Good sailing north of the border to Noosa

10/12/2010

Truansea's best sailing experiences to date have with out doubt been immediately after crossing the border from NSW. Sorry cockroaches but seems your sailing weather this time was on par with your State of Origin efforts in recent times. Our entry into Southport under sail was as delightful as the few miles sailed further on to the top of North Stradbroke Is. Old memories of Moreton Bay resurfaced as we moved on up to Tangalooma Point on on Moreton Is where the dolphins welcomed us to our anchorage inside the Dring Banks. A little rain the following morning washed off any remnants of salt spray as we sailed over to Scarborough marina where we spent the week. Truansea being twice the width of monohulls of her length gave the scalpers at Scarborough marina the opportunity to fleece me for two monohull berths claiming that was all they had available. Naturally after meeting their extortive expectations it became apparent that there were several single berthing opportunities for Truansea, wiser next time. The convenience of berthing there to catch up with family and friends was worth the extra. There were several overseas yachts moored at Scarborough as it is a port of entry.

By Wednesday Truansea could wait no longer to head to Noosa to see for herself if all that I had told her along the way about her new life would be true. Sailing again was all that could be expected. Across Deception Bay and around Skirmish Point at the bottom of Bribie Is was like a Sunday sail. Then as the wind increased a few knots Truansea lifted her skirt and paralleled the shipping channel until near enough to Caloundra Head to slip between the extending reef and the fairway beacon. Three large carriers passed us as we ran up beside Bribie Island and there were several more standing off the Caloundra to Point Cartwright stretch. The contingency plan to head into Mooloolaba for the night if the wind was light went by the board when, off Point Cartwright at 14:30, Truansea sighted Noosa Head and would not be turned in early especially as she had a steady 15 knot easterly filling her sails and a fair current.

As each Sunshine Coast icon fell astern my phone rang as we were abeam Sunrise Beach. The lovely Lyn all Xmas shopped out, after dropping Bevan off at Scarborough earlier in the morning for the final leg, was driving home and decided to head into the coast at Peregian Beach. There are a few opportunities which we regularly take advantage of when driving between Coolum and Noosa to take in the ocean vista and see if there are any sails or whales to watch. On this day to her delight something special caught her eye; several sails out to sea, seven we had counted heading south. The object of her delight was closer inshore and she soon confirmed it was Truansea. Lyn watched from her vantage point until we passed and remarked how good it was to see us this far up the coast already. Advising her that we would spend the night anchored off First Point in front of Main Beach at Noosa she was off home for the camera and managed a couple of photos as we passed the Boiling Pot. Securely anchored about 100m out from First Point and with a million dollar view of Main Beach and no doubt providing some interest for those ashore we were suddenly surrounded by 20 odd surf ski's ripping out from the beach before returning to do it all again several times in the pursuit of fitness and whatever else it does for them. Logging off with the Coast Guard and advising them of our intention to cross the bar on the high tide in the morning we prepared for dinner just as old Sol took his rest for the day.

Meat and vegies doesn't sound all that creative when your just a couple of hundred metres from some of the best restaurants in the country but what it lacked in originality was made up for by the location and serenity of it all. Any rate lamb chops, potato, carrot, cauliflower, zucchini and egg cooked on the BBQ isn't all that shabby for an untrained bait layer after a days sail. Did I mention the fluid, Jupiter Hill Cab Sav Merlot 2007, wouldn't want to risk something sticking on the way down! Just gets tougher doesn't it.

Thursday, 9th December at 0900 Truansea weighs her anchor after receiving a call  from the real salts of the family Don and Agnes Reed advising that they have sounded a route in through the tricky parts of the mouth of the Noosa River for us. 0930 at the entrance and with the Noosa Coast Guard using the power of the jets on the "John Waddams", their premier rescue vessel, to flatten the chop we crossed the bar with only one small wave of no consequence breaking astern and washing under us. We were inside within minutes much to the satisfaction of Lyn, Jake, Pam and other unknown observers on the rock wall. Anchored in Woods Bay we ferried gear ashore and handed Bevan back to Laraine in good order none the worse for his adventure with many thanks for being available to provide the assurance of company along the way from Yamba.

