Sunset, cruising Port Stephens photo by Sanna Westling

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G’day Cruisers

With our Cruising Captain, Sanna heading north with Niclas on RaRa for an extended cruise, I’ve taken over as Acting Captain at least until the AGM later this year.

Can I firstly say a big thank you to Sanna for all the work she has done for our Cruising Division over the last five years or so. Niclas also deserves thanks of course but he’s stayed on as our Treasurer for now.

I know most of the current cruisers but for those I haven’t met yet, my wife Jenni and I joined the club two years ago and have Serenite, a Beneteau Oceanis 400, currently on the marina in Berth B9. Feel free to drop by and say hello, if the transom is open we’re either on board or not far away. I’m looking forward to spending more time with the Cruisers and getting more involved across the club generally.

Sanna and Niclas headed north 24^th February and when I last spoke them were in Port Stephens enjoying themselves at D’albora Marina, waiting for the weather to be better for heading north. Have to say, I’m very jealous of that cruising lifestyle, enjoy yourselves.

Gavin Randall and Dallas O’Brien recently returned from a trip to Lord Howe on Gavin’s Hallberg-Rassy, Viking III and were to give us a presentation on that trip at our March Cruising Division Meeting.  Gavin unfortunately has been unwell lately so we’ll move that presentation to April.

Dallas has offered to run a trivia night for us at our March meeting and he will add some sailing/cruising questions to the mix.

Look forward to seeing you all on Wednesday 19^th.

Gerald, SV Serenite

Presentation from OceanVolt

At our February meeting we were joined online from Helsinki, by Oliver from Oceanvolt who gave us a presentation on electric and hybrid propulsion systems for yachts. The presentation was extensive covering the many benefits of electrifying, generation options and examples of installations. I’ll post a link to the presentation as soon as I can get a copy.

Barefoot Ball

The Barefoot Ball was a great night. Martyn and Anna hosted Drinks on Flo beforehand. Photos from the night have already been distributed by the club but I’ve extracted a few featuring the Cruising members who attended.

Seems like everyone enjoyed themselves. Our Blues Brothers group ended up on stage to join in a song, seems like Dallas had studied the movie to get the moves right.

And, as is apparently normal for the Barefoot Ball, people ended up swimming, after midnight

Trivia Night

At our meeting on Wednesday 19^th we’ll be having a Trivia Night presented by Dallas.

The questions will be general but with a sailing twist and given Dallas is compere I presume music will be a topic also.

Cruising to Lord Howe Island

At our April meeting Gavin Randall and Dallas O’brien will give a presentation on their cruise from Sydney to Lord Howe Island and back on Gavin’s Hallberg-Rassy, Viking III

Cruising Get together and Safety Training.

Phil Darling will help us with another Safety Training weekend, all we need to do is set a date for it.

Topics to cover

·         Man overboard

·         Emergency tiller

·         Droug deployment

·         Any other issues we wish to cover.

Easter Long Weekend Cruise 2025

Easter is 18^th to 21^st April this year and we’re planning a long weekend cruise.

Destination is to be decided but most people are suggesting somewhere north of Sydney.

Jenni & I will be restricted to the 4 public holidays but others may wish to extend?

1. Which navigation marker has the light characteristics Fl(2)?
2. Coming into Newcastle Harbour last week, I noted from the chart that Nobbys Light at the entrance has characteristics Fl(2+1) 20s  35m 24M.  What does this mean?
3. On the radio, when should we use: “over”, “out”, and “over and out”?
4. In the southern hemisphere, what direction do winds rotate around a low pressure system?
5. What is a “Spring Tide”? Does it have any connection with the season of Spring?
6. You see a vessel displaying two black balls, one over the other.  What does this mean and what should you do?
7. What lights would the vessel in Q6 above display at night? 
8. You see a large commercial vessel flying two flags (from adjacent halyards) – one a red swallowtail, and the other showing white and red vertical halves.  What does these mean?
9. A cyclone is heading in a SW direction towards the Queensland coast.  Using Buys Ballot's law, you determine you are in the “safe quadrant”.  Where does this put you in relation to the cyclone?
10. In the same situation as Q9, what would be your next action (assuming you cannot get into a sheltered anchorage and have plenty of sea room)?

Send your photos to Mike McEvoy to enter into the 2025 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 2025. 

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.

Dallas and Selina on Salty Lady were having trouble with seagulls having festivals on their foredeck and bimini. You might recall Dallas wrote an article for us last year on this topic and it did seem that they’d found the solution. Dallas wasn’t sure whether it was a combination of all the things he’d tried or one in particular but he did think that the solar powered high-pitched horn was effective.

Unfortunately, Dallas now says that the siren provides a disco beat for the bird parties they have on Salty Lady.

So after a day cleaning her decks and bimini, the next thing to try is..

1. Clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere.
2. Buys Ballot’s Law states that In the Southern Hemisphere, if a person stands with their front to the wind, the atmospheric pressure is low to the left, high to the right. You can use tell where the core of the cyclone (the area of lowest pressure) is.
3. They are the same phenomena – local names for Tropical Revolving Storms.  In east Asia they are called Typhoons, and in the Americas they are called Hurricanes.
4. To form a cyclone (or other Tropical Revolving Storms) you need warm, relatively shallow water to initiate an updraft of warm moist air (which starts a low pressure system), plus enough Coriolis force to start it spinning.  Within about 5 degrees of the equator the Coriolis force (due to the earth’s rotation) is not strong enough to start a cyclone spinning.
5. They are an anticyclonic area of variable winds at approximately 30 degrees north and south, characterized by sunny skies, calm winds, and very little precipitation. They are also known as subtropical ridges or highs. It is a high-pressure area at the divergence of trade winds and the westerlies. At 33 degrees South Sydney is in them, although local effects including Sea Breezes and the warm East Australian Current means that the effect is not so severe as in Western Australia.
6. Although you have priority, you still have a responsibility to avoid a collision.  Safest action is to tack away and show your stern light to the other ship.  This also gives you more time to avoid them.  Do NOT bear away to port.
7. This is a North Cardinal Mark.  Steer to port (ie to the north) to leave it to starboard and stay in the area of safe water (even better – check your chart as well just to be sure the “safe” area is actually safe for you).
8. Grave and imminent danger.
9. A “Tidal Gate” is an area where safe passage is much easier if you work with, rather than against, the tide.  For example, Solway Pass (between two of the Whitsunday islands) is much safer and easier to pass through on Slack Water (ie at the top or bottom of the tide) rather than at mid tide when strong currents and overfalls are common.
10. An Overfall is a turbulent stretch of water caused by a strong current or tide.  It may be from a meeting of currents, or from an effect from the shape of the sea bed.