Photo's of River Murray & Robe

Peta relaxing after Christmas Day lunch

Ron on Christmas Day in the office

Wharf at Robe

Cray fishing fleet at Robe

Coorong National Park

"Mouth of the Murray River"

PORT VINCENT/ADELAIDE/KANGAROO ISLAND/ROBE

Upon our return to Pt Vincent we discovered that our Westerbeke 240 volt genset was not generating any electricity. We also discovered that the water pump was leaking. This unfortunately led to another problem with a piece of plastic being drawn into the motor which wedged itself under an inlet valve causing it to be jammed open.

We decided after much thought to have the back end (the stator and rotor) of the genset rewound in Adelaide and use a mechanic in Pt Vincent to repair the engine. In hind site we probably should have bought a new genset!! Anyway after various road trips to Adelaide and finding that the backend was not rewound correctly we decided to sail across the gulf to Adelaide to have the rewind company use their own mechanic to save our cost and so they could establish the problem first hand. Unfortunately our auto helm decided to go crazy on the trip across, Finesse decided to do do-nuts in the middle of the gulf. So another problem had to be fixed whilst in Adelaide. It was found that our flux-gate compass had broken some internal wires.

Whilst in Adelaide we took the dinghy up the Port River to the Old Port, saw the Birkenhead Bridge open to allow a classic steam driven tug boat through. We saw the maritime museum, did a twilight race out of the Cruising Yacht Club with John Culshaw and ate in his central Adelaide “Culshaws Restaurant” in the Majestic Hotel. John also showed us much of the North Adelaide district and a number of his own property developments. We also explored Glenelg using public transport.

Mike and Maggie who worked for Australian Submarine Corporation (ASC) loaned us a car for a couple of days which helped with our shopping and to see a South Australian movie “The Boys Are Back”.

One our final trip back to Adelaide me met Anne & Cran from “Lettin’Go” who are also sailing around Australia on a Cat who met up with Peter Cartens when he was in the Kimberley’s and we are sure our path’s will cross again in Tasmania.

We finally had the 240Vgenset rewound and fitted correctly, a total of 2 complete rewinds with the backend on and off 5 times. We then sailed back to Pt Vincent for the final engine adjustment. This whole saga has taken 5/6 weeks. The night before we were leaving to head back to Kangaroo Island we discovered that our holding tank in the aft cabin toilet had decided to split. So again we sailed back to Adelaide. We were getting quite accustomed to the 5 hour sail back and forth across the gulf.

The people at the Royal South Australian Yacht Squadron were also getting used to us coming and going and joked about giving us membership. We found the staff and workmen at the yard very helpful. This last problem happened three weeks before Christmas and we were very fortunate to have found a tradesperson able to make a new stainless steel tank at such short notice.

Finally on Saturday 12th December we set sail down the coast to Wirrina Cove to catch up with Songlines. We were able to borrow their vehicle and Sunday we drove to Victor Harbour then to Goolwa and the mouth of the Murray River.

We set sail on Monday 14th Dec with Songlines to sail in company back to Kangaroo Island. We were able to use some moorings in Kingscote and our intention was to stay a week there before sailing further east.

Unfortunately upon arrival at Kingscote we tried our genset and it wasn’t pumping water. So the next day, after our own attempts to fix it, we tried different people on the island and no one was available to help us. So the decision was made late Tuesday afternoon to sail back to Adelaide, this being on overnight trip taking some 11/12 hours. The sail up was just beautiful, the gulf being so calm and the coastline all lit up. We arranged for a marine auto electrician to meet us once again at the Yacht Squadron. He came down at 7.30am and the problem was fixed within 2 hours. The problem being a wire caught under the control panel box of the genset that was shorting out, causing the genset to stop.

We decided to stay overnight and sail late on Thursday evening leaving at 11.30pm for another overnight sail down the coast and this time going to the eastern end of Kangaroo Island to Antechamber Bay. This sail took us approx 11 hours and we dropped anchor (using our new stockless anchor for the first time) in the bay at about 11am. After a few hours sleep we again set sail at 5pm for a night sail to Robe.

This was not a pleasant sail as the winds forecast were stronger than predicted ranging from 20 to 30 kts with 3 metre swells. It reminded Peta of the bight crossing on the 3 day and she did not travel well. We made it to Robe in 18 hours and are now safely in the Robe Marina. We have found since we arrived here that the genset stopped pumping water again so we arranged for the local diesel mechanic to have a look. Well he found a problem with the water pump and has fixed it. The problem was initiated by Ron fitting a cork gasket which was too thick and did not allow the impellor to seal behind the backing plate. The genset is now working well and hopefully we will have no more problems with it.

We spent Christmas Day on board Finesse and have a lovely meal of local crayfish/prawns/oysters and some local South Australian wines.

Peta’s brother Robert is joining us on the 31st December to sail to Portland/Port Fairy/Apollo Bay then to King Island before reaching Tasmania. We intend to depart on Saturday 2nd January weather permitting.

Wallaroo/Pt Vincent/Kangaroo Island - Pictures

Finesse under sail on route to Kangaroo Island

Cape Du Couedic SW corner of Kangaroo Island - Admirals arch.

At Remarkable Rocks on Kangaroo Island

Tree lined road at Kangaroo Island

Port Vincent - Wharf & town.

Sailing around Cape Spencer - Yorke Peninsula

Cormorant's hitching a ride at Galway Bay.

WALLAROO/PT VINCENT/KANGAROO ISLAND

Saturday 8th August we departed Wallaroo for Wardang Island which is 40 nm heading south This location is about 10 NM from Port Victoria where the last of the great grain race schooners departed for their voyages back to the United Kingdom. We picked up one of the moorings put down by the authorities over various ship wrecks for charter/dive boats to use. There are about 8 shipwrecks around this Island. Here we caught fish and Ron’s first ever squid.

