5th sail to West Point, Magnetic Island

Saturday 15th March was forecast for calm to very light winds, good for a family outing. The esky was packed  and about 6 gallons (30 litres) of outboard fuel was loaded aboard. My wife and daughter took natural ginger based seasickness pills.

Ross River was glassy calm, as we motored out to our rigging up anchorage.

Ross River at Goondi creek embayment

Moored boats on Ross River

Rigging up, furling the mainsail.

We rigged up the mast with mainsail furled to the boom. Plan was to motor to West point, so the boom awning went up too for cockpit shade. Outside the entrance it was very calm and flat, so my wife Lin did most of the helming.    The  nav app indicted we were doing about 5.3 knots over the ground.

We sat on the bow and kept lookout for sea-life. There were a few small fish jumping, spotted a turtle popping its head up for a quick look and dive. Allot of black winged butterflies were crossing the bay and heading for Magnetic Island, its about a 3 km crossing.

West Point is a good day anchorage on the SW cape of Magnetic Island. Spotted a powerboat at the beach for a lunch break ashore. We anchored about 60 m out, broke open the Esky lunch then headed for the beach in the kayak.

West Point Magnetic Island.

A tourists Car was briefly parked on the beach ridge at the very end of the 4 wheel drive track but after that to beach was deserted.  It is a very quiet beach on a weekend considering the Islands proximity to Townsville City, only a few footprint tracks were below the high tide mark.

The wind picked up a bit by early afternoon, so sailed off the anchor and headed north of Cape Palleranda to stay out of the Islands wind shadow.  However it couldn't be avoided too long, so motor- sailed which allowed for a direct course at about 5 knots for Townsville.

Once clear of Maggy's lee, the wind came back for the final leg's close reach sail past the strand, Townsville Port and into the de-rigging anchorage at Ross river.

Cape Palleranda with it's distinctive radar dome tower.

We used about half a tank of fuel for the day, about 12 liters. This could have been reduced on lower speed, we went at 80% -90%  throttle and at or near hull-speed of 5.3 knots most of the way.

4th sail - Cleveland Bay and Magnetic Island

Recent monsoonal rains had dropped allot of water on the coast. Great for the town water supply dams and farmers. The effect on us was a half flooded back yard and Teria was bogged on its trailer down in the back corner. It took a week of drying out for the ground to be hard enough to move again. Improved the boats driveway by spreading a ute tray load of finely crushed gravel mostly in low spots that had formed ponds during the rains. With a back wheel spin or two from Jae the ute, Teria broke free of it's trap and was prepared on firmer ground.

Good weather was forecast for Sun 2nd March, we departed from Barnicle St ramp, Ross river on a king high tide. The water was only about a foot below the flat tarmac area so easy. At the rigging up anchorage seaward of the bridge, i tested the VHF radio for the first time, calling coast guard and lodging our trip plan with them (Day sail on Cleveland Bay).

A 10 knot Easterly on a slight sea greeted us as we cleared the harbor entrance. Close reaching on starboard tack on a course seaward of orchard rocks on Magnetic Island, could Horseshoe bay be reached.? The wind dropped a bit so motor-sailing kept our speed up to 5 -6 knots. The east coast of Magnetic Island was a lee shore to us so we stayed at least 1 nm out to keep plenty of sea room.

Listening in on VHF Chanel 16 was interesting, mostly commercial shipping and ferries. A large ship came into port and requested tug boats, soon after two tugs were out and then they went over to Channel 8 for the work of berthing the vessel.

We sailed as far as Arthur Bay, then the wind started picking up from the ENE and seas began to get bigger, it is a more exposed area beyond the protection of Cape Cleveland. Also Coast guard gave a weather report on VHF channel 22, strong wind warning next day. We turned back and ran downwind close to the Magnetic Island Coastline. It is a very steep Island covered in forest and has rounded granite headlands, some of which had nice houses with million dollar views.

