choose from!
The important thing is to get some sailing experience first. A few ocean passages on different types of boats is very helpful. Join a sailing club and do a bit of racing on other peoples boats. That is the fastest way to hone your sailing skills. Sailing experience is vital so that you know what to look for. Internet research is great. We spent a lot of time surfing the web. However, there is no substitute for “hands on” learning.
Then depending on your circumstances you need to make a short list of what is absolutely essential and have a budget within your means. Our budget was rather limited (about A$150k) so we had to find something within those constraints.
Because we plan to go cruising for an extended period of time, we both had to like the boat. Something that we both would be happy to live for an extended period of time. This is a very personal preference and it is just a feeling you get with the right boat.
Because my better half is not a serious sailor, the type of vessel we concentrated on was a good sized catamaran around the 40 ft mark. It is big enough to be very comfortable to live aboard, small enough to sail solo. Catamarans are also very stable under most circumstances.
With our budget there very few boats built post 2000 available. Therefore we had to concentrate on boats built in the 80’s and 90’s. That means that you end up with a boat 30 to 40 years old. No problem, there are a lot of good quality boats built in that period. What it does mean though is that the boat will probably need a lot of work and TLC to bring it up to cruising standard. If you can do most of the work yourself and you have time, then it can be a very economical option.
While there are a lot of features that are nice to have, we decided what was absolutely essential for us. Compromise is always the name of the game but the following things we deemed to be non-negotiable:
Over a period of 2 years we did a lot of looking but most of the boats did not really stand out or were far too expensive for our budget.
We stumbled across a Nimbus 12 designed by Robin Chamberlin. We both really liked the layout and the feel of the boat but it had been badly neglected for the past 10 years. Partially sunk once, the decking rotting in many places and condemned by the yacht club where it was moored. Too much work even if it were given to us free of charge!
By chance we were on the Gold Coast late in 1916 and took the opportunity to check out a few boats. One of the boats we viewed was a Stratos 12 design by non other than Robin Chamberlin. This boat was in reasonable condition although it had not been sailed for 5 years. A solid boat built to Survey, all GRP construction, a very roomy boat with twin diesels in good working order and a good solid cutter rig. It needed new sails and windows replacing plus a lot of cosmetic work. We offered $50k below the advertised price to cover things that needed urgent attention and a few hours later we signed the contract. An impulsive buy!
Of course we should have got a survey and taken it for a proper sail, but we had researched this boat design and was confident that it would sail well. A survey would probably tell us little more than we already knew from a thorough inspection of the boat. There was a lot of work to be done. Mainly cosmetic. And of course it always takes longer than you think.
So we had a boat. Just had to get it back to Sydney. Did we buy the right boat for us? Only time will tell.