Monday 10th August we set sail for Galway Bay to a spot behind a light beacon marking a sandspit for protection against 13-18kt SW winds. This is between Point Turton and Corney Point. We found it to be a great spot and the holding was excellent.
We anchored there overnight and in the morning set off at 3am for our long journey around Corney Point down to Cape Spencer and then to our destination for that day Davenport Shoals (Stuart Bay) on the bottom of the Yorke Peninsula being 75 nm away.
The early start in the dark saw us punching into headwinds and seas of around 1-2 metres and picking our way around shallow shoals of 3-4 metres so as to stay in 10 metre depths. As we worked our way south the winds were less of a problem but the seas were now a definite southern ocean swell so it was not the most comfortable leg and it was cold. We had been advised to sail around the capes in daylight because of dangerous reefs and islands many being unlit around Cape Spencer. It was a smart move to sail this section in the daylight as the coast around here is awesome to see and you are quite close to towering cliffs. This trip took us 12 hours. We decided to stay another day in Stuart Bay as the anchorage was very protected and we could sleep easy. This allowed us to just relax and catch more squid. We even had a BBQ on the back deck our first outdoor meal for some time as the weather had been too cold.

Thursday 13th August we departed this delightful anchorage at 9.00am to head around Troubridge Point and up Sultana Passage headed for Edithburg. We found that Sultana Passage has moving sandspits and had to very careful as we navigated our way through these shallow waters. Unfortunately Finesse touched bottom between two starboard markers but we managed to reverse off and find our way out of these shallow waters. Upon reaching Edithburg we dropped anchor and went ashore to explore this small town.

Friday 14th August we set sail for Pt Vincent, we pounded into 15-20kt headwinds all the way with rather nasty wind waves. This trip took us 6 hours. We had arranged to use a pontoon within the Pt Vincent Marina complex owned by John Culshaw who we first met in Pt Lincoln.

Pt Vincent is a small country seaside holiday town with friendly locals many of whom we have met as they have come down to the marina to inspect Finesse. A very lovely couple Ted & Elizabeth lent us a 4WD vehicle for some of the time we have been here. We took advantage of this and headed out for two days to the Innes National Park down at Stenhouse Bay and Cape Spencer starting at Corney Point and worked our way down the coast which we had sailed past either in the dark or saw only from the sea. Although many of the bays we saw were listed by James Cowell in his cruising book as anchorages I would prefer to only consider them as summertime locations as the swell and winds were causing very difficult looking conditions in most of the bays .Some of these are Cable Hut Bay, West Cape Bay and Pondalowie Bay.

Our time in Pt Vincent has been spent doing some minor repairs and generally relaxing in this pleasant environment. One of the more difficult of the repairs was to clear the blocked toilet outlet pipe which would not respond to treatment with vinegar (to remove the calcium buildup) nor to the long stainless probing rod we used to try to breakdown the blockage. Whilst these methods had some small impact they did not reach the root of the problem. Finally in desperation we removed the whole length of pipe which meant disconnecting all the other pipes and pulling out the toilet. The offending length of pipe was beat on the jetty and finally the offending blockage was cleared. Thankyou author Nigel Calder for your recommendation we spotted in your Cruising Handbook written for sailors like us. We also arranged to refuel at the town wharf on a high tide at 7.30am. The local garage owner came down to the wharf with a tank on a trailer and we gravity fed the fuel into Finesse’s tanks.

On Monday 31st August we depart at 7am for our trip to Kangaroo Island via Wirrina Cove which is approx 70 kms south of Adelaide, this taking us 8 hours. Here we met up with our friends Rob & Lorraine from Songlines who were planning to cruise in company with us to Kangaroo Island. We also invited Ted & Elizabeth, who had previous sailing experience, to join us for the week at KI and whilst there we hired a vehicle for 3 days to explore this wonderful island.

At KI we anchored at American River, a delightful small settlement with its own small wharf and boating jetty. Here we manage again to catch the local fisherman coming in with the haul of oysters and were able to purchase large oversized “fresh from the sea” oysters at a very low price. We used a mooring here and probably just as well as the tidal race was 3-4 knots and with an opposing wind saw Finesse dancing around in circles on the mooring.

KI is approx 160 km long with a great deal of farmland and large quantities of native vegetation. We were delighted to find many of the road verges covered with carpets of freesias. We saw caves and koala’s (estimated population 30,000), seals and many kangaroo’s.

The south west coast was an outstanding highlight with gigantic cliffs and rock faces against which the southern ocean swell was crashing. There were many beautiful bays and quiet coves to explore.

We hope to get back and spend more time both in American River and the capital Kingscote where there is a good anchorage protected from SW/SE winds.

Saturday 5th Sept due to the poor weather outlook we decided to set sail to Wirrina Cove. When planning legs of voyages we calculate an average speed at 6 kts, we were delighted to have exceed this speed significantly on the return trip from KI to Pt Vincent.
We stayed Sunday at Wirrina Cove and were take out by John Culshaw to visit a winery and also to see his country residence at Mt Magnificent.

Monday 7th Sept with the weather outlook modified and good winds from the SW we were able to sail in our NW direction back to Pt Vincent again at good speeds.

We will be leaving Finesse here in Pt Vincent for the coming month as we are returning home to Perth to visit family including a new granddaughter “Lillian” and friends.

PORT LINCOLN TO WALLAROO - Pictures

On Songlines at the Sir Joseph Bank Group of Islands

Sunrise at Plank Point

Port Augusta Wharf

Flight over Lake Eyre

The Maree Man

Port Pirie Wharf

PORT LINCOLN TO WALLAROO

We have now been away from home for 4 months.

Saturday 4th July. Today we finally set sail from Port Lincoln and headed out to the Sir Joseph Banks group of Islands, a 4 hr sail from Pt Lincoln. We spent 4 days anchored off Reevesby Island which has an old abandoned homestead dating back to around 1911 . We saw lots of Cape Barron Geese and a large lovely old white owl living in the barn.

Our friends Rob & Lorraine from Songlines, sailed back to Reevesby Is. from Pt Augusta and joined us for what was to be a lovely day catching up on each others sailing plans, going ashore and with an evening meal on Songlines , before they departed for Pt Lincoln the next morning.

We set sail to Tumby Bay on the 8th July timing our entry into the channel to reach the marina on a high tide. We needed at least 1m under Finesse We spent 6 days in Tumby Bay, met lots of locals who also took us on interesting drives in the area. . Naturally we also had to exit on a high tide so we come out and of the marina into the bay and hooked onto a mooring with the owner’s approval on 12 July.

Monday 13th July. We set sail at 7.30am bound for Arno Bay, and because of good winds of 15-20 kts we reached Arno Bay mid morning but decided to keep sailing up to Cowell, a much safer harbour, otherwise know as Franklin Harbour where we tied up to the local jetty.