Small Bay , east coast of Magnetic Island

Sailed into Geoffrey bay to see if it was OK to anchor, the chart showed a sizable fringing reef filling up most of the bay leaving little room for a protected spot. Snorkelers were out and marked the edge of the reef with dive buoys. The was a boat ramp with its lower edge exposed by the spring low tide. Dark patches on the seafloor implied many scattered small reefs which we didn't want to drop anchor onto. First it would smash up the life there and second the anchor was likely to get stuck. So headed off on a broad reach in calmer waters along the coast.

Allot of commercial tourist vessels and the coast guards large launch went in and out of Nelly Bay harbor-marina. It is the most protected on the Island due to large seawalls being built. No boats are allowed to anchor  in there, a marina berth is mandatory. On the VHF each vessel reported that they were arriving or departing the harbor.

There was a monstrous multi-floor box set forming a huge eyesore on Bright point.  It's probably because the straight sides of the building don't complement the landscape, smaller houses blend in because they have trees and sloping green or grey roof-lines etc breaking up their outlines. Councils should only approve architectural designs that blend in with the environment. Anything else is detracting a little from the natural tourist draw-card.

Bright Point  - Nelly Bay

We rounded Hawkings point and ran into Picnic Bay to round up and anchor just off the stinger net on the lee side of the jetty. The bottom looked like sand. This is proving to be the best bay to anchor in for us. Time to have a rest, paddle ashore. Anchored next to us was another small yacht with a family out for a sail. They had a dinghy with a small outboard and oars and it looked like a well set up small cruiser.

Scamp took us ashore

Picnic Bay anti-stinger enclosure (net) and anchorage

Picnic Bay Mall

Picnic Bay boat ramp view

View of Townsville from Picnic Bay

Spring Low tide exposes fringing reef flat

By 1600 it looked like the few other yachts out there, big and small, were heading towards port Townsville. So we went back aboard. This time i pulled Scamp the kayak up onto the fore-deck. She didn't stow snuggly but did squeeze in almost vertically with the fatter stern up forward - I didn't want to tow it downwind in rising seas and wind. There was just enough room left to haul the anchor.

Small yacht heading home

Used the trusty Johno for a few minutes to power straight upwind out of the bay and go around the reef's marker beacon. We sailed fast with full sail up on a loose reach. The kayak had the added benefit of being to windward of the fore-hatch, so it acted as a nice spray shield and the hatch could be left open for ventilation below.

Townsville port to leeward

Magnetic Island astern

It was another quick 50 minute crossing, nearing port i furled the jib to slow us down a bit at the boistrous break-wall entrance, then we glided in on flat waters. The anchor and de-rig routine went well - it gets easier with practice. . Called coast guard on VHF channel 22 to let them know we returned safely and they could take us off their trip sheet. The first test sail for the VHF radio went really well, it's a great bit of safety equipment and gives an extra layer of security at sea.

Ross River bridge ahead - Scamp on deck

Ross River Port - Rosshaven Marine and Trawler berths

The  anchor set up with the 10 lb CQR with new 6 mm diam chain (7m) on the old 10 mm warp seems about right for Teria in our conditions. It's easier to raise and lower with the reduced chain weight, (was 8m of 8 mm chain) also it held well in sand and mud. In the river at low tide i had the 7 m of chain over and tied the warp off on the bollard. On the Island i let out about 6 m more warp.

Pelican on Ross River

One of the best part of any trip is motoring back along the river's calm water, the rocking and rolling over and the safest mooring ahead - the back yard. Left Scamp tied to the rails on deck for the tow home, it looks ungainly but saves on time and effort.

In regards to trip planning, it looks like Horseshoe bay is near the limits of day-sailing range. Leave really early and get back late.  An overnight anchorage there could be better.

Fatty Knees sail on Ross River

A good weather window was happening so Took Fatty Knees "Jai Dee" out for a sail on Ross River on 14th Feb. It was very sheltered inside the River about 5-10 knots gusting 15 kn from the ENE. Barnicle st ramp was almost deserted with only a handfull of boat-trailers parked there and no one on the ramp.

