Eye Candy in Sardinia 2010

A new adventure starts tomorrow when I board Eye Candy a Bavaria 40 ft vessel I have sailed with since meeting Andrew and Clare in the Mediterranean in about 2007.  I am off to Tasmania from Eden for a quick passage to get their boat in that area for the winter.  Not in the water but on the hard.

Clare, is Andrew’s wife and sailing partner for all their passages from the east of the Med across the Atlantic, up the east coast of the USA then through the Panama Canal and across the Pacific.  Under normal circumstances Clare would stand watch, prepare meals and do all the things that Andrew does not do but on this occasion because the forecast does not look particularly good they asked me if I would like to come aboard. She will take the big bird to Hobart.

Now, I very rarely accept invitations to crew on a vessel but of all the people I have choose, Andrew on Eye Candy is the one at the top of the list.  I am sure the vessel is in tip-top condition, the systems work and the planning is detailed and in depth.  Furthermore, of the occasions I have dined on board Clare’s food rates along with the best five star chefs anywhere in France.  She assures me that she has cooked, vacuum bagged and frozen everything needed for the passage and all I have to do is follow her instructions next to the stove.

The bus from Canberra leaves at 4:00 pm and I arrive in Eden at about 9:00 pm to go aboard for the first safety briefing.  We expect to up anchor the following morning.  At this stage after many conversations we have come up with a float plan to take the Northerly south to the Finders group of islands, stop and hide from a strong southerly front to pass (the same type that caught me by surprise the last time I crossed the Bass Strait).  We will the take off the next day to sail in the dark south along the east Tassie coast to arrive in Coles Bay before sunset on the third day and the onset of a strong south west wind.

There are a lot of variables and uncertainties so we will have to adjust as we go along.  I have complete confidence in Eye Candy but it will be a learning experience to sail a production yacht as compared to my trusty Adams Bluewater cruising yacht.

A project for the winter months

In 2024 Denny and I sailed Malua- our Adams 42ft yacht north away from the cold of the South Coast to the tropical warmth of Queensland. As is usual I left Bermagui for points north - this time with Jim G as crew and we managed to sail quite quickly on a southerly right north to the Gold Coast. Jim then flew south and I battled my way north against the persistent northerly winds. That is a story in itself. Denny arrived via the big bird into Mackay where I met her and the next day we were off to the island and to the famous Great Barrier Reef and the Whitsundays. The wind persisted to blow from the north but it also rained and blew and rained and blew. Denny flew home having not spent a single day in the water snorkeling in the "crystal clear waters of the reef".

My return journey is well documented in the web site here and features as a chapter of the book Storm at Sea in Malua.

Malua will not be returning to the Whitsundays this winter. So what to do? Well I have a large timber stack of the planks I did not use in the construction of Malua so why not just build another boat. A bigger boat? No a smaller boat and a kayak. I now have a winter project of building a strip planked kayak out of myrtle. The design is a MICRO BOOTLEGGERER SOLO The design and history was inspired by a 1924 mahogany speedboat and designed by Nick Schade of Guillemot Kayaks. It combines the classic lines of a double paddle canoe with the functionality of a modern kayak. I purchased the plans and had them printed off at full size. Then came the task of finding space to create this kayak.

The kayak blog is here www.maluakayak.blogspot.com  Follow the progress as I build the kayak