Back in the drink,

[Mr B]

Thank you to all the people that have supported me over the years while rebuilding my boat,
I have appreciated it very much, Give your selves a round of applause and a Pat on the back too,
If we ever meet, The beers are on me,

Its very inspirational and was very helpfull especially when I had gotten to the point of just walking away from it,
I have come a long way in the last seven years,
I could not sail a boat when I bought this one, I spent six weeks in Fiji learning how to sail it,
None of the systems on board my boat, I had not a clue on any of it,
I didnt know how to turn any of it on, Let alone know what it did,

Day and a half crash course in learning it all, Then the PO left for Hawai, Leaving me on my own,
Then I sailed it to Australia, Single handed,
I wrecked it on the way home, Trucked it to Melbourne and rebuilt it,
Here's a few Pictures on my travels in it,

Plan B was driving it home on the diesel and Island hopping for diesel,
Been driving boats all my life, Just never sailed one,
Or hiring a Captain in Fiji and learning on the way home,

Some people forget, We were all learners once,

Cheers and thank you all,

Brian,

[Juho]

Originally Posted by Mr B

Radar I can do with out, But GPS is essential for me, I do travel at night,

A portable backup GPS navigation device (e.g. smart phone or tablet) is a must.

[Mr B]

A few piccys of where I am in Yaringa,
Im sitting in 4 feet of water at low tide, No wonder these end berths are not used,
I have moved from the northside to the south side,
I couldnt get in or out with out 2 or 3 people to help me, On the north side,
I was in 3 feet of water over there, My rudders were hitting the ground,
South side, I can get in or out on my own, Rudders are just clear at low tide,

Western Port bay is one big sand bank at low tide, No wonder I got stuck out there at night, Have the GPS working again, So I can go any where night or day again,
GPS and Radar work off the cabin light switch, GRRRRRRRR
I can find the channels, Easily now,
There are posts in the channel on the way out, They only stick out at very low tide,
No wonder I was dragging the centreboards and rudders when I went out,
So half the channel is silted up on the south side of it,
I have every thing working again, except wind speed,
I havent tried the autopilot yet, Thats the next thing on my next trip out,
Wind has been too strong to lift the mainsail and drop it again neatly onto the lazy jacks, Then it will be tied down and the cover put on it as I dont use it,

Thats a month in the water, The drive leg is encrusted with crap,

Full cockpit enclosure is back on again, It gets cold here,
But it was 38 C here yesterday, It gets a nice breeze thru it with the hatches open,
Bit of a fiddle in the berth to get the boat close to the other finger so I could get my other numbers on, Im now fully legal,
I will take her out tomorrow for a sail,

Cheers, Brian,

[gonesail]

congrats. the 105 is a cool boat. enjoy

[SuW]

I sympathize with your unfortunate sewage experience. It's happened to many of us, if we work on boats long enough. The consequence of my experience is that we got a composting head...
We also have a hand-held GPS. It's an old model but it works and has charts etc. Something like that would be a good back up or for when you are off your boat in a dinghy.

[Mr B]

Originally Posted by SuW

I sympathize with your unfortunate sewage experience. It's happened to many of us, if we work on boats long enough. The consequence of my experience is that we got a composting head...
We also have a hand-held GPS. It's an old model but it works and has charts etc. Something like that would be a good back up or for when you are off your boat in a dinghy.

I have a laptop with nav maps on it, But I havent got it connected to the internet again yet,
I only use the dinghy between the boat and the shore, 1/4 mile at most,

My first priority is making sure every thing works on the boat, 100 %,
Im getting there, Slowly,
170 kay round trip to get to the boat slows things down some what,

[Mr B]

Well I took my Gemini 105MC out for a serious shake down cruise, approx, 240 miles round trip,
Yaringa Marina in Western Port bay to Port Phillip bay,, Via Bass Straight,
I was going to sail up to Docklands in Melbourne,
But I changed my mind when I got to Frankston,

The Belt on the autopilot fell to bits, Old age, I need a new belt to fix it,
I had algie blocking the filters, Repeatedly, It needs a good dose of Algicide and cleaning out,

The left rudder got caught on the bottom coming out of Yaringa at low tide, and broke the hold down rope, I repaired it but I need new rubber cords to fix it properly,
4 feet deep in the channel,

Wind directly on the nose sailing south out of western port, So Motored the whole way,
Then no wind at all in Bass Straight,

Got to the (Rip) Port Phillip Heads,at 3 AM, and followed three ships in, Not sure how accurate the GPS was, It has failed once before, In Bundaberg it had me sailing along the beach, I was half a mile off shore,

