Brampton Island from the deck of Viking III 

Gavin Randall

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G’day Cruisers

I mentioned in my last column that I would be missing the Easter Cruise as I was heading north to join Niclas on Rara to take her from Brisbane to, hopefully, Hervey Bay. Unfortunately, the weather decided Easter wasn’t the right weekend to be doing that. Niclas was waiting in Newport Marina in Brisbane and we would have been fine in Moreton Bay but there was a 2 – 3 metre swell predicted for the Wide Bay Bar over the following couple of days. So, as all good cruisers should, the Skipper’s call was to stay in the marina for another few days and wait till the forecast improved. Niclas waited a few days and said he’d never seen it so calm at Inskip Point.

The Easter Cruise went ahead as planned with four boats heading to Pittwater. Chris Kelleway on Dreamaway has writen a report for us which is included below. He has also gathered some great photos which are included too.

With the April Cruising meeting falling in the middle of the Sail Port Stephens week we had a few cruisers away, participating. Others were off cruising and still others (Dallas and Selina) had headed off to Italy on holiday. So, we decided to cancel the meeting for the month. Someone then suggested that those of us still in Sydney could get together for dinner on the night and say hello. In the end we had 13 people joining for dinner at Balgowlah RSL Club, as Glynne said, the best non-meeting he’d ever been to.

We’ll definitely be back for our May meeting on Wednesday 20th (third Wednesday of the month) and for that meeting we have David Trayner and his wife Anna speaking to us about their recent circumnavigation of Australia. They took a year to complete the trip on their Seawind 1160 Lite Catamaran and will be talking about how it was planned, how it went and the lessons learned on the way round. Everyone is welcome with the normal BYO BBQ at 6.30pm and then presentation starting at 7.30pm.   

Jenni and I spent the ANZAC Day weekend aboard Serenite, sailing around the harbour during the day and then in the club marina for the night so we saw the great turn out for the Two-Up Cup and then joined for the Two-Up game run by Bryan in the evening. It was great fun.

Hope everyone enjoyed the long weekend and was able to reflect on whatever ANZAC Day means to them. 

Cheers

Gerald Nicholls, Serenite 

Easter Weekend Cruise

A suggestion was made for the Easter weekend cruise to be either north or south depending on the wind, yet again. Turned out the forecast for Good Friday, Saturday and Easter Sunday was to be a southerly, so Pittwater became the destination.

The boats that went; Salty Lady (Dallas and Selina) Simply Irresistible (Glynne and Gill), Dreamaway (Chris & Jo-Anne) and Shibumi (Bryan and Boy Wonder) arrived Sunday afternoon.

The weather was perfect with a 12 knot southerly, forecast to increase to 26 knots in the early afternoon with a slight swell. We left MHYC and Balmoral meeting up around Middle Head for a radio check. Life jackets were on with the wind forecast.

Salty Lady tried to dance on the rocks at North Head before unfurling her Jib. The wind was too south to really fly assy off the bow and the thought of trying to furl in 26 knots meant they stayed in their bags. Dreamaway sailed with headsail out to windward and the wind increase never materialised. It was a lovely day offshore.

One by one we all arrived at the Club’s moorings at the junction of America’s Bay and Refuge Bay and had to get a houseboat to move off one of the moorings for Simply Irresistible to tie up to. Sundowners and dinner was held on Dreamaway.

The next day we all took it pretty easy boarding Salty Lady to head for lunch at the Cottage Point Café. The barramundi curry was sensational. Lunch was followed by a sail towards Brooklyn with Glynne and Gill steering and Dallas trying to convince us it was time to upgrade Simply Irresistible. Sundowners and dinner was held on Salty Lady with a heavy rainstorm that evening.

On Easter Sunday we headed off on Salty Lady again to the Pub at Patonga, which was very well patronised. As we commenced our journey back we could see Shibumi with her blue spinnaker coming around Barrenjoey in a nice Southeaster. Sundowners were held on Simply Irresistible and dinner on Dreamaway. Brian had catered only soup for dinner so we all chipped in for some real food for them.

There were varying forecasts for Monday and Tuesday, a North-Easterly 10 knots Monday and six knot Tuesday. Salty Lady and Dreamaway headed off at midday Monday under a cloudy sky and 5 knots form the southwest. Salty Lady set an assy out from Barrenjoey and was suggesting she was doing 5 knots in 5 knots of breeze on her way home. Dreamaway motor-sailed home in less than 5 knots of breeze with drizzle from Dee Why which also finished Salty Lady’s spinnaker run.

Simply Irresistible motored home early Tuesday with no wind and Shibumi sailed home Wednesday.

So, the Easter Weekend was well enjoyed.

Chris Kelleway, Dreamaway.

April 2026

1. You have a riding turn on a winch and wish to take the strain by gripping the fouled sheet using a rope to another winch. Which knot would you use? 

2. On which tack is it best to heave to?

3. When looking through a sextant set to zero, you see a step in the horizon. What is this error called?

4. There is a deep low just off the coast, with the centre approximately due east of Sydney. What wind direction would you expect at the Sydney Heads?

5. Does a GPS give course and speed over the ground, or course and speed through the water?

6. The most appropriate knot for joining two lines of different sizes is: a) Sheep Shank; b) Reef Knot; c) Double Sheet Bend; d) Clove Hitch?

7. A British friend comes out sailing with you and advises “you should ease the kicker on the boom”.  What is our usual term for this item? 

8. You are looking at adding in-mast furling, but a friend advises “this will decrease your stability, you know”. Are they correct?

9. Cirrus cloud gradually thickening – what weather feature is probably approaching?

10. What term is given to the draining holes cut through the bulwarks to allow water on the deck to drain away?

Further to Sanna's article last month about when Rara saved a Skipper, Bryan Moore shared information on a device he has made and keeps ready to deploy to help getting someone back on board.

As Bryan says, it is simply a pool noodle with rope threaded through it with a clip to hold it together and connect it to halyards or sheets as required. 

A quick and comfortable device to retrieve someone, it floats, is light and easy to store.

Send your photos to Mike McEvoy to enter into the 2026 Cruising Division Competition. Each Month the best photo received will be published and, in the running, to win a new Mystery Prize at the end of 2026. 

Send your best photos (as a JPG / JPEG) - Remember … to be in the running to win the prize you must be in it. Hint …. Give your favourite photo a Title and Place taken. Submit your photos to mmcevoy@bigpond.net.au

Good Shooting …!! Mike.

1. A Rolling Hitch.

2. Starboard – so you still have right of way over both power vessels and sailing vessels on port tack (but do continue to keep a look out).

3. Index error.

4. In the southern hemisphere wind travels clockwise around a low, so you would expect a strong southerly to be blowing at the heads.  

5. Course and speed over the ground.

6. C) Double Sheet Bend.  A reef knot is likely to slip with different sized lines, whilst a sheepshank is used to shorten a line (or strengthen over a weak or damaged area) and a clove hitch is used to tie a line to a rail or post.

7. Vang. 

8. Yes – the addition of more weight up the mast will decrease your stability a little.

9. Low pressure system, with possibly a cold front.

10. Scuppers