RSAYS Squadron Quarterly Autumn 2017 by Royal South Australian Yacht Squadron

Quarterly

SQUADRON Volume 31 Issue 5 Autumn 2017

Royal South Australian Yacht Squadron

www.rsays.com.au

ROYAL SA YACHT SQUADRON PATRON AND MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE

OPENING TIMES

Patron Commodore Vice Commodore Rear Commodore Treasurer Committee Members General Manager

Dining Room, Jimmy’s Bar & Quarterdeck:

His Excellency the Honourable Hieu Van Le AC Rae Hunt Mahalo Bruce Roach Antares Colin Doudy Circe Ian McDonald Rachel Steve Beaufoy Outrageous Kevin Cook Summer Breeze Helen Moody Magic Beach Andrew McDowell

The dining facilities are positioned beautifully, overlooking the majestic view of the marina from all locations. The attractive setting provides a warm and relaxing feeling all year round

Opening Hours: Lunch from 1200: Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Public Holidays when advised. Dinner from 1800: Wednesday (Twilights), Friday, Saturday (and Sunday on long weekends). Sunday lunch Special - Seafood Platter (pre-order required)

xxxxxx Private functions any time by appointment xxxxx

SERVICE DIRECTORY

SQUADRON QUARTERLY TEAM

161 Oliver Rogers Road, Outer Harbor, SA 5018 PO Box 1066, North Haven, SA 5018 Ph (08) 8341 8600 Fax (08) 8248 4933 Email: rsays@rsays.com.au Web: www.rsays.com.au Office Hours; 9.00am - 5.00pm Monday - Friday 9.00am - 6.00pm Wednesday during Twilight Race Season 9.00am - 4.00pm Saturday and Sunday Closed public Holidays and Easter Weekend RSAYS Foundation Chris Mandalov 0417 847 836 Racing Committee Roger Oaten 0408 415 138 Cruising Committee Kingsley Haskett 0419 844 772 House and Social Committee Andrea Mead 0417 887 818 Juniors Committee Mitch Mead 0447 333 001 Sail Training and Race Support Heidi Pfeiffer 8341 8600 Etchells Fleet Captain Andrew Waterman 0408 856 012 Trailer Sailers Steve Lewis 0418 275 710 Seaweed Gardening Group Robert Henshall 8332 0889 Slip Master Julian Murray 0414 365 294 Finance Manager Joann Galios 8341 8600 Accounts Administrator Kathy Bernhardt-Loechel 8341 8600 Member Services Annette Turk 8341 8600 Hospitality & Events Manager Kevin Grant 8341 8600 Chef Brett Coldwell 8341 8600

Editor: Sally Metzer Production: Roger Oaten Regular Contributors: Barry Allison, Gill Hogarth, Steve Kennedy, Mark Sinclair, Jeanne Harrison, Shane Mensforth, Dr Peter Last, Deidre Schahinger, Helen Kearney, Trevor Hamlyn, Campbell Mackie Proof Readers: Anne Arnold, Sue Buckley, Fay Duncan, Peter Hansen, Gill Hogarth, Marion Holden, Dinah Harkin, Steve Kennedy, Lynda Walsh

Squadron Quarterly Deadline for the Winter Issue is Sunday May 14, 2017 Advertisements, editorial and photographs can be sent to Sally Metzer, Editor (sallymetzer@hotmail.com) or member.services@rsays.com.au or left at the Squadron Office. Material for an e-Bulletin can be forwarded to the Office at any time.

Disclaimer With exception of statements made by duly authorised officers and the editor and members of The Squadron Quarterly Committee, all other statements and opinions in this publication are those of contributors and advertisers. The Royal South Australian Yacht Squadron, its Management and Members accept no responsibility for statements by non-authorised personnel.

Front Cover Blue Diamond (Mal Denton) at the King of the Gulf Regatta

Amanda has a brand new Buddy! The lucky winner of our Summer SQ competition is Amanda Wilksch. Readers were asked what sailing pressies they’d like to put into the Buddy Wagon. Amanda skipped that and said she’d like the Buddy itself! ‘It will bring a new lease of life to my dad, Brian Snowden, so that he can continue to race on Redback II’ she wrote. Ken Case of Solid Integrity, retailers of Buddy Wagons, thought it was a winning gesture. Ken, (alias Santa!) is seen here presenting Amanda with her prize, valued at $278.

Page 2 SQ Autumn 2017

CONTENTS REPORTS From the Commodore �� 4 From the General Manager �� 5 Functions Report �� 7 Racing News �� 8 King of the Gulf Regatta �� 9 Sydney to Hobart Race �� 10 Geelong Festival of Sails �� 11 Adelaide to Lincoln Race �� 12 Volunteering at the 9’ers �� 13 Juniors Report �� 16 Cruising Report �� 18

REGULAR ARTICLES Editorial �� 3 New Members �� 7 Sail Drive �� 14 Women on the Water �� 15 Senior Members - Ric & Libby Ottaway �� 24 RSAYS Sesquicentenary �� 27 In Tranquil Waters �� 45 Berths for Sale & Rent �� 46 Events Calendar �� 47

FEATURES Traditions and Conventions �� 6 Flotilla for Kids �� 17 Cooinda Shield Presentation �� 20 City of Adelaide Update �� 21 Salvage Rights �� 22 Rick Cluse Sets Sail �� 26 RSAYS History: Magnus Wald �� 28 Bucket List �� 30 First Aid Kit Essentials �� 32 Sea Safety Day �� 33 My Boat: Margarita �� 34 Hooked on Fishing �� 36 Coconut’s Preparations �� 38 Anaconda II Round the World race �� 40 Tassie Tales �� 42 The Luke Tragedy �� 43 Book Review �� 44 Burial at Sea �� 45

Cruising Helmsman caps it off!

FTER reading in the last SQ of RSAYS member Pip Murray’s despair at the prospect of probably never being able to sail again after her stroke at Port Vincent last Easter, we contacted the editor of the Cruising Helmsman, Australia’s No. 1 sailing magazine and asked if Pip could be sent a backcopy of one of their issues, thinking it may give her hope. In the CH Nov 2016 edition she read of the plight of a plucky fellow sailor Dustin Reynolds who’d literally lost an arm and a leg in an unfortunate motor accident in Hawaii, but was now cruising single-handedly around the world. Not only did the CH Editor Phil Ross send Pip that particular edition, he also sent her pile of other sailing magazines published by the Yaffa Marino Group, plus a perky CH hat! Pip was delighted and after reading the CH article is now feeling far more positive about her future sailing. Here she is relaxing in her garden, reading her magazines and rarin’ to get back on the water. “I’m feeling stronger every day and hope to make it across to Vincent again this Easter”, she says. The story that has inspired Pip was in the November 2016 issue of The Cruising Helmsman on Page 38, titled ‘Dream to Reality’.

Autumn 2017 Vol 31 Issue 1 Published Quarterly ISSN 1037-1133 Print Post Publication No. PP532154/00016

EDITORIAL What an interesting mix of maritime people we have at the Squadron. You only have to flick through the pages of this colourful Autumn edition to see how fascinating they are! There’s Pip Murray (*see above) who’s in much better spirits that when we read her story in the last SQ and is about the hit the water again. There’s Mark Sinclair who is in full swing with his preparation to sail his beloved Coconut in the 2018 Golden Globe Race. There’s Peter Last who is keen to impart the Squadron traditions to us. What about Trevor Manoel and his good deed to a cancer-suffering fellow sailor? And Steve Kennedy who is passionate about fishing? How amazing are all those inveterate racers who keep us on our toes with their winning antics in the big races this summer? It’s as if everyone has something fascinating to tell .... even if they don’t realize until I track them down and insist they share their story! I want to thank everyone who has contributed to this edition, which I personally think is a beauty! From those involved in our editorial and GPS (Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling) teams, to those who’ve taken time to share their stories with us. Without them all the Squadron wouldn’t be the happy, vibrant, productive and supportive place that we all love. Please keep those stories flowing in - I’m always on the lookout for a centre-spread star! Now read on and see what you think!

SQ Autumn 2017 Page 3

FROM THE COMMODORE great week of competition culminated in a presentation night which saw our Quarter Deck at capacity and I was humbled to meet, speak with and present prizes and trophies to the multi-talented young women and men who competed over the week. The Club also gives a great deal of thanks to the organisers, officials, staff and myriad of volunteers for their time. Not forgetting those who volunteered their boats as safety vessels, without your involvement this could not have been possible.

Rae Hunt

WOULD like to extend a welcome to the New Year. However, it does seem a little late considering we are fast approaching the end of the first quarter. I trust everyone had an opportunity to enjoy the festive season and spent some time relaxing, either on or off the water. Squadron members who braved the unpredictable weather to meet at the usual gathering place at Browns Beach on Kangaroo Island for New Year’s Eve were not disappointed and partied with many members of our sister club (the Cruising Yacht Club of SA). A fantastic time was had by all and it is wonderful that events of this nature are being attended by members of neighbouring clubs and are now considered more and more as joint ventures and hopefully continue long into the future. The end of December once again saw several South Australian yachts enter the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race. The telecast start on Boxing Day was enjoyed by many over lunch in the comfort of our Clubhouse. Our Squadron entrants, Aikin and Enchantress did us proud once again and progress throughout the race was monitored via the online tracker by many of our members. Congratulations to the skippers and crew with special congratulations going to Aikin as the winner of the Battery Point trophy, as the fastest ‘small’ boat competing. Clubs along the Adelaide coastline have hosted a plethora of major sailing regatta’s which, over the past months, have lifted the profile of sailing here in South Australia. The Squadron was indeed privileged to host the 9’ers Nationals held over the first week of January and had the Club abuzz with activity. It was a pleasure to host and watch these talented sailors manoeuvring their super-fast yachts around the set courses. A

Page 4 SQ Autumn 2017

Wednesday Twilight racing is going full steam ahead. Although many skippers and crew state that these races are all for fun, their true competitive nature is shown where the merest fraction of a knot could make the difference in overtaking a competitor or taking out the valued prizes from our sponsors on the night. Towards the end of last year and to date, Adelaide’s changeable and often unprecedented weather has made for some very spirited sailing, but all seems to be forgotten when discussions and post mortems are conducted on the Quarterdeck over a meal and drink. The Squadron’s twilight racing nights are enjoyed by seasoned sailors and give novice and new sailors the opportunity to experience the exhilaration of keelboat sailing and perhaps continue onto weekend series racing. As always, our start boat and mark-laying boat volunteers must be thanked for their vigilance and patience… your efforts are greatly appreciated, without your participation our races would not be run.

l a

n i F

February generally heralds the start of preparations for the annual Adelaide to Port Lincoln yacht race for competitors. For many it meant that boats were booked to go up on the slip for annual maintenance, and all safety checks conducted, ensuring compliance with requirements for South Australia’s premier off-shore yacht race. This year was no exception, with a total of almost 50 local and interstate vessels registered to compete when the race started on Friday 17 February. To all the entrants who participated, congratulations! But, it was unfortunate that the unpredictable weather proved on this occasion less than ideal resulting in almost a dozen yachts electing to retire from the race. Congratulations to vessels Aikin (Caillin Howard and David Oliver) and Enchantress (John Willoughby) to whom I awarded Squadron trophies during the overall presentations at the Port Lincoln Yacht Club on Sunday. The Squadron has a great contingent of cruisers venturing far and wide with several members exploring the Eastern

seaboard while others sailed to Tasmania to participate in the biennial Wooden Boat Festival in Hobart. Another group is heading off for a cruise in company and to enjoy the milder March weather while cruising the Spencer Gulf. Cruising in company is a great way of meeting fellow cruisers and enjoy the camaraderie. Closer to home, the Club has seen an increase in functions, both private and general with many members enjoying the land based activities primarily organized by our General Manager along with others arranged by our House and Social Committee. The E-Bulletin or Newsletter is an excellent way of keeping abreast of social activities. Around the Club in other matters, the Management Committee and Board have identified a variety of maintenance issues that require attention sooner rather than later. Some areas will require specialised expertise and have been referred to our Development Advisory Panel for further investigation and recommendations. Other areas will be managed through normal channels. However, defined maintenance schedules will be put into place and practice to ensure that routine areas of potential failure can be identified within a reasonable time-frame and subsequently dealt with. Further information is forthcoming in our General Manager’s report. With the end of our financial year looming, it brings on other challenges relating to the year ahead and will no doubt continue to be at the forefront of both the Management Committee and Board discussions to ensure we look after our Club and members’ interests. In the meantime, may we all enjoy our Club, the camaraderie and the opportunity it affords us to enjoy boating. Jeff and I look forward to sailing across to Port Vincent for the Squadron’s annual Easter migration, hope we can catch up for a chat or a drink at the Commodore’s shout, we wish you all safe sailing.

FROM THE GENERAL MANAGER The launching tractor on the north bank area has had its hydraulic gear box overhauled recently, and some other minor maintenance repairs and servicing have also been carried out. The tractor provides a valuable service to members who use the boat ramp, and it is vital to the Club as it encourages the storing and use of ‘trailerable’ boats at the Squadron. The Club is looking at this area as having a huge potential for growth and the services provided are a key to its success.

Andrew McDowell

HE national spotlight has been on us with the Club shining during the ‘Summer of Sailing’ and the hugely successful Australian 9er’s Championships. The 9ers nationals were a huge victory and a great collaboration between officials, volunteers and staff to host a regatta that was described by the 9ers Association as probably the best they have ever held. We have received great positive feedback and recognition to all involved from the 9ers Association and have held a full debrief to ensure we pick up on any improvements that can be made. We currently have a proposal in with the Flying Fifteens Association for its 2019 championships. Overall, the experience and skills we have picked up from this summer’s event will go a long way to ensure our reputation and ability to host successful regattas in future is known around the country.

The new south-east maintenance pontoon project, which was installed back in late December and used extensively over the 9ers Regatta, is now complete. The project was not without its challenges as we assimilated new infrastructure. This can be repurposed if Stage 5 proceeds, with existing old technology. The result is a great credit to the engineering advice of members from the Development Advisory Panel. I wish to say a big ‘thank you’ to those volunteer members who helped complete this project in a short time frame, and on budget.

l a in

The ‘dry stand’ members have been continually updated on the progress of repairs and assessment of the facilities over on the eastern bank and have been invited to be involved in a consultative process. This has ensured that member’s expectations are understood and that the area is given a holistic approach when deciding on the most appropriate course of action.

The catering department has built on its great reputation with the highly successful ‘Chef’s Table’ events over the last few months. We have furthered the idea now

to invite a ‘high profile’ chef to be a guest at the next ‘Chef’s Table’ event who will work alongside our team. This will bring even more experience and an ever changing influence to the very popular event. The team, working closely with the House & Social Committee, has some excellent events coming up including the sold out ABBA show, Groove on the Deck and the Elton John Show, with more on the way. Finally we are pleased to offer a new online booking service in both the restaurant and at Twilight dinners that is making it even easier for members and guests to book a table. It has been great to see a new wave of enthusiastic and active members joining the Club in recent months. The Club’s new marketing campaigns, which have centred on attracting novice sailors and boat owners, have been a great success. There has also been an increase in the number of enquiries for berthing, which is a great sign. We are constantly looking at new ways of engaging with our current members and building on new potential members, but it is encouraging to see that we are performing well when compared with the benchmarks shown in the national surveys. We are currently engaging with our national body, Australian Sailing, to look at ways it can provide greater support to our Club and its members. We are hopeful of a positive outcome. I look forward to reporting further progress as these exciting developments evolve and, as always, I welcome comments that are constructive, without partiality and are in the spirit of ‘seamanship & fellowship’.

Maintenance and repairs have been an ongoing concern as we look to maintain aging infrastructure and look for better ways to improve our Club’s facilities for members. We recently had further damage to the hinge joints on the F&G T-Head after more bad weather that caused the connections to the concrete deck to snap. The repairs have been assessed by the insurance company’s assessor who was pleased to see that we have specified the repairs to be more robust than just a ‘quick fix’. This remedial work is being completed in the coming weeks. Further to this is, repairs are planned to the concrete piles in Stages 1&2 which are showing the effects of ‘concrete cancer’. The fender replacement program is going well, albeit slow, with other competing priorities for the maintenance team to attend to. We are looking to deploy a dedicated team to get this project completed sooner. We are also regularly attending to many issues with power and water on the marina that members may not be aware of as they are often unseen.

SQ Autumn 2017 Page 5

TRADITIONS AND CONVENTIONS By Dr Peter Last, RSAYS Historian The Squadron has a long and healthy history, with many respected traditions and conventions that have arisen over time. It is important that we are aware of these ‘norms’, and that new members in particular are introduced to them as part of our unique Squadron culture. Peter Last expands on some of the rules and behaviours that distinguish us from other sailing clubs.

longer need braided trousers or frock coats, although I was interested to see President Trump wearing one recently.

T was Commodore Tim Williams (1991-93) who first suggested that we formalise some of these ‘traditions’ and strengthen them as ‘conventions’. It was agreed that they would be defined in general meetings and would be binding on members in the same way as provisions of the Constitution, but without sanctions if they were not followed, other than expressions of displeasure ‘by appropriate means’. *Refer to Clause 8 of the Constitution. Commodore Jamie Cowell (1996-98) introduced the designations taken from the RAN and had them transferred to ‘Conventions’, thus replacing the need to go through the formality of changing the Constitution over matters of no great concern. When we bought Kareelah in 1967, there were some formidable senior members whom I regarded and treated with circumspection and respect. One was Sir Arthur Barrett, Adelaide’s Lord Mayor circa 1935. One day he remarked to me that there was a Squadron tradition that boat owners (but not necessarily their crews) addressed each other by Christian name. Thereafter I should call him by his preferred name, which was ‘Bob’, just as Sir Arthur Rymill (Lord Mayor circa 1954) was ‘Lum’. Somewhat taken aback, I hesitatingly thanked him as “Sir Bob”, which evoked a friendly chuckle. The black tie of our Number 1 Rig reflects the tradition of the Royal (and our Dominion Navy) in that it is in the memory of Lord Nelson. This is, in actual fact, anachronistic, as Beau Brummell did not introduce neck ties (replacing stocks) and trousers (replacing breeches and stockings) until after Nelson’s death. By then, whitening hair with flour and formal wigs (the ancestors of court dress) had also been abandoned. Our Squadron uniform was first enshrined in the Constitution in 1873, but has changed from time to time. We no

Page 6 SQ Autumn 2017

One convention, that I think is most important, is often being overlooked. It is that of removing headgear on entering the Clubhouse, and especially in the Dining Room. Surely this is a simple act of courtesy. I recall that Bryan Loftes tried to create a tradition that members who failed to remove their hats inside the Club should atone by buying the bar a drink, but this seems to have withered away. As new conventions are established, members are informed. The following are particularly relevant. Insignia: There are two Squadron insignia, both featuring a crown above a white (silver) cross patée. The burgee is triangular, of dark (Oxford) blue. The oval is a buckled belt, with a frogged cord between the crown and the cross patée on a dark blue background. The belt has the words ‘ROYAL SOUTH AUSTRALIAN YACHT SQUADRON’ on it.

l a in

Toasts: Squadron toasts, both afloat and ashore, are taken seated. This is in accordance with naval tradition, dating from an instruction of King William IV (1830-37). Dress: Male’s Official Dress (Clause 8.2 of the Constitution) be known as ‘Number 1 Rig’. Male Squadron uniform (Clause 8.1 of the Constitution) be known as ‘Number 2 Rig’. That a dress to be called ‘Whites’ be added to Squadron male dress and be known as ‘Number 3 Rig’ and comprise: white shirt

with or without epaulettes or Squadron badge, long white trousers with white socks and shoes, and either a navy blue or white Squadron jumper with or without a Squadron cap. Mobile Phones: The use of mobile telephones in the Dining Room and Library is prohibited. Members, guests and visitors must switch phones off before entering this area. Members ‘on call’ or expecting vital business calls during committee meetings, may, with the consent of the chairman, leave the phone switched on and may take the call away from the committee meeting. Public Comments on Behalf of RSAYS: All media enquiries should be directed to the General Manager in the first instance, followed by the Commodore. If neither is available, another Flag Officer should be contacted. In the unlikely event of none being available, the name of the media outlet, the enquirer, and a contact number, should be ascertained The General Manager or Commodore should be contacted as soon as possible and made aware of the matter. The restriction is on staff and members making comments purporting to speak on behalf of the Squadron as a corporate entity, in what may appear to be an official capacity. This does not restrict the freedom of members and staff to speak as individuals. It is quite likely that there will be occasions when it is appropriate for a member to discuss with the media such a matter as a race result or other activity or achievement. Keeping these conventions in mind at all times will ensure that the Squadron is a place of respect.