I short and long tacked to windward heading for the bridge near the river mouth, about 2 km from the ramp. The dinghy tacks flawlessly in very tight spaces, so went in among the near deserted pile moorings and moored yachts on the south bank. But also sailed into the spots with good wind on the north bank.  Some small fishing boats 10-16 foot were anchored and having a go, Barramundi season is on.

The bridge pylons funneled wind from dead ahead, so allot of short tacks in a narrow pass but once free the wind strengthened and Jai Dee continued beating to windward in the smooth waters in the lee of the entrance sand bar.

Once clear of the protective sand bar the wind strengthened to about 15 knots, gusting 20 or so, and 1 foot waves started to buffet the Fatty knees, however she rose over these like a buoyant cork, sending spray peeling over into the cockpit. The Townsville port's southern breakwall was on our lee side, but never felt worried. We reached Trawler harbor, about a further 1 km from the bridge. The protective sand bars deepened and it got rougher and windier, maxing us out. Even a 16 foot fishing boat turned back here. It was as far as Jai Dee could go with its full sail up (a custom reefable rig would be needed to go further safely)

Reached into the New harbor which was flat calm, the entire Townsville trawler fleet moved in here , along with Ross Haven marina after the Port bridge went up. Ross Haven caters to large yachts and motor vessels now days. It is an open often wind-swept location compared to their previous sheltered base in the river.

The run back was fast. I got as low,  and far aft as possible in a recumbent position which kept the weight in the right place at the bottom of the hull. This makes Fatty Knees remarkably stable downwind in a blow. Two guys on racing sea kayaks slowly overhauled me, paddling hard.

The bridges sheltered lee has a nice sand beach, so stopped for a rest. Finally able to get the camera out safely too.

Calm harbor and beach in the Lee of the Port Bridge. The centerboard can be left in while beaching and still clears the boom.

Townsville Port Bridge, heavy traffic bypass across Ross River

Looking upriver to Mt Stuart. 

The Fatty Knees rig was dropped in seconds, the anchor went out and walked along the unlikely beach.

Didn't go too far, the mangroves ahead are good crocodile habitat.

 Put the rig back up and sailed upriver with the wind astern. Anchored in the old trawler pen bay, it's a good rest spot and place to open the snack box and water bottle, calm and mozzie free and the trees ashore act as a wind break.

The old trawler pen bay is at 5th Avenue, South Townsville. Goondi creek a small mangrove tributary opens into this man-made bay. The land to the north of this to 7th Ave is designated for the $25 million Townsville boat park, to be built over the next few years. (Rosshaven Marine and the trawler wharf moved from here). It's mostly for powerboats (and any sail boat that can quickly lower its rig height to less than 6m.)  Looks like there will be plenty of room with peace and quiet around Goondi creek for awhile though.

The good old trawler mooring wharf is empty. It is planned to be modified and used again as part of the  recreational boat park.

Headed back to the ramp, but the sun was setting so just had to keep sailing around in the calm waters - magic. Sailing right up to the ramp is improving, this time was able to round up and stop in a controlled manner. Found a new trick when the boat has drifted exactly into the right (calm) spot the daggerboard can be lowered to the bottom which holds the boat rock still like a parking brake. Gives time to tidy things up get sorted out and have a good look around before stepping out. I always step out on the shallow landward side of the dinghy, a hull-shield between you and a crocodile must be better than nothing and deeper water. Haven't heard any reports of the stealthy beasts being around Ross River but never take un-necessary chances, people are taken from time to time further north.

There was a deep haze to the west and the sun began to redden up, by the time we were on the road it was a large red ball still well above the horizon.

King Tide in Townsville

The King tide of kingtides at 0921 on 31st January was one of the highest ever recorded at 4.12 meters, locals had never seen it this high before. Category 2 Cyclone Dylan veered away from us the night before and everything was still in shut-down mode. Ferries and small vessels were all moored up and big ships left port. Business was closed including the volunteer coast guard. No-one was on the water yet. It was lucky the cyclone missed us with these king tides running at the same time. There was almost no wind and sea was unusually calm with very rare SW offshore winds (caused by the cyclone to the south of us)

Townsville coast guard ramps

Townsville coast guard base - QF8 Flotilla on slightly higher ground..

