Is this the future of cruising? photograph by Dallas O'Brien, Rose Bay March 2023

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Hello fellow Cruisers,

Even if summer 2022/23 is officially over, I don’t think that the weather got the memo – it has been lovely and looking likely to keep going well into March.

The club's big event, Sydney Harbour Regatta, was held the first weekend in March and we saw many boats a the club.

During this weekend, the new restaurant, St Siandra, had a ‘soft opening’ – with them officially opening on the 9th of March.

Last month saw our Compass Rose go electronic for the first time – this enables us to keep track of what members like to read and have an opportunity to subscribe, or unsubscribe, to the newsletter.

The information about events is available on the cruising website, do check this out and keep coming back to see what is being planned. MHYC webpage/Cruising/Latest News

The cruising part of the MHYC website: cruising.mhyc.com.au 

If you are interested in coming cruising together, do let us know as soon as possible so that we don't cancel an event due to low participation, and then find out that people would have liked to come along. This helps with the planning of the events.

If you have sold your boat or bought a new one – do let us know so that we can keep our waving list up to date.

At the monthly meeting, we had a very interesting talk from Phil about the ICC, an International certificate, that is required when chartering a boat in Europe and other parts of the world.

This month we will hear from a Harbour Master –note it in your diary and come along for a listen.

Stay safe on and off the Water.

Sanna

Captain Cruising, SV RaRa

To join the competition please send photo entries to Mike McEvoy, mmcevoy@bigpond.net.au, and he will select the winner of the month. 

Once a year the very best of the monthly winners will be selected and there is a grand prize to be won. 

We also want to thank Maralyn Darling who was facilitating the Photo of the Month competition for many many years!

We arrived in Hobart for the Wooden Boat Show, to see Kelly and Evan on Sanctum and then a ten day drive around the West Coast.

The Wooden Boat Show is a chance for seriously talented wood craftsmen and shipwrights to show their passion and expertise. This was the first show since 2019. A highlight for us was to be on the Duyfken  (Little Dove) and witness the firing of her cannon.

Look at the craftsmanship on this kayak. 

We watched the tall ship race to Constitution Dock from Battery Point and saw Sanctum come amongst the flotilla. 

After a couple of days at the Boat Show, we met up with Kelly and Evan for a few days out on Sanctum. We kicked off our reunion by first going to a Ross Wilson concert, of Eagle Rock fame. We all had a little dance.

We motor sailed south in fairly ordinary weather, near Kettering into a cove called Barnes Bay, which is part of Bruny Island. Hiding from the weather we caught up with Greg and Judy, lovely friends of Kelly and Evan. Fighting wind and rain we continued onto Cygnet. Cygnet, Jeremy’s heaven. Everything was GF, including scallop pies which I haven’t had one since 1997!  (Syd-Hob) 

It was amazing to see my old boat Paradox (mottle 33) lying near Sanctum’s mooring. Nowhere near as well loved as when we owned her.

After leaving Hobart we had a night at Tarraleah and then on to Queenstown. An old mining town where we picked up our King River Rafting experience for the day, going down rapids graded 3-4. Heaps of fun and excitement and then paddled in beautiful serene Huon pine forests, finishing where the King river runs into Macquarie Harbour. 

All made possible by the hydroelectric power station releasing water as required. 

An overnighter in Strahan and Stanley and then off the Cradle Mountain for our first visit. Stayed in a little wooden cabin and even heard squabbling Tassie devils in the evening. 

This photo of Cradle Mountain was taken from Marion’s Outlook after we had walked around Dove Lake Circuit. A strenuous walk up, involving some chains in the steeper parts at the top, but the view was well worth the aching calves the next day.

Launceston and on to Low Head and the old Pilot Station with all its history. We managed to get into the last available little cottage (Boatman’s Crew Cottage), the Maritime Museum kept us occupied for hours.

Some of the more interesting sights on our trip were the Wall and Derwent Bridge …..

Next time we’ll take my truck and explore the East Coast.