FUNCTIONS REPORT for the Elton John Show on Saturday 1 July 2017 at $75.00 a head. It will be a night to remember! Bookings via the RSAYS web site. Birthday Vouchers It is pleasing to see Club members using their birthday vouchers and making the most of the facilities and hospitality. The voucher of one main meal and a glass of wine is our way of saying “Happy Birthday to you’!

Kevin Grant

Chef’s Table This innovative concept has been a huge success and will continue to attract members and other fine-diners. As a new approach, guest chefs are invited to take the helm and interpret this concept as they wish. It consists of a four course meal, which takes place on the last Friday of the month. The next one is on Friday 31 March. Tickets are $55.00 and you will need to book early! Events Coming Up The ABBA Show on 25 March 2017 has sold out. However, tickets are still available

Sunday Seafood Platter Promotion No wonder it is popular! Comprising battered John Dory, salt & pepper squid, soft shell crab, Kilpatrick oysters, smoked salmon, king prawns and served with market salad, chips, tartare and cocktail sauce, it is yum! The Seafood Platter for Two is usually $65.00 but with the Sunday Promotion it is now $48.00. Please book early to help us with staffing and food ordering.

l a

n i F

Lunch Club Many thanks to the Lunch Club for their continued support of the Restaurant every Saturday. It is a pleasure to be looking after such an extraordinarily nice group of around ten people.

degree heat. This meant that dinner was required an hour earlier than usual. Just to put extra pressure on the catering team, the major power blackout hit ten minutes before service was due. There were no lights, the food was still in the oven and the gas had automatically cut off as well. Our innovative Chef saved the day by deciding to move the food onto the outdoor barbecue and he managed to produce dinner for everyone on time! Special Praise Positive feedback was received after a 50th Birthday celebration in the Dining Room on 4 February. The client thanked our popular waitress Catherine and the other serving and bar staff, saying “They did an amazing job and nothing was too hard. Everyone commented that the food was lovely and all were very happy”. Farewell Elliot! Our Head Chef Elliot Esca has decided to leave the Squadron and focus on developing his own business. I would like to thank Elliot and wish him the best in his new venture. Brett Coldwell is acting as the replacement Head Chef.

Power Blackout Not a problem, thanks to our quick-thinking Chef! The Twilight race on Wednesday 8 February was abandoned due to the 40

NEW MEMBERS Category Boat Name Family MISA Family MISA Family My Way Family Partner My Way Senior Hardstand Senior Hardstand Senior MOBY Associate Crew Crew Crew Crew Crew Crew Crew Crew Crew Crew Crew Crew Crew Junior Junior

Member Name David Blake Alison Blake Chris Liddiard Kathryn Wiltshire Mick West Wayne Thornhill Mark Lee Andrew McMahon Corey Jansen Emily Brown Paul Dixon Amanda Wilksch Sandra Shoesmith Adrienne Lea Nicholas Cooper Tanya Dodi Matthew Dingey Jonathan Martin Liam Craig Adrianne Ralph Nicholas Wipf-Grant Martha Ottaway Marcus Ottaway

Chris Lilliard is no stranger to the Squadron. As well as being a marine engineer, Chris is also a commercial diver and has helped the Club on numerous occasions. He’s done various jobs, from helping repair the moorings to retrieving lost mobile phones! Chris has been on the lookout for a boat and says he’s been thinking about joining the RSAYS for a long time. He and his partner Kathryn, a marine biologist, recently bought My Way, a (*insert boat description) moored at (insert berth number) on the north bank and have since taken out a Family membership. Chris’s work is taking him to the West Coast and Pacific Islands in the coming months, but he’ll soon be back restoring My Way to her former beauty! Welcome to the Club, Chris and Kathryn!

Wayne Thornhill has recently taken out a Senior Membership at the Squadron. His boat, a Trail Craft 6.4 m vessel, is now on the hardstand area on the north bank. Wayne is an importer and wholesaler and his boat was previously stored in one of his warehouses. His company, Gejay Agencies, supplies Bond’s sox and undies to all Foodland and IGA stores across Australia. It’s been doing so well he needed the extra space, hence the move. Wayne usually likes to motor across the gulf to fish off Edithburgh with his son-in-law Shaun, but he’s been so busy that he’s barely had time to use the boat this Summer. In fact, he’s only been out once! At the moment, Wayne’s boat is lacking a name. If any SQ readers would like to suggest a name, Wayne says he’ll give the winner a bag of crabs! SQ Autumn 2017 Page 7

RACING NEWS The 9ers Nationals started the New Year with 74 boats competing in three classes - the 29’ers, 49’ers and FX’s. The club was a hive of activity and it was great working with competitors, the 9ers Association and their families and seeing lots of happy faces around the club. Throughout the event we had close to 60 volunteers from the club and the 9ers Association, including some who came to see what all the fuss was about, and found themselves offering to volunteer too! We hope that by coming off the back of a successful event we can attract other classes that are suited to our facilities. Heidi Pfeiffer

HE last few months have been busy around the club and in the Sailing Office with our power boating courses, the 9ers Nationals, Kaesler Cup, Sea Safety Day, Adelaide to Port Lincoln Race and King of the Gulf regatta. There have been four power boat courses held since November run by Mitch Mead. It is a theory and practical assessment over two days with no test required and upon completion , an SA Boating Licence is awarded. Congratulations to Aikin and Enchantress and their crew on their recent Sydney to Hobart Race. It is always great to have representation from the club and well done Aikin on placing third in IRC Division 2 and the first ‘small’ boat to win the Battery Point Trophy.

9’ers Nationals

The Kaesler Cup, sponsored by Kaesler Wines and member Reid Bosward, made sure no one went home without a bottle of his fabulous wine. Thank you to Reid for his support, generosity and making sure everyone makes it to presentations as all boats receive a bottle of wine for just entering. We had 15 boats in the Sternchaser race starting in the Port River. This year’s finish was not as close as previous races, nevertheless it saw wins for Brenton Peggler Playground (CYC) and Wayne Knill Medium Rare in Divisions 1 and 2 respectively.

l a

n i F

Sea Safety held annually ensures that crew and those who prefer cruising are prepared for any scenario, especially those racing from Adelaide to Port Lincoln. For some who had not attended a Sea Safety Day before, performing the in-water drill gave insight into the difficulties of rescues and the necessity to be prepared for any situations at sea.

Photography: Graeme Brand

29’ers head towards the leeward mark

FX’s on the start line

29’ers on the start line

49’ers battle it out under spinnaker

Page 8 SQ Autumn 2017

The Adelaide to Port Lincoln Race saw 15 Squadron boats racing into a south westerly making it longer than usual and allowed no chance of getting a spinnaker up. Most boats arrived mid to late afternoon on Saturday with Mark Robertson in Horopito taking third place on PHS overall. Fastest Squadron boat was Aikin, with Caillin Howard and David Oliver also winning AMS. David Barnfield in Reprieve was awarded the Cooks Trophy by the Port Lincoln Yacht Club for being the last boat over the finish line. Following the race there were five Squadron boats racing in the Lincoln Week Regatta. Aikin was victorious again taking out AMS Div 1. Meanwhile at the King of the Gulf Regatta held in Port Vincent there were 15 Squadron boats included in the record number of competitors. They had a variety of conditions over the regatta and results were close in both multihull and monohulls division with the winners just making it over the line on a countback. Well done to Gerald Valk in Crosshair for second in the multihulls. Well done too for a trifecta of squadron boats in the monohull division - Colin Doudy in Circe, Mal Denton in Blue Diamond and Bob Francis in Renegade - who were first, second and third respectively. The Racing Committee is in the early stages of planning for the 2017-18 season and will be looking for feedback and changes in the next few months. Save the date for Presentation Night on Saturday May 6. More details will be available closer to the event.

Kaesler Cup

Photo: Peter Hansen

Kaesler approaching the finish

KING OF THE GULF REGATTA By David Eldridge, Regatta Secretary

The King is dead, long live the King! A report on the APC King of the Gulf regatta, held 17—21 February 2017 at Port Vincent.

NE of the best social and competitive regattas with all extremes of wind speed was decided at Port Vincent in the picturesque Gulf St Vincent between 17 February and 21 February 2017. The 2016 ‘Monohull King ‘was dethroned and another one crowned on a countback. Countbacks determined the top six positions in the monohull regatta as well as second and third in the multihull division. These close results summarise the close and exciting regatta that was the 2017 APC King of the Gulf. The regatta hosts three divisions ---multihull racing, monohull racing and a two-sail cruising division. The regatta started with the APC passage-race dinner hosted by the RSAYS. It was difficult for the speakers to hold the attention of the skippers with the massive liner Queen Mary 2 doing a 180 degree turn in the Port River in the background. We thought the thousands of passengers on the liner may be spectators trying to get a good viewing position for the start of the King of the Gulf passage race but it seemed they were pushed for time, and the Queen Mary 2 left for Melbourne in the dark. The passage race started in a good 15 kt breeze off the Adelaide coast with tight and aggressive racing to the middle of the gulf. Here the three fleets were all parked for two hours with no wind until a brute of a front hit the boats with 40 kt ferocity. With this new wind, the race was on again from the Orontes Beacon to Pt Vincent. G-Wizz took out the monohull division with Rimfire II and Blue Diamond taking out the minor placings. In the multihull racing division, the big Schionning cat Scamper won the EHC with the two carbon trimarans Crosshair and Carbon Credit in close company. The cruising division was taken out by the trimaran Eldo from the big monohull Four Seventy.

handicapping system kept new winners rotating onto the podium. Crosshair (Farrier F32) and Tearaway (Farrier F9A) won races in the multihull division while Circe (Elan 37) and Renegade (Holland 40) won races in the monohull division. In the Cruising division Aquitaine (Beneteau 43) and Sundog (Sunfast 40) were fighting it out. Monday’s race to Orontes Beacon started out in perfect conditions, flat water and 15 kts. As yachts neared the beacon, the wind dropped out and only some of the fleet were able to find a way through the calm. Witchcraft (Peter Hastwell) won the race on handicap with Eldo (Les Wilson) second. Sundog (Michael Edgar) was third in the Orontes beacon race, which was enough for him to clinch the overall King of the Gulf cruising title in a very close finish from Aquitaine (RSAYS) and Eldo (GIYC).

l a

n i F

Circe (Colin Doudy) won the monohull division of the Orontes Beacon race, Quarante-Deux (Lloyd Cushway) was second and Rimfire II (John Moffatt) third. By winning this final race, Circe was tied for the King of the Gulf crown with Blue Diamond, a Northshore 38 (Malcolm Denton) with both yachts equal on 11 points. Colin won on a countback, giving him his second KOG crown as he was the inaugural winner in 2015. South Australian yachting legends John Moffatt (Rimfire II) and Bob Francis (Renegade) were tied on 12 points. The 2016 King of the Gulf winner

Lloyd Cushway (Quarante Deux) was tied just another point back with Greg Patten (G-Wizz) on 13 points. Now, that is close! In the multihull division, the Orontes Beacon race was won by Scamper (Adrian Lawrie) with Aquila (Mark Johns) second and Carbon Credit (Peter Hawker) third. This gave the 2017 Multihull King of the Gulf crown and $1,000 North Haven marine voucher to Fifty Fifty skippered by Geoff Floyd from the Hastings Sailing Club in Victoria. Crosshair from the RSAYS was second overall and Scamper from the CYCSA third. The South Australian Multihull State Championships were held in conjunction with the King of the Gulf regatta using the national OMR rating system. The 2017 State Champion is Wilparina 3 with Rob Remilton from the Goolwa Regatta Yacht Club, winning from The Tribe from the RSAYS with John Hardy at the helm. Crosshair with Gerald Valk from the RSAYS and his crew were third. In summary, there are two new kings. In the monohull division, Colin Doudy won back his crown along with a handy $1,000 North Haven Marine voucher. South Australian multihull boats were again denied the multihull crown with the Victorian entrant Fifty Fifty winning the title although Geoff has to work out how to spend his $1,000 voucher from interstate.

The serious regatta started on the Saturday, and Greg Patten in G-Wizz (Inglis/Murray) dominated early in the monohull division as did Wilparina 3 (Diam 24) in the multihulls. The weather was ferocious with the first race being abandoned with another 40 kt squall hitting the fleet. Two races were completed in the day but all boats were heavily reefed. Sunday was similar but the winds had moderated to around 20 kts. The famed flat water of beautiful Port Vincent made the winds manageable and the event

Kings of the Gulf - Colin Doudy (Circe) and Geoff Floyd (Fifty Fifty)

SQ Autumn 2017 Page 9

through Simply Fun during the day but lost Chutzpah over the horizon.

SYDNEY TO HOBART RACE

Late that day, we had a couple of hours of running into a southerly swell at 10-13 kts that eventually claimed our boom-vang goose-neck fitting. A quick jury rig with a couple of metres of Dyneema and we were looking OK again.

By Caillin Howard

The Sydney to Hobart - We made it!

MAGINE us in the park at Rushcutters Bay last Christmas with the kids running around with water pistols, (doing their bit to use as much of the NSW water resources as possible), our wives enjoying the champagne and us sitting on the grass, hunkered around the boat laptop reviewing the nearly-final weather and tide forecasts and associated routing via Expedition and Squid. It almost looked promising: a beat out of the harbour, quick run down the coast on port with an important gybe sometime early in the morning. We liked the idea of delaying the gybe beyond the routing to hold out for a little more favourable current ‘elevator’ and, hopefully, hold on to the stronger northerly a little longer than those inside us (if that’s where they were to end up). The big question was: could we get around the final trough, due late on Day Two, that would close the door on the race somewhere midway down the East coast of Tassie? The three scenarios we had narrowed down to all varied, with one of them allowing us to just make it around the eastern edge of the trough, the other two putting us in an unpassable soft zone. We knew this was THE race, and one out of three options was slim, but it was a chance. We were going to have to throw everything at the first part of the race, taking bigger risks than usual, big sails and chase every wave relentlessly, to give us any chance of being among the chocolates. The night before the race was full of the regular anxiety but race day, as it tends to do, brought calmness: the waiting and prep finally over and now the chance to just get into it.

Page 10 SQ Autumn 2017

We were lucky enough to have a very big support crew. Apart from the families of the team, there were many club members, and friends from around the corner at the CYCSA and also Port Lincoln. ‘Thank you’ to you all. It meant a lot having you drop past, chat and wish us well. We cast off and headed out to the start, up and down with the storm sails, quick sail with the J3 to set the boat up for the start, and then lunch and the final pre-race brief. The start was as planned; mid line and, like the lessons learnt in the local twilight harbour-starts, we went for the early port tack to get out of sync with the fleet and work our way up the eastern side of the harbour, which although non-favoured, had less traffic. It played out well and we got out in front of two TP52’s and our ‘big brother’, the Ker 46 Patrice.

l a

n i F

Up went the big yellow kite and we settled in to sending the boat down the coast, at the same time trying to re-solder bits of copper scavenged from the HF earthing ribbon in an attempt to fix our 3G network antenna that had gone through the backstays on the second tack coming out of the harbour. We also got our last cheers from the Meads and Birksy and Liza (Michael Birks and his partner Liza) as they were well settled into their booze cruise for the day, heading north back through the fleet. The first night was a blast. We saw plenty of stern lights that we managed to catch and pass, and woke up to have both Simply Fun (HH42) and Chutzpah (RP Caprice40) in sight (both were in our division and owed us plenty of time on IRC). The morning breeze was light and we managed to sail

Late Day Two was going to be when we would either get through the gate or slam into the lull behind it. We were laying Tasman Island at the time with about 18-20 kts at a TWA of around 150-155 when we got a build in the breeze to 30-32 kts at TWA 145. We were flying and heading straight at the mark at 15-19 kts, only 160 nm out. Could this be the compression in front of the trough? Had we passed it? (The soldering hadn’t completely repaired our data communication so we were reliant on daily weather grib downloads via the sat phone, not real time updates). We had 30 minutes of absolute joy, feeling like this could be something very special, but also not counting our chickens, knowing how brutal this race can be. Then it was over as quickly as it had set in and we found ourselves in 3-5 kts with the wind direction indicator doing circle-work above us. The door had closed, and it was now just a fight for the division, which was not all bad as we found ourselves leading at the time. The fight through the lull lasted a couple of hours, and was accompanied by about 100 sail changes, just enough frustration to see Chutzpah step away to get in front of us and the Cookson 12 Pazazz to compress into us from behind. We were back to third but there wasn’t much in it and plenty of course left. We managed to get back in front of these two---overnight, chasing down Chutzpah and stepping out on Pazazz. Arriving at Tasman Island at 0600 is never a great time. We were welcomed with sea fog and a complete inversion while the wind waited for the land to heat up and get moving again. This was gut-wrenching but it’s not like we hadn’t seen it before. Pazazz took great advantage of being late and took seven miles out of us, sailing right up to the back of us before the breeze started to move again. We battled hard to the finish but were never going to have the runway to get back at either of them so we settled for third in Division 2. We did end up winning the Battery Point Trophy for the fastest ‘small’ boat, which was a great honour. There’s been discussion that we set a new record but it’s not yet in writing. Either way, a Hobart race in a 36 foot (11 m) boat in 3 days, 47 minutes and 50 seconds is always going to be a great race with very little to complain about. We ended up 31st over the line (out of 88 starters), 26th overall on IRC (2nd RSAYS boat to Enchantress which was 20th on IRC) and 3rd in Division 2.

Big lessons were learnt : when Andrew Puglisi sits in front of the GPS antenna, he blocks all satellite reception; it was a privilege to sail with Nic Berenger from France---he’s an outstanding navigator, helmsman and bloke; for Oli and me, this race was great, especially to share it with the boys we’ve sailed with for such a long time, and to be gifted a fast race was magnificent.

Port Davey was truly mind-blowing in its beauty, and Strahan, while a long way up from Hell’s Gates against ridiculous current, was a great town for a proper coffee, a bathroom and a recharge.

The trip back to Geelong via the west coast in company with Shining Sea was amazing.

Last but not least, congratulations to our ‘club brothers’ on Enchantress and the

‘Thank you’ to the team of Nico, Dunny, Billy, Carlos, Mitchy, Jessie and Pugs. It was a great adventure and we’ll probably be heading back to do it all again next year.

Aikin (left) and Enchantress (above) safely tied up at Constitutiion Dock

two other South Australian boats. Of the SA contingent, the RSAYS was 1st (Enchantress) and 2nd (us). It was a privilege to be the support act for the Enchantress team and to them, well done again for an excellent sail.

Aikin in the Derwent, finish in sight

GEELONG FESTIVAL OF SAILS By Caillin Howard

FTER returning from Hobart to Geelong, via the west coast of Tasmania, we left the good ship so we could have a little rest and return to the real world for a couple of weeks before going back to quickly fix the goosenecks of both the boom vang and boom. We joined half the old team and the local Geelong group, a mix of guys from Geelong, Colac, Portland and Warrnambool, with whom we have raced at this regatta over the years. As someone pointed out during the week, it was as if we’d driven from Adelaide along the Great Ocean Road and picked up our team mates from the towns along the way! We’d planned a training day so organised everyone to get in early, but of course the weather didn’t do the right thing. A group of us set out in the rain at 0600 hrs to sail Aikin from Geelong to Melbourne. We were met with a 30+ kt southerly which saw two of us (me included) doing the first shift in misery, albeit fast misery, with just the number 3 jib up doing 10-14 kts. At that rate, we arrived in quick time. Just before arriving, the second shift raised their heads after a dry four-hour sleep in their sleeping bags. Thanks boys, couldn’t have done that one without you! The only training we achieved that day was in dispute resolution as two of us thought it only fair that the off-watch packed and readied the boat while we got dry and

settled ourselves with a couple of coffees somewhere warm in Williamstown! Sanity and team unity (and stronger negotiation skills from Oli) won, and we sorted out the boat as a team, got brekkie together and awaited the arrival of the remainder of the team. Thankfully, the passage race started in more breeze than expected but then developed into the light fluky day we had predicted. There were lots of fingers of breeze and associated shifts, and the left of the course outside of the lay line gave more pressure and opportunity. We managed a respectable result and celebrated it, and our re-arrival in Geelong, perhaps a little hard that afternoon. The ‘best on ground’ in the evening went to a Secret Men’s Business team-mate in Adam ‘the Rat’ Common, who managed to get himself bench-pressed on the yacht club floor by a female Victorian crew member off a competing boat!

l a

n i F

The regatta was a great event, despite unfortunately being brought forward to before Australia Day this year due to the Victorian Government deeming a bike race more important than Sail Melbourne/ Geelong Week, even though this regatta is the longest continuously run sporting event in the State.

boats, Cookson 12, Archambaults, Sydney 38/36s, and ourselves. There was some great sailing and plenty of bow-to-bow action on all legs with different conditions slightly favouring different boats and a tight spread of handicaps. We had our work cut out and fair to say, we were outsailed by a few of them. Congratulations to Ikon (B45F) (who dominated the series in both IRC and AMS following an average passage race), Philosopher, (the Sydney 36 sailed by the talented Tassie youth, who had a brilliant regatta) and our weekly foes Shining Sea and Hobart challengers Chutzpah. We managed a 6th overall IRC and 3rd overall AMS. More importantly, we all had a good time especially during the last day: racing in a wind of 20 kts and building was just good fun and provided tight racing. Thanks to the McKenzies for putting us up at their house, as always, and also to the Royal Geelong Yacht Club for another good regatta. After some issues in Portland which required replacing the brass strut to the propeller shaft, the team got the boat back to Adelaide ready for the Lincoln race.

