BOATS AT THE CLUB This is another in the series of articles aimed at providing you with an insight into new boats and other boats of interest at the Club. Contact Patricia Catley through the Club if you are interested in having your boat featured here.
At the end of March 2021 Dave and Janet Buxton proudly took ownership of a boat berthed at the CYCSA and continue to delight in their purchase. Grace is a Cole 34, measuring 10.4 metres and built in 1988 by Coordinated Marine in Syd Fischer’s yard in Sydney. Since then many changes have been made to improve and update this delightful yacht.
It all began in 2020 when the Buxton family made a decision to buy a boat. Dave knew a lot about dinghies but not keel boats and he was fortunate to meet Rod Hunter where discussion about cruising and the various types of yachts led Dave in the right direction. By word of mouth he met Chris and Rosalie Morphett who owned the Cole 34 at the time named Selkie. By the end of March 2021 the boat had changed hands and also changed name. The background of the name change included an appreciation of beauty and elegance but also from a theological perspective of an unexpected, undeserved favour and a gift from God. Conscious of the complex systems a keel boat brings and his responsibilities as skipper, during 2021 Dave enrolled in a Radio Course, Competent Crew, and Day Skipper theory and practical. One of the selling points of the Cole was the 6’4” headroom as Dave and Janet’s son Bob is that tall. Over the past year a significant refit has begun with a new water heater, engine, autopilot, cockpit shower, batteries, electrics and electronics. New sails and a rebuild of the instrument panel and chart table were completed with solar panels to be added by next summer. In 2021 a Nanni 30hp engine was installed to replace the 26hp Sole. The instruments and radio have been upgraded to B&G with three displays above the companionway and a 9” chart plotter and VHF B60 radio with AIS. A spinnaker will be added next year with the running gear already in place.
Grace can sleep four singles or, at a squeeze, two couples and two singles in a V-berth, a saloon double, saloon single and a starboard quarter berth. A shower in the head now has a companion in the cockpit to enable a quick wash off after swimming. A two burner meth stove and twin stainless steel sinks complement the galley. Dave’s background in sailing includes fifty five years of dinghy sailing and racing in various classes up to Mosquito catamarans. In the 1980s he crewed for two Adelaide to Port Lincoln races and a Lincoln Week regatta. He had always dreamed of owning a keel boat having admired an S&S 34 in Port Lincoln in the mid-1970s. As a child living in Canberra in the 1960s Dave would regularly listen to the radio position updates of the Sydney to Hobart race and then plot their position on a map. During the summer of 2021/22 Grace has had four trips to Port Vincent and a single handed sail to Port Lincoln as well as numerous day sails with family and friends. Grace can easily be sailed single handed or with crew. During the recent Anzac weekend at Port Vincent conversations over some excellent wines resulted in significant interest in sailing to Port Lincoln next summer single handed in company with others. Anyone keen to join Grace et al on this journey are most welcome and Dave would love to hear from you. Several skippers have also shown an
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interest in sailing to Port Augusta giving Grace plenty of sailing time in South Australian waters. Other possibilities for the future are Tasmania and the east coast. Dave hasn’t got racing completely out of his system and still has an ambition to complete a Sydney to Hobart. He recalls Sir James Hardy saying that no one should go to Hobart in a boat shorter in feet that their age in years which means Dave should be looking at a pocket maxi. But one possible dream would be to race, or realistically cruise, to Hobart with his son Bob in the two handed division. Perhaps 2024 will be the year? We will watch out for you Dave!
Dave and Janet appreciate the many new friends they have made in the CYCSA who have all been very welcoming and appreciate the many boat owners who have shared their knowledge and experiences. They realise there is still much to learn and are lucky that good health and energy means they can look forward to many new adventures ahead. Thank you for sharing the story of Grace with me and Club members. I wish you, Janet and Bob, happy sailing hours for many years to come. Patricia Catley