The ships know the way so I followed their track through the RIP, The GPS was fine,
But piece of mind and safety was my first issue,
Dont know what the sea state was as it was night, But I was doing a bit of bucking around,

I anchored off Rye beach at 5-30 am in 10 feet of water, as I was buggared by this time,
Been sailing for 12 hours approx, and all night,

Dropped my new big anchor, 38 KGs as I didnt trust the Danforth that I have as a temporary anchor, And I needed sleep,
Its the second time Ive used it and it sets instantly when I drop it in,
I had a good nights sleep, Well it was daylight, but I slept any way,
I set a way point and the boat never moved,
I the sailed up to Frankston, anchored again, The danforth wouldnt hold, So the big one went in again,
I pulled the steering apart because the autopilot wasnt working, The belt fell to bits in my hand, I need a new one,
I had steered the boat all the way from Yaringa,

Cleaned out both filters as the algie was blocking them repeatedly,
I had cleaned the tanks out and the fuel, But this stuff was growing fast, Its been very hot down here, 40 Celcius, Got sunburnt on my head and neck,

I need to give the tanks a good dose of algicide and clean the fuel again,
I havent got any on board, I need to pick some up when I get home,
I also need an anchor winch, Pulling the last bit of the anchor into the bow spit is a bit of an effort,

The winch arrived the day I left, $30-00 Two way cable winch, (1200 Lb pull,) That I made a frame for today, ample to lift a 40 Kg anchor,
It sits in the Chain locker when not in use and clips onto the leading edge of the locker when I use it,
A claw I put on it hooks onto the chain and pulls the anchor up,
I decide to go home and get the boat fixed up a bit more, I need it to be 100% reliable,
And I cant buy parts at sea,
No wind again so I motor back to the heads, I get there at about 6-30 PM, and go thru the heads,
I clear the Heads about 8-00 Pm, On an incoming tide, Doing 1.5 knots,
I was concerned the tide would take me back thru the heads, As It was getting to be a very strong current, It was a Mill pond when I started thru them,

But I could see that it could be very rough thru there, Very close angry wavelets about a foot high were starting and big whirlpools were happening,
I put the Genoa up, But it hung there like a limp sock,
About 9,00 PM the wind got up and I was sailing, Great stuff, Choofing along at 7 knots,
10-00 Pm I took the Genoa down as it was bashing the mast around very violently,
The wind had got up very high, My wind gauge dont work,
And the waves had got up too,
I was in the middle of a storm with nowhere to go except ride it out,
The land along there is High rocky cliffs and no sandy beaches to park on,
Its Bass Straight and 250 feet deep,
So I motor along, By this time the waves are getting very violent,
Its spinning the boat around 90 degrees constantly, 180 degrees at times,
Im using the lights on shore to keep me straight as the GPS cant keep up,
Im doing 3 to 7 knots on the waves, very fast and constant,

I will take back my comments that a Catamaran is allways flat and level,

This was some thing else, She was bucking and rolling in all directions at once,
Like being in a washing machine and on a bucking bull they have in the pubs at the same time,
It was spinning in all directions, I was steering lock to lock keeping it straight,
Ive never been in a storm like this one, And I have been in a few bad storms,

Then the diesel stops, Whoops, I have the locker open where the filters are, I shine the torch in there and the filters blocked again,
Im 5 to 10 miles off shore, But the wind is blowing that way,
So I quickly get down and clean the filters out, I have a bucket under them to catch the crap that comes out of them,
I have an electrical wire with a hook on that I use to pull the grey slimey growth out of the filters with,
The first filter has a manufacturing fault, I cant get the bowl off it, It turns but wont screw off, So I have undo the plugs in it to drain it,
The second filter screws off and I upend it into the bucket, The screw it back on,
I only set these two filters and the pump up in the locker last week, Easy to get at,
Before that it was in the engine bay on the back off the transom, Very hard to get at,
Also very exposed to the weather,
The motor fires up almost instantly, Its getting very good at starting now that I have had it running for a while, I was using erostart, Start Ya Bastard, to get it going before,
Filters clogged up about 10 times on my trip there and back,
Its not fun in a violent ocean with cliffs not far away,

Then I got to the heads of Western Port bay and Phillip Island, 2-30 AM, Coming out of Bass Straight,
Hahahahaha,
Then the action got really carried away with itself, Not that it had let up all night,
Bucking and rolling and up and down and round and round, The current carrying me sideways,
Im doing about 4 Knots on average,
I turned my spreader spot lights on and had a look outside, I dont like the look of that, So I turned the spreader lights off again,
It lights up the ocean like daylight for about 100 yards in front of the boat,

