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 Pat Catley through the Club if you are interested in having your boat featured here.

Madrigal is a 1999 Moody 46 brought into the CYCSA by Miguel and Carla Alemao. Moody have a reputation for producing quality family cruisers with spacious accommodation with an emphasis on blue water cruising and Madrigal fits these criteria. She has an extended waterline and an all furling cutter rig with a self-tacking staysail. This means she can be easily sailed by two people on long passages. Her 18 ton displacement probably won’t let her win many Club races but she is deceivingly fast even under light winds. Below decks Madrigal is incredibly roomy and boasts two large staterooms with en-suite heads at each end of the boat. A small double bunk cabin provides extra sleeping or can be used for storage. The well lit U shaped galley is very enclosed making it easy to prepare meals in all weather. There is a large fridge, separate freezer, a microwave and a four burner gas stove and oven. The navigation station has a full sized chart table with radios and chart plotter. On deck the raised elongated cockpit is comfortable and roomy with good visibility and provides protection from the elements with a hard dodger. The folding wheel gives additional room when entertaining guests. She displays a beautiful teak deck which has just been restored to its former glory. A Raymarine hybrid GPS plotter is housed in a console with Interphase forward scanning sonar, windlass and auto-pilot controls. A suite of B&G wind instruments is mounted under the dodger and relays to the navigation station. There is a folding timber cockpit table that opens to two sizes for cocktails or meal times. Madrigal is also fitted with a bow thruster which proves very handy when manoeuvring in tight quarters. All these systems are powered by an extensive battery bank and supported by an 800w solar system. Madrigal’s engine is a Volvo Penta Turbo 75hp with a Westerbeke 7.6KVA generator which is useful for the reverse cycle air conditioner. Not many yachts can boast a work bench with tools but Madrigal’s pilot berth has been converted for this purpose. Miguel fell in love with this boat when he and Carla went to Sydney in November 2020 on a boat hunting mission and stumbled across Madrigal which wasn’t yet ready for sale. From there they never looked back. He hired a professional skipper to sail her from Sydney to Melbourne as the New South Wales border was closed due to COVID. Then, with two friends, Miguel sailed her from Melbourne to Adelaide. Miguel owned a Fast 345 (Ron Holland project) back in 1992 but hasn’t done much sailing since then. He is now ready to make up for lost time. For the next two years Miguel will get to know Madrigal as much as he can by sailing her around South Australian waters. After that he is planning on longer cruises around Australia and after that, who knows? He chose the CYCSA to keep Madrigal because of the great Club atmosphere, great facilities (berthing, etc) and probably the best all-around marina for a vessel of Madrigal’s size. I wish you and Carla many happy years of sailing and thank you for allowing me to feature your boat.

Pat Catley

Alemina is a 2007 Bavaria 39 that CYCSA member Bob Vink brought into Marina East in late 2019. The cruiser is almost 40 feet overall featuring a striking mahogany lined interior and three double cabins, two aft and one forward. The forward cabin has a private toilet and shower while a second bathroom is shared by the two rear cabins. She has a full sized navigation station and an along-the-side galley comprising of fridge, oven, two burner stove and a double sink. The dining area in the saloon has a 12 volt television and one of the rear cabins has a DVD player. On deck the stern swim platform has an additional shower for hosing off the salt on those hot sunny days after a dip in the sea while the single wheel allows plenty of deck room for the family and friends. The Volvo Penta 40hp engine makes mooring a simple task and she has a 210 litre fuel tank plus a 360 litre water tank. Bob had been looking for a yacht once he finished full time work and after doing a lot of research on-line he found the one he wanted in Hillarys Yacht Club in Perth. Bob’s wife thought he was crazy buying a boat when his only sailing experience was in his late 20s on a friend’s boat. He had loved it then and the desire to one day have his own boat grew but had to wait until retirement. Bob considered having the boat transported to Adelaide by road but decided sailing her would be a good opportunity to learn everything about the boat and also the perfect opportunity to learn how to sail. He hired a very experienced Perth based skipper/instructor, Kingsley Piesse, and persuaded an Adelaide friend, Paul McDonald who had sailing experience, to join them and in October 2019 they set off from Perth. The trip was 1,490 nautical miles and took 9.5 days. The only stop they made was at Port Lincoln for fuel. To allow family and friends in Adelaide to follow their journey, Bob set up a SPOT tracker on the boat. The journey was full of adventure with whales coming within metres of the boat while rounding the West Australia coastline and, although delightful to see, they were sometimes a bit too close for comfort. The whales left and were replaced by dolphins as they approached Port Lincoln, following them and playing in their wake. Graceful albatross also kept them company for much of the journey. As happens in many Bight crossings they were hit by a storm halfway through the journey. The skipper took the helm overnight and steered them safely through but with 50 knot wind gusts and big seas they were hit by a couple of rogue waves making the boat broach once or twice. Ankle deep in water below decks was a bit disconcerting but with washboards in place and a bilge pump that worked really well the boat continued to sail. Bob’s wife Oana was following their progress through the storm and noticed the tracker registering seven metres above sea level and seven metres below which had her worried. She was relieved to learn the tracker was reflecting the peaks and troughs of the waves and not her husband’s antics in the sea. The boat was originally named Maestral but Bob wanted something more personal and, using the initials of his three children’s names, he arrived at Alemina after Alex, Mindy and Nat and what he found nice is that Alemina is a real name. It’s feminine and supposedly reflects someone who loves nature and the finer things in life. The name was perfect and Bob held a name changing ceremony to appease the gods of the sea. To celebrate the anniversary of Alemina’s arrival into the CYCSA he and Paul open a bottle or two of red each year. Since arriving in the Club Bob and his family have made several trips around Gulf St Vincent with Troubridge Island a favourite anchorage. Port Lincoln and Kangaroo Island are on the agenda with a long term plan to explore the islands of the Great Barrier Reef. Thank you for this insight of your time with Alemina. I wish you and your family many happy years sailing.

Pat Catley