Cowell is famous for its oyster production and whilst there we sampled plenty of cheap oysters and also their famous oyster pies. After 3 days of exploring the town we decided to head further north towards Whyalla.

Thursday 16th July. We departed Franklin Harbour which took us about 1 hour, as you have to navigate your way out through a long entry channel on high tide before reaching open seas. We decided to only go as far as Plank Point (Murininnie), which is a long sand spit. It was like anchoring in wide open waters, but in 3m at low tide, you are protected from seas because of the spit.

This was our first every anchorage of this type and even though we anchored securely with both anchor alarms on, neither of us slept very well.

We weighed anchor at 8am, and motored into northerly headwinds all the way to Whyalla, which took us about 4 hours. We kept out of the shipping channel as there were some very large vessels anchored in the gulf and loading from a huge barge, as they were too big to get into Whyalla.

We spent 6 days in Whyalla at the local marina, next to the Yacht Club. We again met lots of locals who came down to inspect Finesse. We did quite a lot of walking in Whyalla exploring this “red dust” town. In fairness the red dust is now under control and a wash- off grey soot has replaced the indelible red. Their maritime museum houses on land, the first steel vessel produced in the Whyalla shipbuilding yards. This was a Corvette warship used as a minesweeper in WWII called HMAS Whyalla. We had a very interesting guided tour through this vessel.

We did the usual pub lunches and caught the local bus to the other side of town, as it is split in two and too far to walk. We had dinner with a local couple Andrew and Leanne one evening which gave us an opportunity to see Whyalla at night from the local lookout at Hummock Hill plus the lights of Port Pirie across the other side of the gulf. We even had the local paper come down and do an interview with us about our travels, calling us “Gypsies of the Sea”.

Thursday 23rd July. We departed at 7am for Port Augusta. Had a glorious run but no winds only tides up to the top end of the gulf. It was beautiful scenery with the channel narrowing and the Flinders ranges on one side and another range the other side. We reached Port Augusta, after navigating our way through 50 spit posts and tied up to the “city” pontoon at 2pm. This was adjacent to the very long and tall wharf where old sailing schooners used to tie up.

Port Augusta is a very tidy and clean city, and again we met lots of locals. Did the usual Friday night drinks at the yacht club where we were also able to use their facilities for showering and storage of our dinghy. We put Finesse onto a mooring for two days, when we took a trip up to Maree for a flight over Lake Eyre. This was a local tour run by Gulf Tours which incorporated visits to local towns and ruins along the way up and back to Maree. A fun evening was spent around a large “sleeper” camp fire, including a roast dinner with singing and dancing into the night.

We were scheduled the next morning for a 7.30am flight over Lake Eyre in a 6 seater Cessna, which would take 1 hour 30 minutes, flying up to 4000ft before dropping down to 500 ft for most of the flight over the lake. It was fascinating to see the vast expanse of water even though it was quite shallow and wide areas of salt and mineral deposits giving both colour and patterns over the lake. We also saw the Maree Man a 4km long outline of a native person etched into the ground by a cultivator, illegally done back in 1998.

The long drive back to Pt Augusta was uneventful apart from historic towns and ruins. We rowed back to the boat on the mooring in the dark, after being dropped off around 5.30pm.

We took Finesse back to the pontoon in the morning so we could do local chores, washing/shopping etc, before our departure from Pt Augusta. One of the fond memories is the valued time we spent with John & Marina, whom we shared a few dinners with and also gave us a lot of local information in relation to safe anchorages.

Thursday 30th July. Departed Pt Augusta at 7.00am for the long trip back down the channel, our destination was Port Pirie on the top end of the Yorke Peninsula. Again we had little wind so motored all the way with just one sail up. Port Pirie also had about 50 spits posts to navigate through taking us past the lead smelter before coming to the long wharf and jetty area where we tied up at 5pm. We had to be careful of tide movement with regard to our ropes tension and we noted that there was not much water under Finesse.

The next morning we explored Port Pirie on foot and saw some really beautiful old buildings, but without a vehicle the surrounding country side was out of our reach.
Met a few locals at the usual Friday night drinks at the Yacht Club and by this time had decided to set sail the next morning at 5.30am as we expected it to be a 10 hr trip down the Gulf to Wallaroo.

We rang ahead and organized a marina berth. On this leg we were able to put up sails and we tied up around 4 pm in the designated berth which was about ½ the size of Finesse.

Whilst in Wallaroo we met a local yachtie/car dealership owner who lent us a vehicle for the duration of our stay. We took advantage of this and drove to the 3 towns that make up the copper coast triangle. i.e.Kadina, Moonta and Wallaroo. We also drove up the coast to Port Broughton. We met a lovely couple Bob & Denise who welcomed us into their beautiful canal home and a fun night was had by all.

We have been in Wallaroo now for nearly a week because of weather the outlook. We intend to depart on Saturday 7th August for our trip down and around the bottom of the York Peninsula. We are heading to Port Vincent in the Gulf of St Vincent and will take our time by calling in at various places.

Photos Port Lincoln & Memory Cove

A clean shaven Ron cooking a BBQ in Memory Cove.

Tuna Boats in Port Lincoln

Prawning Fleet in Port Lincoln.

PORT LINCOLN

5^th May 09 – 16^th June 09

 

Six weeks spent in Port Lincoln, initially waiting for the insurance company to attend to our claim and then for trades people to come and complete their part of the required work.

 

We required a dinghy and outboard motor to be replaced, a new back stainless steel ladder and woodwork around the ladder, plus work on the duckboard to secure it.  We had to replace the foil up the mast and repair the bimini cover plus have a new dinghy and outboard cover made.

 

Whilst Peta was away in Perth for 2 weeks when Jason had his operation, Ron was kept busy with repairman and plus socializing with various people we had met in Port Lincoln.  We have tried the seafood here, being Coffin Bay oysters, Southern Blue Fin Tuna and mussels all farmed locally here and just loved it all.

 

17^th June 09 – 19^th June 09

 

We have resigned ourselves now to do local cruising in the Gulfs around South Australia and Kangaroo Island, as we have left our run to late to go to Tasmania.

