0

0

Things going bump in the night scare us as children. When we grow up we condition ourselves that the scary stuff is all in your head. Maybe not …

A few nights ago a motor launch came and anchored quite close upstream of us. Early the next morning he floated past us dragging his anchor. The next night he anchored down stream of us. In the middle of the night the tide changed and at 5.30 in the morning there was a strange noise. I went on deck to find the launch hard up against the bow on one side of Imagine and his dinghy on the other. The launch being powered forward then backward to pull his dinghy free, dislodged our anchor. Now we were both drifting towards another anchored boat. Eventually the dinghy ripped its mounting off the back deck of the launch and we were free of them both.

Sue at the helm and Andrew controlling our anchor, we got Imagine under control metres away from the anchored boat and returned to our spot and re-anchored. The launch retrieved his dinghy and went back to his spot and anchored.

A little later after making sure we were secure I inspected the damage. A 1.5m scrape about 10mm deep along the side of us.

I went across to the launch to get some details and discuss what to do. During that time I asked him how much chain he had out the first time he dragged. 30m was his reply. So I asked him how much he had out last night. 30m he said. Curious I asked how much he has now put out. 30m he said.

If you do the same thing over and over again you get the same result over and over again. That is what we are all taught, well not all of us.

Anyway we came to a cash settlement for the repairs to Imagine. That night we we didn’t get much sleep. I went out on deck every hour. and guess what? He dragged anchor! He didn’t hit us this time but he did leave the area.

0

0

We regularly check everything on the boat. During a recent inspection of the mizzen we discovered that a part had broken off the Gooseneck (the bit that holds the boom to the mast).  A quick phone around found a place that could make a new one. It was a 7 hour round trip to deliver the old part and three weeks later another day to pick it up.  Now its mounted on and looks good.

Another project finished is the Gypsy on the anchor winch. Lately when hauling anchor, the chain has slipped several times. The Gypsy has worn. Its only 40 years old!  So after spending days phoning Engineering and Fabrication places, I finally found one that could still braze brass. I got them to braze a bead across the leading edge of each tooth where it had worn. We will know how well it worked when we haul anchor in a few days.

The east coast of OZ has been hammered by bad weather for the past week. So what do we do when its raining. We find new leaks have appeared. They are new all marked, waiting for a few fine days for repairs.  We also do sewing repairs. Fix the sail cover and sew new covers for the life raft and other things.

0

0

Another reason not to swim in the Brisbane River!

Today we spotted a croc in the Brisbane River. It must have been a male (blue) due to its larger size. About twenty minutes later we we saw another one a lot smaller size and obviously a female (red). Sorry we didn’t get a photo of the female.

0

0

It was time to head back to Brisbane, but there was hardly a ripple on the water. We motored out of the bay and then hoisted the Gennaker. We had to hold on tight as we raced across the bay at less than 1 knot.

After a couple of hours and several hundred metres we decided to motor the rest of the way.

0

0

We have gotten out of the river for a few days R&R across at Moreton Island. We had a storm the first night but generally had good weather and clear water. We have seen Dolphins and Turtles in the bay and relaxed.

It must be my animal magnetism. There are half a dozen boats in the bay with us. We have all anchored at least 300m away from each other., with plenty of room for more boats. So why does this *** come and anchor right next to us?? About 40m away. Why do weekend worriers find comfort in anchoring right next to other boats when there is an entire bay to anchor in? Is it because “they anchored there so it must be safe for me.” or is it because they would be lonely 100-200m away from others?

No. Lets face it they just want to be near me!

Its a good job we had planned to head back to Brisbane in the morning. We are going back to help Andy & Steph finish their repairs on their Catamaran and to go see Ben, Amie and the Grandkids over the weekend.

0

0

On a boat the two most valuable things are power and water. We can only make power when the sun shines, so we are careful on what power we use. Our water tanks hold 320 litres of water, so we are also careful of how much water we use. We don’t have a washing machine as it uses too much power and water.

We are thrifty with water when washing and showering ourselves every day. No fifteen minute showers. When it comes to washing clothes, it’s hand wash in a bucket. We use salt water and detergent to wash the clothes then rinse off in fresh water and on the line for drying.

0

0

The weather forecast showing easterly winds for the week, making it ideal for anchoring at Moreton Island. So we set off.