Jeremy and Kristin 

SV Kai Rani

A number of MHYC boats entered the Regatta this year, March 3/5th. MHYC being the main host. Our courses were near Clark Island and all the races headed north to East Channel mark and back round point Piper and Shark Island . The races lasted about an hour and a half each. 2 races per day The first day, the winds were around 12 knots max and 18 knots fairly constantly on Sunday, the second day.
I think Slac N Off (SnO) was the only Cruising Division cruiser but Jeremy, Kai Rani was on CaVa, and Niclas, RaRa was on Neal's  Wailea. I didn't see any other cruisers racing. Forgive me if I omitted you. I did see Dallas and Selina in their lovely Eternity, cross us 20m in front of our bow as they were heading into Rose Bay. We had the jib poled out and were heading towards Clark Island. I did shout several greetings but they were staring into eternity and either didn't hear or were ignoring me. I suspect the latter 😉. 
This was the second leg of race 3, the first race of day 2. We were in Division 3 of the Performance Cruiser Spinnaker Class. We had already lost our spinnaker halyard. It is always a good idea to ensure the halyard is clipped on to the head of the spinnaker before hoisting, and even better to watch what one is doing before hoisting the halyard, irretrievably to the top of the mast, without a spinnaker attached. The spinnaker pole topping lift made a useful substitute, eventually. 
A most disappointing performance, as we were in lead position in the series after the previous days 2 races, when we were 2nd and 1st (I think). I still don't understand how the handicapping system works. It does seem to be over generous.
We performed slightly better in the 4th and final race, Dennis having been hoisted to the top of the mast to retrieve the spinnaker halyard, that HE lost. The wind was 18knots, so plenty enough to challenge our limited spinnaker skills. Unfortunately, an inadvertent crash gybe shattered the mainsheet traveller so we were left without main control until we could jerry rig a repair. 
Damage over two days....bimini straps broken. Another tear in the bimini. Someone managed to attached the spinnaker sheet through the block via the bimini stay strap. How can that happen?
Two tears in the spinnaker, which had just been received from North Sails, after a repair from it's last outing.
Broken traveller block.
After all the mishaps, were greatly surprised to hear we won the Div 3 series.
I keep going back for more, thanks to our lovely team and camaraderie,  despite the dumb mistakes (including mine). What a stressful and exhausting week end. I used lots of words I have heard of, wouldnt utter in real life and am ashamed of using. I wouldn't want the even greater stress and expense of being a big boat racer.
Carry on cruising, cruisers and see you on the water.

1. In what circumstances would you issue a PAN PAN call? 
2. List the wording of a PAN PAN call you would make, including phonetically spelling the name of your vessel “CLUELESS”
3. Does the issuing of a PAN PAN call create any obligation on the receiving vessel(s)?
4. What strength of wind is indicated by a strong wind warning? A gale warning?  What Beaufort strengths are these?
5. What is this Beaufort stuff anyway, and why is it so named?
6. You call up a passing freighter to see if they have a recent weather forecast.  They say that the wind expected is “SE and veering”.  What does this mean?
7. You are travelling north and come to a large marker coloured (top to bottom) yellow-black-yellow.  There obviously used to be a topmarker but it is missing.  Which side of the marker do you steer?
8. You are in fog on Sydney Harbour, under sail, and hear one long and four short blasts on a horn.  What is this vessel, what sound should you make, and what action should you take
9. How accurate is a 406 EPIRB signal (without attached GPS)
10. What is the effect of high barometric pressure on tidal heights?

It has been great living on Sanctum in the wooden boat capital of Australia for the last 10 months. 

Living on board in Cygnet and surrounds we are among so many wooden boats both loved and unloved.

Tasmania really is the land of love for wooden boats. There are still new vessels being built, old ones rebuilt from the few frames boards that have remained from rotting carcasses retrieved from the mud.

But there is such a mix of personalities and wallet sizes to go with that. Skilled shipwrights abound with others having carpentry, joinery, and building backgrounds changing gears, and moving into wooden boats.

Many of the vessels that travel down from the mainland are extremely well kept with one we spoke to having had 2 shipwrights full-time for 9 years doing the restoration of an old sydney pilot cutter. It still has one person full-time maintaining the vessel.

At the other end of the spectrum are some of the locals that have had their labours of love in the backyard or a shed rebuilding them for the past 9 years and launching just before the show.