It wasnt pleasant to look at, But Im in it and cant do anything about it,
Its not like I can pick up my ball and go home, Hahahahaha, Im in deep poo poo,
Just keep it going, Son, If the boat can make it, I can too, Not that I have a choice,
I think the tide is running out too,

I made a very wise choice when I picked this boat, If it can cross the North Atlantic,
It can handle the heads of Western Port bay and Port Phillip Heads and Bass Straight with no problems,
I did buy it as an ocean going Blue Water boat,
Im glad I rebuilt it now, All the effort I put in was worth while,
No matter what the Naysayers and computer warriors think,
Its the safest boat I have ever been on, This trip has proved its capabilitys beyond any doubt,
I would take it any where at any time,
Tony Smith, Your a legend in my eyes,

So I get thru the heads and start to choof up Westernport bay, The tide is running out very strongly by this time, Its till very windy,
Im just passing the ship terminal at Hastings,
Bugga me, The motor is near jumping out of its locker, So I shut it down,
Dont tell me the motor has **** itself, Thats all I need,
How the hell am I going to get home from here, Im also in 60 feet of water, Im not anchoring here,

So I put it in Neutral and start the motor again, Is it the motor, Gear box, Drive shaft or drive leg thats gone Kaput,
I start the motor and its vibrating, I push it into fast idle, And it Purrs, Thats just saved me 10 Grand for a new motor, Motor is good,
So Its the drive shaft or the drive leg, If it was the gear box it would be making noises, So thats ruled out, Thank fully,
Its 5-30 AM by this time and I can see, So I put up half the Genoa, The wind is beam on, Sideways,
Its still a strong wind,
Im getting 7 knots dragging the drive leg, Going north,
I pull up the drive leg and sail it to the Marina channel, Its about 3/4 mile long from the Marina itself, Not a chance Im going to sail it into there, Hahahaha
I drop the Genoa ropes to stop the boat or slow it down, The ropes are flinging all over the place,
Im too busy trying to grab the mooring ball as I sail past it on the end of the channel,
Missed it and dropped the 25 Lb Danforth in, Its dragging as usual,
But it turned the boat around, I pull the Genoa up a bit and I sail back towards the mooring ball,
The danforth sets and stops me getting close to the mooring ball,
So I wind up the Genoa, The boat starts to go backwards towards a piling, Im going to hit it dead centre in the transom, It will wipe out my drive leg, Expensive process,
The Danforth is dragging again, Bugga this, I drop my new big anchor in and it stops dead in its tracks,
Love my new anchor, All 40 KGs of it,
Did I mention, I made it myself,
Im about 20 feet off the Piling in 8 feet of water at 7-30 AM,
I ring the Marina, Can you send out one of your crew to tow me in,
I dont have my dinghy back on board yet, Its still being repaired,
The marina say no as its too windy for them,
So I ring the Volunteer search and rescue team who have two boats at Yaringa,
Jeromy says can you give me the co,ordinates for your boat, Hahahaha
You dont need them, Im at the end of the Yaringa channel, You can see me sitting here,
Im the white Catamaran, Im the only boat here,
So half an hour later, Im tied to the side of the Volunteer rescue boat and getting towed into the Marina,

Great job girls and boys, Getting me into the Marina safely,
Westernport Search and Rescue service is on facebook If you want to have a look at these great people and the service they give,

As for my 2003 Gemini 105mc, Its one hell of a boat and I love it,

Thankfully I didnt have any one on board with me, They would have been absolutely terrified,
And I didnt need drama like that as well,

Cheers, Brian,

[GILow]

Brian, I don’t often say this... but it may be time to find anew hobby. [emoji846]

Seriously though, I had a pang of sympathy when I read your description of the washing machine state of The Bass. It managed to throw me the full width of my boat (landed well so no injury). Since then I’ve decided to avoid it whenever possible.

Enjoy making the various repairs and improvements dictated by this journey.

Matt

[Mr B]

Originally Posted by GILow

Brian, I don’t often say this... but it may be time to find anew hobby. [emoji846]

Seriously though, I had a pang of sympathy when I read your description of the washing machine state of The Bass. It managed to throw me the full width of my boat (landed well so no injury). Since then I’ve decided to avoid it whenever possible.

Enjoy making the various repairs and improvements dictated by this journey.