Jake has checked Truansea over thoroughly, no nook or cranny escaped his attention. He will be able to sail his dinghy around the anchorage here during the school holidays and sleep on board. Lyn, Emma and Danny and Jake will come aboard shortly for sundowners. Emma, always the culinary upstager, has procured prawns, moreton bay bugs and a suitable bottle of bubbles to accompany my meager wafers, cheese and dips.

Visiting a gravely ill relative, jobs around the home and preparing for Xmas are at the top of my to do list now.

The 750 nautical miles from Sydney on this delivery trip has been a well rounded experience with all sorts of weather and sea conditions bar the extreme. Truansea is all she was expected to be and then some. I am very pleased with the decision to go with a Seawind 1000XL  and have no regrets. The joy and delightful times ahead will brighten more than a few lives for family and friends. Many thanks to all my family, friends,  especially Mars and Jupiter and work colleagues who have shared the experience so far and hope you are all delighted by what is to come.

Fair winds and a merry Xmas to all,  Brian and Lyn

Next move

06/12/10

Sitting here at Scarborough marina reflecting on a nice lunch at Moreton Bay Boat Club and afternoon spent with work colleagues yesterday. I hope they enjoyed the time as well and all seemed pleased that Truansea presented herself well and that she has the attributes to maintain my motivation and ensure safe passage on the adventure ahead. The weather Gods relented and with the exception of one brief shower, just to reaffirm who actually is in charge, provided us with a fairly pleasant day.

A lovely dinner at Denise's with Dave and Zena before settling down to watch a very interesting National Geographics doco on the largest cave in the world  Son Doong in Vietnam. Not for me that caving stunt but very interesting. 

Thanks for the call Glenn pleased to hear your going to spend some time with Maria after spending most of the year aboard the Pink Shrimp. Maybe the prospective purchaser will relocate her from Sardinia back to Italy and you will be closer to home.

If the trough forming off the coast from Fraser Island south doesn't deepen into one of those nasty lows by Wednesday Lyn will bring Bevan back down and we will move on up to Mooloolaba  and spend the night there before an early start on Thursday to catch the high tide at Noosa Bar at 10:00ish in the morning. Noosa bar has a formidable reputation but with a high tide, sun behind us and swell not expected to exceed 1.2m combined with local knowledge should see us in safely. Truansea can then have time to acquaint herself with her home base while I attend to some minor house maintenance tasks Lyn has been patiently expecting me to attend to. Then there is family and friends, our favourite coffee spots and mal sliding around the points and kayaking on the river and fishing. Will I have time for all this and Santa just around the corner. I've heard it said that retirement can be a busy time of life....

Fair winds,  Brian

    

28/11/2010

Departing Yamba with a reasonable forecast for the leg to Southport Seaway we entered the Clarence River through the hole in the wall and found ourselves in the middle of a combined Water Police and Volunteer Marine Rescue training exercise. Helicopters, police boats, VMR boats and VHF radio traffic were the order of the day. Where the Clarence meets the sea was a far different place to when Lyn and I arrived, just some small green speed humps to denote the crossing. 

The sum of rhumb line distances a safe distance of headlands and hard bits from Yamba to Southport Seaway is 97nm so reckoning on a bit of adverse current and a steady breeze 19-20 hours of sailing should see the job done. That is until Mr Murphy's law is applied to the calculation. His arithmetic is a little different to mine and generally the more accurate. The only difference really is like the old maths books where you had to go to the end of the book (voyage in this case) to get the correct answer which turned out to be 153nm.

How can this be? Simple really as always. Variable winds + periods of no wind + EAC x 3kts = Mr Murphy's constant. An earlier employer of mine estimated time to do a job with unknowns by averaging three guesses then doubling the answer and adding two. He was related to Murphy.