There are so many different boats as can be seen from the drone shot I took of the parade of sail. From an old 18ft skiff to the ferry Radar which I remember from my youth in Sydney where you could go out on the afternoon cruise and bet on the 18th skiff races.

Chris Canty was on board the James Craig as was an American gentleman we spoke to who was a paying passenger stating that Australia was the last place in the world where you could book a berth and be part of the crew on a square rigger doing 700 nm passage.

Gretel II is here and as we recently found out is the last of the wooden 12-metre yachts built.

Sail, steam, diesel, and electric there is a wooden boat to suit everyone's preference for propulsion.

John Eastway'prior boat Eagle was here again and we spotted it in Kettering before we flew out for work this week.

If you want to enjoy a festival of boating where the theme is not selling then the Wooden boat festival makes a great addition to the calendar and while you're at it explore beautiful Tasmania.

I will add though there are a lot of For Sale signs on the exhibits so they are ready to be passed on to their new custodians.

Evan Hodge & Kelly Nunn-Clark

SV Sanctum

Pittwater hammerhead encounter

It was the annual dragon boat club race around Scotland Island. My third attempt with the Northern Beaches Dragon Boat Club.

Each year it was too windy so we had to resort to paddling a triangular course in the Bay view Basin. The weather prediction was calm waters, but it was wrong and for the third time I missed out. It is an 8km course so quite tough.

We decided to take advantage of a nice weekend on Flo, using her as a base, before and after the race so we had a lovely sail in perfect conditions to Morning Bay.

The water is quite deep there and the wind was inshore so we anchored a respectable distance away from the lee shore in water just over 8m. We were overcautious and used all 60m of chain and a few meters of warp.

Dennis, my fellow dragon boat racer and crew mate, and Remco my Dutch/US guest spent the journey from Sydney to Pittwater fishing and managed to catch a leatherjacket. That was our dinner for the evening along with pre-purchased prawns.

They caught other fish, yellow tails, and used them as bait. I am not a fishing fan so looked the other way.

Early night.

The next morning we start raising the anchor to move closer to Bayview and the start of our race. When raising the anchor on Flo one has to keep the anchor chain in sight and direct the helm to avoid fouling the inside of the hulls, as the windlass is set back from the bow, just in front of the mast. I spotted fishing line wrapped around the anchor warp so had to fiddle about trying to release it. As the first length of chain came into view it was tangled in a clump, with more fishing line. Strange. I hauled the chain a bit further and was shocked to see a hammerhead shark on the end of a hook. I looked at him. He looked at me (may have been her. Not sure how to tell). The hammerhead looked like he was equally shocked. Who wouldn't be having their carefree life in Pittwater disturbed by some horrible fishermen. The poor creature must have taken the bait and wrapped the line around the chain again and again in a frantic effort to escape. The end of the chain was a congealed mess and I wasn't sure how I would unentangle it without lowering the dinghy and maneuvering between the hulls and face the vengeance of the shark.

The shark had every right to be vengeful. Fortunately, we managed to poke a fishing knife through the narrow stainless steel anchor guide and slowly cut through the lines. I couldn't really see what I doing and hoped my hand was beyond the reach of the shark. I suspect he wouldn't know a rescuer if he saw one. The remains of the line and the almost unharmed shark plopped back into the water. I am told he/she swam off. I do hope this is true.

No more leaving unattended fishing lines out at night.

I probably needn't have worried about being attacked. Hammerhead sharks do not eat mammals. They have extremely sensitive sensors on the tips of their hammerheads along with eyes that have 180-degree vision. There have only been 16 recorded instances, ever, of hammerhead sharks accidentally biting a human in all the oceans of the world, with zero fatalities. They are an endangered species, their fins being sought after for shark fin soup, one of the most diabolically insane 'food' sources one could imagine.

Read more about Hammerhead sharks here.

Martyn Colebrook

After two stormy nights on “Simply Irresistible” we woke to a sparkling summer morning in Berry Bay to just catch a familiar boat doing a circuit of the anchored boats and head out of the bay, too quick to grab our mobiles for a photo.  It was “Truant V” looking very smart.  We might have lost an old friend, but how lovely it was to see Tony Rickard’s ……. living on in great shape with a young man at the helm and a Kelpie keeping watch on the bows,  where all dogs love to be.

