Bimini top

With the prospect of being able to do longer trips thanks to the extra range allowed by the EPIRB, a Bimini shade would be a useful addition to keep the suns rays off the crew while sailing. Some Investigators have fitted 2 or 3 bow biminis, the 3 bow needed some shortening of the canvas though. A Bimini is almost essential for enjoyable boating in Queensland.

Economical mass produced off-the-shelf biminis are designed to fit small open power boats of 3-6 m LOA, nearly every small fishing boat i saw on the water in Townsville has one fitted, and the boaties looked very cool in the shade too.!  Not many small trailer-sailers have biminis maybe because of the difficulty to get them to fit among all the complex ropes, rigging, sails, hatches and deck hardware. A bimini must also have a snug and out-of-the-way lowered position for rigging up and trailering.

At home the mast and mainsail were raised and measurements taken of the available free space for the Bimini.  There was 1.2 m available space from deck to boom and 1.7m available between the boom vang and the mainsheet. The coaming width was 1.7m.

Had a look at the Bias boating catalogue and it looked like a 2 bow bimini (size C) by "Ocean South" would fit the space without modifications. Soon had one back at the boat for fitting. They are premium quality - nice yacht blue canvas, anodized 22 mm diameter aluminium tube bows and all-stainless fittings. This one cost $210.

Put it together (spring loaded push pins) and tried different base positions. It  had to go outside the coamings on deck, not on the coaming top. The deck mounts can spread out to the needed 1.83 m from their 1.7 m width to achieve this. Checked it in the raised and dropped forward positions with the bases outside the cockpit coaming. The boom was about 10 cm above the bimini top.

Shade for the forward end of cockpit and main hatch area.

The boom vang sits just ahead of the bimini. Crew can exit cockpit through the V formed by the 2 bows.

Narrow bimini allows for side deck walking access

Room for the main sheets and boom to run freely (may move the aft strap from the pulpit to the cockpit coaming)

In the lowered forward position the folded bimini frame sits in the notch between the pop-top and the mast tabernacle. This allows the mast to be dropped to horizontal in the tabernacle. It also allows the pop-top to be raised when the bimini is stowed.  This size bimini can't safely fold back without risk of breaking the base pivots. (could be possible with a wider base 3 bow bimini?)

Bimini lowered

Bimini lowered - frames lay alongside cabin, side decks clear.

Mast lowered, bimini sits in notch between hatch and mast step.

The 2 bow bimini's top canvas is only 1.4 m (4'7") wide, but the narrow top makes it easy to walk along the side decks to enter the cockpit from forward (at the expense of losing a little shade area). It also looks ok, the frames slope inwards the same as the cabin sides. There is 1.6 m (5'3") standing headroom under it. The Bimini is only 1.57 m (5'2") long so the skipper can stand up behind it and lookout over it's top.

Selleys epoxy putty was used to fill the gap between the mounts and the sloping decks. It's in tube form with epoxy and hardener as layers. Just cut a bit off and knead it awhile, then it goes on like Plasticine and sets hard in 10 minutes. (It's staying aboard incase a hole or crack appears, it can make a quick acting patch job too)

Pivot base with epoxy putty to level it securely

Deck fitting for bimini strap

The guy strap eyelets and pivot bases are screwed down to the deck.

It was cool under there already! The bimini will definitely make the decision to set sail an easy one, especially on a scorching sunny day.  It's ready to test out on the next trip..(There is one thing i may have to modify yet - the aft straps hold down position from the pulpit to the cockpit coaming,,this may increase crew access to the side deck)

Mast and bimini stowed ready for the road.

406Mhz EPIRB fitted

It is time to prepare for more extended coastal cruising, so fitted a 406 Mhz digital EPIRB (Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon) to "Teria".

In Australia it is maritime law to carry an EPIRB if you go outside semi-protected waters or more than 2 nautical miles off the coast in open waters. The Qld recreational boating guide has maps of these areas. With the EPRIB aboard Teria can now legally sail between Island Groups along the GBR and travel well offshore if that's the shortest course, perhaps even visit a reef on the great barrier reef one day, the options are there.

