Please make sure you read the updated invite and RSVP ASAP if you intend to come.

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Hello fellow Cruisers,

We welcome Summer to our shores – and I hope that you all are able to get out and about when the weather is nice.

Since my last column, the club has held their Hats-off-for-summer party and it was a great evening at the club, with live music, nice nibbles and a fun atmosphere.

At our November cruising meeting, Simone Hill came and talked about her adventures and especially shared what happened when a boat she was delivering to Cairns caught fire and sunk very fast – we all hope this is something we never have to go through, so hearing from someone else might give us some ideas of how to prepare for something like this to stay as safe as we can.

Tapas-Tie-Up, Europe themed, was held at MHYC on the 30th of November – we had 8 boats participating and food was had on 2 boats berthed in the marina and the rest set up in the clubhouse. A fantastic event, Thank you Dallas and Selina for organising! The food, decorations and company was great and luckily the rain held off from just before we started. Being cruisers we are all well set up for changes to plans, the weather forecast was not in our favour to tie-up in Sugarloaf bay, therefore the plans changed and we ended up at MHYC.

The Cruising Xmas party will be held on Friday, 13th December, and we will be in Castle Craig. It is important to sign up if you plan on coming as the address will be sent to those who have replied that they are attending.

A reminder to keep an eye out on the events page to see what is going in the cruising division. If you plan on participating in any event, please sign up on the event page: https://cruising.mhyc.com.au/events/

Upcoming Cruising events are:

- Cruising Xmas dinner, Friday 13 December

- Cruise after Xmas, 26 – 31 December, Shellharbour

A reminder that we are looking for contributions of articles to the Compass Rose, if you have anything you would like to share, and I am sure a lot of you have lots to share, please email this to cruising@mhyc.com.au and we will include them in the next upcoming Compass Rose. 

Stay safe on and off the Water.

Sanna

Cruising Captain MHYC, SV RaRa

At the November Cruising meeting Simone told the stories of recent adventures delivering yachts, and in particular how she handled the scary situation with fire onboard and learnings from that.

Click the image below to see a recording of the presentation if you missed it in person.

This year the annual Tapas Tie Up was held on the 30th of November. Later than normal as a number of us were actually cruising or holidaying in Europe. Our plan to be in Sugarloaf was thwarted by the forecast of heavy rain and storm. After much discussion it was decided that nothing would stop the event and our evening would proceed on a couple of boats already in the marina and later in the HarbourView room.

We had 8 boats represented and we wined and dined from Denmark, or is that Lego Land?, to Greece (lamb and ouzo capital), to Italia (bruschetta and limoncello), oui oui Paris for quiche and Brie, Ireland for potato and whiskey, The Netherlands for all things dairy, the Mysterious Vatican being all angelic, to martini Espresso Va va vroom Monaco!

Were we ready for Bryan’s rock quiz? Without a doubt! So much fun that many did not want the night to end.

Thanks everyone for putting so much effort into the event. Great costumes, decorations, food and drinks, and enthusiasm.

Selina

1. The Christmas season is coming up – what is the blood alcohol limit o a boat in NSW?
2. Who does this limit apply to?
3. Where on a boat do you find the roach? (note – not the cockroach – I hope you don’t have those on board!)
4. Should the lazy spinnaker sheet pass over or under the pole?
5. How many sides does a lateen sail have?
6. What is the name of a line led from the boom forward to prevent an accidental gybe?
7. You get an overriding turn on a sheet winch and it is jammed really tight.  What knot would you use to attach another line to the sheet to take its load to another winch?
8. A cold front is approaching the NSW coast and you are sailing along in a NW wind.  After the front passes, from what direction do we expect the wind to come from?
9. Is this wind change regarded as “backing” or “veering”?
10. When varnishing, what is a “holiday”?

"Life is a struggle" by Jeremy Clarke

Send your photos to Mike McEvoy to enter into the 2024 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 2024. 

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.

With recent changes to new types of courtesy moorings around Sydney Harbour, yachties have had to find new ways to stop them hitting the bow when the wind and tides drop overnight.
The new ones can really bump into your boat with significant impact causing the nervous sailor to jump out of bed exclaiming “what was that?”
After a couple prototypes, we have found a solution for Salty Lady, and it is shown in the photo below.

Did you know that the expression “TRUE BLUE” is not Australian, as most are led to believe.  So here is the true story as told by the Artist Paint Company Windsor-Newton. 

The paint known as ULTRAMARINE is known in the artistic world as “TRUE BLUE”, being a brilliant deep blue colour.  It is made from the semi-precious stone mined in Afghanistan known as Lapis Lazuli.  It was once worth more than gold as it was very costly to produce.

Famous artists like Turner, Cennini and Vermeer used it extensively, Michelangelo on the other hand, could not afford it.

Ultramarine derives its name from the Latin for Ultra, meaning beyond and “mare” for the meaning sea.

The pigment was used in ancient times by the Egyptians, Chinese and by the Anglo Saxons to illuminate their manuscripts.

In 1817 the London College of Art offered a prize to anyone who could produce a synthetic version of the ultramarine pigment, which was followed by the French Government offering an additional 6,000 Francs for the invention.  A decade later the French chemist, Jean Baptise-Guimet was the successful inventor.  The synthetic pigment was identical to the original Afghan pigment hence it was named “French Ultramarine” by the French.  It was a game changer, as its cost was very low.

By 1870 the French Ultramarine pigment became the paint of choice and was used by Monet and his contemporaries.

Hence to distinguish between Ultramarine, and French Ultramarine, the artists needed to know which one was the synthetic, and which one was from the semi-precious lapiz-lazuli stone, hence the inquiry, “Is it true blue?”

Today many variations of this colour are produced by manufacturers, some of which have registrations to protect manufacturing.

Imagine what would have happened to Australia if La-Perouse claimed the continent for France, Sacre – Blue, perish the thought! 

A. Comino

Bloodhound

Lapiz Lazuli stones

1. 0.05% - same as on the roads (for commercial operators it is 0.02% and for those under 18 it is zero).
2. The blood alcohol limit applies both to the helmsman and to the skipper/master.  It also applies to the observer if you are towing, and to anyone being towed.
3. On a sail.  It is the curved area on the leech off the sail that is outside of a straight line from head to clew.
   
4. Over.
5. Three.
   
6. The Preventer (or more correctly – the Gybe Preventer)
   
7. Rolling Hitch.
   
8. We expect the wind to change to the west and then the south west or south as the front passes.
9. The wind is “backing” as it is moving against the compass direction.
10. A holiday is an area unintentionally left unvarnished.