Slight seas are good Lyn, glassy ones even better. We had these for most of the passage as Lyn predicts this for times when she isn't aboard. Trawlers, up to twenty were counted within a mile of our position during the night mostly off Evans Head and Point Byron where the most easterly light house shines on all who sail within  it's range. How hard those fisherman work in poor conditions and how they tolerate the current is a credit to them. Prawns are cheap. The gloom of the lights from other trawlers working even further out to sea would indicate another twenty. A keen eye kept us clear of them with only one coming close to my safety radius.

All through the night we sailed when there was enough wind and motored when there wasn't finally seeing old Sol rise up as we passed Brunswick Heads. Huey the wind God was completely exhausted from his efforts to scare the lovely Lyn and many others off sailing over the past several weeks. All that fuss and water and waves he was kicking about finally settled down into almost a mirror like surface as we motored past my first SCUBA diving site, Cook Is off Fingal Head. Turtles and rays came to the surface close by as we passed between Fingal and Cook Is and had our first glimpse of Queensland and the start of that most famous of recreational strips named the Gold Coast. The Queensland wind being a much nicer affair than it's southern counterpart set up a particularly pleasant broad reach for us along the coast line about a mile off shore. Old Sol lit up the beach strip and high rise buildings like a postcard photo as we closed on the Southport Seaway.

Entering the seaway across the infamous Southport bar was a pretty benign affair sailing under full main and jib about 100m behind a monohull who chose to motor in ahead of us. We gybed the sails across as we turned north and held the one sail set all the way up the Broadwater along the inside of South Stradbroke Island until the last 2 miles before the "Bedroom" at the northern tip of the island near Jumpinpin. (It is a lovely place thank you Arlette. We had been here several times before in another life.) That wonderful BBQ produced another great steak, egg, zucchini, potato and carrot dinner washed down with a rum. Naturally. A Pacific black duck swum up to the transom shortly after we anchored and stepped aboard up the steps like he lived here all his life and stayed for at least ten minutes. I told you it was a good life.

After a night here we left earlyish back to my old habit of going just a bit further before stopping for breakfast.  We motored up to another old favourite anchorage where the old sand mining jetty used to be on North Stradbroke Island across from Caniapa Point. Cornflakes consumed we motored out past Macleay Island and hoisted sail finding the going much to our liking. Past Coochiemudlo Island, then Peel Island then St Helena Is off to port we passed several other catamarans and monohulls on our way to Tangalooma Point on Moreton Island just south of the resort. Finding a quiet place to anchor 300m of the beach in very clear water we dropped all sail and secured a good grip on the bottom with the anchor for the night. A small pod of dolphins welcomed us one leaping out equally as happy as us to be here.

Tomorrow we will head across to Scarborough where Truansea will spend a few days before the final leg of the trip home to Noosa. Bevan and I will return home from here by car with one of his old girlfriends. I'll have a chance to catch up with friends and relatives who have indicated a desire to take a look over the little ship when I return to Truansea on Saturday. Please book early to avoid disappointment.

Fair winds, Brian.

Leaving lovely Yamba

28/11/2010

This morning we leave lovely Yamba and it's laid back lifestyle. Everyone here from the kids of all ages in the street are friendly and well mannered the storekeepers are helpful and chatty if you want to strike up a conversation. The general ambiance of the business area is delightfully stress free and the traffic is steady and courteous to pedestrians. I understand that  the population here grows dramatically during holiday seasons increasing from a resident 8000 to somewhere in the order of 30000. Like Noosa I suspect the depreciation of amenity is directly proportional at these times. 

Around mid morning Truansea will slip her lines here at the marina and head out of the Clarence River for the Southport Seaway. We expect to cross into the Broadwater around mid morning tomorrow on the rising tide after an overnite passage. The forecast is reasonable however the wind will head us most of the way and is expected to be slight around dawn when we cross that imaginary line between NSW and QLD. Sea and swell is forecast to be at least 1-1.5m less than Truansea has become used to swimming in but those early lessons were good for her character and gave her an opportunity to show off her rewarding attributes.