The 406 Mhz EPIRB is a sealed unit which is only used in dire emergency situations as a last resort, after other methods like good seamanship, jury rigging, auxiliary motors, waiting out bad weather, calling on the VHF radio, mobile phone or signaling another boat have failed.

406 Mhz EPIRB on Teria - easy to find but also out of the way

Activating an EPIRB is a serious business as it instigates an air-sea search and rescue effort and most times the crew is located and rescued.  Being near the coast and coast guard/water police bases increases chances of boat retrieval too, if it's still afloat that is.

An activated 406 MHz EPIRB sends signals to satellites in geostationary and polar orbits (COSPAS-SARSAT system) which can store and  relay the vessels data (position) to shore based receiving stations. It has global coverage. Hope this one is never used and remains in the corner, touch wood.

406 Mhz EPIRBs here need to be registered with AMSA - The Australian Maritime safety Authority. I registered on their web site. Details of the boat and owners names, registration number, call-sign, description of vessel, it's size and capabilities, 4 contact names and numbers are sent and are kept on AMSA's computer database. When an emergency EPIRB signal is received they will know where the boat is and information about it to pass on to rescue authorities.

My EPIRB is a GME MT400 model, designed and made in Australia. It's the entry level unit which cost me A$260, fortunately the price of 406 Mhz has come down recently. The MT400 has a position accuracy of 5 nautical miles and is manually activated.  It also emits a 127 Mhz homing signal. Rescue vessels here are equipped with EPIRB direction-finders,  so they can locate the direction of an activated epirb, then steam towards the homing signal source. The rescue vessels often have radar and FLIR (infra red night vision) and a strobe-light on the EPIRB further aids the search at closer quarters.

If i had a bigger budget or was foreign going then the GPS enabled EPIRB would be a better choice, it emits a position accurate to 100 m. High-tech rescue boats could be scarce is some places but they probably have a GPS with a go-to function. 

The most expensive EPIRBs (~2x the $) have water pressure-activated switches and external housing mounts that auto-release when the water reaches it as the ship sinks. Suits serious offshore or commercial vessels.

I mounted my EPIRB inside the cabin on the mid-ship bulkhead, a dry place out of the sun. The signal can pass through fiberglass, so left room for the antenna to pop up under the side deck. It could be activated in it's holder below deck. There is a chance that you could loose the EPIRB when deployed overboard if the thin tether line broke off in rough conditions. (NB Steel boats EPIRB antennae must be outside the hull and cabin, with clear sky view).

The switch design is improved over the old ones, it has a protective flap, which covers a sliding switch. Also it takes one minute for the signal to begin to emit after the switch is slid across. There is a switch seal, which is never to be broken as this ensures that the 6 year life of the Lithium ion batteries is maintained. There is a test button to test it before going on a big trip. GME offer a free battery replacement in 6 years time (2020) to get another 6 years of life.

The EPIRBs ID sticker arrived on a letter from AMSA a week or so after online registration. It has boat name, rego number etc on it so stuck it on the EPIRB so it wouldn't hide any serial numbers etc.

In the 1990's i owned a 127 Mhz analogue EPIRB. It cost $150 then, so after inflation the current price is comparable if not cheaper. The old units could be transferred between boats as they were not registered then so some boats could even share a unit. If one was activated the authorities had no idea who or what vessel it was. Sometimes accidental activation resulted in a big search only to find the boat safely at anchor somewhere, occasionally 127 Mhz EPIRB's activated in a landfill long after being thrown out.  Now they have your mobile phone number and VHF call sign to check with you first. The satellite system stopped monitoring 127Mhz in 2009.