With time on our hands, I grabbed The Complete Guide to Sydney Harbour, which is kept on board and gives a great short history wherever you are.  Sadly out of print now but I rang the Publisher to get permission to quote his write-up on Berry Bay.  Had a lovely chat in fact with David Messent, co-Editor, and Photographer.

“Berry Bay is named after Alexander Berry, a Scottish merchant who started his shipping career working as a surgeon’s mate for the East India Company. Leaving ‘John Company’ (anyone heard of this moniker?) to pursue his own commercial interests, he became part owner of a ship the “City of Edinburgh” and set sail for Sydney with a cargo of rum, arriving in Sydney on 13th January 1808, just thirteen days before Bligh was deposed in the Rum Rebellion on the 26th.  Leaving Sydney at the end of 1809 with a cargo of hardwood for Cape Town, Berry was involved in many adventures on the way, including rescuing the survivors of a massacre by Māoris on a ship in Wangaroa Harbour, New Zealand and having to put into Valparaiso in Chile for repairs after a rough voyage rounding Cape Horn.  The “City of Edinburgh” then sank in the Atlantic, but Berry escaped in the ship’s boat, reached the Azores, and was on a vessel sailing from Lisbon to Cadiz in 1812 when he struck up an acquaintance with a fellow passenger, Edward Wollstonecraft.  

Wollstonecraft, a cousin of Mary Wollstonecraft, the creator of Frankenstein, became Berry’s agent, and they journeyed together to Sydney, arriving in 1819 to set up business as merchants.  Wollstonecraft received a land grant of 200 hectares on the north shore, where in 1820 he built a small cottage called ‘Crows Nest’, after which the present day suburb is named.  In 1827 Berry married his partner’s sister Elizabeth Wollstonecraft.   Her brother Edward died in 1832, and Elizabeth planned a new ‘Crows Nest House’ opposite McLaren street on the present day Pacific Highway.  Elizabeth died during its construction and Alexander lived there on his own until 1873 when he died at the age of ninety-two.  The house was demolished in 1929, however, the walls and gates, decorated with the design of a ship’s crow's nest and bird’s nest in the wrought ironwork remain.

Berry’s trading ships used to anchor in Berry’s Bay and, of course, the neighbouring suburb of Wollstonecraft is named after his business partner and brother-in-law.

Gill Attersall

“Simply Irresistible”

1. The radiotelephony message PAN-PAN declares that you have an emergency on board but, for the moment, not one that poses an immediate danger to anyone's life or to the vessel itself.
2. PAN PAN PAN this is the vessel CLUELESS spelt Charlie Lima Uniform Echo Lima Echo Sierra Sierra calling PAN PAN PAN.
3. No – there is no obligation on any receiving vessel to assist you (but you hope that they would at least answer if they can stand by to assist).  This is different to a MAYDAY call which does place an obligation on receiving vessels to give all assistance possible without endangering themselves.
4. A strong wind warning is issued when winds are expected to be consistently above 25 knots (Beaufort force 6).  A gale warning is above 32 knots (Beaufort force 8)?
5. The Beaufort scale relates wind speed to observed conditions on sea and land – initially to the effect of the wind on a Royal Navy frigate’s sails but was later adapted to other observed criteria such as wave heights and the effect on leaves on a tree.  It was initially prepared in 1805 by the Irish hydrographer Francis Beaufort (later Rear Admiral), a Royal Navy officer.
6. The wind is expected to come from the South East, then later to swing “with the compass” ie further to the South.
7. This is a West cardinal marker, meaning safe water is to the west of it.  Steer to port leaving the marker to your starboard.
8. This is a Pilot vessel underway (one long is a motor-driven vessel underway, followed by 4 short – pilot vessel).  Make your own sound back (one long two short for a sailing vessel), slow down, and keep a good lookout.
9. 5km, and may take some time for the satellites to get a fix (with GPS:  120m and almost instantaneous; both models also have a locator signal for rescue craft to home in on)
10. A strong high-pressure system will depress tidal heights – ie they will be lower than otherwise predicted (and water will be shallower – so watch out!).