 

We have just completed a 3 day sail down the coast to Memory Cove and Thistle Island.  On the way to Memory Cove (a historic place where Matthew Flinders lost a number of his men in a boating accident) we saw 2 whales.  Memory Cove is a wilderness area within the large Port Lincoln National Park.

 

We were able to use a mooring in Memory Cove, the next day we sailed for Whalers Bay on the SE side of Thistle Island. We decided against staying in Whalers Bay as the winds were northerly and the seas were building up, and returned to Memory Cove before sailing back the next morning to Port Lincoln.

 

Our plan is now to start sailing up the Spencer's Gulf towards Port Augusta, again this will depend on weather conditions

Photo's from Streaky Bay,Pt Lincoln & Coffin Bay

Photo 1 - Pelican on Oyster Beds at Coffin Bay

Photo 2 - Port Lincoln home of Makybe Diva triple Melbourne Cup winner 2003/2004/2005

Photo 3 - Tuna Boats at Port Lincoln

Photo 4 - Dolphins at bow of Finesse leaving Streaky Bay

Photo 5 - Fresh Razor Fish at Streaky Bay, opened by Nors a German Traveller.

Esperance to Port Lincoln

Day 17 Monday 20th April, 2009

Today was spent tidying up ship and welcoming Alan Paul aboard for our leg across the Great Australian Bight to Port Lincoln.

Day 18 Tuesday 21st April.

Left Esperance for Lucky Bay on a course out of Esperance Bay between Limpet Island and Black Island to Murray Rock. Then a course between Cap Le Grande and Murray Rock and Cliff Island. Outside Ram Island and straight into Lucky Bay by early afternoon.Another beautiful spot with the claim of having the whitest and squeakiest beach sand in Australia.It was there we also saw kangaroos nestled amounst seaweed banks on the beach eating fish heads and totally unfazed by our presence.

Day 19 Wednesday 22nd April.

Travelled from Lucky Bay (departed 7.15am) inside Rob and Roy Islands, outside Tony Island and inside Outtrem reef. Sth of Conwall Island, York Islands, Lizard Island and SouthTwin Peak Island. Inside ie. north of York Rock Mart Rock and Sial Rock, south of Ward Bank and Frodd Bank. To Goose Island to anchorage at Middle Island.Arrived approx 3.30pm. put down 2 anchors CQR and admiralty and set position on both chart plotters to determine any drag.Around 7.00 pm a brisk front (SW) came through and pushed our vessel sidewards even though we were in a seemingly protected bay. It is a well used bay and even shown in the FSC Cruising book. Whilst we were in the process of retrieving our anchors (it all happened very quickly and it was pitch black outside) we quickly discovered that we were being blown onto a rocky shore. Alan and Peta were manning the winch and retrieving the second anchor (on rope) and using torches and a spotlight were directing Ron at the helm. We would go astern to move away from the rocky shore then put her full ahead to retract and retrace our course into the bay. But every time the vessel immediately headed back toward the rocks and shoreline. We tried probably 5 or 6 times (We were all too stressed to count). Finally by reversing into deeper water we managed to go ahead and get out of the bay. By now the wind I estimate was between 30-40 kts and it would have been an impossible task to reanchor in that ba. We decided to set sail immediately for our next destination Ceduna.
The seas were now picking up and Ron went forward with safety gear to secure both anchors which were merely pulled and left on the deck due to the dire emergency. Such a simple and quick processin the marina is a surprisingly difficult task on a pitching and rolling deck. Thank goodness the dinghy was on the davits as we had not gone ashore. Most of the rest of the night Ron plotted courses to the east to take us with the wind and waves and away from the myriad of islands around the Esperance area. Our plans to go toIsraelite Bay were cancelled as it was giving us only marginal distance to the east and we reckoned in the dark that it was not a good idea in the storm. Also the old adage came to mind "if in doubt - keep out". It was a dreadfully bumpy night with some pretty high wind gusts (50 + kts) (later confimed as 60+ kts gale force).

Thursday 23rd April

The long rough night ever so slowly melded into dawn and a new day of awareness of the reality of the harsh environment in which now found ourselves.
The seas were running high with hugh swells which Finesse was managing (on by now auto-helm) with an amazing denterity. The hull design of this vessel said all about her pedigree. Her ability to rise above the wave crests and immediately sink into deep trough only to tackle the wall of water of the next swell was a credit to her design. It was hard to estimate the height of the waves. The period between crests seemed to be only a few seconds andnot the slow motionof a swell with a long period as encountered when we came around Cape Leeuwin.
Finesse was given a challenging course to pursue. Our destination could not be a direct line to Pt Lincoln or even Coffin Bay because the swells were on our beam (right angles to the side of our boat). So the course was one of getting as much east as possible knowing that our continbual pounding by the swells was knocking us off course sending us northwards towards the coast. We were probably only around 70-80 nm fron the coast at any one time on a course which pointed us more towards Ceduna. (later we decided on Streaky Bay as it was a better track for us).
The ability of Finesse to have her stern to an amazing wall of water,(the face of the swell) and to rise and to correct her couse more along the face of the swell as we rose up the face of the wave was amazing. At the top of each swell the effect of wind and choppy wind waves would sometimes affect the ability of the helm to get back to the correct course heading and our alarm would sound indicating we were off course. The ride down the back side of each swell also had the effect of slewing the bow around to follow the wave direction which again placed her stern on to the next wave. Occasionally a set of swells would cause her to actually surf down a swell. An exciting rush of speed but with a terrifying rush of thoughts going through your mind.
Calculations showed that we averaged 6kts between Middle Island and Streaky Bay but there were times when the vessel reached 9kts with waves pushing her. We averaged 7kts from Middle Island unit Friday 24/4 10.30pm.
Sometime Thursday night into Friday morning there was an almighty bank as yet another wave knocked us. Later on Friday the first time that the winds and waves had abated sufficiently to harness up and check upon deck(as we had been confined to the wheelhouse) Ron found the bimini cover madly flapping, the plastimo rescue harness rope trailing in the water (minus the harness part), the remnants of the dinghy rope, no dinghy to be seen and a mangled stern ladder with oneside actually pulled out of the vessel damaging the wood work.
My rough calculations show that our position would have been approx. 33 degrees 40 minutes S and 126degrees E when we lost the dinghy. (Approx 80 NM due south of Twilight Cove).
Later we found the boarding platform (duckboard) to be damaged and a Plastimo safety floating light attached to the orange life ring to have taken water and rendered useless.
Sadly the dinghy our lovely new Aquapro 3.1 metre RIB with the deep V aluminiun hull, new Yamaha 6HP outboard, new fuel tank, dinghy cover, anchor chain and rope all gone. Given the time we spent researching to get the best possible dinghy for our trip this was dissapointing but not life threatening.
It isnot surprising that my expectations of anything "Plasitmo" will be well down my list of future choices for safety equipment. What if someone had gone overboard - the harness could not even handle the conditions without a person holding on and if the lifering had been needed at night the light was no longer working.
The first position fix I took was mid Friday morning when I could stand long enough at the chart table to record our lat & long.