The 7th cruise - Day 2, solo to Radical Bay. Day 3 Ross river

The morning bought Clear sky and a light cool southerly offshore breeze. So prepared for a solo sail - my first solo sail to Magnetic Island in Teria. Around 0900 the light weather gennaker was raised and Teria broad reached clear of the Duck pond at 5 knots, passing a sunken fishing boat with it's cabin just above sea level, it's only 2-3 meters deep. Something to watch out for if entering the harbor at night.

The wind increased to 15 knots and headed us to SE so dropped the lightweight Gennaker and unfurled the working jib for a fast reach towards the Island. A rope on the tiller allowed for limited self-steering to windward, enough time to do deck work or have  a tea break.

Sailing eastwards

Magnetic Island inched by to leeward and motor-sailing kept Teria moving well in failing wind. Checked boat speed with a smartphone GPS navigation app. The Johnson 10 Hp drove us at 5.3 knots on full throttle, tried half throttle and the speed dropped by only 0.1 knot to 5.2 knots!  The Johnson will only see 1/2 - 1/3 throttle in future which should double the fuel - range in theory, until a more suitable 4 HP motor is found to replace it.

Hours later NE headland was cleared. wind and seas increased so cut the motor, and Teria broad reached downwind tacking past Orchid Rocks and into Radical Bay around noon.

Orchard rocks - quite a balancing act

Orchard rocks - mark the entrance to the calm waters of Radical Bay

Ghosting into Radical Bay 

Fishing Chart - Radical Bay and Horseshoe Bays, Magnetic Island

It was flat calm in the anchorage, the sun awning was up quickly and lunch was good.

A shaded cockpit with a view

Sustenance - The hatch board doubles as a table - Esky full of food and cold ice water

Making a cuppa - Trangia stove and thermos of coffee for the trip home.

Kayaked around the bay in 9ft "Scamp", steep hills made of pale granite boulders with many Norfolk Island pine trees rose from the ends of the bay and a pale yellow-brown beach stretched between. Barnacles exposed by the tide encrusted the rocks. The waters below looked good for diving, so the plan to buy a mask and snorkel set was hatched.

Teria in Radical Bay from the Kayak

The rocky shores, the clear waters look inviting.

It's always good to step ashore onto solid ground even if only for a while.

There are no dwellings just the end of a 4 wheel drive track ends here. Only few people reached the bay some would have hiked over from nearby bays with hotel accommodation, and only one 4wd was parked among the trees.

The Sun was beginning to fall in the west, so headed back to Townsville. Fist with motor-sailing to clear the NE headland, then with sheets free raised the Gennaker again to sail at 4 - 4.5 knots before a light easterly breeze.

Heading home - The large lightweight Gennaker extracts considerable power from the light breeze

Altered course to see a huge barge being towed out to sea by a tug boat. It had 4 fair sized houses sitting on its deck! A strange sight, like a real life mega-moves show on TV. Later heard that they were destined for Palm Island which is about 20nm NW of Townsville.

Strange sight - Houses cross the sea on a giant barge

Dropped the Genaker about a mile from Ross river, which allowed a trawler closing in on the port side to pull ahead and enter first. It was important to get the big sail in and reduce speed before getting too close to the rockwall, narrow channel and other boats. Being solo without an auto-pilot means the Teria heads-off on its own best most stable course for awhile, plenty of sea room required while on the fore-deck pulling the gennaker down. Once the jib was unrolled, boat-speed was a safer 3 knots, it's easy to control and furl from the cockpit just before anchoring. The sunset was spectacular, at one point the sea went a mauve color.

Night had fallen by the time the rig was lowered, so motored into Ross River in the dark using green/red  channel beacons, to clear the bridge and stay in the channel, and some shore and star-light to located anchored and moored vessels in the river. I was pretty tired and didn't want to meet a crocodile the hard way, so decided to anchor overnight instead of try to haul-out on the trailer at the ramp.  Found a free spot between some anchored motor-launches. Set up the anchor light. It was dead flat with a light cool southerly, so the outgoing tide pointed Teria into the 17C land breeze. A good view of the milky way galaxy - I often forget about our small place in it when city living. The night sky was only slightly dimmed the lights of Townsville, the nearest suburban streets were about 300- 500 m away to the north. Nature to the south. Lifted the kayak onto the fore-deck so it wouldn't bump the hull if the tide turned or worse still came adrift and got lost. No sandflies or mozzies either, but lit the mosquito coil anyway.