Ramp end sign and navigation beacon.

Navigation beacons, speed limit sign under

Ramp and pontoons. The top of ramp is just visible.

Magnetic Island ferry terminal, sea level just below the car park..

Ferry terminal walkways angling upwards.

Breakwater Marina, restaurant just clear,  Castle Hill background.

Breakwater marina berths. Red Baron float-plane strapped down.

Ross creek Yacht Club marina, the tide was slightly higher earlier on, the rock wall top is underwater on left side of photo.

Ross creek king tide just below road level

Ross creek - Dinghy landing wharf 30 cm clear.

Ross creek bridge moorings, might just squeeze a dinghy under the bridge..

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Minor flooding by extreme king tide at Flinders Street East - Night club area. Ross Creek yacht moorings.

Anchor gear - Main anchor

The main anchor gear needed an overhaul. Teria came with a large Danforth, 7m of 8 mm standard link chain and a long run of 10 mm white rope.

The first thing to go was the oversized danforth which wouldn't fit in the anchor locker. It was replaced with a 10 lb (4.5kg) CQR plough copy. This mostly fit into the locker but the shank stuck out by about 1" onto deck, so lashed this to the bow rail with 6mm starter cord.

It was hidden under the chain in the locker, the chain to anchor rope join was a "birdsnest", the rope on the hard eye had been chaffed through and a tangle of strange knotting had rope in direct contact with chain link. This was bad form, it could easily chafe through, part the anchor cable and the boat could drift off to it's demise. Also the 6 mm bow shackle was corroded shut.

So re-rigged the rope to chain join with a hard eye splice. The bowshackle pin's turn tab broke off, so grinder in to cut it off. Replaced with a new 6 mm bowshackle.

I thought the 8 mm chain was a bit of over-kill for our use. I hauled the anchor up on one trip and it was a handful, a long heavy lift. So replaced the original 8 mm chain with 7 m of lighter 6 mm standard link galvanized chain.

The anchor chain to rope join. Hard eye prevents shackle from chafing through rope, shackle pin is wired so it can't undo.

 It had been a long time since i did an eye-splice so a bit out of practice.. First learnt it at sea scouts ages ago, have books on rigging and knots and applied it to my boats in the 1990's.

The new chain had the added benefit of taking up less space (and weight) in the anchor locker when restowed. The anchor now fits completely into the locker!

I'm hoping this set up will suit most situations in our area. I may carry the old 8 mm chain down below and could add it to the 6 mm chain if needed.

Teria's stem head fitting - a small anchor roller,  anchor bitts, jib furler. Stainless gunwale protection plate is at front.

VHF Marine transceiver refitted

Teria came with a VHF radio . More precisely a GME Electrophone GX548 marine transceiver,  a 2 way ship-station. I removed it from under the electrical corner as this was too low too see and it obstructed leg movement in the bunk. I didn't know if it worked or not.

The recreational boaters guide (and maritime safety authority, MSA) recommends VHF as the number one communication tool when at sea. Range can be very good thanks to repeater stations. Distress calls are most likely to be picked up, either by coast guard, commercial ships, aircraft or other boats. Rescue response is also likely to be sure, swift and professional. A  base station unit is also likely to be connected to a good battery power source that will last for days. Hand held VHF units work but the battery life is short, power and range is low and they can be lost overboard easily.

The other option for a small recreational boat is a 27 Mhz marine radio base-station. It's cheaper to buy,  doesn't need a licence but has limited power, range is only about 5 miles or less and the users are limited in numbers and may not have advanced rescue skills. I had a 27 mhz on the Endeavor 24, it seemed to work only as you get within a few km of a port. Most of the time it seemed to be out of range of anyone.

A third option is a mobile phone. Its a very limited solution as it can only call one other phone and you need to know that number. Conversely, only people with your phone number can hail you. Battery life is short and it can be lost overboard, as i found out the hard way on sail #3 when my Samsung Galaxy mini fell out of a top pocket and sank slowly out of sight forever.