This passage will be the first after all teething problems and some poor work quality issues have been rectified so a dream run is expected. My call to Richard Ward, Seawind CEO today will have a different flavour compared to the last three Sunday chats. I appreciate his attention to the rectification works and hope that he can educate his staff in the importance of attention to detail and thus producing a total quality product every time, after all that is the key to success and keeps them employed long term.

Lyn has returned to Noosa and will miss this passage but will be back aboard in a few days. Bevan in the meantime has acquainted himself with Truansea and will share the watches with me tonight. It was a disappointment to miss the Seawind Moreton Bay Regatta and the opportunity to catch up with and get to know the other local Seawind owners. Hope they had great time.

Fair winds,  Brian

Coffs Harbour to Yamba

23/11/2010

Today we made our passage from Coffs to Yamba through the Solitary Is group to add a little variety to the passage and hopefully by staying closer inshore we might avoid the full strength of the EAC which peaked at 1.7kts adverse but was generally around 0.5kt. The coastal scenery was a little clearer due to old Sol being more obvious than for the past week. Most prominent headlands, beaches and associated landmarks were easily identifiable and this certainly makes the passage more interesting as the information provided by Alan Lucas in 'Cruising the NSW Coast' becomes relevant.

We bowled along at between 8 and 9 knots until 9nm from our last waypoint when the EAC suddenly disappeared and shortly after the wind dropped to 3kts. I shook out the reef in the main and vainly tried to keep sailing for a couple of miles but could achieve no more than 1.5kts so not wanting to enter the Clarence in the dark I started up the iron topsails and motorsailed to within a mile of the entrance and dropped all sail. The sea and swell maintained their presence at up to 3m and that contributed to a fairly boisterous trip.

Arriving off the Clarence River entrance at our estimated ETA of 1730 Marine rescue Iluka/Yamba called us to advise they had eyeballed our approach and to advise that the southern entrance to the river was impassable and that we might like to check out the northern entry before making any attempt at entry. From our perspective the southern entrance looked like a marine incident waiting to happen with quite obvious large breaking swells for at least 0.5nm seaward extending 60 % across the entrance from the south and well inward along the southern sea wall. Motoring along about 1nm offshore to the northern approach we got a pretty good Captain Cook at the whole bar which wasn't all that encouraging but I was confident I had observed a gap in the breaking waves and white water about a third of the distance from the end of the northern sea wall towards the southern wall. Lyn puts a lot of faith in my ability and with her confident and thinking it couldn't be any worse than the seas of the last couple of days we committed to entering. My little darling even had the guts to try and get a couple of photos as we crossed the bar, my concern was that if she gripped the camera as tightly as her hand hold the camera would look like a crumpled chip packet nonetheless   she did it and as always with photos of swell they rarely depict the full glory of the moment. Not wanting to understate the situation if I say that the swell was the biggest I have entered a river in and the one that broke just behind us and stood us up at about 45 degrees as it forced it's way beneath us was an OMG or FARQ moment you'll know why the marine forecasts always say swell may be twice the height indicated. Marine rescue monitored our entry from their post near the entry and called us to say well done after we were safely inside. And that's all I'm saying on the matter.

We've made arrangements through Seawind to allow a local shipwright to do the couple of warranty jobs while we are here in Yamba waiting for the weather to abate and become more favourable for our next leg to Southport. Unfortunately due to the delays we have experienced Lyn will not be able to do this passage and will return to Noosa on Sunday by road. A friend and long time sailing buddy Bevan will bring the car down here on Saturday and sail to Scarborough with me where Lyn will rejoin me for the last passage home.

Yamba is a lovely place and everytime I come here I like it even more. There is that old Noosa pace and atmosphere that we grew up with evident here. The locals are unpretentious and friendly so it might be a case of watch this space. The prawns are sweet and the beer is cold.

Well land lubbers I've got a boat to wash when Lyn finishes her Nanna nap.