Closed the hatches, had a bite to eat, rugged up and lights out.

The morning light reveals Ross River anchorage

In the light of day, it's always good to see the boat was anchored in a good spot. The Kayak was stowed below, it fits nicely through the main hatch, through the oriental arch and up into the fore-peak. This is a great place for it when launching/retrieving and  towing on the road. It wasn't coincidence that the Kayak was chosen as the hard dinghy, it's stowage potential was a major factor.

Kayak stowage for the road trip

The 7th cruise - Day 1. twighlight sail

The wet season was well and truly over by Sunday 3rd May, forecast was for 10-15 knot SSW offshore winds until mid afternoon then a gentle SE-E sea breeze. Plan was to sail solo, and pickup the family for a twilight sail and dinner.

Launched at 1 pm, a boating family at the ramp kindly held the "Teria" floating at the ramp for a few minutes while I parked the ute and trailer. Once away under power Teria was again in her element, trailer boats are bit like a seal or sealion, they are heavy and ungainly ashore or launching but move almost effortlessly once in the water.

At the rigging up anchorage the local pelicans and seagulls, and even a few fishermen ashore or in small runabouts looked  on at the strange sight of a yacht raising mast and bending on sails.

Wildlife at the rigging up anchorage

Teria sailed off the anchor propelled by a cool 10-15 knot Southerly wind, blowing offshore so the usually rough river entrance was like a millpond.

Gliding out of Ross River before a offshore Southerly wind.

Once outside the unusual wind allowed for a new course to the SE heading for the Cape Cleaveland area on the starboard tack. Rigged up a tiller control line, which allowed me to sit in a comfortable spot out of the sun, with the line cleated Teria self-steered close hauled for minutes at a time, adjustment was needed only when the wind strength changed. The southern shore of Cleveland Bay is a low lying area of tidal mangrove estuaries with little development. The only sign of industry is the Sun Metals Zinc smelter complex a few km inland (originally called Korea zinc).

At 3.30 pm the wind shift happened, first with some doldrum like zephyrs then the seabreeze filled in from the E - NE. This allowed a 4.5 knot  reach towards Townsvilles Strand beach. Then started gybing downwind towards the duckpond, a large yacht was rounding up under motor to leeward of Teria to drop sails for marina entry, so gybed Teria away to avoid them. There are rules like power gives way to sail, but also unofficial ones like the smaller more maneuverable boat gives way if the other boat is undergoing difficult maneuvers.

The Duckpond is a very calm place to free anchor off Townsville. Large break wall's shelter the place from nearly all directions except for Northerlies. It is shallow 2-6 m deep has a mud bottom. Dropped the anchor and sails then phoned to organize the time to meet my wife and daughter at the Ross creek pontoon for a twilight sail.

Motored around the breakwall and into Townsville port along the beaconed channel into Ross Creek. Pulled alongside the pontoon to pickup the family and headed out again for the evening sail back on the duckpond. It's the first time they experienced an amazing sunset at sea and we watched the night unfold. A cloudless sky gave a great view of the moon stars and city-port lights with colorful reflections on the calm waters of the bay. A nice place to enjoy dinner. The anchor light shone bright.

Kayak tows with little drag

Anchored in Townsville's "Duckpond" for the night.

Back at the pontoon the family got back on Tera firma again and headed home. I took Teria back over to the duckpond to anchor for the night. First dropped the pick near the eastern wall with a couple of 40 ft fishing boats with generators. The wind backed to southerly again about 10 pm so re-anchored on the other side near the Breakwater Casino, a quieter a more sheltered place to get a good rest.