Re-installation

Once the 12 volt power was restored, i plugged the VHF unit back in and all the display lights, power lights channel numbers etc seemed to be working. The squelch worked too. The power fuse was already in the cable.

The original antenna was unfit for service, so bought a GME 1.8m fiberglass whip antenna from Bias boating for $70. This included the adjustable deck/transom mount, 5 m long coaxial cable and end plug.

In theory an antenna should be as high as practical or possible to increase the radios effective range. A mast head mount on a yacht gets the maximum range but it would be harder to fit up and need a long cable etc. For practical fitting reasons i wanted the antenna on the hull. To avoid fouling main sheet and jibsheets sails etc it had to be down aft. Not enough deck or coaming width for the base so looked at the transom. A small stainless plate was glued on port side transom, on removal it revealed old antenna mount holes.

So redrilled some holes and bedded the antenna mount down on silicone sealant. It is held on by 3 stainless through-hull nuts and bolts. The coaxial cable was lead through the starboard locker, through a hole already in the cabin bulkhead. The whip can be removed and adjusted with a simple thumb screw.

VHF radio antenna base - transom mounted

VHF radio antenna 

I remounted the VHF radio in the cabin. This time it was mounted in the cabin corner under the deck-head near the main hatch. It is angled about 45 degrees to the boats center-line. This is so the readout is at a good working level and the unit can be operated from the helm when underway or from the cabin. It's also protected from salt water and weather by the deck and hatch cover.

The power cable was long enough to go back to the port side switch board box, it looks like an earlier owner had the radio somewhere on starboard as some radio stickers were also here.

The power and antenna cables were tidied up. I used plastic self-adhesive cable guides from the hardware to hold the cables in place and out of the way.

You are supposed to have a marine radios operators licence to use a VHF transceiver, mostly because commercial ships also use the system and operators need to know the correct protocols and procedures as used by professional seafarers. Being my first VHF radio ever, i made an inquiry phone call to the Townsville volunteer coast guard. It's possible to do the exam online through the Australian Maritime College (AMC) website based in Hobart, or do a course locally at the coast guard. After downloading the PDF radio operators manual and studying it, i opted for the course.

It's possible to own a VHF radio unit without a licence, just listen in and can respond to distress calls or call for help,, but to get full use of it a licence is needed.

So visited the Coast Guard Headquarters at Ross Creek. The first thing was to become an associate coast guard member or rescue member. Yourself and one boat now costs $80 per year. I filled out the form with car and boat registration and contact details etc. Received my membership card , number and sticker.

The Townsville volunteer coast guard covers an area from Palm Island to Cape Cleveland and seaward to the outer reef around 60 km offshore. It's affiliated with Ingham coastguard which covers Hinchinbrook Island and Orpheus Islands in the Palm group. It's a bit like rescue insurance, rescue by the coast guard's launch is covered for members. (It cost's about $160/hr to run the rescue launch). Also members get priority and discounts for courses run at the coast guard.

I signed up for the next 2 day VHF/ radio course and licence. They are run 4 times a year, once every 3 months, and take up to 20 students each time. Received my MROCP (Marine Radio Operators Certificate of Proficiency) card by mail from AMC (Australia Maritime College) issued March 2014. It covers VHF and HF radios.

The first tip i got was the repeater station on channel 22 is located on Mt Stuart which is about 1,800 ft above sea level. This gives the VHF a very good range and power for coastal and reef boats. So one evening while finishing the radio off at home, i switched it on to channel 22, the antenna was stowed below but it was raining so left it there. At 1900 hours out of the blue, i was surprised to receive my first message something like this   "All Stations, All stations, All stations. This is Townsville coast guard...signing off, resuming operations at 0700 tomorrow, OUT".. Eureka, the VHF radio on Ch22  works even when antenna-less.

12 volt lighting restored

When the ship's 60 AH battery was installed, i connected the main black and red cables up but no  lights were working.

Well you can still day sail without electrics, so did this for a month or so until there was time to get around to it. We had clamp-on D sized battery powered navigation lights just in-case of a late return to port.