Fair winds, Brian and Lyn.

Forster Tuncurry to Coffs Harbour

20/11/2010
Whilst anchored at Tuncurry opposite the Wallis Lake Fishermans Co-op we had a visit from Nick Robertson of Marine Patrol to say hello and welcome us to Tuncurry. Take the opportunity to look him up and say hello if your in Tuncurry he is new there from Sydney and a a really nice chap. We took the dinghy ride over to the Forster side and less than 50m from the public floating mooring is GJ's for a coffee and enough stores for basic victualling. Lots of people fishing from the bank and boats beautiful clear blue water.

Back on Truansea it was time to go to the mast head and tie the wind indicator back on as a temporary measure until we got to Yamba for a more permanent fix. After setting up the bosun's chair on the spinnaker halyard and giving Lyn a run through on how to winch me to the top and ease me back down again I set off in great faith of her ability. The spinnaker halyard exits the mast about 1.5m from the top and unfortunately I hadn't allowed for me sitting in the bosun's chair and not standing so I was unable to affect any repair. Safely back down on deck I reattached the bosun's chair this time to the main halyard which exits at the mast head. The main halyard is a two to one arrangement which means 120m of line for Lyn to winch in to haul me to the top. A big effort for the lovely Lyn as she is no Arnie. Plenty of rest breaks along the way gave me a chance to have a good look around. Finally at the mast head with a metre of VB cord I was able to secure the recalcitrant instrument and as it turns out a better job than the "Tempo Spars tradesman?" did originally as it has lasted longer in tougher conditions. Lyn took a couple of photos of me up the mast, great bum shots. There was also a growing number of observers on shore taking an interest and photos.

21/11/2010
We departed Tuncurry for Port Macquarie with a forecast of East to South Easterly wind 15-20kts seas to 1m from the North East and swell South East at 1.5-2.0m. A bit ordinary but no concerns. We crossed the Port Macquarie bar at 1730 and picked up a courtesy mooring outside the small Port Marina. We went ashore for a nice long hot shower and picked up some fresh bread at the nearby Woolworths then some lovely fresh fish and chips at Scampi's which we ate back on board.

22/11/2010
Port Macquarie to Coffs Harbour an interesting day. The infamous East Australia Current (EAC) delayed our trip considerably. The set was exactly opposed to our heading and the rate was at worst 3.8kts and at best 3.4kts. The rhumb line from Port Macquarie to Coffs Harbour is 67.5nm we endured a further 38.5nm through the water arriving at Coffs Harbour at 2200 grateful for the full moon and a space on the public wharf to tie alongside. The lovely Lyn had a steak on the BBQ and a scotch in the glass by 2210. I rewarded her with a really good long black from the Marina coffee shop just after she came on deck in the morning, life's little pleasures. Along the way off Crescent Head and Killick Beach we saw thousands of shearwaters heading south just a few metres above the water in a long soaring band about 100m wide. This migration continued for more than 5nm. Nothing fishier than that though I suspect the piscatorial crowd are staying well below the confused surface.

According to Mr Beaufort

On the Beaufort wind scale force 6 is described as a strong breeze 22-27 kts. 3.0m waves, larger waves forming, whitecaps everywhere, more spray, and force 7 is a near gale 28-33 kts. 4.0m waves, seas heap up, white foam from breaking waves begins to be blown in streaks. We had a bit of both on our run up to Forster/Tuncurry from Port Stephens. Sorry Lyn. That's the type of sailing you probably shouldn't expose your wife to so soon. So apart from the lumpy bits it wasn't all that bad as we had the second reef in and full jib and wind aft mostly and Truansea is really good at keeping her head above water. Not a good idea to get a rope jammed under the hatch when you close it especially on the windward side above a bunk. Noticed it early enough not to cause any real harm. Lyn wasn't feeling hungry along the way so I had some of her delicious fruit cake and an iced coffee.

