Hunter 40.5

[dennisail]

Hey Jim. We would be glad to meet up with you and Ann one of these days. But our boat will be based at Scarborough as I grew up in Redcliffe and have friends and family there.

The damage we need insurance quotes on is EVERYTHING that was damaged in the whale incident. The pics are a few pages back. In summery the things I can think of are.

Toe rails ripped off at the bow (they are one piece and go to the stern).
Anchor roller bent and cracked - bale mangled
Anchor roller ripped off taking the hull and deck joint with it.
Hull and deck damaged. Crack along join extends 3 feet. Glass under roller crumpled.
Cracks around forestay chainplate.
Anchor locker lid ripped off mangling hinges with glass damage.
Pulpit with seat destroyed.
Cleats sheared off bolts and bent.
life line turnbuckles bent.
Nav lights and wiring gone.

Code Zero sail destroyed.
Code Zero sheets damaged.
Facnor furler mangled
Facnor single line furling line damaged.
Spin Halyard snapped.
Spin sheave box on mast ripped apart.

[dennisail]

Check out the article at Island Planet Sails.

Whale attacks boat in Niue | Hunter 40.5 | CLASS Light Air Sails

Anyone wanting a CLASS code zero can reference the page to help themselves and us out. Dave has been so good to give us a huge price slash on our new CLASS code zero due the circumstances under which it was destroyed. We are eager to replace as it was our favorite sail. Even though we will be weekend sailing for a few years now it will still be a fun sail to use.

We don't meet too many people who wish for 10k winds so they can have a fun day sailing, but we hardly go faster with more wind using the CLASS. In fact as a swell gets big it just slows us down more than the extra wind increases speed. 170mile a day + is possible in 10K winds with our setup. I think it works best on boats like ours with a frac rig and huge main and smaller headsail as standard but I am sure it would also be good on a mast head rig with larger head sail too.

[dennisail]

Well guys we made it back to Australia despite the whale damage. We even entered a few local bay races where we got hosed. Shoal draft keels suck upwind.

Check this bad boy out. Nikki caught this one.



We have done a lot of updates on the blog if anyone is interested.

Life afloat on a 40 foot boat.

[islandplanet]

Dennis,

I just checked out the blog. Congrats on a successful passage. I just posted a link to one of the blog pictures on our Facebook page. Looks like the main is holding shape very well after a lot of miles. Good luck with getting the repairs sorted out. There's a lot of great talent where you are so I'm sure the work will be first rate.

[tropicalescape]

Originally Posted by dennisail

Well guys we made it back to Australia despite the whale damage. We even entered a few local bay races where we got hosed. Shoal draft keels suck upwind.

Check this bad boy out. Nikki caught this one.



We have done a lot of updates on the blog if anyone is interested.

Life afloat on a 40 foot boat.

Black Marlen? Nice catch!They are great smoked! Most oily types of fish are better if smoked and coated with black pepper,then you can cut into small sections and wrap in plastic wrap and sell it to the local bars for snak food if you are in a place where they have lots of bars and tourist...Thats a good way to make money while crusing!

[dennisail]

Originally Posted by islandplanet

Dennis,

I just checked out the blog. Congrats on a successful passage. I just posted a link to one of the blog pictures on our Facebook page. Looks like the main is holding shape very well after a lot of miles. Good luck with getting the repairs sorted out. There's a lot of great talent where you are so I'm sure the work will be first rate.

Thanks Dave. The main is still working well. However I ruined the shape a bit (temporarily) when I tuned the rig a bit wrong and now have a bit too much pre bend. I will have to find out from you what the pre bend specs where when you made the sail. I am still waiting on insurance quotes. It is taking the guys I am using forever!

[dennisail]

Originally Posted by tropicalescape

Black Marlen? Nice catch!They are great smoked! Most oily types of fish are better if smoked and coated with black pepper,then you can cut into small sections and wrap in plastic wrap and sell it to the local bars for snak food if you are in a place where they have lots of bars and tourist...Thats a good way to make money while crusing!

Yeah black Marlin. It was an easy fish to catch with a handline with thick line. The sport fishing rod setups just make it hard to reel in a fish. I think my rod was the biggest waste of money when it came to my fishing gear. I filleted the fish then put it in my freezer. We caught it in platypus bay off Fraser island (the bay side). This was only 2 days from home. I gave it away to freinds and family. We ate it in steaks with butter and pepper. Tasted great and had a steaky flavor.

We done really well with fishing I must say. Check this catch out. This is an hours fishing. We filled up to trade. Yellow fin tuna and Wahoo. For reference that wahoo on top is about 6 foot.





We must have caught about 50 mahi mahi in our trip too. Which is handy since its the nicest fish to eat in the sea.

[tropicalescape]

Originally Posted by dennisail

Yeah black Marlin. It was an easy fish to catch with a handline with thick line. The sport fishing rod setups just make it hard to reel in a fish. I think my rod was the biggest waste of money when it came to my fishing gear. I filleted the fish then put it in my freezer. We caught it in platypus bay off Fraser island (the bay side). This was only 2 days from home. I gave it away to freinds and family. We ate it in steaks with butter and pepper. Tasted great and had a steaky flavor.

We done really well with fishing I must say. Check this catch out. This is an hours fishing. We filled up to trade. Yellow fin tuna and Wahoo. For reference that wahoo on top is about 6 foot.





We must have caught about 50 mahi mahi in our trip too. Which is handy since its the nicest fish to eat in the sea.

Nice catch! Mahi,chicken of the sea! On the Atlantic coast we only have two type of marlin ,Blue and White..You guys have Black,blue,white and stripped,correct? Or are they all the same?

[dennisail]

I cant tell you for sure. I am not a sports-fisherman. In fact I had to look up what that fish was before I knew it was a black Marlin. I am sure that is annoying to the guys who pay $3000 to try and catch one of these on charters. All in a days work for a cruiser, and with a $20 fishing rig.

I have never caught any pelagic fish in Australia before besides Mackerel and Tuna. I have never even caught a Mahi in AU waters. This is because I normally just go bay sailing in Moreton Bay. Now that I am back home that's all I will realistically be doing again for a while until I get another year off, which might take a while!!!

[dennisail]

I tell you he wasn't getting off either. I wanted to let it go, but with it hooked like this it was never going to be easy.

[tropicalescape]

Originally Posted by dennisail

I tell you he wasn't getting off either. I wanted to let it go, but with it hooked like this it was never going to be easy.

I have never caught a Marlin but I have tried many times...Even if you had cut the line ,he may not have lived,they dont take a fight to well...Really cool Bill fishing on a sailboat!