Corio Bay is a great place to sail, with flat water and plenty of shifts. It is very similar to Boston Bay with a greater choice of courses, and varied land and town influences. Division 2 had a great mix of boats: Beneteaus, J SQ Autumn 2017 Page 11

prospect of shaking the reef out. Discretion proved to be a better part of valour as the winds whacked in again very quickly.

ADELAIDE TO LINCOLN RACE By Paul Bogner, Arcadia 111

Photgraphs: Take 2 Photography

It was a dark and stormy night … Not the sailor’s cure-all medicinal kind, but a truly dark and stormy night. That’s the way gruesome tales begin.

CTUALLY, it started off a benign afternoon with only a hint of foreboding in the sky. The main foreboding came from the weather models, and the out-foxedby-technology weather man at the briefing, paraphrased ever so accurately and succinctly by Steve Kemp: “It’s going to be SHIT”. Strong winds, beating all the way against tides, with a large SW swell around the Althorpes and into Spencer Gulf. “Goodo”, I thought, “New boat, bigger, stronger, heavier, well prepared, great crew, shouldn’t be too bad “. And really, it wasn’t too bad. Arduous, tedious, joyless, soaking wet, lumpy, long. A proper adventure. Not too bad at all. We started conservatively with a No. 1 heavy jib in light airs, anticipating building winds, and expecting to sail to Wirrina before tacking right to make Marion Reef Beacon. The wind was slightly more westerly than forecast, and built steadily to a healthy 25 kts. We changed down to No. 3 jib and first reef to settle in for a rough night.

The fleet tracked down Gulf St Vincent at around 190 degrees. It takes a lot of nerve or supreme confidence in expensive routing software to overcome the irrepressible urge to tack early and lay the mark. Those that held their nerve were rewarded. The two TP52s tracked 15 miles south of Marion Reef Beacon. By this stage, there had been a steady stream of retirements with various gear failure, and one injured crew aboard Nina taken ashore at Glenelg. Nina resumed the race only to retire a little later.

l a

n i F

After a couple of years’ experience using Yellow Brick trackers, the Port Lincoln Yacht Club felt confident enough to drop the routine radio scheds. It was unusually quiet on the airwaves. Our good friends on Carioca Da Gema went missing for a while. Their navigation and communication systems failed, causing her to retire from the race. Along the foot of Yorke Peninsula was really much the same as the first leg, just a few less tacks and more vigorous waves. We saw apparent winds up to 39 kts. A soft patch before dawn had the crew excited about the

From left to right: Sarah Buckley, Katrina Slattery, Andrew Cornell, Peter Lewis (obscured), Joshua Doyle, Julie Bernardo, Paul Bogner (Skipper), Nick Chapman.

Page 12 SQ Autumn 2017

Around Cape Spencer, a large swell was breaking inshore. We tacked out again, and then once more to Dangerous Reef. We cracked sheets about two and a half whiskers. Wave direction was slightly better, and we held good pace along the rhumb line overtaking a couple of boats along the way. The first was Lincoln Mentor, one of Peter Teakle’s Sydney 32 fleet. What the heck? They had done extremely well through the night. Next was Asylum, just at Dangerous Reef. She is a Sydney 38 from the CYCSA and a good measure for us. Having some meaningful competition brought the team back to life right through to the finish. Even our longest-sleeping crew member (18 hours in the comfort of the port quarter berth), was roused enough to don wet weather gear and join the rest of us bleary-eyed real sailors on deck for the remainder of the race. Our hopes for some respite in Boston Bay were dashed as we rounded Cape Donington into a bay of foaming whitecaps fuelled by gusts of up to 40 kts. A spirited finish it was to be, all the time holding off Asylum. We crossed the line at 1521hrs, safe and sound, tired (apart from our record-holding sleeper), mostly well, hungry, thirsty and relieved in 8th place in Division 2 PHS and 9th place in Division 2 AMS. A reasonable first effort on Arcadia III. I was just glad to get there relatively unscathed. Congratulations are due to Matt Stephens and his crew aboard Lincoln Mentor. She was the overall winner on PHS as well as winning Division 2 PHS and AMS. They sailed hard and wisely to beat a fleet of bigger boats in a very tough race. Congratulations and thanks are also due to Peter Teakle and his team who stepped in to the major sponsor role late in the piece. A generous gesture and remarkable effort made it another spectacular event despite the weather.

HEN the call went out for volunteers to assist at the 9ers nationals the Multihull Yacht Association of SA decided as a group to provide two volunteers per day to assist. Essentially that was how I found myself involved as a member of the weather mark crew for the 29ers. Fortunately I have been doing Race Committee duties for sometime at the RSAYS, have completed a Race Officers course and assisted as a course boat member at the last Cherub national titles held in SA. This experience was invaluable in understanding what was going on and what was required on the race course. Having competed in numerous national titles in a number of classes helped me understand proceedings from a competitor’s point of view. I started sailing in Sabots built of plywood and moved on through a variety of dinghy classes including moths, cherubs,14’s and 18’s. All of these boats were pre-retractable bow sprits and we used to end for end poles on symmetrical spinnakers. I then moved onto Etchells and keel boats again with symmetrical spinnakers and poles that were dipped or end for ended. My first experience with a bow sprit and asymmetrical kite was on the 28ft trimaran I built. The point of this is the comparison with the 9’ers and the boats I used to sail. In particular the staggering rate of technical development in these modern boats. My first impression of the 29er was how small it was and how much sail it carried. The power it generated, its acceleration and speed and the boat handling systems were mind boggling even for a person who has been sailing high performance multihulls for many years. Next was the skill of the sailors

VOLUNTEERING AT THE 9’ERS By Peter Boyd

Photograph: Graeme Brand

in handling these go-carts of the sea. There was very little difference in skill at the top of the fleet and in a race any number of sailors could get the gun. There was also a good mix of female and male crew with many of the females at the top of the fleet.

From the start the racing was sharp, fast and furious with plenty of breeze 60 boats on the start line and a short course. Four races a day of two laps and an average 0.6 nm work meant there was no room for mistakes if you wanted to come out on top. In general terms you had to be near the boat on the start and be spot on with your gybe angles and boat handling if you wanted to place well. Make a mistake and there was a wolf pack breathing down you neck ready to take your place.

n i F

The best part of being a volunteer on the water is that you got a grandstand seat

to watch the racing. While the weather mark rounding’s were frantic for the boat crew the racing and boat handling were spectacular to watch. Having said that the efforts of the shore based volunteers made the work of the boat crews much more enjoyable with the lunches and other support provided on a daily basis. Overall the organization of the regatta was extremely good and it was a pleasure to be involved - a sentiment I’m sure would be shared by all the other volunteers. Seeing the new breed of young sailors coming through, their skill level and enthusiasm should ensure a bright future for our sport. If you haven’t tried it, the next time the club calls for volunteers, put your hand up. It can be incredibly rewarding. On the other hand, why wait for the call?

SQ Autumn 2017 Page 13

This race was sailed in a light breeze varying from north east at the start, then backing to the east with a hint of south east by the end of the day, by which time most entrants had crossed the line in front of the clubhouse. For those in the spinnaker divisions it was a rare opportunity to hoist their kites and keep them full for most of the race.

SAIL DRIVE By Trevor Hamlyn, Photography Chris Caffin

This year I entered the race with John Hunt, in his Sabre 22 Free. John is a sheep and cropping farmer friend from the South East. It was John’s first race so I told him that there were no sheep stations involved. He didn’t listen to me and instead ‘went for it’ earning first and fastest, first on corrected time (02:38:55) and also the Commodore’s perpetual trophy in Division 5.

Milang-Goolwa Freshwater Classic - 22 January 2017 Part of the Goolwa Regatta Week - 14 to 22 January

HE Milang-Goolwa, as it’s known in South Australia, is an annual event run by the Goolwa Regatta Yacht Club for trailerable yachts, large multihulls and off-the-beach catamarans and dinghies. My interest is in the trailerable yachts, which this year made up more than 60% of the fleet of 144 boats that crossed the start line at Milang in a light north easterly breeze. Trailerables have proven to be a popular entry level for Squadron yachties and their families, including our current Commodore Rae Hunt and many of our former Commodores for that matter, who in time have moved onto bigger craft. Rae and her husband Jeff were spotted on the lawns at the Goolwa Club, post-race, enjoying a perfect afternoon. It’s hard to establish just how many Squadron skippers were involved in this year’s event but my understanding is that there were only four of us, well down from previous years. I’m often asked why I continue to sail a trailerable and why I haven’t I followed the pattern of upgrading to a bigger boat. My answer to this question can be found in an analogy of cycling. I was given my first two-wheeler for my tenth birthday. It gleamed from top to bottom with chrome handlebars, a blue frame with candlewick paintwork and everything that I had ever dreamed of. Riding it was a feeling that I have never forgotten. It glided along effortlessly, the tyres making a faint hum on the new smooth bitumen along Cuthro Terrace, just up the road from home. The only other sounds to be heard were birds in the gum trees and the wind whispering in my ears. My first boat was a small trailerable and once again I was mesmerised by the effortless way that it slid through the water. The sound of the wind in my ears was familiar but this time it was the rigging that hummed, together with that unforgettable gurgle of water against the hull. Then there’s the tiller, who would be

Page 14 SQ Autumn 2017

without that fingertip control? Yes, there’s nothing better than sailing a trailerable! I could go on forever but enough romancing and back to the subject at hand. Half the fun of sailing in a Milang to Goolwa is the social sail to Milang the day beforehand, topped off by a few beers and a meal at the Milang pub or Sailing Club. Tradition among the trailerables is to nose into the small reed island less than 100 metres from the shoreline of quaint holiday shacks. Then it’s a water taxi ride to the town jetty for the price of a gold coin donation to the Goolwa Club.

l a

n i F

This year the morning of the race dawned with a perfect blue sky against the glow of shacks at the shoreline, each sharing a common verge of clipped green lawns to the water’s edge.

As far as I know the only other Squadron members in the race were: • John Phillips who crewed for Craig Birbeck on his Van de Stadt 7.1 Temeraire. Craig finished twelfth in Division 4 on corrected time (02:59:14). • John Hardy who skippered his Farrier 8 The Tribe, coming second in Division 7 on corrected time (03:03:42). • Iain MacDougall who skippered his Farrier F9 Goldfinger, coming third in Division 7 on corrected time (03:49:14). • The Goolwa Club is keen to see bigger fleets in the years to come, hopefully approaching the numbers of old. How about it, Squadron members? A comprehensive set of photographs can be seen at Canvas Sails: https://www.facebook.com/ canvassails/?fref=ts

Temeraire (John Pillips crew)

The Tribe (John Hardy skipper)

Free (Trevor Hamlyn crew)

Goldfinger (Iain MacDougall skipper)

WOMEN ON THE WATER By Helen Kearney

Women’s Keelboat Invitational

‘She was a wild and windy night…

REAT to see so many women out helming on the Ladies Helm, race eight of the Bethany Wines Twilight Series, held on 30 November 2016. 23 boats entered and the weather brought the best out of the skippers on the night. Winds were strong and the seas were very lumpy, which made for an exciting race that kept the skippers and crew on their toes. Helen Kearney who helmed on Clockwork for the first time, thanks to Bob Schahinger, said that one wave managed to launch her into the air and down to the bottom of the boat, and fortunately not off the boat. Luckily Bob was able to step in briefly - but the inevitable bruises resulted!

ACE 4 of the Nautilus Women’s Series, was the Women’s Keelboat Invitational Race, an opportunity for boat owners who can’t commit to the whole series to take part. On 11 December in 12 kt winds six boats entered, with Lisa Bettcher (Liesl) taking out first prize. The Women’s Series itself is keenly fought with current leaders School’s Out (Mary Ann Harvey), Freedom (Janice Watson) and third Blue Diamond (Robin Riedel).

l a inT

Division One had 11 entries with first going to Barbara Parker (Taniwha), second to Lisa Bettcher (Rimfire II), and third Lesley Roberts (Aria). Division Two had 12 entries with first to Naomi Fewings (Quarante Deux), second to Jan Perry (Nerana II) and third to Gen Thompson (Allouette).

Pacer Cup Winners: Heidi Pfeiffer presents the trophy to Helen Kearney and Helen Wilmer

Pacer Cup Challenge 10 December HE Challenge is traditionally held to celebrate the last race of the year prior to Christmas and the race takes place around the marina. Six teams of two entered. Another win for women occurred when Helens’ team (Helen Willmer and Helen Kearney), with combined age of 132 years, stole the Pacer Cup from the ‘young’uns’. It was a close – there were winners and swimmers - but the two Helens prevailed!

Pacer Cup Swimmer: Lisa Bettcher

TSASA 50th Anniversary Celebrations Combined with 2017 Annual Presentation All members past and present are invited to attend this event When: Sunday 21st May 2017 Where: Royal South Australian Yacht Squadron – 161 Oliver Rogers Rd, Outer Harbor Format: Presentation Lunch (at members cost) followed by a 50th year presentation and complimentary afternoon tea Time: Lunch – 12.00pm for 12.30pm

Afternoon tea – 2.00pm for 2.30pm

If you are interested in celebrating these milestones please put the date in your diary and start contacting all past members. Responses will be required early to avoid disappointment as numbers will be limited. For bookings or further information please contact Trevor Hamlyn 0418 318 644

SQ Autumn 2017 Page 15

JUNIORS REPORT By Stuart Davis

Our Juniors make the most of the summer sailing season!

l a in

T has finally been revealed! The mystery location for this year’s sailing camp, arguably the highlight of the Juniors’ Sailing Programme, is Clayton Bay. The camp is to be held on the long weekend in March, from Saturday 11 - Monday 13.

This year, after many years of heading up the River Murray, the Junior Squad, coaches, parents and supporters are all heading south. For any Squadron sailors who have participated in the Milang to Goolwa race, the area around Clayton Bay would be very familiar. It will however be a new experience for the juniors. Look out for the full report and photographs in the next issue of the Squadron Quarterly as well as the results of the Crusty Cup. The Junior Squad would like to thank Clayton Bay Boat Club for their assistance and use of their facilities over the weekend.

Final Sail Training for 2016

Pacer Cup

Page 16 SQ Autumn 2017

The final training session, Pacer Cup and Christmas celebrations concluded the Juniors’ Sailing Programme for 2016. Everyone was excited to be back in January with a mix of old and new faces. A solid breeze and some close racing on the first weekend’s racing in 2017 provided a surprise reminder to Sage and Sienna to control the boom when gybing. This is something of which all sailors should be aware. Not to worry - an ice block (one for the head and one for munching on) had both girls smiling again soon. The Squadron has a fleet of Pacers, Yachting Australia accredited coaches, sheltered waters, rescue boats, safety gear and many supporters. If you know of any girls or boys aged 8 to 18 who would like to learn to sail, just get in contact with the Squadron or one of the Juniors’ Sailing Committee. Then bring them along to try for themselves!

FLOTILLA FOR KIDS By Jennifer Griffin, Communications Coordinator, Little Heroes Foundation

Flotilla for Kids fun for all! Despite the threat of certain rain and a potential storm on Sunday 5 February, 65 boats braved the conditions for a fun day out on the water. Over $20,000 was raised for seriously ill children and their families supported by the Little Heroes Care Programme. Participants met at the Squadron for breakfast then went to their designated boats to assemble with the flotilla before setting off on the journey up the Port River. The flotilla, lead by the One and All arrived at Port Adelaide at 1200 hrs, where wharf-side markets were in full swing. Once anchored, the flotilla made its way past the wharf, looped back and saluted the crowd. The boats then made their way back up the river to the Squadron, arriving to a barbecue and drinks put on the Rotary Club of West Torrens.

Little Heroes Foundation Chairman Chris McDermott praised the generosity of the local community and the many participating yachts. “It was a fantastic day for all the families and children Little Heroes Foundation support, and it was great to see the public once again come out and join in the fun. The generosity and contribution from the many boating clubs and volunteers was incredible. Events like this aren’t possible without them! “

l a

n i F

Two Squadron boats were rewarded for their efforts. Winner of the ‘Best Themed Boat’ was Steve and Sue Beaufoy’s Outrageous, while Peter and Noelene Cooling’s Last Tango was awarded the ‘Most Colourful Boat’ prize.

Pirate fun!

The Little Heros Foundation’s new Corporate Relations Manager, Tony Modra was a big hit with the kids

A big day aboard Solomin Ophir

A colourful School’s Out passes Cruickshank Corner

More pirate fun!

Best themed crew from Outrageous

SQ Autumn 2017 Page 17

CRUISING REPORT Unfortunately, this resulted in most boats arriving on the afternoon of New Year’s Eve so setting up for the party was a bit rushed.

Kingsley ‘Bones’ Haskett

REETINGS to all members from me and the Cruising Committee.

The year got off to a good start with the traditional New Year’s Eve barbecue at Browns Beach, Eastern Cove, Kangaroo Island. While the weather hasn’t all been in our favour this season, we had good breezes to get across the gulf and after a day or so in Stansbury & Edithburgh, Squadron boats and others proceeded to make their way to the Browns Beach rendezvous.

With about 15 boats attending, this was the first year in many that Squadron cruisers were out-numbered by CYC and other yacht clubs but the usual stalwart cruisers of Amarina, Emma, and Mahalo were there waving the burgee. Bob & Gill Hogarth from Ellös managed to make it after motoring their dinghy 2km from Island Beach – now that’s dedication. They had troubles with their anchor winch but with a little assistance from Alan & Fay Duncan the next day, all was good and they were able to continue cruising.

This year Mahalo opted to settle in for a few days at Brown’s Beach and then a night at American River. Unfortunately the weather was a little on the cool side so there was no participation in water sports and no luck with our fishing skills. The return trip up the gulf had us experiencing all weather conditions. We set out in favourable winds, which picked up to 30 knots in Investigator Strait, and once past Cape Jervis we literally sailed into nothing. However, we picked up some breeze and then had a good sail up the gulf until around Brighton where we caught up with some hot weather and no wind – so we motored into the Squadron late in the evening.

l a

n i F

The CYC cruisers were well represented and the Bemee crew from Port Lincoln joined us again this year. We had landbased ‘cruisers’ Jacqui & Marty Heffernan from CYC camped in the nearby camping area while Garry Read with partner Jenny Barrie enjoyed some of the local B&Bs. It seems that there was another contingent of Squadron cruisers who, put off by the weather forecast, opted for supposedly safer moorings – pity really as it was a great event and the weather was not a problem.

This event is a lot of fun and worth the challenges of the trip to the Island and of negotiating return to boats after the party. Certainly the CYC crews have enjoyed attending the party in the last few years. It is also a good chance to take a few extra days and make the trip down the gulf. Yours in seamanship and fellowship. Bones

Australia Day Cruise to Stansbury By Ken Case and Lynda Walsh

Dinghies moored behind Aqua Lady for happy hour

ILLY Weather had some difficulty deciding just what to give us but eventually determined on perfect conditions for our Australia Day celebrations. Seven yachts made their way to the charming little town of Stansbury for the traditional BBQ, including Four Seventy, Kooringal, More Magic, My Love 11, Pyewacket (Welcome, Juliet and Hugh!) Stardust and Aqua Lady. So that we could not be accused of being frivolous, Alan O’Donnell (a long-time country GP) gave a very interesting and informative talk on first aid for yachties while Colin O’Donnell proved very helpful to the locals by un-snagging snagged crab nets and fishing lines as he rowed the dinghy out and back again under the jetty. Page 18 SQ Autumn 2017

John Wickham on Kooringal proved his worth yet again as he assisted David on Four Seventy with engine troubles. A great time was had by all. Thanks Alan O’Donnell for coordinating the cruise and thanks also to Sea Rescue and Coastguard for monitoring our wellbeing. The Squadron moorings make a stay in Stansbury just so easy. We must thank the organisers, Bones and Steve Kennedy, for their work.

n i F

l a

If you’re looking to cruise to a variety of places, enjoy company and camaraderie and like the security of sailing with others then check out the Cruising calendar on the website and in the Yearbook. All comers welcome.