Another 51 nm on the clock at avg 7.9kn and new top speed of 14.1kn. Tuncurry bar was dead flat (unbelievable) plenty of depth but 4.5kts of ebb tide. Again a dolphin just inside the entry to welcome us in.  Tomorrow's forecast is more of the same so will sit it out here and head up to Port Macquarie on Sunday when the wind abates. Seems it's my shout to dinner. Did I mention that the Raymarine wind indicator parted company with the mast head about two thirds of the way up here. Just swinging on its cable 60 feet in the air. Through the binoculars it looks like the securing screws have fallen out. Bit nervous about finding out for sure as Lyn may decide to get even as she is hauling me up to the top of the stick to see if I can repair it. I'll let you know how the bosun's chair works thanks Bevan. That's a Friday sail for you.

Fair winds friends,  Brian and Lyn.

Bulk Carriers, Dolphins and Fairy Penguins

Signal restored Mr Telstra still has a few gaps in his coverage. Sitting here at beautiful Nelson Bay, Port Stephens about 50m off a nice sandy beach calm, fine but cloudy. We liked it here back in February on our reconnaissance trip and nothing has changed our opinion. Slipped ashore in the tender this morning and did the washing and had a lovely coffee from GJ's. Following a bit of tidy up and check all fittings etc we had lunch and Lyn is resting while I keep you updated.

Yesterday was like sailing in a washing machine with 2m SE swell and 1m NE sea running over it but the wind was fair abaft the beam 12 - 15 kn SE all day so Truansea covered the 75nm in 10.5 hrs. Good little sailing ship. We hugged the rhumb line all the way so my navigation skills are still ok.

Along the way we saw a pod of 5 dolphins who chanced to play around our bows for about 15 mins and passed 9 bulk carriers between Catherine Bay and Newcastle entrance another one overtook us to Port along the northern end of Stockton Beach. We were about 11nm off the coast when we saw 6 of the carriers idling about. We sailed close enough to the Panamanian Kashi Arrow to read their paper (with my beaut Bushnells) but dropped below her stern cause they are REALLY REALLY BIG. The wind dropped to about 8kn as we turned into the entrance to Port Stephens and dropped sail before motoring the last 400m to a courtesy mooring in Shoal Bay. No sooner settled when Lyn saw a dolphin cruise by the galley window to welcome us in.

Following a good sleep we dropped the mooring and motored the 1.5nm around to Nelson Bay and lucked onto this courtesy mooring in front of the beach. On the way around off  Little Bay we saw 10 fairy penguins having breakfast, whitebait??. Cute little fella's look like half drowned ducks when there swimming.

Weather permitting we will head for Forster/Tuncurry or possibly Camden Haven or even Port Macquarie tomorrow.

Fair winds my friends.  

First 22 nautical miles under sail

5:40am a surf boat crew out training sounded very close to Truansea so it is not only sailors that are a bit different they needed a torch to maintain a safe distance off the rocky shore. Reason enough to put the kettle on, Lyn loves her cuppa, and have breakfast. 7:15am plenty of light and 8 - 10 knots of SW wind as we weighed anchor and hoisted sail as we approached Sydney Heads one other cat and a mono followed us out but failed to head us all the way to Barrenjoey Headland. Pretty sloppy sea 1.5m - 2m swell from the SE with about a metre of sea from the NE and wind 12 - 18 knots from the south so wobbled about a bit. One little heart racing event as the jib car slid off the track but other than that an uneventful sail up to Pittwater. We are swinging on a mooring at Careel Bay and will get away early tomorrow for the leg up to Port Stephens. (78nm).

Andrew, Warwick if your reading this can you let me know if stoppers were fitted to the end of your jib sheet tracks please.