Matt

Boating is my safest hobby, Matt,

Riding my 1100 XX thru the high country at high speed is the second safest,
Love the Twistys, Omeo to Mitta Mitta is my favorite road if you know it,
The old Gorge road just out of Modbury is one I like over your way in Adelaide,

Skiing Mt Buller and Falls Creek is the most dangerous hobby,
Strapping two planks of plastic on my feet and throwing myself off tall mountains, Hahahahaha, Black runs,

I didnt consider it dangerous, I was well paid for it, But I was the idiot dropping the sparks from the top of new multi story buildings,
Thats me on top of the building, Before OH&S took over, Hahaha


I was in Bass Straight when it hit, So I just had to ride it out,
Get myself home safely,
It was good to find out how the boat handled in really bad weather,
Im impressed with it, Its a great boat,
Coming home across the Bight in a couple of years was the big worry for me, I was very wary about that,
Or if the boat could handle it, If i got caught out in it,
Im Blaise, But I aint Stupid,

I am under no delusions of just how Dangerous the RIP, Bass Straight, Westernport Bay and the Heads, Port Phillip Bay, or the Southern Ocean can be,

13 boats sank in Port Phillip Bay, the day I sank my 13 foot runabout on the north road boat ramp, A 60 foot odd yacht was up on the rocks beside the ramp,
Totally wrecked, Very sad to see,

But mechanical failures are par for the course, Fix them and continue on,
Sailing in a mill pond wont help you if you get caught out in bad weather and the SHTF,

One hand for you, That never lets go, no matter what happens, or the pain involved,
The other hand is to fix the problem, Works for me,

Cheers, Brian,

[GILow]

Strangely, I never felt at risk in Bass Straight (maybe I should have), but geez it was a nasty, bumpy and generally vomit-inducing ride.

I do agree that the boat is much lower risk than the donor-cycle. [emoji6]

Sounds like you are heading to Tassie soon? If so, I’ll keep an eye open for you.

[GILow]

Originally Posted by Mr B

Love the Twistys, Omeo to Mitta Mitta is my favorite road if you know it,

The old Gorge road just out of Modbury is one I like over your way in Adelaide,

,

Yes, I have a biker friend who loves the Twisty. Although he trashed his bike there a few years back avoiding someone who’d lost control coming the other way. [emoji53]

As for Gorge Road... let’s just say it tends to feature on the evening news every couple of weeks for all the wrong reasons. I’ve done it one or twice in my Mini K, which was probably less safe than a donor-cycle. But fun

[Mr B]

Originally Posted by Mr B

Boating is my safest hobby, Matt,

Riding my 1100 XX thru the high country at high speed is the second safest,
Love the Twistys, Omeo to Mitta Mitta is my favorite road if you know it,
The old Gorge road just out of Modbury is one I like over your way in Adelaide,

Skiing Mt Buller and Falls Creek is the most dangerous hobby,
Strapping two planks of plastic on my feet and throwing myself off tall mountains, Hahahahaha, Black runs,

I didnt consider it dangerous, I was well paid for it, But I was the idiot dropping the sparks from the top of new multi story buildings,
Thats me on top of the building, Before OH&S took over, Hahaha


I was in Bass Straight when it hit, So I just had to ride it out,
Get myself home safely,
It was good to find out how the boat handled in really bad weather,
Im impressed with it, Its a great boat,
Coming home across the Bight in a couple of years was the big worry for me, I was very wary about that,
Or if the boat could handle it, If i got caught out in it,
Im Blaise, But I aint Stupid,

I am under no delusions of just how Dangerous the RIP, Bass Straight, Westernport Bay and the Heads, Port Phillip Bay, or the Southern Ocean can be,

13 boats sank in Port Phillip Bay, the day I sank my 13 foot runabout on the north road boat ramp, A 60 foot odd yacht was up on the rocks beside the ramp,
Totally wrecked, Very sad to see,

But mechanical failures are par for the course, Fix them and continue on,
Sailing in a mill pond wont help you if you get caught out in bad weather and the SHTF,

One hand for you, That never lets go, no matter what happens, or the pain involved,
The other hand is to fix the problem, Works for me,

Cheers, Brian,

These are the piccys I posted before, but didnt come out,
I did consider going over to Tassie, 350 kays,
But the G/F talked me out of it as it was too far for a shake down cruise and I wasnt too sure what or could go wrong with the boat,
Its all new inside, Electrically, Etc,
I am still sorting the bugs out of it,

She was peed off because I didnt make docklands, and went home instead,
She works two blocks from docklands and was going to stay on the boat overnight,
But Prudence came before the G/F, I just wanted to fix the boat,

Thinking about it, Hindsight, Im glad I came home, That extra distance would have made the Uni joint fail in Bass Straight,
I dont even want to think about that one,

[GILow]

Originally Posted by Mr B

These are the piccys I posted before, but didnt come out,

I did consider going over to Tassie, 350 kays,

But the G/F talked me out of it as it was too far for a shake down cruise and I wasnt too sure what or could go wrong with the boat,

Its all new inside, Electrically, Etc,

I am still sorting the bugs out of it,



She was peed off because I didnt make docklands, and went home instead,

She works two blocks from docklands and was going to stay on the boat overnight,

But Prudence came before the G/F, I just wanted to fix the boat,



Thinking about it, Hindsight, Im glad I came home, That extra distance would have made the Uni joint fail in Bass Straight,

I dont even want to think about that one,

Oh dear.. multiple modes of kidney donation there.

