Winter is here and I sailed north

 When the temperature in Canberra get to -6 C Yes minus six then it is time to get on Malua and sail north to warmer waters.

That is exactly what I did but the wind Gods had not got the change of seasons right so the wind continued to blow from the north. The direction I wanted to go.  This delayed the trip by some weeks while I spent a lot of time looking at the weather forecast.  On the days  that I was able to sail north I made the best of the wind and made miles north.

Denny arrived at Mackay via the big bird and we set off for points north

Our first stop was at Brampton Island which we had flow into in 1972 with 8 other Armidale friends during our flying circuit of Australia.  We walked on the airstrip and visited the now closed resort.  The resort was hit by the tropical cyclone a few years ago and the sand and water came right up into the bedrooms.  The furniture has been removed but the sand still remains.  The current owners can not get planning permission to rebuild because of all the regulations.

We left Brampton and day sailed along the island chain towards Airlie Beach because it was obvious that the RIB I had so carefully restored was coming apart and filling with water. Furthermore the two outboard engines - one two stoke the other four stoke objected at being associated with the sinking RIB and refused to start or restart when we were on the beach.  They came very close to joining the previous outboards in Dave Jones Locker but saved themselves for the time being.

At Airlie Beach I purchased a new 4 stroke 8HP Yamaha outboard and had it delivered to the wharf but I could not collect it because of the RIB was not totally coming apart.  Next was the purchase of a RIB.  Now I have to admit I made a significant mistake in my choice of supplier. Marine.co  The MD assured me it would be in Airlie Beach within in 7 days.  Three weeks later after a great effort tracking it down It was delivered to my nominated address BUT the sender had not put my name on the unit so I had to go to great lengths trying to convince the owner of the yard that it was for me.  The suppler had by now taken off with my funds and washed his hand so was not answering his phone.

OK Have outboard and inflatable RIB so we can now visit the islands and enjoy the "Best cruising grounds in the world"  Oh no they are not.  Crowded with charter catamarans with people who think that it is a large RV and no seamanship knowledge.  The moorings are in the best places so a normal vessel has to anchor outside in the deep water.

The wind blew and it rained for almost 3 weeks as we tried to put on a brave face and enjoy the sunny tropical paradise of Queensland.  In the end Denny decided rightly so she would return to the warmth of our Canberra house and flew out on the big bird (Jetstar) after a significant delay back to Canberra.

I the set off for Bundaberg to haul Malua and get the 100 m of Australian chain galvinized. The haul-out went well with a 3 coats of anti-foul and a top side polish I was back in the water in 3 days but no chain.  The local Chandler had stuffed up the delivery of the chain and it would only be delivered the next week so I was left in the water no marina berth and no chain to attach my anchor to so I could anchor in the river.

I took my 28mm nylon rode  and attached it to my very best 35kg Brunzel anchor.  It lasted the first night but then at dawn on the second the wind had come up to 20 knots the tide was running in and the anchor alarm went off.  I was drifting up river with the current and the anchor was dragging through the mud.  At some point the anchor got round the keel and the full force of the water was side on to Malua as the rode strained against the sharp edge of the keel.  I did not start the engine expecting the nylon rode to get round the prop so I sat and waited for the tide to turn.  I did not wait long and bang the nylon snapped and I drifted towards the river bank.  I haul in the the short line and motor up river to potentially the calm of the river at Bundaberg city.

I have three other anchors on board but no chain so what was I going to do?  The Danforth was the best option for the mud but after a few minute it too started to drag.  I picked up someones mooring and set the Danforth over the stern with some dive weights to keep the rode along the bottom.  This held while for the next few days I worked out how to get my chain from the factory to the boat.

I selected a wharf and asked the owner if I could come alongside at high tide to load the chain which he kindly agreed.  Now to get the chain from the factory.  As we say in Australia the chandelier came good and delivered the chain to the wharf.  I loaded the chain and attached my big SQR and Malua was again fit for the sea.

Now the trip home.  That will have to wait for another day.

Preparations

Somehow COVID changed the settings on adventure and journeys because when I thought about sailing north to Queensland during the winter in New South Wales I found the Malua needed a few extra things and some testing to make sure that she was ship shape like Bristol.

The first obvious one was the wind indicator.  The years spinning at the top of the mast in rain, shine and in some cases snow, the unit was giving intermittent readings.  It would work for weeks on end then stop.  So I had to reset the relay and hope it would come up and give me the vital piece of information - the wind strength.  I had been up and down the mast so many times I lost count so in the end I took it down, collected the wind digital display and installed it on my workbench at home along with a 12 volt fan to turn the cups.  The instrument after a good overhaul work perfectly on the bench in Canberra.  OK so it it did not work when installed at the mast head then it must be the cable from the top of the mast to the navigation station.  I tested that and found that all wires were good BUT when I connected the wind instrument it did not register even a breath of wind.

Simrad had long discontinued the top of the mast wind indicator and moved to the more modern NMEA 2000 so that avenue was closed off – even the second hand market gave no results.  The search was on for a unit which would interface to my instruments and the chartplotter without a full time conversation unit.  I found one at Digital Yachts which according to the specifications met all my need.  I looked to source the unit in Australia and found CJ Smith, a chandler in Melbourne according to their web site had one in stock and ready to ship the next day to arrive If I paid a little extra within 5 days.  Out with the cc and purchased the unit.  Wait, wait, then phone calls.  “Where is my unit?”  I will get back to you…. Sorry it is not in stock, we have your money but will not refund it but it will be shipped to you next week.  Wait, wait.  “Where is my unit?”  Sorry there has been a mix up and we are expecting it in a few weeks.  “What? Cancel the order and refund my money.”  Sorry we cant do that at this stage because we have ordered it via the agent here in Australia from the UK.  “Why did your website say it was in stock?”  That is only and indicative position…..

I will not bore you with the details because we have all gone through this before where Australian chandlers say they have the goods but in fact they are just an indent agent ordering from the over seas supplier.  If you had cone to the original manufacturer you may have got the unit within a week.  So how long did CJ Smith take to deliver the wind instrument? One month? Two months? No there is more... They took more than three months to deliver the unit.

Thankfully when the unit arrived I tried it on the workbench and it worked and then off to Malua to install it at the mast head.  A local live-aboard helped push the electric winch to pull me to the top of the mast and scoffed all my chocolate biscuits as he waited for me to come down.  Thanks mate “You own me big time” Oh yes why? My time.  But that is another story.

The unit fitted as per specifications and worked first time I connected it to the network, display instruments and to my Raspberry Pi and was able to display wind reading on all units.  I was happy and ready to set sail.

You may ask why it took me so long to prepare to sail to Queensland that is just one example. There are others but finally Malua was ready and a weather window opened along with a full moon and Malua set off north.  I had Jim G on board for the three day trip to the Gold Coast.