Innholdsfortegnelse for June 17 i Cruising Helmsman

THE annual Shag Islet Cruising Yacht Club Rendezvous will once again be held at Gloucester Passage, this year over the weekend 24 to 27 August. If you are a sailor who does not enjoy socialising, swapping stories, being prone to mild exaggeration, helping out when required, laughing at jokes and dancing, then you are strongly urged not to attend. To everyone else, it is time to plan. Dust off the pirate outfit, restuff the fake parrot, stock up on new jokes and loud shirts plus even iron your official SICYC vice commodore polo, actually maybe you should wash it first. Time to check your yacht's party lights, sort out the flag collection, service the boat, check the sails and rigging, dust off the kite and replace its string, polish up…

WHEN high winds descend on Jamieson Bay, at one of Bass Strait's scenic islands, it makes for spectacular photography. That is until it turns ugly and catamaran Take It Easy takes a beating. During our summer 2016-17 cruise around Bass Strait, one thing stood out: the persistent and particularly strong westerlies. Throughout our two months afloat we were running from one beautiful anchorage to another hiding from strong winds, especially once we reached the Furneaux Group in Eastern Bass Strait. Situated within the renowned Roaring Forties, these islands can be exposed to mean winds. They say you have not had a real adventure unless at one stage you have wished you were not there. Well, we had one very big adventure last summer! EVEN AT ANCHOR THINGS CAN GET HAIRY…

NO DANGER, NO MESS COOKING GoSun Stove is introducing the fuel-free portable, solar powered grill. The GoSun Grill utilises energy from the sun to bake, boil, fry or steam a meal for eight, in less than one hour. It harnesses the sun's energy using curved steel reflective fold-out shields focussing the heat onto a proprietary vacuum tube that allows for fast cooking in its interior. The vacuum tube is safe and the cooking is clean, without the use of LPG, propane, charcoal, turpentine, etc. Despite the high cooking temperatures, the exterior of the grill remains cool. In addition, the high-moisture cooking ensures food is not only flavourful, but retains full nutritional value. All without noise, smoke or flammable materials. Coming soon will be a grill with a solar panel battery…

4 steps to wonder WHEN you are a keen photographer and find yourself at the Great Barrier Reef, it is impossible to resist the attraction of being underwater with a camera in hand. The diversity of creatures that are found just under the surface is astonishing. There is a variety of corals with intriguing shapes from wrinkled brains, to cabbages, table tops, antlers and pillars. The multitude of fish of all sizes amongst all this beautiful coral is astounding and their colour often incredibly luminous. I could not envisage snorkelling without a camera amongst a reef, whether tropical or temperate and made a choice last year to buy a waterproof compact for underwater photography. Most people are wooed by the incredible world and sights they discover when they go snorkelling…

SINCE 1999 New Beginnings has been involved in the development and conduct of programs focusing on providing disadvantaged young people with skills to boost self-esteem and instil community values. Its programs purposely target ages 8 to 14 as its results over the past 16 years have shown this to be the most effective age to create meaningful change in a young person's life. The programs are designed to give vulnerable young people a greater understanding of community, their responsibilities within community and principles of community leadership. President of New Beginnings Ben Brauer is an accomplished sailor, including: Yachtmaster offshore, inshore instructor, former chairman of youth sailing at Southport Yacht Club and advisor to Australian America's Cup yachting teams in 2004/05 on motivation and technology strategy. According to Brauer "it is…

The inaugural Multihull Solutions Moreton Bay Rally will be held over the weekend of 27 to 29 October on Brisbane’s beautiful coastal water. Relaxed cruising is the primary focus of Multihull Solutions' events and, like all its rallies, this one offers a chance to escape for a few days of cruising and explore the area with frequent stops for social functions with other owners. The event has a philosophy of fun with prizes awarded to entrants who best embrace the spirit of the rally. For those who want to experience the beauty of Thailand’s best cruising grounds, Multihull Solution is staging its Phuket Rally from 6 to 12 November. This rally takes its multihullers on a week-long cruise through Phang Nga Bay. This region is characterised by dramatic limestone cliffs…