Friday 24th April.

At 10.30am we were at 33 degrees 12.48 minutes S and 128 degrees 31.41E. Still in very heavy seas and occasionally taking water under the ortside sliging cabin door when a rougue wave would push us sideways and another wave would quickly appear before we could regain our intended course with the result of Finesse being thrown heavily onto her port side and taking water onto the side deck. The immediatae righting of the vessel or even a rock to the starboard would see water flow under the bottom area of the door into the main wheelhouse because the water trapped between the cabin and the hull did not have time to escapeout of the scuffer holes.

Saturday 25th April.

The strong winds continued mostly around 30 kts plus into Saturday still with a hugh swell. Swell height was hard to estimate but conservatively I would say greater than 10 metres possibly some around mast height 16 metres.
Position Sat 25/4/09 at 9.25am WST was 32degrees 54.29 minutes S and 131degrees 54.57 minutes E.
Our calculations showed that we would reach Streaky Bay (some 20 NM closer than Ceduna) sometime around 1.00-2.00am Sunday morning. We were very tired, Peta had been confined to her hunk with sea sickness. Soon after leaving Middle Island Alan Paul and Ron had tried to take an hour or two in shifts both day and night so that one could try and sleep. Sleep was almost impossiible with the raging sea conditions with violent lurching and the occasional side knockdowns when water would enter. Every new sound was treated with caution and the nights were so long.
We slowed the engine revs to slow us down and managed only to drop a knot of speed. Our jib which we had partially set on Friday was still working hard and helped keep some stability in our very rocking environment.
We reached the Cape Bauer light north of Olive Island and throttled back in the still rough and windy conditions but not the huge swell out at sea.
Unbelievably theengine stalled. Ron attempted to re-start it still believing we had sufficient fuel in the tanks. The engine started but within seconds stalled again. With the help of Peta and Alan, Ron changed the main engine primary fuel filter, bled the air out of the system and to everyones great relief the otor started and continued to run. We managed toboil water for teas and for Ron a double streanth coffee then Peta and Alan bedded down while Ron crept the vessel at 1-2 kts on a couse towards the first leading light beacon.
I omitted to say that just as the engine had restarted with the new fuel filter the wind suddenly gusted to 30-35 kts and the jib started pulling us up to 5-6 kts towards some large reefs and sandbanks. Again we rallied into action and bought down the jib, we did earn that hot drink.
Sunday 26th April
Dawn finally come and we quietly motored down the channels and into the beautiful bay where the townsite of Streaky Bay is situated. We winds were still quite strong and we had trouble anchoring (again) on the weedy bottom. We tried 6 or 7 times and finally a local identify called BUGS came to our assistance and told us to pick up a fishing boat mooring, which we did.
Ron went to bed, totally sleep deprived whilst Peta and Alan started the unenviable task of tidying up Finesse.

Monday 27th April

Spent assessing damage, tidying ship, taking delivery of a "loan" dinghy per courstesy of Bugs, taking our laundry ashore to the caravan park and having a wonderful meal in the restaurant at the Streaky Bay Caravan Park.

Tuesday 28th April

Engine Hrs 4031.04 (Starting Hrs 3821.63) Hours running to Streaky Bay 209.41 hrs
Distance travelled - Start 2927 NM now 4057 NM = 1148 NM
Added 408 litres of fuel - poly - tank in cage on forklift filled up at the local garage and run down the hill to the wharf where forked onto a 4 wheel railway flattop car and pushed out jetty.Gravity fed through hose into boat tanks.
Spent day from 10.00am rafted up next to Bugs vessell "Foxy Lady" at the jetty. What a character - had lunch at Streaky Bay Hotel.
Gigantic steaks and greatmeal. Checked out the main streets and reported dinghy loss to local policemant SC Sam Frick of Streaky Bay Police Station. He made an incident report and this was later confirmed by Fremantle water Police. Note reported due to identification markings on the RIB should it be found. Noted that the foil on the main sail track had the plastic bolt rope foot smashed in a couple of places.

Wednesday 29th April

Made vessel ready for departure to Sceale Bay. Sampled "razor fish" taken from the sea bed near the jetty. Tasted a lot like "nutty scallops".
Departed 10.15 from Streaky Bay arrived Sceale Bay 4.45pm. The jetty shown on the charts was not to be seen. Tried radio (VHF)to get authority to use a mooring but checked tide chart and found them located too shallow.
Everyone agreed to an early start tomorrow for Flinders Island so had an early BBQ dinner in preparation.
Anchor watch was kept overnight. Quiet night.

Thursday 30th April

Sailed out of Sceale Bay at 5.30am in the dark with a weak tail wind from the north. Reached Flinders Island 2.30pm and set 2 anchors. Uneventful sail with a very low side swell. No wind - no sail.
Many small dolphins raced the boat.

Friday 1st May

Departed Flinders island 8.45 set course of 165 degrees T once clear of Topgallant Isles. This should take us just inside Greenly Island through clear water.
We had originally planned to visit Pearson Island, CoffinBay and Greenly Island but without a dinghy and the inability to get ashore we decided to run straight to Pt Lincoln, also Alan Paul was happy to get home sooner.

Saturday 2nd May

Our course once past Greenly Island took us between Rocky Island and Whidbey Isles, outside Liquanca Island through Thorny Passage between Thistle Is and Cape Catastrophe on the mainland, an easy run in calm waters up to Cape Donington and into Port Lincoln arriving around 12.30pm. Tied up in the private marina and tidied up ship. Had farewell dinner at a marina restaurant for Alan.

