A strong wind warming was issued, so stayed in Horseshoe bay another 24 hours.
Figured out why my VHF didn't connect. The "AUS" button wasn't on. It sets the frequencies from "International" to "Australia". (without it on, i could hear incoming calls but they couldn't hear my return transmissions)
Setup the boom awning, it was a bit tricky in the 15 knot plus S- SE er coming off the land. Eventhough the bays waters were still pretty flat. It shaded the cabin well and protects the furled mainsail. But maybe only the bimini would be enough in future during tropical "winter" season sails. The boom awning weighs about 12kgs with its strong wooden battens and takes up a bit of stowage space inside below the cockpit.
I didn't setup the inflatable paddleboard to go ashore. As i have zero experience on these and it was a fresh offshore wind. Need to find a quiet flat calm spot one day to learn standup paddleboarding.
This was the first trip with the I-SUP. It stows well in its carry bag, in the starboard bunks quarter foot area. It is lightweight and its very nice to have the foredeck/half cabin top free of the hard kayak. (The cabin poptop, bimini can be operated anytime now)
Learning how to "cook" with the Trangia 25 as well. Tried the gas burner (in the cockpit) the heat output far easier to control. However, for reheating a pot of food the spirit burner does the job easily and the fuel is far cheaper to buy, It's also very simple and easy to operate, safer inside the enclosed cabin.
Also test ran a vintage pressure stove i've aquired. It's an Optimus 111T "Hiker", made in Sweden in the 1980's? The "T" stands for "triple fuel" (Methylated spirits, Kerosene and Shellite) My stove is jetted for Methylated spirits only. Tested it in the cockpit to boil up a 2L ss kettle. (the idea is for quicker hot water production for bathing)
The stove has a classic brass pressure tank and pump. It semi unfolds from a small steel box/casing. A fairly large kettle or fry pan (8"/20cm base) can sit on top of it. They are quite heavily built, you would have to be a strong hiker capable of packing allot of weight, they're better for car, van or boat camping.
This whole trip is to test new things out. From stoves, to the solar panel and tillerpilot and shore tender etc. Not sure which items will end up proving themselves as yet.
Another test item aboard is my classic "Carac" hand-bearing compass. It works well at night to take bearings for old-school navigation. A beautiful instrument from the 20th century, crafted in Japan. It's stored in a well-made wooden box with styrofoam padding. The box is fairy big at 5"x5"x9" high. Its suited to bigger vessels than Teria, eg 24-60foot keelers, so probably won't bring it next trip. However, it was good to try it out on the water and at night.
I tend to use my small $20 handheld compass more often. It's not that accurate but stows easily. I use it to get a rough cardinal points bearing on the wind/swell directions and also on landmarks. It sits inside the cabin at anchor so i can tell if there is a major wind shift or turn of the tide, especially at night.
Another item tested was a Coleman rechargeable LED lantern. It was $49 at Bunnings hardware store. It's really handy and works well. It has 100 and 300 lumens light output. Its simple with charge cable stored in it's base. I used it intermitently, in the cockpit and dark corners of the cabin. It also helped conserve 12v main battery power. One full charge at home was enough to last the whole trip, i used low light most of the time (its gets 5hrs on high and 20 hrs on low). It can be recharged aboard if needed.
Kings LED worklight. This was a good bedside light, it has a dimmer knob, so can be set to very low power draw, just enough to see on a moonless night. It was used intermitently so the battery lasted well.
Pressure pumped 8L beach shower. $60 from Anaconda. It was handy to have some running water aboard. Washing salt off face, hands and feet is its best use, so the cabin accumulates less salt (and salt dampness). It's a new era of comfort on Teria. It can also rinse off dishes, there are several outlet type settings (jets to showers). It has a black neoprene cover, so it can heat up in the sun but retain some heat into the evenings. It lasted the whole trip. The only downside is that it's shape is a round cylinder which can roll around if not wedged in when stowed (it too tall to stow vertically in locker). Perhaps the rectangular more squat version of these from Snowys' Outdoors (Sydney) would stow better, and be more stable, in a small trailer sailer.
There was a specacular clear sky sunset, backlighting the anchored yachts, and overnight minimum of 15C not too bad for early "winter". Watched "fire twirlers" dancing on the beach (next to a careened wharram cat). Thats the good thing about cruising, there's quiet a diversity of sea people.
(Photos etc to be added..)