  

Away at last

It might be raining but that didn't deter us from slipping our mooring lines at Birkenhead Point marina and due to no wind <3 knots NE we motored across the Harbour to snug little Spring Cove just near the old quarantine station at North Head about 2 miles from the Manly ferry terminal. We had been delayed due to a wiring fault (pinched cable at base of targa bar) causing some issues with solar panel that Seawind had to rectify. The run over here was interspersed with ferries going every which way all much bigger and faster than Truansea and they have right of way. The light rain persists and is likely to continue along the coast for most of the week. Ruins the photo opportunities but keeps most others off the water. I'm not able to upload any pics from the camera SD card all of a sudden so if I can't solve the problem will just have to manage with the text, sorry. The lovely Lyn goes from strength to strength with this boating caper, a duck to water. So nice here. Off to Pittwater in the morning.

Commissioning fun

Monday 8 Nov this was our first look at Truansea on the water at Birkenhead Point Marina. We have many people tell us they like the name and especially the little man. Getting orientated around the marina and shopping precinct and the first appreciation of Truansea filled in the day. First impressions were very good pleased with the colour choices and selection of equipment. Some minor dissappointments with the level of presentation and several issues with running rigging, sail set and chart plotter that could should have been attended to before our arrival. Chart plotter had charts for Europe installed and we weren't intending to go that far this early. As of yesterday all had been rectified except the location of the mast cam cleat and waiting on a sparky to check out the Nav light circuits as I suspect there is a slight current leakage (milliamps from compromised insulation??) into the life lines which has shown up as tea staining at some of the staunchion bases.

We have been out sailing several times and will go again today. Lyn took this pic of the spinnaker when we had the sailmaker on board for some adjustments he was impressed also and took his own pics. A number of single hullers were enjoying their afternoon race until distracted by Truansea gliding past.

You know your in Sydney when you have this view over the rail as you sail past. Tuff I know and apologies to those of you still working.

Many many thanks to our friends Jupiter and Mars for getting us here and looking forward to sailing with them when we return to Qld. Plan is to check everything again today and then relax a little before heading to Pittwater on Monday.

Fair winds my friends and thank you all for the texts and calls.

Brian and Lyn   truansea@gmail.com

Take me to the water

Here I am loaded on the trailer where I have to wait all night before I get to go for my first swim. I hear the weather looks good for tomorrow and the water temp is about 19 degrees. I'll enjoy my first splash in Wollongong Harbour and then I'll have my mast, boom and sails fitted so I'll look like all my cousins. Oooh it's exciting.

Launch date confirmed

The launch date for Truansea has been confirmed as 2/11/2010. Before the sun rises Truansea will leave the factory on a low loader and travel to Wollongong Harbour where she will lifted in slings and lowered into the water. Before the slings are removed Seawind staff will board her to check she is water tight. Bloody hope so! Then the crew from Tempo Spars will crane the mast into place and secure the standing rigging. The boom will be fitted and all the running rigging will then be reeved, and sails fitted. The motors will be run and all the equipment tested and instruments calibrated. There is a lot to happen in a couple of days but Mike Rees from Seawind assures me they are well practiced at it and all will go smoothly. When the launch crew are satisfied everything meets Seawinds quality standard the delivery crew will board her and sail up the coast to Port Jackson, and in to Birkenhead Point Marina on Sydney Harbour. Here final adjustments will be made and detailing completed ready for handover day on the 8/11/2010 to her new owners. Thirteen months after the deposit went down  the dream comes true.

The NEW Life of Brian

Matthew Flinders did it in a Government ship. I have planned for 30 years to do it  in a sailing catamaran. Unfortunately the Government hadn't been handing out catamarans in those years so we have our own at last. An Australian designed and built Seawind 1000XL www.seawindcats.com  She will be launched in late October and following sea trials will be ready for us to take possession on beautiful Sydney Harbour in early November.

After a few days of getting acquainted with her and a couple of day sails around the harbour, weather permitting, we will point her bows out through the famous Sydney Heads and follow that well worn passage north to Pittwater. This will be the first leg of her maiden voyage from Sydney to our home port of Noosa Heads. From here when we are satisfied the cyclone season has expired for 2011 we will depart on our sailing adventure.

Follow this blog and share with us this Odyssey around the islands of Australia and Tasmania.