Heading down river with an outgoing tide we reached the bay in only 1.5 hours. Less than .5m swell and 15knot winds made it a great leisurely sail across the bay.

After dinner we sat on the back deck. The bay was very still, showing no signs of what was approaching. We could see in the distance natures light display lighting up Brisbane with one of its summer evening storms. The lights of Brisbane slowly turned to black as the storm headed west across the bay. We were in the direct path.

Within a minute the calm bay was hit by the westerly wind. We raced below to shut all the hatches, then returned to the cockpit to watch the torrent of water pouring from the sky. The sky lit up with both fork and sheet lightning, reminding us about a yacht that recently got hit by lightning. That strike blew several holes in the the yacht’s hull.

It was over an hour before the storm cell left us. Cup of tea time. We went below for a cuppa and discovered one of the hatches hadn’t been closed properly. Which one? Of course the one above our bed. Luckily we have other dry beds.

0

0

Our time aboard Imagine started in the Brisbane River and we were soon headed along the Brisbane River, unfortunately against an incoming tide, that said, it was a lovely gentle time to get to know the yacht and partake in a lovely prepared lunch, courtesy of Sue.

Once in the mouth of the River, heading into the Bay, it was time to assist in putting up our first sails. Again, Andrew was such a patient and calm teacher, he had to be, neither myself or my girlfriend had even been on a yacht of that size, let alone assist in putting sails up. 

We both quickly got the hang of which ropes went where and did what. The sail across Moreton Bay was beautiful, the wind was up a bit which was great for sailing in. 

Andrew and Sue expertly dropped anchor in a calm little cove, just South of Tangalooma Resort. Sailing over for the day we were able to relax, even more, and partake in a beautiful cheese board and a couple of wines while watching the sun set from on the deck. 

That night I had the most amazing sleep, rocked to sleep by the gentle movement of the ocean. I slept that well, didn’t even awaken for a rain squall passing overhead. 

The next day, was just as amazing, moved a little closer to Tangalooma, went for a leisurely walk and swim on the beach, before setting course for home, and sadly the end of a day and a half of great sailing, relaxation and great company. 

We cannot wait until the next time we board the yacht Imagine.

Michael and Terese

0

0

For the last few weeks we have been we have been continuing with the maintenance of Imagine and just chilling. Last week I’ve been helping a couple with a catamaran (Simba). They had discovered some rot in the steps on one pontoon and were going to take it to be repaired. To lift it out of the water and get it repaired is very expensive and it is always good (and cheaper) to know how to do repairs on your boat. So I’ve been helping out and showing them how to repair it themselves.

At the beginning of this week we received our new sail cover. A slightly different style to the old one. So we had to go out sailing to see how well it worked.

We had some friends we had just met before Christmas, that had a couple of days off work during the week. What other excuse do we need to sail across to Moreton Island for an overnighter.

Michael and Terese came aboard at lunch time and we headed off. This time we had the tide going out so it only took two hours to get to the end of the river and start sailing. With 16knots of wind and 1/2 meter waves it was ideal sailing weather.

We arrived in time for sundowners, but unfortunately after having a beautiful day a slight shower had developed. This meant that drinks and nibbles were only being served in the cockpit.

Thursday morning we went ashore for a walk along the beach and a skinny dip before returning to Imagine for lunch on the forward deck. Once again we had great sailing weather and sunshine for the trip back. A wonderful two days with good weather and good company.

Oh, The new sail cover worked well too.

0

0

Some friends and their two draughters joined us for a three day get away to Moreton Island.

They arrived nice and early and we set off down the river. About quarter of the way just as we were about to go past one of the ferry terminals everything went quiet. Now that’s how we like it when we are sailing, but we were motoring down the river. “Were” being the operative word.

We quickly dropped anchor and Sue called up on the VHF radio to let the ferries know we had problems. It didn’t taken long for me to work out that the fuel pump wasn’t pumping. Because of the way this boat is set up, I could switch over to the electric fuel pump. The electric fuel pump pumped fuel to a twenty litre header tank which could gravity feed the engine.

Back on the road again, well river. We headed down river with a now incoming tide, which meant we were down to quarter our normal slow speed.

Once out of the river the sails went up, motor went off and the quiet was wonderful, just the sound of the water lapping against the hull and the breeze in the sails.

Two days of fishing swimming and climbing the sand dunes, then it was back to Brisbane and fix the fuel pump.