FTER the fantastic haul and feast that we enjoyed last year, with everyone catching heaps of crabs, including some who had never tried crabbing before, it was unfortunate that the number of crabs that were caught this year was way down. If ever the old saying, ‘It is not the quantity that counts, but the quality’, can be used in the right context, this was the right time! The weather was fine, the number of people that came out to have a go was great, but the crabs were rather scarce, to say the least. There were several reasons for this, all beyond our control. Most of the participants would have noticed a long line of white buoys, stretching for several kilometres, starting from just off North Haven, about 200m off the end of both the Largs Bay and Semaphore Jetties, in a north to south direction. These were all attached to hundreds of huge crab pots, used by the licensed professional crab fisherman that operates in our gulf. We could never have known that he would pick our day, to fish out our favourite, and usually lucrative, crabbing spots, very early that morning. The other reason is that even though high tide was at 2212 hrs and the best time to catch crabs is when the tide is running, there was only about a half a metre of tide that morning. The RSAYS Cruising Committee had to use that particular day as it was already in our year book, and on the calendar. As both the co-ordinator for this event, and the RSAYS Cruising Committee Publicity Officer, I was very keen to make this a success again. I even asked some people who had never been crabbing before, like Ken Case, why they wouldn’t like to bring their boat out and have a go. He said he couldn’t go because didn’t know what to do. To help entice him to come and participate, I offered to lend him everything that he would need, and put Linda Vulfs on board with him, to show him how it’s done. He agreed that this was a good idea, and they subsequently caught enough crabs for a feed!

Crabbing Day- Sunday 22 January By Steve Kennedy

Linda with a double header

who had only managed to catch two crabs, and then decided to eat upstairs in the dining room! He kindly donated his catch to ours, to be shared with everyone. Martine and I then felt that we were in a position a bit like the story from the Bible, about the loaves and the fishes! As everyone began to arrive back, I was busy helping to show some people how to clean their crabs, and cooking several batches at the same time. I cooked boiled crabs, steamed crabs, and Sweet Chillie Crabs. These were by far the most popular, and I had many people coming back for seconds, and some for thirds! I had heaps of positive comments from many people who had both enjoyed the RSAYS Crabbing day, and also the seafood feast that we all had to share. I am sure that everyone will come along again next year if they can, and I hope that they can tell plenty of other members what a great experience this is. If possible, I will be trying to get some inside information on what dates the professional will be in our area next year, and work out a better date and time for 2018. As always, in ‘seamanship and fellowship’, helps us put on a great event. Thanks to all those who joined me.

l a

n i F

I was taking the Scout out for a run, which is a walk-around 6.5 m Power Boat, perfect for crabbing, and I needed a crew, because I had sent Linda off with Ken! I invited Martine Wesen, from Maritime Constructions, who was also a crabbing virgin, to join me in the Scout. Martine picked up the tricks I have very quickly, and we managed to score 16 nice big Blueys, before I had to head back in early before everyone else, to get the cooking gear ready for the large haul I was expecting from the rest of the boats. I was feeling very disappointed with my measly bag of only 16 crabs, as I very often get the bag limit for a boat, and I felt that the jokes would be coming thick and fast when everyone else came in. I had brought along my new super large four ring gas burner, to heat up the 38 crab cooker I have, to handle the large quantities that we had caught last year, and also another gas cooker, for heating up the large pot of Linda’s Sweet Chillie Crab sauce. (The recipe is shown on this page). Little did I know that even though everyone had managed to catch some crabs, the most anyone else had caught was five! I dare not mention the name of the former Commodore who had joined in,

Tasting the catch

SQ Autumn 2017 Page 19

COOINDA SHIELD PRESENTATION By Richard Smith Cooinda was a Registered British Ship until my father sold her. There were a few registered British Ships in the pool at the time Cooinda was launched. I believe the last of those entitled to fly the Blue Ensign was Harold Handley’s Cole 43 Minna. (*Ed note: Cooinda is to be found listed in the Laurent Giles Archive, with ‘Al’ Smith listed as the builder. She is reported as being registered as a National Ship of Australia.) Cooinda had her British registration number and registered tonnage carved into a Manchurian oak beam which featured prominently in the cabin. At my request, Robin located and retrieved the beam from the debris so that it could be incorporated into the display. I offered to have a brass plaque made to record a few brief details for posterity and subsequently provided this to Robin to add to the restored transom.

Richard Smith (left) and Robin Smith with the transom of Cooinda

A small piece of Cooinda preserved for the Squadron’s History

T 0330 hrs on Saturday 19 December 1953, my mother Marjorie Smith christened Cooinda on the old slipway. This was located where the gangway down to the marina is now located in front of the Squadron office. I was present to celebrate the occasion as a 10 year old, together with my younger brother Geoffrey and those who helped build Cooinda, plus the many guests invited by my mother, my father Alan and Maurice ‘Mock’ Sarah, who was a 50% partner at the time. Nearly 64 years later, on Friday 30 September last year, I was very saddened to see Cooinda being broken up at the wharf under the Etchells’ crane. Robin Smith (no relation) from Mameena was doing the work and he informed me he was planning to save the transom so it could be hung in the Squadron, perhaps in the planned extension of Jimmy’s Bar.

While it was hard to accept that it was time for Cooinda’s departure from the Squadron, I am extremely grateful to Robin for his initiative and the work he put in to restoring the transom for display and preparing it for a joint presentation at the Squadron Quarterly Meeting on 1 December 2016.

l a in

All we need now is a small extension to Jimmy’s Bar into the dinghy shed to provide more space to share a drink or a light meal, and to display more of the Squadron’s history.

Additional Information:

Mock built Taworri after Alan and Marjorie Smith bought him out some time in the early 1960’s Taworri was in the pool from the time it was launched then may have gone to the CYCSA for a while. Richard thinks it came back to the Squadron with Ron Danvers and was later owned by David Borg. It is still in the pool with current owner Peter Turner.

0330 hrs was the high tide for the morning. With only one slip for Squadron boats it may have been a busy time, there was no traverse at the top of the slip so only one boat could be worked on at a time. There was a separate light capacity slip for the two 21 footers which were launched for racing each weekend.

Cooinda being built. Richard Smith is the small boy on the foredeck

Christening and launching - Dec 1953

Page 20 SQ Autumn 2017

Sailing in the Port River

Being broken up - Sep 2016

CITY OF ADELAIDE UPDATE

Y the time members read this, the State Government may have decided on a site for the State’s Historic Vessels which is to include the Clipper Ship, the City of Adelaide. In July 2016 Clipper Ship City of Adelaide Ltd (CSCOAL) were led to believe there was still a possibility of the Clipper going to the Fletcher’s Slip Precinct at Port Adelaide, considered by many to be the obvious choice for a Maritime Precinct for all the state’s historic vessels. This was not to be. The developer, Cedar Woods from WA, had the final say, rejecting the CSCOAL proposal after two meetings. Last year Mulloway Consultants were engaged by Renewal SA to study the requirements and alternative sites for the State’s Historic Vessels including the Clipper Ship (privately owned by the CSCOAL Preservation Trust). The three potential sites were Hart’s Mill, Cruikshank’s Corner and Dock 2. CSCOAL participated in the study and, in parallel, we undertook our own review. Our directors, experienced in design and development of a major project, together with four experienced architectural and planning consultants, reviewed the options. Each site had varying degrees of amenity, ease of access and visibility from key locations in the Port. All were less satisfactory than the Fletcher’s Slip Precinct and none had the advantage of the historic buildings which still stand, and existed in the period the City of Adelaide served the Port and Port Augusta. The State Government is committed to provide suitable waterfront land to display the ship in appropriate surroundings. It has always been CSCOAL’s intention to set up a limited historic maritime village, for which

Where to now for the Clipper Ship? An update on the Clipper Ship by City of Adelaide Director, Past Commodore and Life Member, Richard Smith. the State Government has no obligation to contribute financially. This was appropriate for a site like the Fletcher’s Slip Precinct as sufficient space was available for supporting operations and attractions. This produced a viable business case for CSCOAL. The alternative sites now under consideration have varying opportunities to support infrastructure for the public and displays. None of them will be satisfactory for the co-location of all the state’s historic vessels unless they are easily accessed and are enhanced with highly visible landmarks identifiable from key locations in the Port.

l a

n i F

Assuming a site is selected by Government in the first quarter of 2017 and a workable plan with all participants is agreed by mid-year, a period of 24 months from now should be anticipated. A good target date would be the weekend of 4-5 May 2019 to coincide with the 155th Anniversary of the launching in Sunderland (UK) of the City of Adelaide on 7 May 1864.

CSCOAL’s 82m barge Bradley has occupied Dock 1 for more than three years on a temporary basis while a future site is selected. Later this year, Starfish Developments, the developer for the north and south sides of Dock 1, and Renewal SA will want us to move. The new site will not be ready so it is critical for us to be moved to a temporary location which is highly visible in the Port and has good parking. Near the Lighthouse or at the western end of Dock 1 would work well. Whatever permanent site is chosen it must be visible and accessible for vehicles and pedestrians, and it must also have a mix of attractions to ensure vitality and viability of ongoing operations. It is a fact that the Clipper Ship is attracting people from overseas and interstate to the Port, with approximately 25% of visitors inspecting the ship. With a new combined site it is imperative that it is supported by Tourism SA. How long will it take to have a new Maritime Precinct open?

Rita Bradd emigrated to Australia on the Heavy Lift Ship Palanpur from Rotterdam with the City of Adelaide. Rita recently gave a presentation on board City of Adelaide, supported by talented harpist Siobhan Owen during Rita’s poetry reading at the start and finish of her presentation.

SQ Autumn 2017 Page 21

SALVAGE RIGHTS By Toby Barnfield The general rules contained in these Acts are drawn from the old common law, developed by British courts throughout the 1800s—a time when nautical terminology was at its most colourful. Case names like ‘The Crown v Two Casks of Tallow’ or ‘The Undaunted’ are standard fare, and one of the pivotal salvage cases is the modestly titled ‘Raft of Timber’, decided in 1844.

The author at sea as a boy

HE misfortune that befell Raraku off the coast of Beachport in 2015 is by now well known to the yachting community. ABC News reported that the 40-foot yacht struck a reef in bad weather, leaving her with a punctured hull that caused her to founder. The crew made it safely on to dry land in a life raft, with the strong wind eventually propelling the vessel shoreward after them. The yacht was recovered just over a week later, but not before thousands of dollars worth of equipment and hardware had been pilfered from her, winches and all. The police called it a straight-forward act of larceny because no marine salvage rights had come into play.

The act of salvaging is pretty much the same now as it was then: it is essentially any service volunteered by someone that assists in the rescue or recovery of a piece of maritime property, such as towing a stranded vessel ashore or gathering lost cargo afloat near a shipwreck. Traditionally, admiralty law distinguished between different kinds of ‘maritime property’ that were allowed to be salvaged. A glance at a good dictionary of nautical terms tells us about them: ‘Flotsam’ is cargo found floating on the water after a ship has been badly damaged or has sunk.

l a in

‘Jetsam’ is heavier cargo jettisoned by the crew to lighten the load when the ship is in danger of sinking.

‘Lagan’ is similar to jetsam, except the crew will have attached buoys or cork to the items so that when they sink to the bottom they can be located and recovered later.

This incident has rightly raised questions from a number of members about the rules and regulations that govern marine salvage.

‘Derelict’ is the traditional term for a vessel that has been abandoned by its crew after foundering (filling with water), sinking, or where there seems no reasonable prospect of recovering it.

Laws relating to salvage are as old as seafaring itself. Today in Australia, salvage is controlled by two main statutes: the Navigation Act 2012 and the Admiralty Act 1988—both administered by the federal government and applied uniformly in all the states and territories.

Luckily for the 21st century sailor, the modern law of Australia treats flotsam, jetsam, lagan and derelict as the same thing, which it simply calls ‘wreck’. A sailcover blown overboard in bad weather is just as salvageable as a 70-foot ketch with a broken keel – all the same rules apply.

Photos are of the wreck of Raraku at Beachport Photography: Eleanor Ramsay

Page 22 SQ Autumn 2017

Matters can become complicated when it is unclear whether the vessel or property has actually been abandoned by its owner. The absence of crew does not necessarily mean that the vessel has been abandoned, as the traditional legal test looks at whether or not the master or the owner of the vessel intended to leave the ship behind and never come back for it—where, for example, they figured there was no hope of recovery. This potentially makes things difficult for a would-be salvor. How are you to know whether a crew intends to return for the empty wreck or not? Thankfully the law is not totally impractical here. It’s not up to the salvor to make enquiries in the heat of the moment about a vessel they come upon, so long as that vessel is ‘in peril’. Where a vessel is in immediate danger, or if there is a reasonable likelihood that it will be in danger if it’s left as is, then it can be lawfully salvaged regardless of the intentions of its owner. The commonest situations are where a vessel has run aground, has foundered, or is drifting unseaworthy. If there is time to make enquiries, it is good practice to contact AMSA, who keep records of any wrecks reported in the area. And where a crew is still aboard a vessel in distress, you are of course under a legal obligation (not to mention a moral one) to ensure the crew are returned to safety. For their efforts, a successful salvor may be handsomely rewarded. Some might salvage wrecks under the mistaken belief that they are allowed to keep whatever they rescue; but a salvager is not to be confused with a scavenger. Admiralty law treats salvaging as an act of altruism and good seamanship that is to be commended. As such, if you return a wreck safely to dock or dry land, you become entitled to a monetary reward – just like the

privateers of old. Some of the confusion may stem from the fact that a salvor retains control of the vessel (as opposed to ownership) until such time as they are paid this reward. The size of this bounty is determined by a Court of Admiralty, which in Australia sits in the Federal Court. A judge will look at the danger involved in retrieving the wreck and the amount spent in retrieving it and will give the salvor a portion of the worth of the recovered property. But this is only where a salvor has volunteered their service. If the owner of a wreck hires a large salvaging company to retrieve the ship, the company canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t ask admiralty for a reward because they have been paid for their service as part of a standard legal contract. A salvager then is closer to a good Samaritan than a pirate or a privateer. Vessels in distress

or fresh shipwrecks need to be left intact and, provided one has the means to do so, should be transported to safety. If you assumed all the fixtures and fittings on a ship remain the property of the owner, then the law should always be on your side.

A decision to take a boat in tow needs to be carefully assessed depending on relative size of the towing craft, conditions, urgency and distances involved. A large commercial fishing boat will usually be better suited to the task, or a salvage operator arranged by the insurer.

Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s fair to say that common sense also plays a big part in what you need to do in each situation. If you come across a fine yacht at anchor in Refuge Cove on a bright sunny day without anyone on board that does not mean you can take her in tow and head up the East Coast. Chances are the crew have gone ashore for a walk.

Marine salvage plays an important role in seafaring the world over. Admiralty law holds it in high regard as it recognises the contribution salvors make to the safety of ships and the health of the ocean. The longer wrecks are left unattended, the greater the risk of injury to passing yachts or of harm to the environment, so be sure to remain vigilant of your duties as a conscientious seafarer.

l a in

But if you find a boat empty and adrift well offshore then you would certainly need to make enquiries immediately, inform the authorities of the location by radio and, if safe to do so, go aboard to investigate and turn on the navigation lights to alert other vessels at night.

Thieves steal from yacht which washed to shore after hitting reef in Beachport, SA ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) Read the ABC report at: http://mobile.abc.net.au/news/2015-05-20/thousands-dollars-property-stolen-beachport-yacht-in-sa/6484470

SQ Autumn 2017 Page 23

SENIOR MEMBERS - RIC & LIBBY OTTAWAY By Barry Allison

This is the next in a series of articles by Barry Allison which records some of the experiences and adventures of our many prominent Senior Members of the Squadron. This account is of the long and varied sailing experiences of Ric and Libby Ottaway who are both longstanding Squadron members. Rick and Libby both nominated on 20 August 1969. The next boat was a 5.79 metre Payne Mortlock Sailing Canoe designed by Alan Payne in 1946. It was a two-man boat with two hiking planks, requiring considerable agility and skill in completing a race without capsizing, particularly in gybing with those extra long rudder tiller extensions. Their first boat Gug, originally from Broken Hill, was renamed Typhon and was raced successfully. However, Bob and Sue Perkins later developed a very lightweight hull and built Fugitive to beat the heavier boats, and that became Ric’s second canoe. (There are still four Payne Mortlock canoes on the Brighton & Seacliff Yacht Club’s register.)

IC’S sailing adventures commenced at the Brighton & Seacliff Yacht Club in 1965 when, at the age of 24 years, he was attracted to sailing in Brian Quigley’s Lightweight Sharpie Quest and learnt a lot about the thrills and spills of sailing this class of yacht – they only finished two races that season! (Brian was the brother of Alan Quigley of Youth fame). The 12ft Rainbow Class was becoming very popular around this time, and Ric and Rowland Richardson bought a Rainbow Outlaw which they sailed for one season until Rowley was transferred to the country. (Rowley is the current Vice-Commodore of the CYC). Both Ric and Libby were studying at the Western Teachers College at this time so Libby began crewing for Ric on the Rainbow, and did provide some ‘interesting’ exchange of sailing techniques.

l a

n i F

Valkyrie was raced and cruised over the next 12 years, with many voyages to Port Vincent, Edithburgh, Kangaroo Island and Port Lincoln with the Meyers, Jenny and Zita Smyth, Reg and Marg Lewis, Bill and Mona Pearson and Tony Baldwin – to mention a few.

After studying at the Western Teachers College in these years, Ric and Libby were married in August 1968.

Page 24 SQ Autumn 2017

In 1972, Peter Mander approached Ric and Libby to see whether they would be interested in forming a partnership to build a Pion design half tonner, and so the first hull and deck was delivered to the Ottaway’s home at Kensington Gardens in February 1973, and was named Valkyrie. (Karl Texler took delivery of Blue Angel, the second hull off the mould.) Valkyrie was taken to the Squadron in November, but when she was being pulled up for launching after the mast had been stepped, the Squadron cradle slipped off the rails. Ric and Hermann Meyer stayed by the cradle while Boy Trotter tried unsuccessfully to pull the cradle into deeper water, and they remained there overnight with the top of the mast tied to the pontoon. The scheduled launching was then set for Sunday, but 60 kt winds further postponed the christening until 1930 hrs on Tuesday when Libby was able, at last, to crack the bottle of champers.

Typhon at Barmera

Rainbow Outlaw

in new ones. At this time, Ric joined the Squadron Sailing Committee after a couple of protest hearings, one with Wilbur Tedmanson which Ric lost, and another involving a collision with Bill Jolly’s Wonoka which resulted in Anna being dismasted. Ric stayed on the Sailing Committee for the next 23 years.

In 1968, Ric commenced crewing with Peter Last on Kareelah in the Squadron Winter series and began a long association with keel boats. Both Payne Mortlock canoes were sold, and in 1969 the Ottaways purchased the Tumlaren Anna from Mark Tostevin and successfully raced her over the next three years. Anna was the first of Alan Jordan’s Celestes, and did need some maintenance, which required all the plank nails being replaced – quite a job, with Ric inside the cramped hull punching out the nails, and Libby on the outside hammering

Not all cruises went to plan and in December 1979 a cruise to Port Lincoln, via Port Vincent and Edithburgh, with Geoff, Elaine, Chris and Sarah Howland, started out well. However, when they could not find a good holding for their anchor at Edithburgh, they decided to sail back to Port Vincent. At this stage, with a dismal weather forecast to push on to Port Lincoln, it was decided to sail back to Adelaide and instead to drive to Wallaroo to holiday at the Howland’s shack at North Beach. During these years, Ric and Libby’s children, Dave and Mel, were both into dinghy sailing in Holdfast Trainers. Dave sailed Time Warp with Jason Wilson, and Mel sailed Kermit with Melissa Rundle at the Grange Sailing Club. (I wonder where these Holdies are today?)

Valkyrie on the Squadron slip

Ric and his crew were very competitive when competing in Squadron races, and won the Half Ton Championship in 1976. Then in December 1981 Ric sailed on Infra Red, a Van De Stadt Mander 11 metre, in the Sydney to Hobart race, and arrived in Hobart on New Year’s Eve. Ric was given the task of returning Infra Red back to Adelaide with Rowley Richardson, John Mophett, Ken Woof and John Inverarity as crew, and during this voyage he became very impressed with this class of yacht. A hull with keel, deck and rudder components was purchased and the long association with Peter Mander enabled Ric to build moulds for the interior which would be used for future hulls, thus saving some precious dollars with the fit-out. Valkyrie II was launched and christened at North Haven on 23 January 1987, with daughter Mel breaking the bottle of champers over the bow this time. The next 11 years were spent racing and cruising in both Gulfs with many of their friends. Both Ric and Libby were involved in a variety of other yachting activities during those years. Ric was a member of the Sailing and Racing Rules Committee, became a delegate to the YSA Board and was always available to take out visiting dignitaries, including a group of Japanese executives from Mitsubishi Motors. Libby, apart from being a valuable crew member, also contributed to running the races at the Grange Sailing Club, including the 125 National Titles at the Largs Bay Sailing Club in 1989-90.