Sunday 3rd May

Big sleep in after nosleep Friday into Saturday, late breakfast and trip to airport for Alan per courtesy of Bruce and Bonnie Mariott an Adelaide couple who keep their yacht "Freedom Now" at the marina. They also took us to the laundromat and showed us the wonderful view of Pt Lincoln from a vantage point just out of town. The Mariotts invited us to dinner aboard their yacht and we learned a great deal about their voyages, anchoring tips, weather fax from the HF radio and much more.

Monday 4th May

Today was spent completing the Club Marine Insurance claim form and in obtaining quotes from a wood craftsman, stainless steel fabricator, RIB dinghy supplier, outboard motor dealer, biminbi repairer and a chandlery shop for other missing or broken parts (dinghy anchor rope & chain, wind indicator, derrik straps).

Tuesday 5th May to Monday 11th May

We have spent time exploring Pt Lincoln using our folding bikes and so far have the bimini cover restitched and re installed and a new metal foil track up the mast which will allow us to again use our main sail. Ron replaced the bilge pump and cleaned out the old one. Last Friday we hired a small 4 x wheel drive vehicle and explored the Pt Lincoln National Park, Coffin Bay (a really delightful spot with Coffin Bay Oysters at $13 a dozen) across to Tumby Bay and back again to Pt Lincoln. We celebrated our wedding anniversary last Wednesday 6th with a lovely dinner at the Marina Hotel where we are moored. We also celebrated Peta's birthday on Sunday with a great meal at one of the hotels in town.

Updated Blog Page

Hi everyone,

 

Just to let you know that today we have updated our blog page.  www.finessefremantle.blogspot.com if you are interested, take a look.

 

We are intending to depart Esperance tomorrow (Tuesday) to head to Lucky Bay, then Middle Island before heading accross the bight. We are planning to head to Ceduna and then work our way down the South Australian coast to Port Lincoln. (This all depends on weather of course.)

 

Anyway hope this finds everyone well, and we will be in contact again once when we reach South Australia

 

Regards

Peta and Ron.

 

 

Esperance

Hillarys to Esperance

Here it

is a fortnight since we departed Hillary's Boat Harbour. The planning had been going on for some three years. Initially looking for the right boat was in itself a huge challenge. Did we go for a ferro cement, steel, wood or fibreglass? Should we select mono hull or multihull? Should it be a fast sailer or a cruiser with a long keel?

It was interesting research, looking at articles written not only by experienced owners of such craft but comments by maritime and safety authorities.

We had come from a powerboat background and many wonderfully built and safe yachts we put on our doubtful list because of our feelings of restriction and confinement when on board.

Finally we found "Finesse" a wonderful combination of safety, space and class.

Made of fibreglass with a roomy wheelhouse, a high aft deck giving good visibility (a reassurance for a powerboat person used to a fly bridge). The full length cruising keel gave some degree of added reassurance where craypot ropes would hopefully slide right under both the propeller and the rudder. Add to the good visibility, a good sized diesel engine and lots of wood trim we decided this was our vessel. Thankfully the various surveys came up positive with the words of our hull surveyor of "she is not just a boat but a little ship" gave us the reassurance we needed to go ahead and purchase Finesse.

Next came the preparations to make her ready for the trip. The service and maintenance log will attest to the wide range of modifications, additions, repairs and replacements carried out to make her user friendly, safe and ready.

I suspect that Joshua Slocum on his vessel Sea Spray would not have approved of many of the mod-cons we have grown accustomed to in our way of life, be it the microwave or the chart plotter however this was to be our home for at least the next few years , so we wanted a few creature comforts.

Our attendance at the Fremantle Technical College in Maritime Studies where we picked the eyes out of the master mariner courses was a great help. It helped us better understand so many things about which we had so little knowledge. How to read the radar, a better understanding of weather, the effects of wind on sails, the qualities of rope types, the use of blocks and tackle, practical sailing lessons, coastal navigation, wave action, tides and much more.

Meanwhile Ron was planning for full retirement from his professional life plus with tremendous help from Peta spent much time painting and quietly renovation our home in preparation for its ultimate rental to help us finance our trip.

So now a fortnight after our departure, we are still getting over the psychological build up in our minds and the sheer physical effort over the past three years. On top of all that some of the family issues within the same time frame were quite emotionally draining. Peta's son Jason suffered from a serious accident which still required some major surgery at our date of sailing. Ron's daughter Shelley is also expecting a child in September and Peta had to leave her much loved 10 month old grandson Jordon behind.

Our day of departure Saturday 4th April, 2009 saw an easy sail to Rottnest Island but a hard emotional farewell to our family and friends who collected on the service wharf at Hillarys. We still become a little chocked with emotion as we realized more and more the enormity of the "sea change" (pardon the pun) we have embarked upon.

Day 2 Sunday 5^th April.

The sail from Rottnest to Mandurah was quite fast with 15 to 20 knot wind strengths pushing us along with boat speeds of 8 to 9 knots. Peta was not all that well but bravely suffered in silence and assisted Charlie and Ron when help was needed.

Charlie Strickland comes from a family with strong ties to the sea. His enthusiasm, wealth of knowledge, common sense and great sense of humour taught us a lot about ourselves and why Charlie will always be one of those extra special people in our lives.

Also whilst in Mandurah, at the Mandurah Yacht Club, Peta was delighted to re-establish contact with long time friend and work colleague Di and Terry Partridge.

Day 3 Monday 6^th April.

Peta's brother Bob Riordan joined us in Mandurah and was on the helm for most of the pleasant trip to Bunbury. We averaged 5.5 knots but needed the motor running for most of the day assisting the sails due to lack of wind. We relished in Bobs beautiful operatic voice while sailing – he was our Pavarotti on the sea. He touched our hearts that night in Koombana Bay with his rendition of a beautiful Irish love song. Peta and long time friend Norma Penning both had tears in their eyes. Thanks Bob for your sincere interest and great input into our trip. Bob also has all of the operational and parts manuals relating to Finesse and her equipment and is our backup should we have trouble obtaining parts during our voyage.

Day 4 Tuesday 7^th April & Day 5 Wednesday 8^th April.

With Charlie still on board we left Bunbury about 8am for a 46 hour trip to Albany. The leg across Geograhphe Bay was quite sloppy as we were traveling in the same direction and speed as the wind, but the waves were side on to the direction to which we wanted to travel.