 I'm no electrical guru, but have a book about it called "The 12 V Bible" by Miner Brotherton for a bit of theory and background reading. (Also long ago.. , i'd wired up my Endeavor 24, it was fortunate that a fellow yachty at Coff's harbor marina designed and advised on this)

I had visions of having to rip out all the wiring, get a proper switch board and start again but this would probably need some paid outside help, more money and take time. Only one Marine electrician was listed at Nelly Bay on Magnetic Island to service the marina yachts there. Maybe the yacht club's slipway staff or a contractor could do it?

First decided to have a go myself first and see if it could be done at home. Took inventory of what was in the boat already.  There was a simple homemade switch board with fuses, a hard to access space of spagetti wires behind it with 2 bus bars?? then wires going off to navigation lights, cabin lights and a dangling cigarette lighter socket.

Behind the switchboard..fuses, wires and brass bus-bars

Plugged a 12v car emergency flouro into the 12 volt socket, it worked!! Artificial light shone aboard for the first time!, so power was getting through the switch board..

Switch board corner - first light! Note fire extinguisher..

For safety sake, while working on the wiring i disconnected the battery. Reconnected for each lights test.

Navigation lights were down. So unscrewed the port navigation lights covers and twiddled the bulb around backed up with CRC spray. It soon shone bright red again! Repeated same for the stern light with success but the starboard light refused to go. For me it's somehow easier to see into the spagetti mass at night with torchlight, maybe it's more focused? The sunto orienteering compasses mirror helped too. Noticed a loose black wire hidden among it. There were also 2 bus bars one with mostly red wires and another with mostly black wires. Assumed red was positive and black negative. I stuck the loose wire into the negative bus bar, nothing. so tried the other bus-bar and the starboard nav produced green rays again!

Port and starboard Navigation lights come alive. With fore-hatch open it looks a bit otherworldly.

Two navigation lights as seen from the bow with hatch closed. Probably less confusing to others at night.

The stern light shines bright. 

The switch board. All three navigation lights come on/off with the "Nav" switch. "Cabin" lights up the boats interior.

The cabin lights covers came off and got the bulb and CRC treatment, but no luck. So back to the switchboard traced the cabin light wire and found its end was dangling free.. So screwed it into one of the bus bars and cabin lights were restored! There's no describing the psychological advantage of a warmly glowing cabin interior.

Twin cabin lights on the bulkhead shed light on the interior. Each has a small switch on it so either one or two can be on.

There's a bit more to go but that should be enough to brave a dark night out there on the sea.  Rigged a a temporary anchor light, a $2 solar garden LED light on the pulshpit.   A bit of cloth tape holds it together and in place. It makes it through to dawn..just, but is better than nothing until a better system can be installed.

I attached the 12 volt cigarette lighter socket  to the quarter berth's plywood ceiling. This socket is good for anything with a 12 volt plug.  Such as car mobile phone chargers and our small inverter.

The inverter is  150 Watt,  "Powertech" brand  from Jaycar electronics, about $50.
It converts  12v DC power from the ships battery into 240 volt AC power through a household socket on the  inverter's control panel. This means that any small rechargable electronic device can be kept going at sea. Mobile phones, tablets, smartphones etc can be re-charged and kept running. This is important with smartphones as they seem to have gone backwards on battery life, only lasting about a day. Old style mobiles battery life was about 3 days.

Inverter - lighter socket plug or use Alligator clips direct onto any 12v car or boat battery

Inverter - Front has 3-pin 240v ac household socket, green on light and switch. Side has USB charging socket.

The inverter also has a USB device charger on the side. With the 3 forms of recharging now on the Teria - (12v plug, 240v and USB socket),  all forms of re-chargers for small electronic gadgets bought aboard by the crew can be used. Other gadgets we bring aboard are LED camp lantern,  LED rechargeable torch, FM SW radio, a battery charger (AAA and AA sized rechargeable batteries- for head torch and hand torch) and last but not least - digital cameras.

The inverter is designed for car use, so it can fit in a cars can-holder and used when on the road. On board it's kept dry in a sealed ziplock bag until it's needed.