The next boating adventure was not with sails but with an engine – a Mariner 28 – a stern-driven diesel power boat named Alexandra. She was bought from Johnsonville on the Gippsland Lakes in Victoria, and trucked across to the Squadron on the back of a semi-trailer. Alexandra was not the sort of craft that Ric and Libby were used to, and had a number of vices not previously experienced on yachts, so she had a short life with the Ottaways and was sold in 2003. Ric continued to sail with Dave Morphett even when owning Alexandra, and enjoyed Dave’s very professional sailing approach which is probably why Dave was one of the Squadron’s most successful skippers at that time. Libby usually skippered her on Ladies Day, often with a win. After True Blue, Dave re-built Slipping Away and raced her successfully, although she was rather small for him. There were a few sailing experiences before their next boat, including a couple of seasons with Neil Dell on Here-n-Now. In December 2003, Eastern Morning, a Sparkman and Stephens 34 built in 1970 was purchased from Daniel Haines, and was taken to Searle’s Boatyard for a complete overhaul before being returned to the Squadron basin in August 2004. Ric and Libby do not race Eastern Morning, except for an occasional Sternchaser, but cruise when the weather suits them and they enjoy going out fishing.

l a in

Ric and Libby have been keen crew members on Sapphire on Twilight races with the Henshall family and, more recently, have been crewing on Robert and Chris Henshall’s Luna Blue. Ric also is a volunteer on Miss Robyn as part of the Racing Committee, and was a great help during the Etchells National Championships in 2009 and 2015 and the 49ers National Championships in 2017.

Meanwhile, their son David graduated from the Holdfast Trainer into 125’s and Cherub dinghies, and crewed on Valkyrie II. He then crewed with Doctel Rager, first on the delivery voyages to Sydney under the command of the infamous Megga, and then in the 1997, 1998 and 1999 Sydney to Hobart races, before moving to America for the next seven years for his studies in Laser Physics. While in America, he twice crewed on the Newport to Bermuda race and also on the Marblehead to Halifax race. Since his return to South Australia, David today is an Associate Professor of Physics at the Adelaide University. He sails with his children in Mirror Dinghies at the Henley Sailing Club. Daughter Mel also graduated to the 125 class of dinghies and really enjoyed the social side of sailing until work intervened. She occasionally sails with Ric and Libby. Today Mel works as an executive manager in aged care at United Community, having achieved a Masters Degree of Nursing and an MBA. Libby and Ric are both now retired, after many years in the teaching profession and will often be seen at the Squadron tending Eastern Morning, crewing on Luna Blue on Twilight races and generally assisting in the organising of the racing scene. Ric’s experience for 11 years on the Racing Rules Committee, his knowledge of teams racing as an umpire, and as a member of the YSA Board is certainly invaluable to the Squadron.

Attracting and maintaining a consistent crew through these years was always a problem, as it is today, and led to many frustrating races where new crew had very little idea of the intricacies of racing, or which end of the spinnaker to attach to a halyard. However, there were many enjoyable races and cruises, including one memorable Port Lincoln race when Valkyrie II collided with Independence prior to the start. Independence lost her bow fitting and pulpit and withdrew, and Valkyrie II continued with a slightly bent pulpit. There were also cruises to the Banks Group and down to the South Neptune Islands where Libby’s brother Peter was the lighthouse keeper. Valkyrie II was sold in 1998, so Ric started sailing with David Morphett on True Blue in Twilight races, and leased one of David Henshall’s Etchells to sail on Saturday afternoons.

Valkyrie II

We wish them well and hope they have many more years of family racing and cruising.

Opening Day on Eastern Morning

SQ Autumn 2017 Page 25

So I was particularly interested in his set up when I had a cuppa on board in Hobart.

RICK CLUSE SETS SAIL

Have a close look at the accompanying picture. You will see his SSB {ham} radios (yes two of them!) and the cabinetware that Rick modified to house them and their ancillaries. Just above is the Pactor modem that allows him to email and to receive GRIB weather files via HF. He is finding that the GRIB weather information almost aligns with the BOM web site and thus, he’s satisfied that it is reliable. This is good preparation for being away from internet cover. The mounted laptop you can see is more or less dedicated to such HF communication.

By Di Moncrieff, Pied Piper 2

Rick Cluse off on a One Way Trip

As a ham, Rick has access to the wondrous WinLink capability. I used this link to see Rick’s track to Tasmania: https://cms.winlink.org:444/ maps/PositionReports. aspx?callsign=VK5ARJ&title=Position%20 Reports%20for%20VK5ARJ He logs on regularly so friends and his far ranging ham contacts can know where he is. And he can send short messages. Given the satellite and HF connections, this system allows tracking wherever Rick may be, mid Indian Ocean, Antarctica, or American River.

Rick on Airwaves, living his plan of a cruising lifestyle. The plan is to explore more of Tasmania then head off for a warm northern winter. Fair winds Airwaves, may your sails be ever filled.

a few people knew that J UST when Rick Cluse sailed his Catalina,

Airwaves, out of the Squadron pool for the New Year’s Eve party on KI late last year, that it was a one way passage. Sailors in company soon ‘twigged’ and he was given a modest but heartfelt farewell. I was lucky enough to catch up with this do-it-my-way single hander in Hobart a bit more than a month later. He was seeking another party, sailing up the Derwent for the 2017 Squadron gathering at the biennial Australian Wooden Boat Festival in early February. As it happened, Ian and I had just collected Vice Commodore Bruce Roach and Jill from the airport and were crossing the Tasman Bridge into Hobart to join Pied Piper 2, when we could all see Airwaves approaching the bridge spans beneath us. We headed for the coffee shop at Cornelian Bay just through the bridge and toasted Rick’s long voyage to cruising as we watched him drop anchor. A long voyage? Yes we thought! Rick has planned his cruising life deliberately, steadily and meticulously, initially still working, then when he retired. He had sailed with John and Veronica Wickham on Raraku for a long time and knew he wanted a suitable Catalina. When he saw a 400 Mk2 in Queensland in 2006 he knew what he wanted and his search began in earnest. Undeterred by unavailability on the used market, he ordered a new one. Built in Florida, US, Rick took delivery of Airwaves (how apt!) in 2008 as a ‘dry’ boat, ie never been in the water. He checked the crumpet like hull for open sea cocks very carefully before launch! Page 26 SQ Autumn 2017

A Rick Tip: When buying new, there are bound to be things not quite right. Rick decided that these offered opportunities and worked with the manufacturer to investigate and correct them himself when possible. This kept a good communication with the supplier but also it was the beginning of that greatest of expeditions; getting to know your own boat intimately It was how he discovered that an out of date jib furler had been fitted, and upside down at that!

l a in

Rick has a long connection with ham radio. In fact when Ian and I sailed our Pied Piper 2 to the Tasmanian west coast in 2009 Rick kept in touch via his new SSB HF radio that he had already fitted to Airwaves.

Rick at the chart table on Airwaves

He has a series of linked GPS transmitter/ receivers around the boat, ie at the chart table, cockpit, master’s cabin. So from wherever he may be on the boat, he is in touch with position and route progress. Nice, I thought! One person, big boat, position checks readily. Another pc is used for navigation software. With the autohelm following his digital route, Rick has manually steered very little since leaving the Squadron. It made me ponder how wonderful our autohelms are and how it has made single handing

deduces in more scientific terms. As a former windsurfer, where ‘you literally have the wind in your hands, pulling from the centre of effort’ he combines the scientific approach with strong experience from a slightly different field. It is clear that Rick’s preparation in Adelaide has been an enjoyable and detailed adventure already. Passaging the coast of SA, Vic and Tas, he did up to 150NM a hop, about the limit to stay awake and transit safely. He had intended to bypass Tasmania as he began cruising but knowing that RSAYS friends in abundance were to lob there in Feb, he has taken a detour. Wonderful! Ian and I extol the virtues of this cruising playground in southern Tasmania and hope that Rick comes around to the west coast with us when Anne and Steve Lewis and Helen Moody join us next week.

Airwaves route to Hobart

possible for those who enjoy the solitude. No wonder sailors tend to give them pet names. I asked Rick why he is doing what he is doing. He enjoys everything to do with boats, he says, (and I think like most of us, especially to do with our own boat) but some areas particularly. ‘There’s no time for boredom’, he says. His obvious area of expertise and enjoyment is electronics. He showed me an electronics parts locker. It was jammed packed with a carefully stored and ordered myriad of parts including capacitors. Lost as I was I was impressed! I was determined to remember ‘capacitor’ and include it in this story.

Mechanical aspects also fascinate him and just as well I say. No doubt Airwaves is a complex being with many mechanical and electronic systems that are well understood and maintained. Rick declares an interest in meteorology and undoubtedly knowledge is expanding. He enjoys studying GRIB files and interpreting the data available to him in relationship to what he observes about him. Surely one of the joys of what we sailors do is our relationship with sea and weather. Either a harmonious one or the more fractious. And finally, aerodynamics and the vectors involved in getting sail performance. I would have called it sailing the boat well to current conditions. Rick thinks and

Winlink 2000 Network, is a worldwide radio messaging system that uses amateur-band radio frequencies to provide radio interconnection services that include email with attachments, position reporting, weather bulletins, emergency relief communications, and message relay. The system is built and administered by volunteers and administered by the Amateur Radio Safety Foundation Inc., an American charitable entity and 501c(3) non-profit organization.[1] Source: Wikipedia GRIB (Gridded Binary) files which contain highly compressed weather data can be downloaded via High Frequency HF radio. Pactor modems are commonly used as is the Sailmail service (www. sailmail.com). This enables non-ham radio cruisers to access GRIB files and to transmit and receive emails outside of mobile data service areas.

RSAYS SESQUICENTENARY By Colin Doudy

OUR Sesquicentenary subcommittee is continuing to hone ideas for the Squadron’s 150th birthday in 2019 while learning how to spell and pronounce ‘sesquicentenary’! The sub-committee consists of Colin Doudy (Chair), Peter Kelly, Sally Metzer, Helen Moody, Bruce Roach and Lindy Taeuber. We would like to produce a promotional video for the event and are appealing to members to provide us with interesting film and/or video taken of Club events, members and their boats. It is believed that Norm Howard had taken some Super 8 film of Club events but it has proven difficult to track down this valuable material. We appeal to Club members to delve into

their memories and provide us with any information they may have that would help us locate this valuable resource. Peter Kelly and a team of volunteers are well underway in producing a comprehensive book which will detail the Club’s rich history over the past 150 years.

l a in

We also plan to promote the history of the Club using SALA and History Month events as vehicles of promotion in the lead up to the main events in 2019. To this end, we also appeal to our members to loan any paintings, pictures, artifacts, clothing, flags etc which would make such a display interesting. We need your help to ensure the 150 year celebrations are as memorable as possible!

150 Year Logo A reminder that we need a logo around which we can centre our promotional material. We ask you to design a logo by September 2017 which will be simple and compact but embody a sense of tradition and history of the Club over 150 years. The winner will receive a spectacular prize and the adulation and admiration of the entire Squadron for many years to come! If you have something to contribute please contact Colin Doudy on 0418811794 or scud86@optusnet.com.au.

SQ Autumn 2017 Page 27

RSAYS HISTORY: MAGNUS WALD By Colin Doudy 200 new members to the club. He was mainly responsible for the establishment of the fine clubhouse belonging to the Squadron on the Semaphore Esplanade.” In 1893 Magnus is recorded with J. Williams as the joint owner of Niobe which they raced with some success. The South Australian newspaper of the day, The Register, reported on a race held on Saturday 3rd Feb. 1894 -

FIRST became aware of Magnus Wald while attending a function at Glanville Hall, Semaphore, although his name appears in various Club histories. While never a Commodore, Magnus Wald made a huge contribution to forging the Club we enjoy today. Born in Kent Town in 1864, Magnus Wald was associated with the Royal South Australian Yacht Squadron for nearly 40 years, occupying the position of Honorary Secretary for over 16 years between 18841910. He lived at the palatial Glanville Hall, Semaphore, where he kept pet kangaroos on the extensive grounds. He married Clara Woodcock and they had two daughters, Mary, born in 1913 and Helen, in 1918. Magnus was a keen sportsman. He was also an active member of the Semaphore cricket and tennis clubs and helped to organise the Semaphore gymnastic club. As the Squadron Secretary, Magnus was instrumental in obtaining the Club’s first shed at Port Adelaide. Back in the 1880s the Club had the freehold of a block of land and a very old dilapidated shed on the Birkenhead side of the river. When Magnus took over secretary-ship, he set to work to raise the funds necessary to provide up-to-date accommodation. He was also a member of the Port Adelaide Council and Chairman of the Financial Committee of that organisation and was connected to the Stevedoring industry. On his death, the then Commodore of the Squadron (Mr. A. G. Rymill) is reported in the Register on Monday 26 January 1925 as saying, “The club owed its prosperity more to Mr. Wald than to any other member. The affairs of the Squadron were at a very low ebb, and there was a suggestion that it should be wound up, but Mr. Wald came to the rescue. He was elected to the position of Honorary Secretary, and by his energy and genial personality he introduced about

Page 28 SQ Autumn 2017

‘There was a nice southerly breeze blowing with smooth water, conditions which admirably suited the smaller yachts and enabled the course to be sailed over in good time. The course was as follows:Flying start from an imaginary line between Starter’s boat and Largs Pier, down to and round mark half a mile to north of the jetty, back to and round mark off Semaphore Jetty and back to starting point. Three times round. Distance about nine miles.’ A close race followed, with Niobe in hot pursuit of Katie when on the last lap – much amusement was caused by the Maggie, whose crew, evidently considering that the race had resolved itself into the game of ‘follow your leader’, sailed off with the northern mark boat. This manoeuvre was, however, frustrated by Rear Commodore Martin, who promptly sent one of his crew in his dinghy for the yachts to round, which they did in the following order: — Katie,Niobe, Neva, Nellie, Pelican, Waterlily, and Nautilus. Niobe continued to gain on Katie, and rounded the mark off the Semaphore just in her wake, followed by Nellie, Waterlily, Neva, Atalanta, Nautilus and Pelican. A most interesting race to the finishing post then took place between Katie and Niobe, each yacht trying to ‘blanket’ the other, but all the efforts of the Niobe’s skipper were smartly countered by the Katie’s sailing master, who elected to finish first at 5h 21m. 20s., Niobe second at 5h. 21m. 35s Nellie third 5h. 30m. A close race indeed.’

l a

n i F

Around the late 1880s, Magnus was one of a syndicate of five who brought the magnificent cutter Magic around from Sydney and into the Squadron Pool. At 52

Magnus Wald outside Glanville Hall

foot overall ‘with deep draught and fine accommodation’, Magic raced against the fast Fife racer Alexa which was a little smaller at 46 feet but could match Magic in the right conditions. Norman Ford, one of Magic’s crew recorded that she once cruised from Black Point to Outer Harbour in under three and a half hours, with a double reefed main and towing a dinghy! Most of the syndicate soon dropped out leaving Magnus co-owner of Magic along with W. Russell. Magic gained a reputation as a great cruising boat, making many trips to Kangaroo Island and Port Lincoln waters. Magic was later converted into a shark fishing boat only to be wrecked near Cape Cassini on Kangaroo Island on Easter Sunday, April 1958. Magnus Wald died in January 1925 and this eulogy was printed in the Register on Moday 26 January: ‘Mr. W. G. Randall, whose yachting yarns were published in The Saturday Journal in 1924, said: —’Magnus Wald (‘Mag’ always to old friends) has discharged port dues and crossed the bar outward bound. Mag and myself were yachting friends for more than 40 years. A bright, genial, loveable fellow, he was. Whether grafting at the winch, a long scope of anchor chain out, Magic dipping bowsprit into a short sea, dragging at throat halliards of her heavy mainsail, tailing on to those outrageous chain jib halliards, again up to middle on the beach, or hauling a fish net at night, he was just the same cheerful chap. Well might his motto have been ‘semper eadem’ (always the same). I have vivid recollections of Mag, Willie, Jack Playfair and Will Fisher, a deck of playing cards on the table, one of the company giving forth concertina music, and a blue fog of tobacco smoke that one could scarcely cut with a bait knife. Alas this quartet has gone west.’

The cutter Magic

SQ Autumn 2017 Page 29

because of low batteries from the three anchor recovery/deployments in the morning. Next morning, however, we found the main pivot bolt had sheared off and the alternator was held by the belt tensioner only. We backtracked 25 miles to Triabunna in case engineering assistance was required as we had to remove an engine mount to affect the repair. We tied up at 1545 hrs and started work immediately. With the pub only 50 metres away, three hungry, weary souls found their way across the road for a beaut meal beside the log fire.

BUCKET LIST By Trevor Manoel

On Friday morning, we had the broken bolt drilled and tapped out and after lunch reinstated the alternator and fitted a new belt to the raw water pump. Miles tried to procure a suitable replacement for the plough anchor, but to no avail, so we would have to return to Hobart. In the evening Miles cooked up South African chicken and rice and then it was across the road to the pub to watch the footy (Hawks thrash Carlton).

Sowelu moored at Jervis Bay

Helping a fellow-sailor fulfil his ‘Bucket List’ dream This is Trevor’s account of helping a sailing mate circumnavigate Australia.

COUPLE of weeks after returning home from Hobart on Catriona in June 2015, I received a mail-out from the Cruising Yacht Club of Tasmania. The owner of Sowelu, a 42 ft centre cockpit cutter, was looking for crew to help sail the Hobart--Sydney leg of an anti-clockwise circumnavigation of the big Island (mainland Australia). Skipper Miles is a cancer survivor with a circumnavigation of Australia on his ‘bucket list’. He eventually bought Sowelu, a Maple Leaf 42 built in Canada, which he thought would be ideal for the trip. My wife Jane was away in Europe for six weeks and I figured this was my kind of holiday. After a couple of lengthy phone calls to a chap I had never met and viewing photos of the boat, we both felt comfortable and I flew to Hobart on Thursday 16 July 2015. I met Miles for the first time at the airport and he explained that Geoff, the other crewman, was flying in from holidays in Hawaii that afternoon. Miles knew Geoff from the Sandy Bay Bowls Club but they had not sailed together. As it turns out, I knew Geoff from a Hobart--Sydney trip we both did on a 10 m workboat in 1990. It’s a small world. We spent Friday re-acquainting and supermarket shopping for the 21 day leg to Sydney.

We continued our cruise over the next few days, anchoring each night. On Monday 20 July, we anchored at Bryans Corner at 1355 in company with a cray cutter and were later joined by another cutter Cape Forestier. Bryans is the best local anchorage to ride out the forecast 20-25 kts northerly and we spent a comfortable night on anchor. We spent a lazy day on anchor all day Tuesday with a 20 kt northerly whistling through the rigging, and even got internet coverage with the dongle hung a short distance up the mast. However, early Wednesday morning, with the wind around 30 kts, our anchor started dragging and would not dig in. We re-set twice over the next hour with the same result so changed to the spare Danforth, which dug in immediately. The northerly continued to blow all afternoon, so we went ashore for a walk. During the evening, we found the fridge/freezer was not working, probably

Take 1: Sat 18 July to Tues 28 July After an early morning start on a typical Hobart winter’s morning, we loaded stores alongside the jetty near the Casino, and cast off with about a dozen well-wishers waving us goodbye. We set sail for Port Arthur and anchored in Carnarvon Bay. After drinks, our skipper, who turned out to be a great cook, made a beaut chilli beef meal. Page 30 SQ Autumn 2017

Rounding Tasman Island

The next day, after catching up on the gossip with an old friend, we motor sailed for Dunalley. At 1230 hrs, we were abeam Lachlan Island where earlier that morning a diver had been taken by a shark. We entered the Marion Narrows at high tide with the centreboard scraping a couple of times just west of the first red buoy and moored to the Dunalley wharf at 1610 hrs after an uneventful trip up the channel. The forecast 30-40 kt NW blew in a short time later so we spent the next day alongside with the wind howling through the rigging and squalls picking up the water out in the bay. Geoff got good video of seals and a dog at the fish co-op. Late that afternoon, we walked to the pub to watch Geoff’s Saints down Melbourne at the G. By Monday afternoon, the wind had gone around to the SW and moderated so we proceeded through the Denison Canal, anchored in Monk Bay and enjoyed another wonderful meal prepared by Miles. The next day we returned to Hobart, tied up to the Battery Point public jetty to unload and were back on our mooring after a great cruise in spite of a couple of hiccups.