Once we were around Cape Naturaliste we picked up the benefit of the Leeuwin Current, which was amazing to see as the water colour changed from murky to clear and we picked up speed once we were in the flow of the current. It was so calm that we had a cooked breakfast on the back deck (Amazing for the Southern Ocean).

During the second night sail we managed to pick up speed and maintained 9 knots for a period of time (Charlie was delighted as he wanted to put Finesse through her paces) but this faded the closer we got to Albany.

Day 6 Thursday 9^th April.

Arrived Albany at 6.30am and tied up at the town jetty. We went ashore to explore and visit Peta's old workmates at Wood and Grieve. Caught up on washing, tried to arrange fuel but unable to, due to it being the last day before Easter, with one company refusing to deliver because of their safety concerns with the Albany Town Jetty!!

We also met the brother of the man who imported " Finesse" into Australia from Finland, and invited a Maxi-Yacht "Technical Skipper" for a Russian Racing Syndicate to help us get the Raymarine Chart Plotter going again after it decided to switch itself off on arriving in Albany.

Thanks here to Ron's sister Helen who gave us our first update on mail and sent scanned bills to us for payment. Helen is clearing our mail on a regular basis from our post office box and keeping us informed.

Day 7 Friday 10^th April.

We departed Albany for Bremer Bay on Good Friday and arrived in Dillon Bay (just before Bremer Bay) after a horrible sloppy sea trip with no sails due to headwinds and a cross swell. This was a long night with much bumping and rolling and flying spray. Finesse had a good deck wash, and Peta was about to jump ship!!

Day 8 Saturday 11^th April.

Spent the day recuperating in Dillon Bay and caught a variety of fish for dinner that night. We dragged anchor (the CQR) and put down a second one (the Danforth) both of which held us overnight.

Day 9 Sunday 12^th April.

We moved from Dillon Bay to Bremer Bay after a 2 hour sailing and then explored the township. Again we dragged anchors in the early hours of the morning. After 2.5 hours we managed to bed in again. The fine sands along the south coast makes it hard for anchors to penetrate and even though we had let out many metres of chain, the currents and winds still seem to pull the anchors out of what little grip we seem to establish when we first set them.

Day 10 Monday 13^th April.

Remained at anchor enjoying the tranquility of Bremer Bay and whilst in town bought Charlie a 2 litre tub of icecream to help satisfy his cravings. We had our first swim in the Southern Ocean which some of you might recall a text message saying that Ron hit an iceberg and Charlie fought a 7.5 metre white pointer (don't believe all that you read), particularly after a BBQ on the back deck with a FEW wines.

Day 11 Tuesday 14^th April.

Left Bremer Bay 6.30 am bound for Esperance. Used Jib and motor (around 1050 RPM) for a reasonably comfortable trip. As day faded into night and at Peta's insistence, we overlaid the Radar onto the Chart Plotter screen to assist with our navigation. We were so pleased that our mobile range was still covering us around the coast as we could call Perth to get assistance from our electronics technical expert Peter Turner from Maritime Electronics. What fantastic after sales service.

Day 12^th Wednesday 15^th April.

We were still on route to Esperance and around 1am we had to wind in the jib as the wind had swung to the east. We continued to weave amongst the Island on our approach to Esperance based on some wonderful advice from the skipper of one of the Blue Juice Charter Vessels in Hillarys. (He had worked as many years as a fisherman on the south coast). Around 3.30 am with Ron on watch and the vessel located south of Cull Island (ie. behind the island) the AIS (our VHF shipping identification system) picked up a large ship leaving Esperance harbour, and on a near collision course. We could not get a visual and the radar could not pick it up because it was shielded by Cull Island. The closest point of approach (CPA) read as 198 ft in 13 minutes. As she was a 800 ft plus vessel Ron changed coarse to give us best part of a 1NM (nautical mile) clearance. Thank goodness for the AIS.

Sadly Charlie had to leave us this day to return home for family reasons. A really sincere thanks to Charlie for his input, great humour and sense of confidence in ourselves that he has given us. We hope he can join us again somewhere down the line.

Today we again dragged anchor, after being anchored from 5.30 am to 1.30 pm when we went ashore to do some shopping for food and hardware. We arrived back at the dingy on the beach to see "Finesse" had drifted towards a rocky groyne and was only a couple of boat lengths away. We raced across the bay in the dingy to get onboard and just as we reached her opened the door and started the motor, the local volunteer sea rescue boat arrived from Bandy Creek Marina (across the Bay) to tow us to safety. Naturally we thanked them sincerely even though we

managed to secure Finesse ourselves. However we ended up in the local paper colour picture and all, with the head line "Boat drifts towards rocks". . Had a pleasant evening with Don and Rhonda Perrin over a meal in the town of Esperance.

Day 13 Thursday 16^th April.

Spent the day at rest and planning future legs of our voyage

Day 14 Friday 17^th April.

Purchased a new Admiralty anchor from Perth,(from Yacht Grot) as no one seems to list them in the standard chandlery catalogues. Visited the Esperance Bay Yacht Club and suffered our humiliation, regarding the anchor drag the previous Wednesday as reported in the Friday edition of the local paper. The club people were fantastic and gave us lots of tips for places to visit as well as advices on anchoring in their hard sandy seafloor.

Day 15 Saturday 18th April.

Took delivery of our new Admiralty anchor which we trust will hold us in the future. (note – the locals cut off the flutes and sharpen the points to obtain maximum penetration into the hard sand). We spent the afternoon with long time friends and farming clients Geoff and Bev Spencer. We joined them in their totally reconstructed 100 year old vintage International Harvester High Wheeler motorized buggy. What a load of fun (see photo attached).

Day 16 Sunday 19^th April.

Today we confirmed that Alan Paul another JBA owner builder will be joining us for the trip across the Great Australian Bight. Fantastic as we can certainly use another pair of eyes to help us on the expected four to five days / nights crossing and Alan has good sailing abilities gained from his own yachting. Alan owns a Beneteau called Panache and keeps it at Hillarys.

Attached photos.

Sorry guys, I forgot to attach the photos, will get the hang of this gmail eventually.

 

I have also attached a photo of "the three sailors" as we depart Hillarys.

