Rob Blackburn Posted December 21, 2004 Report Share Posted December 21, 2004 Well we are back from the latest trip in Allecat and it was quite good fun. Our objective was to get to Bool Creek at the top of Fraser Island to reenact Matthew Flinders getting water in 1801 or so.. Well that is what we told ourselves but the weather and the tides conspired against us so we reverted to our usual behaviours of fishing, snorkelling, sailing and relaxing. The tides were low in the early part of the day and we could not get in and out of the estuary as well as we would have liked. Poor planning but work committments dictated this largely. The trip started on the wrong foot as the other boat - Mary Bryant- was delayed because a wheel very nearly fell off on the way up. So repairs delayed our departure by about 5 hours and we missed the tide and the southerly had got up quite a bit. On the way across we hit some fairly rough conditions and MB started shipping water through her internal outboard well. This had never been a problem before but she was well loaded and the conditions weren't the best. She then started getting water over the side so bailing became the preferred activity for a while. We shipped a lot of spray/splash but nowhere looked like getting green water. It was a nasty wind against tide situation and a couple of times we had some fairly big faces to get up and over. I would not have liked much more. I got the girls bailing after about an hour as we had about 50 litres or so in the bottom. As a % of gross displacement this was not significant and did not take much to get out. Once around a big sandbar we could ease the sheets and then it was off and racing to beat the dropping tide into the first creek. We got about 300m up Coongle Creek and pitched camp on the dunes. After that day the wind turned to the north and we had to motor all the way up which was irritating. If we had left on time we would have reached up like legends. Never mind. So after a week of feeding the midges and eating Thai fish curries etc we turned for home as the weather went bad. We had scudding low cloud and showers for the whole trip home but it was from the north east and we had a sensational trip back. Had a brooding feel about it as the squalls came over the sand cliffs etc. Video here of the run home. http://homepage.mac.com/blackburns/filechute/HOMEWARD.zip Otherwise had a couple of minor boat issues. The plastic plug in the end of the mizzen started to worke it's way out a couple of times threatening to let the mizzen go over the side. I had changed the glue from Sikaflex to a polyurethane asit was all I had and it cracked. Think will put a screw in too. The thwart at the mizzen seems to have absorbed water at the starboard end has swollen and cracked slightly. Have epoxy soaking into that tonight. Left the sails up at one stage in about 20 knots for about 30mins flogging and the sprit booms rubbed on the alloy masts and set up a nice little splatter pattern of aluminium black sludge onto the white sails. I am going to always take the booms off in future and maybe will put a 3mm rope lashing around there to stop them rubbing. Otherwise perfect performance and can't wait to go again. Here are some of the shots. http://homepage.mac.com/blackburns/Expeditions/PhotoAlbum93.html Anyway that is all for me. Thinking of putting a bailer in the bottom like in a Sabot ie push down and the venturi sucks it out. I worry about them leaking if you leave the boat anchored all night but... Anyone got one? Rob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rlchenry Posted December 21, 2004 Report Share Posted December 21, 2004 Superb. Absolutely Superb! GREAT video clip, too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 21, 2004 Report Share Posted December 21, 2004 Thanks for sharing with us. Is the dark hull a double ender, and if so what type is it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brent Posted December 21, 2004 Report Share Posted December 21, 2004 Rob, I have a pair of Anderson bailers in my boat. They do a marvelous job of pulling water out. I was out beating into a stiff howler a few weeks ago, taking water over the bow, eventually accumulating my 50 l of water around my feet. I fell off to a reach, opened the bailers, and the water dissappeared with a satisfying slurp in about two minutes. There have been no problem with the bailers leaking. When the bailers are open and the boat speed is slow I sometimes get some backflow into the boat. This can result in an inch of water in the bottom, but things seem to come to equilibrium with the boat displacment, and I dont see this ever causing a sinking. I keep the bailers open when the boat is on the trailer to let any rain water out. Me forgeting to close the bailers prior to launch is pretty common, usually resulting in shipping a bit of water. I interpreted the plans as suggesting two bailers, but I suspect one bailer properly placed would be sufficient. In my boat water flows over the keel batten quite easily, so getting the water from one side to the other side with the bailer should not be difficult. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Blackburn Posted December 21, 2004 Author Report Share Posted December 21, 2004 The dark double ender is a Salar 6m Dory. Designed by Len Hedges here in Oz and lives acrross the road from me. Col her owner has just changed from a sloop rig to a junk rig and this was the first trip. It went a heap better on all points of sailing as the old rig was too small. He made the masts and sails himself and I suspect this is all a training run for a Benford Badger dory as used by Annie Hill in Sailing on a small income... I will start looking for Anderson bailers and see what they are like. What is your experience with leaving the boat anchored? Do they leak? Rob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Designer Posted December 21, 2004 Report Share Posted December 21, 2004 Rob, The Anderson bailer does not leak when closed, I wouldn't be without one. Ronstan also makes one which looks similar to Anderson. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Lathrop Posted December 22, 2004 Report Share Posted December 22, 2004 Andersen bailers are great for slurping the water out, usually even on a beat. One word of caution. If you leave them open on the trailer, Make sure that you close them before launching or sliding on the trailer. If you jam the aft end of the bailer into something solid, the bailer will distort and it may leak a bit forever. In a pinch, axle grease from the wheel bearings will help seal a leaking bailer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Hagan Posted December 22, 2004 Report Share Posted December 22, 2004 Andersen bailers are great for slurping the water out' date=' usually even on a beat. One word of caution. If you leave them open on the trailer, Make sure that you close them before launching or sliding on the trailer. If you jam the aft end of the bailer into something solid, the bailer will distort and it may leak a bit forever. In a pinch, axle grease from the wheel bearings will help seal a leaking bailer.[/quote'] Sounds like the voice of experience! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Blackburn Posted December 22, 2004 Author Report Share Posted December 22, 2004 This is getting a bit off topic but have done the first day of our trips video that we took and put it on the web for the other guys. You can have a look here if you want. It is 50meg so you need broadband and you would need Quicktime on your machine too but it is up to you... Also it is not an entry at Cannes so look at your own risk. http://homepage.mac.com/blackburns/filechute/FRASER%20DAY%201.mov.zip In fact it does not have a lot to reccomend it but you are welcome too. Rob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faver Posted December 23, 2004 Report Share Posted December 23, 2004 Thanks Rob for your umpteenth great reportage! I have some questions about you fellows rig, as I am very interested on junks, how did they find it? Did they planned the rig or was it designed by professionals? Were they satisfied with it? thank you Fabio Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Diebert Posted December 23, 2004 Report Share Posted December 23, 2004 Man, you can't know how wonderful your writing, stills and video look to a Canadian this time of the year. I will consider this a fine Christmas gift...thanks Rob. And as a 2 X side topic...though you guys are not the weekenderators (though I am sure most of them hang out here too) I am wondering if you think one of these bailers would work in a WE? Currently snowing like a bugger and damn cold to boot eh..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Luckett Posted December 24, 2004 Report Share Posted December 24, 2004 Rob, Your trip was definitely not a failure, just a change in focus. Thanks for sharing your summer pics with us. Vicarious living is good sometimes too . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Blackburn Posted December 28, 2004 Author Report Share Posted December 28, 2004 Thanks Rob for your umpteenth great reportage!I have some questions about you fellows rig, as I am very interested on junks, how did they find it? Did they planned the rig or was it designed by professionals? Were they satisfied with it? thank you Fabio[/quote The junk rig was designed by my mate with some constructive comments from me.. Not many though. He got it out of a book and made it himself in the lounge room with the sewing machine out of a form of shade/canvas/umbrella cloth. The only hiccup was the brass cringle eyes he had to put in looked brass but were metal. Bloody Chinese for you... So some have rusted a bit already but he is going to coat them to see how it goes. The rig itself is good. It is easy to reef, balances the helm and goes a lot better than his last sloop rig. It certainly worked better, but at the expense of weight I guess as it has a lot of battens etc. You could do a really lightweight one but as the sail h as a low centre of effort it is not that high really. I liked it and am keen to get a better look at it in action soon but I still prefer the cat ketch. Rob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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