TROPICAL cyclones are a common occurrence in Queensland during, and even occasionally out of, the cyclone season. They mostly form from lows within the monsoon trough with the season officially starting on November 1 and running through to April. Our deadliest weather event occurred in March 1899 when Cyclone Mahina from the Coral Sea converged with Cyclone Nachon from the Arafura Sea and hit a pearling fleet north of Cooktown in Bathurst Bay. It caused a huge storm surge with 307 known fatalities. In more recent times Larry and Yasi ran down the North Queensland coast on their courses of destruction but many lessons learned since 1899 seem to have paid dividends. In March this year, as a low formed in the Coral Sea, boaties in the northern regions watched…

“... THESE CAN MORPH INTO USEFUL LEARNING EXPERIENCES WITH THE WISDOM OF HINDSIGHT.” WHEN my partner Simon and I decided to live on Ebb Tide, a Gemini catamaran, I had no idea what life might offer four years later. But I would have been surprised by a crystal ball’s prediction that we would still be cruising Queensland waters. With so much beauty here we keep finding reasons not to go elsewhere just yet SLOW CRUISING For ‘real sailors’, as Simon calls them, cruising might be about the sailing. For us it is about exploring remote and beautiful places, connecting with nature and leaving civilisation behind. Sailing is a (mostly) pleasurable means to this end and being powered largely by the wind and sun is a source of satisfaction. We travel…

BOATING enthusiasts turned out in record numbers for the Gold Coast International Boat Show last March. Over 23,000 visitors viewed the $150 million showcase over three days at the Gold Coast City Marine dock. Event and marketing manager Emma Brown said confirmed sales from Australia’s first major boat show of the year were strong and will tally into the tens of millions of dollars, "we’ve absolutely eclipsed all our previous records: visitor numbers, sales at the show, the number of boats on display, exhibitor numbers and our product and boat premieres. Brown said the Gold Coast boat show’s record 230 exhibitors on the water and on land all reported strong sales results. "The overall show visitation number was up 18 per cent and that is very rewarding given this year…

THE most amount of time I have spent with Yanmars in yachts was when I helped a mate deliver his Lagoon 38 catamaran. Theo had taken delivery of the 38 from the French factory and sailed it across the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans via the Panama Canal. Already the twin 3YM30 sail drives had clocked up around 1000 hours each with the only fault being a leaking exhaust manifold on one of the engines. A couple of things really impressed me, one was how quiet and smooth running the engines were and the other the ability of the Gori folding overdrive props to keep the engines running in the maximum efficiency zone and preventing cylinder bore glazing from insufficient load. For example, driving through 2.64:1 reduction ratios and swinging 16.5…

MODERN chartplotters are waterproof and daylight viewable, so most new wheel-steered yachts have one mounted at the steering pedestal, viewable by the helmsman. Typically, the display is f lush mounted into a customised moulding with wiring connections hidden from sight. It is a neat arrangement and convenient for the helmsman. I am far from being the first owner of an older style yacht to think about retrofitting a chartplotter at the helm. There are commercial mouldings and 'pod' products available, often designed to mount on tubular frames that might be attached to an existing steering pedestal for example. Options of course depend on the dimensions and relative positions of possible supports, but some could also suit tiller steered yachts, such as supporting a pod from an overhead bimini or cockpit…

AS the squall passed and the stars began to appear in the inky night sky, a gentle southerly breeze filled in and replaced the tradewinds that had been driving Carina rapidly along our rhumb line. “Drat, noserlies,” muttered Leslie, “maybe it’s time to motor.” After almost twelve days of squalls interrupted by calms with a few delightful hours of easy sailing, we agreed it was time to burn some of the ancient dinosaurs stored in our diesel fuel tank. It was 0300 local at 01 degrees south latitude in the lonely western Pacific Ocean and we were on passage from the Republic of Palau over 800 nautical miles away. We could just begin to see the signature of the fringing reef of our destination on our radar; dawn was not…