 

Love

Pete. xx

Hi from Dillan Bay near Bremmer Bay

Hi everyone,

 

Well we have been gone 1 week today, and quite an adventure so far.

 

We arrived in Dillan Bay this morning at 8.00am, after sailing (motor only) due to strong head winds, and very sloppy rough seas, took us about 18 hours, and we were pleased to drop anchor this morning.  After a shower and pea and ham soup for breakfast (couldnt even heat it up last night, as boat was rolling about to much) and then a sleep, we all feel much better, (Thank god for auto pilot, and a wheel house) The boys are catching fish on the back deck, (with a glass of wine) I am baking some bread,and checking emails. So its fish for dinner tonight.

 

We left Rotto and had a good sail to Mandurah, where we stayed overnight.  We were having a drink at the Mandurah Yacht Club, and I bumped into old friends and work mate, Dianne and Terry Partridge, such a small world.

 

I am having trouble handling the night sailing, although our trip from Bunbury to Albany was like a mill pond, had the genoa up with a little motor and we even hit 9kt at one stage.Took us 48 hours from Bunbury to Albany.  My brother Robert joined us from Mandurah to Bunbury which he enjoyed, and if time permitted I think he would have sailed on to Albany with us.

 

Albany was interesting, I think our Finesse was the talk of the town, as so many people came down to the town jetty to "check her out", and even the brother of the original owner(who lives in Sydney),  that bought Finesse out from Finland and now lives in Albany came aboard for a chat.  So its a really small world after all.

 

Have had a couple of things stop working, but with two capable men aboard all was sorted in no time.

 

Anyway, we intend to stay in Bremmer bay till at least Monday, before head to Esperance, another 20 hour journey.

 

I have attached a couple of photos, one of Charlie and brother Robert, sailing from Mandurah to Bunbury and the other of Ron and myself on the back deck having a cooked breakfast after we rounded cape Leeuwin, such calm seas.

 

Hope every one is well,  from your travelling sailors,

 

Peta and Ron. xx

Preparing Finesse for departure

Preparations are well underway for our departure from Hillarys Boat Harbour.

Our intended date of departure is now Saturday 4th April, and we will send an email to all our contacts giving exact time and location for those of you who are interested in waving us goodbye.

We have attached a couple of photos of Finesse Fremantle whilst she was on the hard stand at Hillarys a few weeks ago undergoing preparations for the big trip.

As most of you are aware, we intend sailing south accross the bight to Port Lincoln, before heading to Tasmania. Charlie Strickland, an old friend of Ron's will be sailing with us as far as Port Lincoln. Having Chas on board will benefit us because of his sailing skills and the extra pair of eyes needed for watch on the night sails will be most welcome.

Finesse Fremantle

Western Australian Registration No. AT 655
Australian Shipping Register No. 858711

Specifications and Inventory

Builder: Siltala Yachts , Finland
Length: 44 feet (54 ft including bowsprit & davits)
Length at waterline: 37ft 7in.
Beam: 12 feet
Draft: 6 ft (1.8 metres)
Hull: Hand laid fibreglass (GRP) Hull No.133 Built in 1987
Mast: 16.5 metres Aluminium with fold down steps to the top
Rig: Cutter Rigged with inner and outer self furling sails
and with in boom furling on mainsail
Keel: Full length cruising keel moulded as part of hull with skeg
to support rudder and protect propeller
Machinery: Main engine : Ford Lehman 135HP 6 cylinder diesel with dual controls. Borg Warner Velvet Drive Gearbox.
Fuel tanks (2) approx. 1000litres.
Power Supply: Westerbeck 240 volt 8KVA genset
Smart battery charger and inverter (3000 watt)
200 AmpHr House Battery
200 AmpHr Starting Battery
Radio Battery
Genset Battery
Fresh Water Supply: Main tank 800 litres
55 litres per hour water maker ( desalination plant)
20 litre hot water system (Heat transfer from engine
& 240 volt booster)
Ground Tackle: 70 lb CQR Anchor
35 lb Plough Anchor
Delta Anchor
Reef Anchor
60m & 50 m short link chain and snubber
70 m Warp (Anchor rope)
Muir 3000 Electric anchor winch with up/ down foot switches
Refigeration: Freezer (large) 240v/12v
Fridge/ freezer 240v
Galley: 4 burner auto ignition gas stove with oven/grill (gimbaled)
Supplied from 2x 9kg bottles
Sharp Carousel 240v Microwave
Cookout Barbeque with separate 4.5 kg gas supply on aft deck
Safety Gear: 6 Man RFD Seasava Self Inflating Liferaft with hydrostatic
release and Digital EPIRB, water, first aid kit etc.
Dan Buoy with light
Life Ring with light
20 ft diameter Para Anchor with retrieval gear
Throw lines and lifting strop
Spot lights
Boarding platform and ladders
Man Over board lifting / rescue sail
NAF Gas fire suppressant system
Flares – (Assortment)
3 x Fire Buckets
3 x Fire Extinguishers
Mechanical pump for water pumping out and deck wash
Fitted Jack Stays/ Life lines with attachable harnesses
10 x Lifejackets (2x gas inflatable)
406 Digital EPIRB
Tender: Aqua Pro 3.1 m Sportmaster Inflatable RIB with Yamaha
outboard motor (6 HP) anchor, oars and flares
Wheel House
Equipment TMQ Autopilot with aft deck remote
& Electronics: Robertson Rudder angle monitor
Brooks and Gatehouse sailing monitor with repeaters
Brooks and Gatehouse Depth Sounder with repeater
VDO engine instruments
Watch keeper alarm
Navigation Equipment: Raymarine 24 mile radar with integrated chartplotter and
AIS system. (Electronic charts of whole of Australia)
Small Navman Chartplotter (Aft Deck) with Aust. Charts
Handheld GPS for position (Lat. & Long.) as backup
Koden Depth sounder (deep water)
Suunto Compass
Ships Clock and Barometer
Electronic Weather Station
Communication
Equipment: VHF Shipmate RS 8000 Radio
ICOM HF SSB transceiver with auto tune aerial
Telstra next G hands free telephone kit & masthead aerial
for e-mail transmission.
NEC laptop computer with electronic world charts
Entertainment
Systems: Pioneer multiband radio with USB port for memory sticks
Phillips multiband radio cassette (aft cabin)
Sony 15inch colour TV and DVD player