Any other sailors here?

bunyip · Dec 25, 2017

Mentioned in another post, we both enjoy sailing and have a 23' trailer sailer, Cole 23 (a local craft) fibreglass hull.
Claimed to be a 6 berth but you would either need the cast from Snow White or be very friendly, we find it accommodates the two of us nicely although we do sometimes take another couple but they bring a tent.
We used to keep it at home but became a nuisance taking 3 hours to rig and launch so we now keep it in mast up storage about 250km away, a phone call and it is in the water for us when we arrive.
We spend most of our sailing time on the Gippsland Lakes which has lots of inlets and rivers to hide in if it gets rough, some of you may know the area as it is a popular tourist area with locals and overseas visitors.
Started sailing when I was about 15 on Mirrors and graduated to the Flying Dutchman, competed in two Sydney Hobart classics (1968-69) with the Air Force entry, that was about the time the Maxi yachts made an appearance and Anaconda was one of the first.
Used to take us about 5 days but times change and some are now completing the race in 2 days.
We are also (speaking as a country now) plotting on retaking the Americas Cup

Be interested to hear what you sail and where.

Garandman · Dec 26, 2017

We live walking distance to Boston Harbor and our mooring. My wife and I met at Marblehead Race Week, and we’ve owned a 23’ Sonar, 21’ Viper 640, 24’ Melges 24, And my wife just got her first boat to race on her own, a Thunderbird 26.

dmccarty · Dec 26, 2017

Would not consider myself a sailor though my dad FINALLY got a boat when we moved back to Florida in my late teens. Twas a 33 foot sailboat with 4 foot draft to help get around in the shallow waters in south Florida. Twas on a trawler in Washington state a few years back and was agog at the depth of the water. I am used to having only a few feet under the keel but out there the depth sounder would sometimes find no bottom! Could not believe how deep the water is out there. At one point we were kinda close to shore due to the currents and other boat traffic and some people were a bit nervous but we had 25 feet under the keel!

Spent two weeks on a trawler in Scotland and Ireland a couple of summers back. Might meet up with the boat in Mexico to help bring the boat north to the US this summer.

Being in the Sydney Hobart race is pretty cool. Not sure I would want to do the race but we would love to visit Syndey, Hobart, and other places in Australia and New Zealand. Would love to circumnavigate Australia. :thumbsup:

The wifey and I really want to buy a boat and see as much of the world as we can at 5-7 knots.

Later,
Dan

bunyip · Dec 26, 2017

Shallow water claims a few lives in one of our lakes, when there is a storm you get a short sharp chop which the boat falls off and swamps, give me a big rolling swell anytime, uncomfortable as it is.
As an aside I was watching a doco on Venice and the fishermen, they row out for a mile or so then jump overboard and dredge the bottom for shellfish, I never realised that it was so shallow, about 4' on average.
If you do get to circumnavigate Australia beware of the North West, has huge tides (tides can go out about 3-5km) and the reefs literally drain into a huge vortex that you wouldn't want to get caught in, also the West Coast of Tasmania can be brutal and there is nowhere to go for cover to wait it out, I have sailed down there and lucky to have relatively calm conditions, it is the route for another race called the West Coaster which is Melbourne to Hobart, Sydney to Hobart run down the East Coast of Tasmania and is far more forgiving although it still claims a few lives when you get a big blow.

RobertN · Dec 26, 2017

Spent time on 22-32' sailboats on San Francisco Bay. Tons of fun! Have not done much lately(doing Elder care for parents). Hope to get back in to it. Have had opportunity to crew 45' boats for day sails.

Have also played with RC sailboats. 1m Seawinds and Victor Solings. They were fun to build, and are fun to sail. The Seawind is much faster than the Soling.

bunyip · Dec 27, 2017

Wild Oats XI took Sydney Hobart line honours with a time of one day, eight hours, 48 minutes and 50 seconds, compared to the 5 days we used to take in the late 60's that is absolutely amazing, you could just about waterski behine them.
Watching them on TV yesterday with their huge kevlar sails and three jibs grabbing every bit of wind there was.
Wild Oats XI - Wikipedia

Garandman · Dec 27, 2017

This is a friend of mine at the helm of the Ericsson 80 Nicolette on their record breaking transatlantic run.

To give you a sense of how fast they are going, count how long it takes spray hitting the bow to fly back and hit the helmsman. That is 60-65’.

dmccarty · Dec 28, 2017

bunyip said:
Shallow water claims a few lives in one of our lakes, when there is a storm you get a short sharp chop which the boat falls off and swamps, give me a big rolling swell anytime, uncomfortable as it is.
As an aside I was watching a doco on Venice and the fishermen, they row out for a mile or so then jump overboard and dredge the bottom for shellfish, I never realised that it was so shallow, about 4' on average.
If you do get to circumnavigate Australia beware of the North West, has huge tides (tides can go out about 3-5km) and the reefs literally drain into a huge vortex that you wouldn't want to get caught in, also the West Coast of Tasmania can be brutal and there is nowhere to go for cover to wait it out, I have sailed down there and lucky to have relatively calm conditions, it is the route for another race called the West Coaster which is Melbourne to Hobart, Sydney to Hobart run down the East Coast of Tasmania and is far more forgiving although it still claims a few lives when you get a big blow.

There is a surprising amount of "water" in south Florida and in North Carolina where the depths are 4 feet or less. Big expanses of area that one would think would be deep water but they are really shallow. Short steep waves are no fun, especially wind against current. Worse in shallow water.

Yeah, Australia has some interesting and scary coast line. I was reading a blog from a couple who built a 33 foot Badger in their back yard near Perth. The boat is made from epoxied plywood and has a junk rig. Some of these boats have some serious sea miles on them. Anywho, they went up the west coast of Australia, across the top, and started down the east coast when the blog went silent. Afraid they had a health issue.

They had a little outboard motor but even with decent winds the boat is not very fast. With the tides in the north much patience was required.

You left out watching for crocs. :shocked::laughing::laughing::laughing:

Australia has some very pretty areas. Unique and not like anywhere else in the world.

We are not old but not young either. Not sure we have enough time left to see what we want to see. :shocked::laughing::laughing::laughing:

Later,
Dan

kittyhawk · Dec 28, 2017

Ha Ha, Here I was thinking fellow Navy men....
Spent 6 years as a Sailor with five Cruises under my belt.

bunyip · Dec 28, 2017

Crocs are not really a problem unless you leave the boat, a bigger problem is whales and barely submerged shipping containers, we have hit a whale and you do stop rather quickly, they also can cause major keel damage and negate rule number one, 'keep the ocean on the outside'.
What are annoying are prawns tapping on the hull all night when you are trying to sleep, no idea what the attraction is but there is the constant tap tap tap tap when they are about.
Good eating if you can catch them but they are pretty smart and evasive.