6th sail - 2 day cruise around Magnetic Island

Sunday 23rd march looked like good weather for the next few days. So prepared the supplies for a 2 day overnight trip. Two 10 liter water containers, extra fuel, iced esky and galley box were stowed aboard. Slowly learning to do most of the preparation the day before which makes the departure from home easier on the day.

Crew this trip was an old uni days buddy Dr Con, now an environmental consultant. We had got into windsurfing in the late 1980s and done a fair bit of hiking over the years.

The 9 am launch and rig up anchored near the mouth of Ross River went well. Teria beat into 15-20 knot ENEer with 2-3 foot seas on the starboard tack fairly comfortably. This allowed us to stay to windward of Platypus shipping channel and the east coast of Magnetic Island a few km to leeward.

"Ocean Drover" , a live cattle ship, soon over hauled us off Nelly Bay (marina).

Wind and seas picked up as the protection of Cape Cleaveland was lost, so Dr Con took the helm and i reefed the mainsail.

Reefed the mainsail for the first time

Teria has a slab reefing system on the mainsail to reduce sail when over-pressed. The wind felt like it increased to 20 knots gusting 25, waves increased to 3-5 ft and beating into this at 5 knots made it a bit too wild.  We rounded up to reduce speed to a few knots, I lowered the main halyard and hauled in the reefing rope and cleated it off on the boom. This pulled the luff cringle and  reef clew cringle down to the boom and slab of sail hung down beside the boom on the lee side. The hanging sail was rolled up and tied  with three reefing lines hanging from the sail. Teria rode allot more comfortably , sailing slower, barely getting any spray over the rail.

Once the NE point looked clear we bore away and broad reached and ran off Orchard rocks well the port. Hove-to and shook the reef out, hauled the main up slowly it was a bit reluctant to go up.

Teria ran quickly downwind past Radical Bay where 3 large yachts were at anchor, tucked in behind the sheltered headland there.

Yacht anchored in Radical Bay

We rounded the corner into Horseshoe bay and were soon close-hauled in flat waters heading for the yachts anchorage. Skirted the oyster farm lease marker bouys and got hit by a few wind bullets, which heeled us over and needed the main sheet released. It's a stable trailer-sailer though, the gunwales didn't go under. A beach catamaran sailed out and back in with us.

Sailing into Horseshoe Bay

Horseshoe Bay is a wide and very sheltered bay at its SE corner. This is where passing yachts anchor and where the waterfront has developed. We tacked up through the fleet of about 5 vessels and anchored in close about 70 m from the beach, with 1'10" draft and neap tides, tidal grounding was unlikely for us.  The awning and cabins pop-top went up to expand the dry accommodation area by 60%. a few rain showers came by no worries and one left a rainbow floating in the sky between the Islands hills.

The first visitor

The were two 30-35 foot mono hull yachts, one large motor cruiser, an large sailing cat, a Hood 23 yacht and a tourist motor boat at anchor there.

Horseshoe Bay waterfront is nicely set up with a short strip of beach fronting restaurants, pub and shops. A stinger net and public amenities block including an outdoor cool water shower for swimmers kayakers to wash the sand and salt off.

Dinghy beach and stinger net at Horseshoe bay

A nice short strip of cafe's, shops and a hotel are the few signs of civilization

On the other side of the small boat ramp, there are some low set tourist apartments and a couple of shops. Cassuarina and beach almond trees made for a shady foreshore with lots of picnic tables and a very laid back vibe with live music drifting from the local hotel. Black Cockatoos were having a good time meters from us, eating fruits on trees.

Black Cockatoo

Behind the beach ridge there's a low creek with swamp land forest, it then rises up to a second beach ridge with plenty of forest up to 30 m high. We went into the first street on the left and Dr Con,  soon identified signs of koala bears in the area. Their gum tree species, claw marks on the trunks, then koala droppings. Strangely these were not bad at all, green inside and smelt like gum leaf oil. A wild Koala was soon spotted high up in a tree,it's the first Koala i've seen in the wild in decades, he was a fair size too. Offshore Islands are often good native wildlife refuges.