Take 2: Thurs 10 Sept to Thurs 1 Oct On Thursday 10 September, we set off again, through the Denison Canal. We exited the narrows and set a course for Maria Island, dropping our new Manson Supreme anchor in the SW corner of the beautiful Riedle Bay. The next day, we motored to Wine Glass Bay, anchoring at the northern end of the beach, which is the most comfortable anchorage in the forecast northerlies. We spent three leisurely days there with beach walks, hikes up to the Hazards and spectacular sunrises. An early start on Tuesday 15 September: up at 0230 hrs for 0300 hrs departure for Eddystone Point. It was not much of a day with rain falling and overcast. We anchored on the northern side of Eddystone Point for a comfortable night, and headed off early the next day. After some good sailing, the breeze deserted us completely and we motored to Flinders Island. The forecast for the Bass Strait crossing for Thursday was ideal with 15-20 kt SW forecast so we departed at 0610 hrs and set main and headsail. At 0900 hrs, the breeze freshened to 25 kts so we put a reef in the main and had pleasant sailing conditions, mainly sunny for the rest of the day with the breeze constant. We had to rig a temporary compass light: I could not believe a 30 year old boat that had sailed from Canada and cruised the Pacific and New Zealand for years had everything except a compass light. By early Friday morning, the breeze dropped and then disappeared so on with the engine and moored at Eden jetty. We arranged the fuel truck then had shooters and a meal at the Fisherman’s Club. On Saturday, we had a lazy day with walks around town and lunch at the little café down near the jetty. The next day, we set off for Bermagui, sighting a number of whales between Bunga Head and Bermagui Breakwater and mooring at the new floating marina just inside the entrance. We spent a few days at Bermagui while wild weather battered the coast. By Friday 25 September, the wind had moderated to 15 kts but BOM issued

Sowelu at Triabunna

Sunrise at Wineglass Bay

warnings of dangerous easterly swell for surfers and bar entrances. The skipper walked up the hill above the eastern breakwater to check the conditions. At 0735 hrs we departed with our destination Batemans Bay. Two miles clear of Bermagui we had only 12-14 kts of breeze from the south. Batemans Bay Coastal Patrol advised waiting until 1200 hrs to transit the bar so we anchored in the lee of Snapper Island (not a comfortable anchorage in a large easterly swell). At 1650hrs, we up anchored and approached the leads. There were a couple of small breakers but Sowelu took them in her stride. We spent a couple of days in Batemans Bay exploring and entertaining visitors: the skipper’s son and daughter drove down from Canberra on Sunday. We departed Batemans on Monday 28 September, motor sailing in light winds, and picked up a public mooring in Jervis Bay at the Hole in the Wall, spending a very comfortable night in beautiful surroundings. To try and beat the forecast freshening northerly, we had an early start the next day.

There were many schools of bait fish on the surface and the echo sounder was showing the big fish lurking 10-12 metres below the surface; we also sighted five whales. At 1530 hrs, we reached Wollongong and rafted up to an old fishing boat undergoing a refit (won’t be going out in the early hours of this morning.) As I was putting long mooring lines to the shore a jogger went past and called “Welcome to the Gong”. On Wednesday, we departed Wollongong and were able to sail for a while, entering Sydney harbour and picking up a public mooring at Balmoral Beach (Hunter Bay). The next day, Miles rowed Geoff and me ashore at 0830 to catch the bus to Wynyard Station and then on to the airport. Miles and two other crew continued from Sydney to Mooloolaba, where I joined them for the Mooloolaba to Cairns part of the journey in May, June and July 2016 – story to follow! Sowelu is currently in Darwin sitting out the cyclone season.

Wineglass Bay

SQ Autumn 2017 Page 31

FIRST AID KIT ESSENTIALS By Alan O’Donnell

The First Aid Kit and Some Aspects of First Aid for Cruising Yachties This article is based on notes from an informal ‘after BBQ’ talk given by Alan O’Donnell, a retired long-term country GP and experienced cruiser, at the RSAYS Australia Day cruising event at Stansbury on Australia Day. Country medicos often have to do things when issues present, as indeed may yachties when faced with issues on board. The following is a snapshot of opinion about isolated aspects of the first aid kit, and casualty management.

•

The First Aid Kit

OUR association, club, government, or the Australian Marine Safety Authority have recommendations or requirements regarding kits. If however you are not faced with mandatory kit contents, most find a quality commercial kit a good start. But make sure you do have one on board at all times! Check that the following are included in your kit. • Bandaid strips Medium, large and huge, as cuts and abrasions are the common injury. Why cover cuts? Apart from keeping blood off things, it keeps the germs out. If infected, it also keeps them in, and stops seeding you, your yacht environment and clothing with bacteria. If you need to wash wounds, don’t use sea water (which has been described by some as ‘microbial soup’). Make your own saline wash with 1 level teaspoon of salt in 500ml of boiled water. This comes out at close to 0.9%, with which body tissues are quite happy. It does not sting as much as using fresh water. Try a little antiseptic cream such as Savlon or equivalent, applied to the dressing strip, not the wound, if it appears to be getting infected. • Sterile prepacked dressings Small medium and large. Crepe bandages 8cm bandages are essential for larger wound, fracture, and snakebite management, and they stop your shirt from having to been torn up! *See management comments below. • Small to medium scissors To cope with bandages, clothing etc. • A quality pair of pivoting forceps (similar to needle nosed pliers or ‘Spencer Wells’ as they are also known), to decisively pull out large and small splinters/foreign bodies etc. • Pharmaceuticals you should have on board • Paracetamol The safest, most effective agent freely available for pain relief. The Page 32 SQ Autumn 2017

•

added codeine variety adds very little. Avoid aspirin and the range of other antiinflammatory agents such as Brufen, as they can occasionally promote bleeding. Aspirin should only be used in case of heart attack, not for pain relief. Hydrocortisone cream No prescription is needed and it is very good for short term relief of itches, sunburn and similar where there is no infection. It is a simple antiinflammatory. Do not use it on fresh wounds or tinea. Savlon cream or equivalent, and Betadine antiseptic liquid are important. The latter is often used for pre-operative skin preparation. It is used to swab an area if you are considering pushing a barbed fish hook through skin tissues using your forceps. Terbinafine cream SolvEasy and other brands, are much more effective than many other antifungals, and in the wet yachting environment needs a place in the kit. Canesten brand laundry final rinse is sold in supermarkets. It is good to have on board particularly for long distance cruisers, as its use in the final rinse, hand wash or otherwise, will minimize bacterial and fungal residuals from clothing. There are good arguments for its routine inclusion in home washing for active yacht persons, and for washing, bedding, towels etc taken on board.

l a in

A few points to consider in the management of acute situations on board If it is serious, COMMUNICATE! This means using the radio, qualified or not. The qualified operator will have no problem, but if you are the only one left and untrained, simply remember ‘Sweet 16’! Call Sea Rescue or any station receiving on that channel for help, and things will happen. Fish hook Consider if it appears possible to push it through, or less likely pull it out against the barb. Have a pair of wire cutters at hand, the whole being swabbed in Betadine. Let the victim decide, as the decision may be different if you are in mid-Pacific or off Glenelg and close to medical assistance. Fractures ‘Confine but don’t move’ may be good advice, but if the limb (or finger) is way out of line, there may be occasions when the

patient will be happy to grit his/her teeth for a moment to have it gently moved into a less tortuous position - particularly if you are a day’s sail away from anywhere. Get the patient’s full agreement, indicate you have no special knowledge and say that it will really hurt. From then on it’s easy. Get someone to hold on to the upper part of the limb while gently but firmly pulling the lower, out of line part, down and then vaguely in line. Ten seconds will be enough to reduce the victim’s troubles from what was dire agony to simple agony, but the relief of the stretched soft tissues, use of a broom handle splint held with your crepe bandages and paracetamol can all make a big difference. But be warned, fractures swell and it will be necessary to prevent the splint bandages from becoming over tight. Bleeding Direct firm pressure over a bleeding point will virtually always control the situation. This is why your first aid kit needs sterile pre-packed dressing pads, both small, medium and large. Forget tourniquets unless dealing with catastrophic limb damage. Snakebite There are many snakes on some of the islands that yachties love to visit. Your treatment is geared to getting the patient quickly to the nearest hospital that has antivenin available. Stop the spread of the venom through the victim by immediate and quite firm, accurate, direct pressure over the puncture site and keep up that pressure using a crepe bandage. Stop the person from moving around. Stay at rest! All are important, and you will bless your crepe bandage supply. No washing, cutting, peeing on, sucking venom out, or sprinkling of Condy’s crystals is to be contemplated, because your hospital medico may wish to do a skin swab as a snake venom identification measure. Aside from which, the latter measures are not noted for effectiveness. Burns Quickly cover the area with a cold wet dressing reinforced with ice cubes if possible. I like to apply a thin smear of Savlon cream to begin with. Impetigo Last but not least, the interesting and far from uncommon condition of ‘Yachtie’s Bottom’. This is an impetigo of the buttocks, manifested by a maze of small pustular pimples brought about by sitting in Continued bottom of Page 33 ....

AVING for years considered that they should attend one of these annual education events at the Squadron, and having always been away sailing, this year the opportunity presented itself again and Bob and Gill Hogarth were home. They were two of the few non-racing members attending this day which was run by Bruce Macky. Bruce has been a member of the Club for over 20 years. He is a circumnavigator. He holds the Royal Yachting Association Yachtmaster Offshore Certificate, and is a registered RYA and Sea Safety Instructor. We have always been very safety conscious because of sailing in isolated waters with just the two of us. We have the safety gear and first aid kit to meet almost all the requirements for Category 2, but we wondered if there was anything else we could do or should have. We have often talked through exactly what we would do if one of us went over the side, and, at least as importantly, how we would bring that one back on board, in the likely rough seas at the time. We have tested our prime recovery aid – a life sling and found it a difficult and extremely uncomfortable experience.

SEA SAFETY DAY By Gill Hogarth

appreciated to stop the boat, deploy our safety gear and find the person overboard. • It would be extremely difficult for one person to get the other person back on the boat in the likely conditions. As the result of the day, we felt that we should look even more seriously at our procedures. With technological advances (such as Personal Locator Beacons) we have added yet one more thing to our safety arsenal – an inflatable Dan buoy.

l a in

The day started with a talk on safety at sea by Bruce, illustrated with some good short film clips. Then a talk by Andrew Ramsay, a medico who sails. Both talks were excellent. The afternoon was the practical side, with volunteers setting off flares and only the elderly excused from jumping in the water to see what it felt like swimming in their inflated lifejackets, and trying to help another. It was indeed, extraordinarily difficult to get several of these fresh swimmers back on to the side of a perfectly still boat and certainly rammed home the wisdom of staying on the boat.

Everybody would have taken away from the day what was important to them at the time. I learned that: • It is illegal to carry out-of-date flares (even though you have in-date ones as well) • There is no point using flares unless there are boats or shore stations around that will see them, nor if the wind is more than 15 knots. Like fireworks, set them off away from you and hold over the water. I had to use my right hand as

they were much harder to set off than I expected. Do not look at the flare when it is active – the light can damage eyes. Similarly, only deploy dye by day and if there is an aircraft who can see it. • MOB – stopping the boat, marking the spot electronically, keeping the MOB in sight and throwing out all possible flotation is hard with only two, so we need to be up to date with our procedures. I think I have more faith in Bob getting the order right than he has in me! • If hearing a May Day call, take down the details and head towards the problem. As the first responder is responsible for co-ordinating the rescue, wait 5 minutes before answering it to give shore base or a more appropriate or better placed vessel, the opportunity to respond. We felt enriched by the day and that other cruisers would be well advised to consider attending.

For us the key messages were: • Don’t fall off the boat! We had probably under-estimated how easily one can fall off. Defining practical procedures and obeying rules are at least as important as equipment in keeping the crew on the boat. • It would take the person remaining on board much, much longer than we had

Swimming with inflated life jackets

Man overboard drill

.... Continued from Page 32 moist, warm, sweaty unchanged underwear on hard moving cockpit seats for long hours. Given the right conditions, one tiny pimple on the bottom can spread like wild fire. The answer is prevention. Change to clean, dry underwear regularly, cover any pimple at the outset, and use a final wash agent like Canesten for the undies next time. Cardiac /Stroke Since I gave this talk I have been asked about cardiac and stroke situations. The outcome of these is most affected by the major consideration which is the time taken to get the patient to a major

hospital. Thus, again, communicate. This really is the first aid. On-board management of stroke should be focused on this, while attending to the obvious comfort and airway of the patient. The same can be said for spontaneous cardiac events generally, where the outcome is more related to the severity of the event and the time to hospital. CPR has its place on board if you are trained and practiced, but even then its real role is more in drowning, electrocution, shark injury and the like.

Editor‘s note: Most people who may require an EpiPen will have theirs with them on the boat, but some boats carry one in case of a requirement to resuscitate somebody who has had a allergic reaction (anaphylaxis). A very expensive item that might be useful in saving a life after a sudden cardiac arrest is a Automatic External Defibrillator. These run from $1000-$20,000.

SQ Autumn 2017 Page 33

MY BOAT: MARGARITA By Gill Baker

Ernie and Rick enjoy a perfect sail

The Importance of Being Ernest!

UR Margarita has a new owner! She is now under the care and control of Ernest Jimenez, an experienced sailor with a fascinating family history of sailing. Rick and I are sorry to say goodbye to her. We’ve had her, in one form or another since 1980, some 36 years. We started the build from a paper pattern of the wooden frames which make the shape of the mould, progressing on with foam, fibreglass and more fibreglass. After endless work over 13 years, finally the launch took place in 1993 and was then followed by 23 years of sailing. We loved the cruising lifestyle. We took her to Sydney, where we lived aboard, and we sailed to Far North Queensland, which we loved. All up, Margarita has been in South Australian waters for eight years during which time we have enjoyed the RSAYS and the Gulf. Margarita is ready, willing and able to be taken into a whole new era by Ernie, who we know will love her as we do and give her the chance to fly!

Page 34 SQ Autumn 2017

Ernie came to Australia at the age of five, the youngest of six children. His parents, Alex and Carmen fled Franco’s Spain in the early 70’s and settled in Sydney. They worked hard and by 1985 were thinking of retiring and touring around Australia in a four-wheel drive vehicle. By chance they met a young Spanish couple who were sailing the world in a small yacht. Until then, they had never had any interest or knowledge of boats, but they realised that there was a different world out there from the one they knew. Within two months they had purchased a boat, some charts and attained some rudimentary sailing skills and with Ernie, now 18 years old, set out from Sydney Harbour to circumnavigate the world.

l a

n i F

The boat, a Duncanson Capella 37 ketch was appropriately called Nova Vida which is Portuguese, meaning ‘New Life’. It certainly was a new life for them. The first leg was fraught with problems which included engine trouble before leaving Sydney Harbour, heading out into a black nor-easter and being swept down the coast

towards Nowra. In spite of this Carmen, who could have been expected to give up sailing, decided she liked it. Another drama unfolded as they were approaching Mooloolaba. Ernie, calling on the radio for directions, saw Alex collapse and altered the call to a Mayday. The Coast Guard and a helicopter came out to rescue them. The helicopter’s winch was broken, so that they could not lift him and fly him to hospital. The Paramedic had to jump from the helicopter and get into the rescue boat as well as Alex, leaving Ernie and Carmen to sail the boat by themselves in a horrific storm. Alex was rushed to hospital and a perforated ulcer was found to be the problem. After his recovery they decided to sell the boat as too many dramas had happened, but as we know, boats can take a while to sell. Some weeks later, as they had not sold it, they decided that they may as well continue with the voyage. They went on to Darwin and then to the Cocos Keeling Islands. In those days it was a different world as far as communication

at sea was concerned. Carmen, in a queue to use the public phone to let family know they had arrived at Cocos, found that time had run out before she could get to the phone, so she did not make a call. What she did not know was that, had she made the phone call, she would have been told that one of her sons, Alex Junior, had been shot in Sydney and was in a critical condition. He was innocently drinking at the Coogee Bay Hotel where he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. He had been shot through the chest, perforating both lungs and he died twice while on the operating table. His good recovery was due to the fact that he was very fit and active. Two months later when they arrived in Sri Lanka they called home, heard the news of the shooting and, happily, that Alex Junior had recovered. The drama was over and they had known nothing about it. Alex Junior and another brother Valero joined the boat and they sailed from Sri Lanka to Sudan, five people in a 37-foot Duncanson. Alex, Carmen and Ernie sailed on into the Mediterranean and arrived in Spain where they were given a great welcome. Alex wrote a book about their travels, written from the point of view of Nova Vida and it is very informative...if you can read Spanish! Alex and Carmen and Ernie had proved to be a good team. Alex was a very practical and innovative person and soon became a proficient sailor. Carmen cooked wonderful Spanish dishes in mid-ocean and Ernie was the strong crewman. They crossed the Atlantic, went through the Panama Canal and then across the Pacific back home to Sydney. The voyage had taken three years. They met Alan Lucas while navigating the Panama Canal. There is a chapter on their adventures in Nova Vida in his book Cruising Australians published in 1989. Ernie joined the Army and was in training for the SAS, continuing his energetic and adventurous spirit, jumping out of helicopters etc. Unfortunately he was badly injured in a road accident which meant leaving the Army and many years of rehabilitation. His brother Alex has a yacht in Florida and he and Ernie have done some extensive sailing in that area around Cuba, the Caribbean and the Panama Canal. Ernie saw our advertisement for Margarita on line while looking for a Roberts 53. There was Margarita, sounding Spanish, with a mirror-ball in the salon, indicating her role as a ‘party boat’. His brother had bought a Roberts 53 some years ago in Adelaide and Ernie had helped him sail it to Sydney. Maybe history will repeat itself , this time with the brother helping Ernie sail Margarita back to Sydney? Ernie contacted my husband Rick who sent through all the extra information required and the

Ernie relaxes aboard his new boat

surveyor’s report. Ernie drove to Adelaide and when he viewed Margarita across the water from Freeman’s Landing, his love affair with her began! We took him out for a sail on a perfect day. Subsequently she was lifted out on the travel lift at Adelaide Marina for a survey. The surveyor gave Margarita a glowing report, remarking on a very well built boat and Rick, as the builder, felt he had passed the test as well.

it in Pedro Jiminez casks, what else? A limited bottling has just been released. Ernie himself is in the process of distilling his own rum, naming it ‘Southern Crossbones Rum’ or ‘Crossbones Rum’. It is in the early stages of production and he is hoping that this enterprise will help him finance his sailing adventures. He plans to take Margarita to Sydney for a while and then set sail out into the wide blue yonder.

Ernie is based at his brother Valero’s Joadja Distillery near Mittagong in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales. This is a historic mining village which his brother has made into a distillery. Valero is producing a whisky and, of course, he is maturing SQ Autumn 2017 Page 35

After moving to Semaphore, my father worked at the Plasterboard Factory in Port Adelaide. Often the Falie would bring in her load of gypsum from Stenhouse Bay to be made into the walls of many of our houses in Adelaide. As a shift worker, he had plenty of time to take me fishing in our new waters. We caught large quantities of fish, crabs, sharks, and cockles in many different ways: hand lines, fishing rods and reels, long lines, trolling with handmade lures, gill nets, trawling, cast nets, and often dabbing for garfish at night.

HOOKED ON FISHING By Steve Kennedy

Spanish Mackerel from Ningaloo

HAVE almost always lived within casting distance of the sea. I was born at Stenhouse Bay and my first memories of fishing are with my late father John Kennedy, who I think probably taught that TV “expert” Rex Hunt how to catch a feed. After dad knocked off in the afternoon, we would often cast a line off rocks near the jetty, and almost always caught more than we could eat. Many times we would come home with a mulloway so large that my father struggled to carry it . Excess fillets were shared around town with neighbours. Our house was no more than 50m from the water, and we could see Rhino Head through the kitchen window. When there weren’t any ships in, my father and some of his mates would sometimes set a large wire rope line off the Stenhouse

Bay jetty, attached to one of the enginedriven gantry winches. They used a 44 -gallon drum for a float, and a very large hand- forged hook baited with a lamb, or something of a similar size. When one of the prevalent large white pointers took the bait, the sheer force of trying to pull the drum underwater set the hook properly. This made it an easy task to start the diesel engine, and winch the sharks out of the water. The largest one I can remember seeing suspended would have been about 5.5m long. One of these white pointers had sadly taken a young boy when we were swimming in shallow water off Cable Bay. In those days, nobody had any compunction about catching and killing such man-eating predators. These early experiences set in place my insatiable desire to catch sharks, and over the years I have landed many . Before I was 16, I had caught two more than 3m long.