But a lovely bike. [emoji846]

Haven’t skied Bulla for nearly 30 years now, but I was more of a cross country kinda skier anyway. Bulla was just a destination from Stirling for me.

I agree with your rationale in turning back. I’ve always felt discretion is the better part of valour.

[Mr B]

I forgot and left my drive leg down,
Thats three weeks of growth on it sitting in the Marina, ,
The hydraulic line cracked and I had to get a new one made so I could lift the drive leg,
Windless day, I tied a long rope to the rear of the boat and pushed it out into the Channel,
When it got out far enough, I pulled it back in again, backwards so I could work on the transom standing on the walkway,

I repaired the Universal joint from the gear box to the drive leg, Imported from England, $430-00 including postage,
The motor needs to be slid forwards to get the Uni joint fitted, Then slid backwards to bolt it in,
This is the second time this Uni joint has snapped,
So I need to check it out properly, some thing is wrong with it,
Two engine mounts were loose, One was destroyed,
The mounts on the engine were very loose too, Under the motor and not visible,
The engine wasnt even close to being in line,
So I jacked up the engine and blocked it up to work on it,
Two new rubber engine mounts, $100-00 each, Ouch,
There is no room to work in there, It was fitted with a shoe horn,
It took me nearly a week to line up the motor with the drive shaft,
Standing on my head and hanging down into the hole, PITA job
But its all lined up and no vibrations any more,

Put a new water impellor into the motor, It was missing two teeth, It runs cool again, 180 Degrees,
Put the new diesel pump and fuel filters into the rear locker, Very easy to get at now,
I also installed a diesel pump, on off switch direct to the starter battery,

Adjusted the diesels idle speed, It no longer stalls at low revs,
It stalled as I was berthing it in 20 knot cross winds,
It also dropped the circuit breaker on the motor, So I couldnt start it again,
It took six people and a powerfull dinghy to get it across the channel and back into the mooring,
The deck of the mooring had snapped off in the wind, The next mooring had no anchor ropes on the deck to tie up too,
So it was a bit of a hassle to tie up the boat securely in the high wind,
I am berthed right on the end of the walkway and cop all the wind, Its not protected there at all,
Lucky it wasnt the 40 knot winds the BOM had predicted for the day,

Tried out my new smaller anchor in the tidal channel near Rhyill in thick seagrass and a muddy bottom,, In about 8 feet of water,
I was well away from the land so got all the wind and wave action,

Ended up with three anchors out and was still dragging slowly in the grass,
25 Kg roll bar, 40 Kg roll bar and the Danforth off the transom,
Stayed there for three tide changes and a quick storm for about an hour with metre high waves,
Got a bottom clean sitting on the seagrass and slowly dragging in a foot of water,
Coming up the channel opposite Cowes, Full out going tide,
The GPS has me going backwards, Duhhh,
After an hour or so, I havent moved in the channel, Cowes is still just there,
Im doing six knots on the motor and Im going backwards with the tide, I give up and head for the Cowes pier, 10-30 PM I tied up to the peir to wait for the tide change,,
1-00 AM I leave the Cowes pier and head back up the channel to Yaringa,
3-30 AM I tied up at Yaringa Marina,
I was flying with the incoming tide,
Missed the channel markers for Yaringa's entrance, Quick Uyie and turned around, My spreader lights work well, But the pilings are extremely hard to see at night, They are not lit, Almost hit one head on,
Was dragging the rudders in the low tide, Almost got stuck near the entrance to the Yaringa channel,
Left Sat morning, Came back Monday Morning, Very pleased with its performance,
Most of the bugs have been sorted out now, Its all trial and error, I need to use it to find the Bugs in it,


I am now ready to go, But with the Virus thingy,
We can go to the boat but are not allowed to sail on it, Duhhhh,

Cheers, Brian,

[GILow]

Is that square box thing on the fuel filter rail a pump?

If so, throw it out. Those little solid state things are hopelessly unreliable. It will let you down at a bad moment.