Koala bear signs, gum leaf and dropping

At first he was a bit hard to see..

At a better camera angle, the big koala sit proudly high atop his tree.

Back aboard Teria, a wash with a sponge and bucket got rid of the kayaking salt. Only need about 2 litres for that per person. Three two seat kayaks were out to see the sunset over the bay, magic.

Kayaks around sunset on Horse shoe Bay

The LED anchor light was rigged under Terias boom and with head torches we had enough light to cook on the Trangia camp stove. It runs on alcohol fuel which is safe on a boat, it can be put out with water. The Trangia also has 2 pots, a fry pan and a kettle ingeniously packed inside it. We put it on the cockpit floor , so it was easy to operate from either cabin or cockpit, and it couldn't fall down from this spot.

The LED anchor light was tied above the awning onto the back stay. It gives 360 degree white light for a 2 nautical mile range and helps avoid collisions at night.

The Bay had dwellings or buildings scattered around us so the lights from these were reassuring and gave a good visual position fix should anchor drag happen. The moon was down but stars were out in force.

The bunks on board are a good size and over 6 foot long with 3" foam. I woke up at midnight to silence boat noises one by one. 2 Halyard slaps in the aluminium mast, rudder knocking, then awning guy sawing on a shroud wire..live and learn. After that it was very quiet, only a cool light southerly breeze blew..Terias hull has no wavelet slap around the waterline - this was a bad problem in my Harltey 16 when i over-nighted on her, resulted in a bad nights sleep..its very hard to sleep with a constant rhythmic noise happening like that..slap slap slap .. Teria is fortunately the opposite  - silent, slept really well.

In the morning a 2nd feathered visitor was standing on the sampson post behind the furled jib. Some kind of kingfisher, amazing how the bird out here have so little fear of people.

After breakfast a passing yachty came over by dinghy for a visit and yarn. Troy's Clansman 30 was set up for single handed live aboard sailing. He lived off the sea catching fish and kept a sprout farm going on board. With solar and wind power added, it was possible to live on a low budget yet still keep maintenance up. This cost was estimated by Troy at about 5-10% of a boat's purchase value per year. A Fleming windvane was fitted to take care of self-steering. His dinghy is a fold-a-boat , about 12 foot long with 3.5hp, it folded to about 8" thick and 2' high so could stow on the side deck against the cabin side.

The Clansman 30 is a capable, good value, coastal cruising yacht. While searching for Clansman 30's info recently, i came across a 2014 post by Troy "sailing - not just for the rich and privileged" with some good advice about how to live on the sea.

A 2020 update: Troy and his partner Pascale have a great u-tube channel called free range sailing, here is their introductory video.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5RTZi2i92M

Troy's Clansman 30

About 2pm we up-anchored and ran downwind out of Horseshoe bay. The tall mountains provided us plenty of shelter but we still had a good tailwind to push us along at 3-4 knots.

 The only other water craft we saw were 3 jet-skis on a tour returning eastwards to Horseshoe where they were based.

Dr Con helming along the 5 beaches Bay side of the Island.

 We passed Huntingfeild Bay which had a strange rocky point of a different rocktype to the rest of the Island. Rollingstone Bay had a rocky shore with no beach and allot of forest cover.

Townsville re-emerges behind west point

The final push back to port was on when we rounded west point, then motor-sailed to windward into a small chop to get past the calm lee side of the Island. It was a bit hard to see middle reef at first but the gps and compass helped , and the black and yellow reef end pole markers were soon in view, so we passed between this reef and the Islands fringing reef.

The 10-15 knot NE wind returned once clear of picnic bay point, so is was a good close reach back to Ross river to log out with coast guard on the VHF around 4 pm , de-rig before the bridge and haul out at Barnicle st around dusk.