Steve’s father John Kennedy hooked up to a snapper

Page 36 SQ Autumn 2017

l a in

As the eldest son in a family of seven children, I was both enjoying the art of catching fish with my father and helping him feed us all. We never wasted any. If we caught more than we could eat for the week, I had a long list of buyers. I would deliver them fresh on my push bike in crates mounted front and back. They were cleaned and wrapped in newspaper in lots of 12 and sold for $2 per dozen. One night while dabbing for garfish not far from the Squadron we landed 200 dozen. You don’t need a calculator to do the maths. I am sure these sales helped my parents put seven children through private schools, and private colleges. In those days, we had the use of a 4.8m wooden clinker boat with a single cylinder Blaxland diesel engine which we often took out to our ‘secret spots’ in the gulf, putting along at about 4 kts. There were times when we caught many species, including plenty of snapper, whiting, flathead, tommy ruffs, mullet, gummy sharks and tuna. I was totally hooked on fishing. During most school holidays I would spend my time at the bottom of Yorke Peninsula helping out as a deck hand on many of the professional fishing boats . Before starting my apprenticeship as a diesel mechanic I worked out of Port Turton and Pondalowie Bay on shark boats, scale fish boats, and tuna boats. . At the end of my first year of work, I was asked by Stan Iwaszczuk, owner and skipper of Pelorus, if I would crew on board over the Christmas and New Year

Shark caught at Stenhouse Bay

holiday season so that his deck hand could have time off to spend with his family. I jumped at the opportunity, and spent 22 days on the south side of Kangaroo Island starting at 0330 hrs, setting and pulling 65 cray pots every day. The average daily catch was 100. The skipper stayed in the wheelhouse steering and turning the cray winch on and off. I had never worked so hard in my life, but I loved every second of it. My seat was a short plank behind the wheelhouse, about 12 metres back from the bow, sometimes with water pouring off the roof and on to me. Stan would blow

Pelorus

the horn when a cray pot float was coming near, and I would have to dash up front to hook the line. We were often heading into huge seas, with masses of water sweeping across the deck, and I never wore a life jacket or a life line. Things were different back then. We anchored most afternoons in Hanson Bay, and sometimes close to Remarkable Rocks. As my working day finished about 1530 hrs I was allowed to fish and keep the catch for myself. What a life. The skipper gave me space in the wet well to keep my haul and when we returned to Port Adelaide (without setting

foot on land all that time) I sold my fish to the crowd at the wharf. I earned as much money in three weeks, as I had for the first year of my apprenticeship. I have spent most of my life fishing whenever I have the chance, and have caught large ones in every state of Australia. I simply cannot wait to get back ‘out there’ again. Good luck with your fishing, and don’t hesitate to look me up for a chat if you would like to learn about some of those ‘secret spots’ just off our coast.

Tuna caught off Largs Bay

SQ Autumn 2017 Page 37

COCONUT’S PREPARATIONS By Mark Sinclair

her and so she is once again ship-shape. Joshua was sailed by Bernard Moitessier and is named after the first solo circumnavigator, Joshua Slocum. She is well cared for by the Maritime Museum of La Rochelle in France. Although Moitessier did not complete the original race, he continued on his voyage in the Southern Ocean to ‘save his soul’ as it were, sailing one-and-a-half circumnavigations and finally stopping in Tahiti after 10 months at sea. Both Suhaili and Joshua are legendary. The GGR committee is currently evaluating whether the race in 2018 will start from Falmouth or Plymouth. The original race required participants to depart from any port north of latitude 40 degrees north between 1 June and 31 October, 1968. Participants started from a number of ports in the UK and Ireland, including Inishmore, Hamble, Falmouth, Plymouth, Cowes and Teighmouth. The initial plan for the 2018 race was to start in Falmouth on 14 June 2018, the 50th anniversary of Suhaili’s departure. However, Plymouth is now also being considered as a potential departure point, due to its extensive facilities and very active interest in the race. The fact that four of the nine competitors departed from Plymouth also provides a strong historic link. Both ports are strategically located at the western end of the English Channel and provide relatively easy access to the North Atlantic Ocean. There is currently a competitive process between Falmouth and Plymouth to host the start of the 2018 race and a decision is expected in April. If Plymouth is successful, there is also the possibility of a short race between Falmouth and Plymouth on the anniversary of the original race, with the actual race departing from Plymouth at the end of June. A delayed departure would have the benefit of better weather conditions for sailors on arrival off the Cape of Good Hope in early spring. Following the GGR conference, I hedged my bets and visited both Falmouth and Plymouth to determine the lay of the land at each port.

l a in

Mark Sinclair meeting Sir Robin Knox-Johnston at the Paris Boat Show

Here is an update from Mark Sinclair for his preparations for Coconut and the 2018 Golden Globe Race. On 6 December last year, I had the great pleasure of meeting Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, the first person to sail solo, non-stop and unassisted around the world in 1968 - 69. By accomplishing this feat, Sir Robin became the winner of the Sunday Times Golden Globe Race. We met up at the conference for the 2018 Golden Globe Race (GGR) which was held at the Paris Boat Show. Interestingly, I found out that Sir Robin and I share a connection through a mutual acquaintance: Lieutenant John Leech. They served together on the frigate HMS Duncan, Sir Robin as a watchkeeping and communications officer in the RNR and John as the navigating officer. During this time Sir Robin was also preparing his yacht Suhaili for the historic first circumnavigation. In 1987, I was the navigating officer of the hydrographic ship HMAS Moresby under the command of Commander John Leech RAN, who by that time had transfered from the RN to the RAN. John subsequently was promoted to Commodore and later served as the Hydrographer, RAN. Small world indeed! To celebrate the start of the 2018 GGR, it is planned for at least two vessels from the original race to be present: Suhaili and Joshua. Sir Robin still owns Suhaili, recently refitting Page 38 SQ Autumn 2017

You may have noticed that Coconut returned to the RSAYS on 1 December last year. We have subsequently reshipped her mast with new standing and running rigging, new headsail and staysail furlers, new boom and spinnaker poles. All halyards now lead back to the new doghouse to minimise time spent on the foredeck which will improve safety. At the time of writing, a new pulpit, pushpit and solid guardrails at a height of 80 cm are being fitted. Heavy Sampson posts and fairleads from which to tow warps in the event of heavy seas have been manufactured and are being fitted to the quarters. New tracks have been fitted for sheeting the headsail and staysail, and new sails have also been made. You may have noticed the distinctive bright orange band at the head of Coconut’s new mainsail, as well as the go-fast stripes

near the head of her mast and on the boom. Coconut is highly conspicuous with her orange livery, and I am frequently recognised during initial trials in the Port River and in Gulf St Vincent. You may have also noticed Coconut’s race number on her sails, the lucky 88. The next priorities are to install the ship’s batteries, solar panels, wiring, lights, engine instrumentation and communications equipment, including HF transceiver and receiver, VHF and RDF. Refurbishment is also required down below following her refit, including installing a bookcase on the starboard side of the main saloon where the lockers were removed to strengthen the hull. Future work also includes building an emergency rudder, making the companionway more watertight, reorganising bilge pumps and installing a life raft. There is also a lot of cosmetic work to be done which hopefully time and resources will allow. Recently, I resilvered my sextant mirrors, and tracked down and purchased a 1904 US navy chronometer and deck watch for navigation. These are currently being cleaned and rated, and will serve as my primary timepieces for astro-navigation during the voyage. Very soon it will be a matter of sailing and testing Coconut in a wide variety of conditions to make sure everything works, is practical and is optimised. I will have to race her efficiently and in the right direction for a period of 10 months without outside assistance, so no amount of trials and spares will be too much! The current plan is to transport Coconut to the UK at the end of the year as deck cargo on a container

Coconut’s race number on her new mainsail

ship, in order to be prepositioned for the race in good time. I am very grateful for all the help and encouragement I am receiving from members of RSAYS and elsewhere. I wouldn’t be able to undertake this project without such support! If you are interested

you can follow Coconut’s preparations on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ CoconutGGR/ (‘likes’ are highly appreciated), and the Golden Globe Race at http:// goldengloberace.com/ The clock is ticking …

Coconut’s deck is starting to come back together after the refit

SQ Autumn 2017 Page 39

Leaving for Malta in 1979 Roger took command of the 27 metre staysail schooner Nordleys and set up a charter operation in the Mediterranean. Nordleys was sailed to Sardinia, Corsica, the Isle of Capri and other islands of the Aeolian Group in the Tyrrhenian Sea, before returning to her home port of Malta. Roger then sold the business but stayed on with the new Italian owner while the transaction was completed. After taking the new owner’s traditional Turkish motorsailer back to the Isle of Salina in the Aeolian Group, Roger bought a farmhouse in Pollara, a tiny village of 50 souls living at the base of an extinct volcano. While working on its restoration he met and married the daughter of a wealthy Milanese industrialist who had a holiday house on the Island of Panarea. The marriage was celebrated at the Villa Reale in Milan – a former palace of Napoleon.

ANACONDA II ROUND THE WORLD RACE By Arthur Vandenbroek and Campbell Mackie

The 1975 Financial Times Round the World Yacht Race and the crew of Anaconda II - Part 2

HIS is the second instalment of the story of the crew of Anaconda II 40 years on from their epic participation in the 1975 Financial Times Round the World Race. Julia Steele, who was the Financial Times race liaison officer, attended their 40-year anniversary celebration in Adelaide in March 2016. Her observations of these veterans are insightful and revealing. Here are some of her comments: “The joy of recognition, warm hugs – it was like seeing family again. I felt taken back to those days of carefree youth and adventure. We shared something monumental and I imagine it will bind us for life. I loved observing the crew greeting each other, in huddles, sharing stories, jokes, anecdotes, roaring with laughter, then moving close together again for another little confidence.” And so to the stories of the other two watches from 1976.

The Cruising Watch The watch master was Owen Trewartha. After the race he continued to sail on Anaconda II from St Katharine to South America, where he left her to join Gordon and Mary Cook on a 70 ft wooden schooner Wavewalker. Deep in the Southern Ocean on the voyage to Western Australia the boat almost sank. The tale of the feat of seamanship that ensued is chronicled in the March 2010 edition of Yachting World and in a book titled Schooner to the Southern Oceans. On his return to Australia and the RSAYS, Owen sold his boat Natani to Arthur Vandenbroek and bought a Duncanson 37 called Nova Vida and with his new partner sailed to Airlie Beach in Queensland. Sadly he drowned there while body surfing, despite his partner’s best efforts to revive him. Regrettably his plans to embark upon a round-the-world cruise were never to be realised. Page 40 SQ Autumn 2017

Following completion of the race Roger Scales signed on as Bosun of the sailing ship Marquese – alias Beagle – for the BBC/ Time Life production of The Voyage of Charles Darwin. The recreation of Darwin’s voyage took him to many famous ports down the Atlantic, through the Straits of Magellan and into the Pacific, including the renowned Galapagos Islands.

n i F

l a

On signing off from the Beagle in 1977 Roger was offered his first command – the 12 metre yacht Stiarna – which he took from Cancun in Mexico to Fort Lauderdale. He then secured the command of a 50 ft ketch for the sponsor of a long distance swimmer tackling a crossing from Bimini Island in the Bahamas to Florida. Signing off again, it was time to return to Australia where he organised the ‘Wildlife Party with Tim Sutcliffe’ to raise funds for the World Wildlife Fund. The project included hiring the Sole Brothers Circus and was a great success.

Returning to Australia in 1983 Roger took up residence on 80 acres at Mission Beach in Queensland where he built the ‘Treehouse’ and pioneered the backpacking market in far north Queensland. As a result he won a Queensland State award for excellence from the Australian Tourism Council. Thirty thousand backpackers later, he found his Alan Bond. (Ed: this refers to the deal made by Kerry Packer involving the sale of Channel 9 to Alan Bond for an inflated price, after which Packer commented, “You only get one Alan Bond in your lifetime”.) But the lure of sailing was ever present and when he found a beautiful single-masted gaff-rigged pearling lugger he couldn’t resist. Built in 1933, the Kai Lag was the last one of her type and took four years to restore. In 1991 it was time to depart Mission Beach and head for Portsea where he grew up, finally journeying on to Corryong in the Upper Murray region of Victoria. For Roger and his wife this was a veritable ShangriLa where they bought a restaurant and accommodation complex. During this time they developed an event called ‘The Man from Snowy River Challenge’. This year, some 21 years after it was initiated, there were 20,000 people camped and enjoying the seven-day event calendar of equestrian pursuits, art and history. The late 1990s found the Scales looking after an historic rural property called Humula Station, during which time Roger completed an MBA at Charles Sturt University in Wagga Wagga. In 2003 the NSW rural life finally gave way to a return to Portsea, where they regrouped before buying a beautiful 30 acre property in Tasmania, overlooking the D’Entrecasteaux Channel opposite Bruny Island. It was here that Roger met an old German Smokemaster who ‘passed the baton’ to him. So he converted a large apple cool store into a dedicated and now multi-

award-winning smokehouse, where they make what many say is the finest smoked salmon in the world. Martin Carney grew up ‘simply messing about in boats’ on the Tamar River in Northern Tasmania. Things maritime have always been a strong theme in the family. Martin’s great grandfather was a champion sailor on Hobart’s Derwent River in the early 1900s. One of his boats, Bronzewing, is still going strong at the Derwent Sailing Squadron, albeit with a lengthened bow section, new transom and, at one point, raised topsides! Sounds a bit like that story about the five-hundred-year-old axe! His father was a ship’s engineer, and as the family grew to five children he ‘came ashore’ as engineer on coastal ketches and harbour tugs (both steam and diesel) out of Launceston. In those days it was possible ‘to go to work with Dad’, and the smell of steam and lubricating oil and the pulsing rhythm of a heavy marine diesel are still strong in Martin’s memory – diesel fumes in the lungs, but definitely an increasing concentration of salt in the veins! In his teens he was a founding member of the Deviot Sailing Club on the Tamar River north of Launceston. Building the clubhouse was funded by a ‘Youth Development’ grant, so the youngsters had to be part of the building program and served as ‘apprentices’ to the senior members doing the building. That experience was to influence a later important life decision. The family moved to South Australia in the mid-sixties, but after a couple of seasons at the Glenelg Sailing Club the salt in the veins was whispering ‘blue water’. Around that time Martin heard that someone at the Yacht Squadron was looking for crew – this was the beginning of a nine-year association with Josko which included three Sydney to Hobart races commencing with Adria and culminating in the Anaconda II adventure. Post Anaconda II he had a number of thoroughly enjoyable seasons with ‘Chook’ Wall-Smith and Col Fraser in Half Tonners but, in the early eighties with a property in the Adelaide Hills and a growing family (four children eventually) he too ‘came ashore’ and transitioned to part-time/ occasional sailing. Encouraged by his early clubhouse building experience, he designed and built his own home, joined the school council and signed up to the local Country Fire Service brigade (as you do!). Over the years Martin has experienced a variety of occupations, from Commonwealth Lighthouse Service administration to performing artist and musician, but mostly working in emergency management, with the highlight being seven years as manager of Disaster Recovery with Australian Red Cross.

Sailing in general, but particularly with Josko, taught him many things about himself and working with others which underpinned later life endeavours. There are many similarities between leading a crew on the fire ground, leading a team in a post cyclone disaster area, and blue water sailing. In each you are operating in an environment which can become hostile at a moment’s notice – training, teamwork and personal resilience are critical to survival! Martin says, “The learning opportunity Josko afforded to so many like myself, back then, was a rare thing – thanks, Josko.” Before the Anaconda II adventure Hans Savimaki had spent a couple of years in Europe crewing on private yachts from Northern Europe to the Greek Islands. One of these was Orejona, a 115 ft new schooner which was a monster in those days. He says that the trip to UK with Josko was quite an experience. “We were heading into the unknown but with a great bunch of guys we got there more or less in one piece. It will be an experience that will never be forgotten for as many years as we have left.”

l a

After arriving in the UK he worked in the North Sea on coastal freighters while awaiting the start of the second Whitbread race in which he sailed on Kings Legend, a Swan 65 sloop, finishing second to the first Flyer. This was the beginning of modern professional sailing and was a career Hans followed for the next 35 years, logging some 300,000 miles under sail alone. He spent some time on merchant vessels of many descriptions before full-time yacht racing and captaining private vessels became his life.

n i F

In recent years Hans has spent more time in Australia and is presently living in Noosa where he is involved in property

development on a fairly small scale. He still does a few deliveries with the legendary Chas from Tas.

The Chelsea Pensioners The watchmaster of the Chelsea Pensioners was RSAYS identity ‘Chook’ Wall-Smith whose story was presented to members in the September 2012 edition of SQ. When the race was completed Doug Justins stayed in the UK and completed post-graduate training in anaesthesia, becoming a Consultant at St Thomas’s Hospital in London where he remained until 2016. Amongst other things he became President of the British Pain Society, Vice-President of the Royal College of Anaesthetists and Founding Dean of the Faculty of Pain Medicine of the Royal College of Anaesthetists. His love of sailing continues and he has competed in numerous RORC races (including the disastrous 1979 Fastnet). Other adventures include the Round Britain, Round Ireland and many other races, both inshore and offshore. He continues to sail in the UK, France and the Mediterranean, including a recent voyage on a Swan 46 from Lefkas (Greece) to Istanbul via Lemnos with visits ashore to Anzac Cove and other Gallipoli sites en route. He is the co-author of First Aid at Sea which is now in its 6th Edition and has been translated into a number of other languages. All the first aid advice is based on the Anaconda II experience! The other two members of this watch were Paul Howard and Nick Creech. Paul’s whereabouts are unknown and regretfully Nick is unwell. So this concludes the tale of pioneering endeavour and adventure that had its genesis at the Royal South Australian Yacht Squadron. It’s a heritage of which we can all be proud.

SQ Autumn 2017 Page 41

TASSIE TALES By Di Moncrieff and Sally Metzer

RSAYS wooden boat, Adrain Donald’s Catriona

Many Squadron members head to Tasmania for the MyState Australian Wooden Boat Festival

ELD across Hobart’s vibrant and bustling waterfront, this four-day event from 10 - 13 February is the largest wooden boat festival in the southern hemisphere. This year it featured more than 500 wooden boats , from magnificent tall ships (including Tenacious from the UK), to classic sailboats, rugged working boats and superbly detailed models. This exciting celebration of nautical history and culture had a special Dutch theme as it commemorated the 375th anniversary of Dutch explorer Abel Tasman’s landing on, what he then called, ‘Van Diemen’s Land’. A large collection of Dutch boats, including

A bunch of salt encrusted South Australian yachties gathered for dinner at the infamous Customs Hotel on the Hobart Waterfront. The gathering has become a tradition as SA vessels and people gather for this festival of festivals. It was wonderful to see Catriona flying the Squadron burgee at the Festival, after arriving in Hobart from Adelaide via the Tasmanian west coast. Photo: Peter Kelly

Peter Kelly and Carol Wellman-Kelly

Page 42 SQ Autumn 2017

the Dutch royal sailing yacht Oranje and seven other Dutch wooden boats including ‘tjotters’ from the province of Friesland, were especially shipped over for the festival. The final day highlight was the ‘Parade of Sail’ which saw all the tall ships and hundreds of smaller craft head out onto the Derwent River where they sailed past and saluted the Governor’s vessel. No wonder the festival attracted around 220,000 visitors, including a number of Squadron members who wanted to be part of the maritime fun.

Vice Commodore Bruce Roach and Jill Roach were on board Ian and Di Moncrieff’s Pied Piper 11 for the Australian Wooden Boat Festival in Hobart during the wondrous Festival Parade of Sail. A gentle breeze wafted off Mt Wellington allowing about 500 wooden boats of all sizes to sail the Derwent River under flagship SV Tenacious. Photo: Di Moncrieff

This is SV Tenacious, an all abilities training vessel from Britain. It was helmed at the AWBF Parade of Sail by RSAYS member Phil Tassicker, who will write about his Melbourne to Hobart passage on this signature vessel in the following issue. Photo: Di Moncrieff

Squadron members aboard Catriona

THE LUKE TRAGEDY By RSAYS Historian, Dr Peter Last

The Luke Tragedy, One Hundred Years On ... I write this on New Year’s Day, 2017, the centenary of the Luke tragedy, best described in the newspaper of the following day (Unfortunately the name of the publication nor the page number were not attached to the original clipping in our RSAYS archival files.) As soon as news of the accident became known, a search for the other four men was made. The launch Florrie and the customs launch from the Semaphore proceeded to the scene of the mishap, but up to a late hour no trace of the four missing men had been found. Some occupants of the yacht Florence reported to the police that they had passed an overturned boat. The Boomerang, which is a shallow craft, was subsequently recovered and righted. She had drifted to the northward of the revetment mound. As soon as the Port Adelaide police were notified, the police motor launch, in charge of Senior Constable J Baddams, who was accompanied by Constable A Sargent, went also to the vicinity. The police will begin dragging operations for the recovery of the four bodies this morning. Mr Stephen Luke, one of the victims of the accident, had been ‘in camp’ for nine or ten months. (The term ‘in camp’ meant that he had enlisted in the AIF but had not yet gone abroad, PML). He had had an attack of pneumonia, and as soon as he became convalescent he was discharged. At the time of the fatality there was a stiff breeze blowing and a strong sea running at the Outer Harbor entrance.’

The caretaker and his family lived in the cottage behind the Squadron’s Semaphore Club House. ‘

BOATING accident occurred at the entrance to the Outer Harbor, between 12 and 1pm on New Year’s Day (1917), as a result of which four young men were drowned. Their names were Stephen Luke, Arthur Luke, Otto Surman, and Alfred Anderson.

POSTSCRIPT

The sailing boat Boomerang, an 18-footer owned by Mr AO Thomas, was lent to the Luke brothers, sons of the caretaker of the Royal South Australian Yacht Squadron clubhouse, Semaphore Esplanade, for use during the holidays. A party of seven, consisting of Messrs Stephen, Arthur and Harold Luke, whose ages ranged between 20 and 16 years; Otto Surman aged 25 years (son of Mr EH Surman, draper of the Semaphore); William Fisher aged 19 (son of Mr Arthur Fisher, a well known resident of Largs Bay), Alfred Anderson aged 20 (who resided at Young Street Parkside, and who was a guest of the Lukes) — left the Semaphore in the boat about 11am with the intention of sailing round to Port Adelaide. (This was at the request of the owner, PML.) Stephen Luke was at the tiller.

The Port River entrance remains a hazard, even after the breakwaters were raised. Meg was a small, shallow-draft, broadbeamed vessel with a low freeboard. Beating back from a southern mark to finish a race in the River, she shrugged her shoulders in an unexpected broach. Arthur Cocks and his companions were pitched into the water, but the faithful boat rounded up with sails flapping to wait for them as they swam over and clambered aboard. It would otherwise have been a repetition of the Luke New Year tragedy, and it could happen again to an unwary skipper and crew. (PML)

l a in

All went well until the boat was abreast of the Outer Harbor entrance, when a big sea rolled in upon the craft and swamped her. The young men clung to the submerged boat for about an hour, and then Stephen Luke released his hold and struck out for the north bank, but apparently he was drowned. (This was before the breakwaters were raised in the 1920s and 1950s, PML.) A little later Fisher and McLeod left the boat, and swam for the shore, and they reached the north bank in an exhausted state minus all their clothing except their singlets. (Editor: McLeod was omitted from the original list of those in the boat.) They remained where they landed for about an hour, and were then observed and rescued. Harold Luke also swam ashore, and with the other two was taken to the Outer Harbor Police Station. The exhausted men were cared for by Constable and Mrs S Cotter, and were subsequently taken to their homes by Mr Arthur Fisher in his motor car. Mr Fisher happened to be at the Outer Harbor superintending some stevedoring work. SQ Autumn 2017 Page 43

BOOK REVIEW By Gill Baker

Sailing Alone Around the World by Captain Joshua Slocum (Published by Penguin Classics) It’s a classic sea-faring tale that many members will have in their bookshelves, but one member says that it changed her life!

HEN I was married at the tender age of 21, my husband Rick and I bought a small sailing dinghy, and International Cadet, and learnt to sail. We became involved with sailing clubs, started to hear tales of boating adventures and began reading books about sailing and cruising around the world. These books opened up a whole new world for us and we read many of them. Sailing Alone Around the World stood out in particular and resonated with me. Joshua Slocum was the first person to sail around the world alone in a small boat. Other men and women have repeated the feat but he was the first. Born in 1844 into a farming family who had been seafarers for many generations, Slocum ran away to sea when 12 years old. After many adventures he became a ship’s captain. By 1892, times were bad for shipmasters and he was offered an old boat, the Spray, an 11.2 m oyster sloop. Wanting to do something in his own time, without the pressure of carrying cargoes from port to port, he rebuilt the boat and decided to voyage around the world. Slocum set off from Boston in 1895 and after visiting a few ports on the New England coast, he crossed the Atlantic to Page 44 SQ Autumn 2017

Gibraltar. On leaving Gibraltar he was set upon by pirates but outsailed them, crossing the Atlantic to Rio de Janeiro and Buenos Aires. He ran aground but refloated the boat with the help of the locals. He sailed into the Straits of Magellan which were peopled by Fuegians, a tribe of indigenous inhabitants of Tierra del Fuego who were eager to kill him and seize his boat. The conditions were rugged but Slocum managed to sail out into the Pacific - where it was anything but ‘pacific’! Slocum was forced by the storms to circle back into the Straits where he eventually managed to break out again and sail across the Pacific to the Marquesas and Samoa.

in Boston. In a symbolic gesture, he tied up to an old tree stump near which he had launched the Spray some years before.

It was in Samoa that he met the wife of Robert Louis Stevenson who gave him beautiful inscribed volumes of books which had belonged to her husband. He sailed on to Australia where he wrote, ‘At Sydney I was at once among friends.’ (I have a cutting from the Sydney Morning Herald, dated 10 October 1996 about the centenary of his visit to Sydney, when 13 Spray replicas sailed into Sydney Harbour to commemorate his arrival 100 years before.)

Reading this book made me to realize how much adventure there was to be had from having a cruising boat. I would have been happy with a small craft and when my husband Rick said he wanted to build one, a big one, we argued for three months. I finally persuaded him it was not a good idea to take on such a project with four children and his full time professional job. He was very unhappy with this decision. So, with Slocum’s inspiration in mind, I finally agreed to go along with the project. The build took 13 years. I sailed in our lovely boat Margarita for 23 years, with many adventures, which I have somehow survived!

l a

n i F

Slocum then sailed to Tasmania, back to Sydney, north to the Torres Strait then across to Christmas Island and the Cocos Keeling Islands. In South Africa he met President Kruger who believed that the earth was flat and that Slocum was sailing not around it, but on it! Crossing the Atlantic again towards the Caribbean and heading home, he weathered a hurricane just before arriving

To raise money to fund his trip, Slocum put on a show wherever he went telling people about his adventures. His immense fortitude in the face of terrible conditions, his dry humour and his love of the sea and all it could throw at him, have been an inspiration to me, and no doubt many others around the world. This book has also inspired generations of yachties and boat builders, and hundreds of replicas of the Spray are to be found in dozens of different countries.

Joshua Slocum is owed my gratitude for his little book which influenced me to change my mind, and therefore my life.

IN TRANQUIL WATERS Captain Douglas Vivian Bourne-Jones OAM Master Mariner

OUG Bourne-Jones (DB-J) was born in Newport, Monmouthshire, Wales. He emigrated to Australia, arriving in Melbourne on 5 November 1959. He had a very long association with the sea, ending up with over 70 year’s continuous service in the maritime industry. He ran away to be a ship’s apprentice one day after his 16th birthday, serving in the Merchant Marine and gaining his Master Mariner’s Certificate before being offered a job in Melbourne as a Cargo Superintendent. He progressed to Assistant Harbour Master, then to managing container terminals in Melbourne and then Adelaide where he and his wife Maureen moved in 1981. He had one daughter, Angela. Doug was an office bearer in many maritime clubs, freight/cargo industry associations and gave freely of his time mostly with face to face contact with people, fostering friendship and spreading the word about how the sea could positively influence people’s lives. He was an active member of the Master Mariners of Australia for 54 years, 36 of those as an active member of the SA Branch. He was a member, becoming a Distinguished Member, of the Seven Seas Club of Australia. He was Past President as well as an office bearer for most of his 30 years of membership. He was awarded an Order of Australia medal in 2009 for services to the maritime industry.

13 Dec 1928 - 5 Nov 2016

His good friend and sailing companion Captain Roy Pearson told the story that, whilst sailing to get a close-up view of the visiting QEII, they were all feeling so young, that they could well be the ‘toy boys’ of the elderly female passengers, who were waving to them! A highlight of Doug’s voyages was the passage to Melbourne on 26-31 December 1987 on the three masted full-rigged ship, the Dar Młodziezy with 120 Cadets of the Polish Merchant Marine Academies, here for the Sydney Bicentennial celebrations. Utilising the long arm of Doug’s friendship base, Port Philip Pilot Brian Lewis was summoned to replenish beer supplies (it was supposed to be a ‘dry ship’) and steam irons! The beer was duly delivered at sea by the Victoria Police and the steam irons were presented during the evening when docked in Melbourne!

Doug sailed for many years on other people’s boats out of Williamstown Vic. After moving to SA he joined the RSAYS where he was a member for 36 years, and finally purchased a boat of his own, Rimfire, of which he was very proud and kept meticulously maintained. Regrettably the yacht, being an S&S 39 became too much to handle for Doug and his crew, and she was sold in 2003. He joined Doug Kneebone on Seven Seas as one of his regular Saturday crew, all 75 years upwards, until the beginning of last year.

l a

n i F

Doug’s Merchant Marine days were in the presence of a largely Indian crew, whose culinary skills he greatly relished, so much so that his love of Indian cuisine drew him to the Jasmin Restaurant in Hindmarsh Square, where he enjoyed many meals with the Singh family and others, with his own dedicated chair to honour him. Doug was kind, thoughtful and genial. He loved a joke or two and will be sadly missed by all who knew him. He is survived by his wife Maureen and daughter Angela.

BURIAL AT SEA By Tony Elliott of Elliott Funeral Services Over 35 years ago, I made some enquiries on behalf of a potential client. I was told that burial at sea required submerging the body in a weighted shroud in waters beyond the Continental Shelf. The nearest place to Adelaide for this to occur was 40 km west of Cape Du Couedic, off Kangaroo Island. It would require a serious vessel to venture out that far and the costs would be prohibitive. Recently, I was asked the question again and I suspect the same general answer might still apply! SA’s recent Burial & Cremation Act of 2013 makes it an offence to ‘dispose of bodily remains’ at sea ($10,000 fine or two years prison), without the permission of the Attorney-General. There’s no automatic right to burial at sea. You must demonstrate a connection – perhaps ex-Navy personnel or a commercial fisherman. (*Ed.note or Yachties?)

Looking more deeply, I discovered that burial at sea is actually regulated by the unfortunately named Environmental Protection (Sea Dumping) Act 1981 (Commonwealth). A permit must be obtained at a cost of $1675. A funeral director is usually involved and details of all the parties must be supplied, including the certified vessel which transports the body out to waters 3000m deep. The funeral director will consult the Ship Captain’s Medical Guide (UK) for directions regarding the sewing of the body into a very strong shroud, so weighted to allow for rapid and permanent submersion and with slit holes to allow the escape of decomposition gases. Embalming is not permitted because of the noxious chemicals involved which would ultimately be leached into the marine ecology. There is an

emphasis on conducting proceedings with dignity and propriety. It seems there are as few as one or two cases a year in South Australia, and Beachport is mentioned as a possible point of embarkation. A couple of years ago, I’m told a fee of around $20,000 was quoted to cover a normal funeral ceremony in Adelaide (notices, flowers, celebrant, printing, music, DVD) followed by transport to the Southeast, boat charter, crew, funeral staff, shroud and burial at sea. If you’re keen, there’s more information at https://www.environment.gov.au/marine/ marine-pollution/sea-dumping/burial-sea *this article first appeared in the 22 Feb/ 2017 issue of the CoastCity Messenger and is reproduced with permission of the author.

SQ Autumn 2017 Page 45

BERTHS FOR SALE & RENT Berths for Sale - February 2017 Length (metres)

Berth Type

Price From

8.2 Hard Stands Best Deal - HS10 or HS12 (Tarmac) 9.2 Dry Stand Best Deal - DS01 10 Marina Best Deal - I25 (Double) 11 Marina Best Deal - C14 (Single) 12 Marina Best Deal - C06 (Double) 13 Marina Best Deal - E02 (Single) & E04 (Double) 14 Marina Best Deal - A06 (Single) 15 Marina Best Deal - J11 (Single) 16 Marina Best Deal -G05 (Single) 18 Marina Best Deal - SI14 (Double) 20 Marina Best Deal - H01 (Cat) 22 Marina Best Deal - SI11 (Single Super) 25 Marina Best Deal - SI07 (Single Super) 27 Marina Best Deal - I27 (T-Head) 30 Marina Best Deal - SI06 (Single Super)

Price To

$5,000.00

$7,000.00 $5,000.00

$1,500.00

$1,500.00 $1,500.00

$40,000.00 $80,000.00 $40,000.00 All offers considered $39,000.00 $55,000.00 $39,000.00 $35,000.00 $67,000.00 $35,000.00 Neg $30,000.00 $100,000.00 $30,000.00 Neg $79,000.00 $120,000.00 $79,000.00 Neg $85,000.00 $145,000.00 $85,000.00 $78,000.00 $195,000.00 $78,000.00 Reduced. All offers considered $110,000.00 $175,000.00 $110,000.00 All offers considered $130,000.00 $130,000 Neg $160,000.00 $240,000.00 $160,000.00 Reduced. All offers considered $120,000.00 $120,000.00 $370,000.00 $370,000.00 $320,000.00 $375,000.00 $320,000.00

h c r a

M r

o f e

For further information please contact Andrew McDowell - General Manager Email general.manager@rsays.com.au or Phone 8341 8600 Price & availability are subject to change without notice. All Berth Sales are subject to Terms and Conditions

Length (metres)

t a d

p U Pen

8.2

Single

Berths for Rent - February 2017

Berth Type

Berth No

$ Per Week

HARDSTANDS

VARIOUS

$23.25

MARINA

B13

$90.75

Double

MARINA

B08

$99.00

Single

MARINA

B09

$99.00

Double

MARINA

C06

$99.00

Single

MARINA

C12

$99.00

Double

MARINA

D08

$99.00

Single

MARINA

E07

$107.25

Double

MARINA

A06

$115.50

Notes

Double

MARINA

I03

$115.50

AVAILABLE AFTER 30 DAYS NOTICE

Double

MARINA

I01 & I01A

$115.50

SUITABLE FOR CAT BERTH

Single

MARINA

F07

$123.75

Single

MARINA

F08

$123,75

Single

MARINA

J15

$132.00

AVAILABLE AFTER 30 DAYS NOTICE

Single

MARINA

G01

$132.00

AVAILABLE AFTER 30 DAYS NOTICE

Single

MARINA

SI08

$344.38

Single

MARINA

SI09

$344.38

For further information please contact Kathy Bernhardt-Loechel Email marina.services@rsays.com.au or Phone 8341 8600 Price & availability are subject to change without notice. All berth rentals are subject to terms & conditions TO BE ELIGIBLE FOR PERMANENT RENTAL OF BERTHS, ALL VESSEL OWNERS MUST BE CURRENT MEMBERS OF RSAYS Page 46 SQ Autumn 2017

EVENTS CALENDAR April 2017 Sat 1

Racing

Sun 2

External

Offshore Series (Macdonnell Sound); Club Series; Tri Series; Daylight Saving Ends

External

York Peninsula's Saltwater Classic (Wooden & Classic Boats)

Racing

Inkster Memorial Race and Close of Season Function

External

York Peninsula's Saltwater Classic (Wooden & Classic Boats) Grelka Cup; Junior Sail Training Long Race & BBQ; Club Championships 9&10 PFL Hussey Memorial Race (Adelaide to Pt Vincent)

Sat 8

Sun 9

Fri 14 Sat 15 Sun 16 Mon 17 Tue 25

Juniors Racing Social

Social

Easter Regatta Pt Vincent Correll Memorial Race; Germein Memorial Race Easter Regatta

Racing

Harold Dicker Memorial Race

Racing

Social

Easter Regatta

Racing

Easter Regatta - Return Gulf Race

Social

Easter Regatta

Cruising

Lunch Cruise

External

Anzac Day

l a in

Fri 28

Racing

Skippers and Crews Meeting (season debrief)

Sat 29

Juniors

Juniors and Youth Presentation Night

May 2017

Thu 4

Squadron

Trophy Polishing

Fri 5

External

CYCSA Presentation Night

Sat 6

Racing

RSAYS Presentation Night

Fri 12

Social

Wine Tasting

Cruising

City of Adelaide/Failie Dinner Cruise

Racing

Shorthanded Series

Cruising

City of Adelaide/Failie Dinner Cruise

External

Mothers' Day

Management

SQ Winter Edition - Deadline for Articles

Sat 13

Sun 14

Sat 20

Squadron

Welcome to New Members

Social

Movie Night

Sun 21

Racing

Combined Winter Series

Thu 25

External

Cancer Council Biggest Morning Tea

Sat 27

Racing

Shorthanded Series

June 2017 Sat 3

Racing

Shorthanded Series

Sun 4

Racing

Combined Winter Series

Sat 10

Crusing

Garden Island Yacht Club Cruise

Sun 11

Cruising

Garden Island Yacht Club Cruise

Cruising

Garden Island Yacht Club Cruise

Mon 12

External

Queen's Birthday Holiday

Restaurant

Open for Lunch and Dinner

Fri 16

Social

Sun 18

Racing

Sat 24

Cruising

Wine Tasting Winter Series; Plympton & Le Hunte Cups Cruising Night

SQ Autumn 2017 Page 47

CAPTUR

EXPRESSION • 7” touch screen media navigation system • ECO mode for lower fuel consumption • Rear view camera and sensors • Keyless entry / start • 16” alloys

KOLEOS BOSE

CLIO AUTHENTIQUE • Turbo-charged manual engine • ABS, ESC, ASR traction control and EBD • Stop&Start fuel efficient technology • LED daytime running lights • Bluetooth® phone pairing Renault CLIO MEGANE R.S. • Cruise control with speedRenault limiter Expression Manual 265 Cup Manual

20k

• BOSE® audio system • Dark charcoal leather upholstery • R-Link Sat Nav with 7” touchscreen • Front and rear parking sensors • Hands-free entry and engine start • Blind Spot Warning (BSW)

46k or 0% p.a. $

Renault MEGANE GT-Line Hatch Auto

26k

Includes metallic paint

comparison rate◊

Includes signature paint

0) 9999 9999 urlrenault.com.au COME AND SEE US

FOR A TEST DRIVE TODAY!

MAIN NORTH RENAULT

llic paint and Clio R.S. Sport, Megane GT-Line Hatch with metallic paint and Megane R.S. 265 Cup with signature paint valid for vehicles ordered between uyers. Renault reserves the right to vary, extend or withdraw this offer. ◊0% p.a. comparison rate available for 2015 Clio R.S., Megane GT 220 Hatch & Wagon, livered by 31/1/16 to approved personal applicants and 0% annual percentage rate available to approved business applicants of Renault Financial Services oved applicant only. Excludes Government, Rental and National Fleet customers. Terms, conditions and fees apply. WARNING: This comparison rate is true s or other loan amounts might result in a different comparison rate. Comparison rate for the purpose of the National Credit Code is based on a 5 year secured the right to vary, extend or withdraw this offer. Not available in conjunction with any other offer. †5 years unlimited km warranty applies to all new Renault ^ vehicle warranty. Roadside Assistance terms and conditions apply. Call our Customer Service Team on 1800 009 008 or view the Terms and Conditions maintenance services capped at $299 per service on new and demonstrator Renault Passenger and Renault Sport vehicles, based on standard scheduled icesLVD173. required every twelve (12) months 15,000km (whichever first) on Clio Expression, GT-Line and Demonstrator every twelve (12)vehicles months receive or †5 years unlimited km or warranty applies to alloccurs new Renault passenger andMegane Renault SportHatch, vehicles. balance of new vehicle warranty. Roadside renault.com.au is not presentedterms within three (3) months of whenCall the scheduled service is required, right that capped-price under the program is forfeited. Assistance and conditions apply. our Customer Service Team onto1800 009 008 or service view the Terms and Conditions statement at www.renault.com.au/drivingpeaceofmind for

75 Main North Rd, Nailsworth / Ph: 8309 5055

mainnorthrenault.com.au

www.rsays.com.au

†

details. ^First 3 scheduled maintenance services capped at $299 per service on new and demonstrator Renault Passenger and Renault Sport vehicles, based on standard scheduled servicing from new and on normal operating conditions. Scheduled maintenance services required every twelve (12) months or 15,000km (whichever occurs first) on Clio Expression, Megane GT-Line Hatch, and every twelve (12) months or 10,000km on Clio R.S. Sport and Megane R.S. 265 Cup (whichever occurs first). If vehicle is not presented within three (3) months of when the scheduled service is required, right to that capped-price service under the program is forfeited. MNR1432