Sailing The Rip into Port Philip Victoria

[Rustic Charm]

Thanks Hoppy and Ping. Much appreciated.

[Rustic Charm]

I'm through. It was damn rough.

[Andrew G]

Hi Rustic. I've been out of town on deliveries to Hobart and Brisbane. What time AEST did you go through the Heads? Where are you headed? How was your trip to Victoria? Have a great onward trip!

For those who missed it; there is a new cruising guide Cruising Victoria which covers much of the above discussion and uses licenced extracts from Australian Hydrographic Service charts. {Not a cent comes to me, in fact I funded it all, and all $ go into the next edition}.
It does have a heading "Gunnery Practice" and describes the tides and western and eastern extremes of tracks through Port Phillip Heads etc. Peer reviewers included PP Pilots etc. Cruising Helmsman did a review in February 2016. It is in its third print run in five months.
May I humbly suggest that people at least view a copy?

Regards,
Andrew Garrett
President, Cruising Yacht Associaion of Victoria
Chair, Cruising Victoria Editorial Committee

[Rustic Charm]

Originally Posted by Andrew G

Hi Rustic. I've been out of town on deliveries to Hobart and Brisbane. What time AEST did you go through the Heads? Where are you headed? How was your trip to Victoria? Have a great onward trip!

For those who missed it; there is a new cruising guide Cruising Victoria which covers much of the above discussion and uses licenced extracts from Australian Hydrographic Service charts. {Not a cent comes to me, in fact I funded it all, and all $ go into the next edition}.
It does have a heading "Gunnery Practice" and describes the tides and western and eastern extremes of tracks through Port Phillip Heads etc. Peer reviewers included PP Pilots etc. Cruising Helmsman did a review in February 2016. It is in its third print run in five months.
May I humbly suggest that people at least view a copy?

Regards,
Andrew Garrett
President, Cruising Yacht Associaion of Victoria
Chair, Cruising Victoria Editorial Committee

Thanks Andrew. The book is fantastic. I had a good look at a copy at Tamar Marine a couple of weeks ago. given the money I have spent repainting and welding, I just couldn't afford to buy it then. Something I'm now regretting. I will definately be investing in it as soon as I can when I get back.

My week in Melbourne, and getting there was fantastic. Brilliant. Docklands Marina I'd highly recommend.

[Rustic Charm]

Guys, (and gal), you have all been great with your advice. I'm seeking your advice on a predicament I now have.

I'm currently moored at the township of Flinders where My son and I first came in after hour 200mile start. He's flown back to Tasmania with his girlfriend, mother and youngest sister, and I stayed behind to bring my boat back. My first serious solo

To begin with crossing the Phillip Bay Rip was this morning 'rough' to say the least and slow going. It was not fun at all. But I got out and headed south to Cape Schancks. Because I was sailing close to the wind I was unable to put up any sail until I was half way along. Then I tried to raise the main, but in the 20 knotts of wind it kept getting caught in thE Lazy Jacks, so I gave up and just used the Genoa.

Just after I turned From Cape Schancks to go towards Wilson's Prom, my auto pilot stopped working. 😡 again. It's the second one I've gone through and it's not like I do a lot of sailing. Which meant I had to hand steer into Flinders another 8 miles. To speed things up I motored as well.

I have undone the auto pilot and tested the motor with the controller. It seems the motor (probably not two years old) is seized. It makes a noise like it wants to turn but can't.

So, here I am in Flinders contemplating 🤔 how I'm going to hand sail 200 miles back to the Tamar. That's what I'll be working out tonight. Though, I'm probably here until Sunday for some better weather. 😩

I'm wondering, if I go to Sam Remo tomorrow to rest up the night. Then early Sunday morning head towards Wilson's Prom, but that's 80 miles. It would still be an over nighter and to be honest, without an auto pilot I'm not sure I can do an over nighter. I'm quite exhausted from today's trip and this was only 7 hours.

Is there anywhere between San Remo and Wilson's Prom I can pull in and rest?

[Andrew G]

Rustic,
It is too hard to solo without Autopilot (trust me). The best marine elactonics place near ther is Bob Clow electronics (03) 5077 3788 at Yaringa - call him now.

[Andrew G]

Bob deals mainly with Raymarine but may be able to help with other brands. His mobile is 0418 334 041. It is a long weekend too.

Yaringa may give you a free berth while it is sorted (if you have trouble ask to speak to Stephan - he is the boss/owner).
Failing Bob Clow then Hastings marina might be able to help. Otherwise there is nowhere (easy) east of Flinders until Lakes Entrance to get electronics help. (Hastings and Yaringa are both north of Flinders).

What height is your mast - you may not be able to actually get to San Remo as there is a 12m bridge north of it and a nominally 18m cable south of it? The anchorage at Cleeland Bight is OK.

Can you describe the brand and symptoms again and forumites might be able to help.
Cheers,

Andrew

[Rustic Charm]

Originally Posted by Andrew G

Bob deals mainly with Raymarine but may be able to help with other brands. His mobile is 0418 334 041. It is a long weekend too.

Yaringa may give you a free berth while it is sorted (if you have trouble ask to speak to Stephan - he is the boss/owner).
Failing Bob Clow then Hastings marina might be able to help. Otherwise there is nowhere (easy) east of Flinders until Lakes Entrance to get electronics help. (Hastings and Yaringa are both north of Flinders).

What height is your mast - you may not be able to actually get to San Remo as there is a 12m bridge north of it and a nominally 18m cable south of it? The anchorage at Cleeland Bight is OK.

Can you describe the brand and symptoms again and forumites might be able to help.
Cheers,

Andrew

Thanks Andrew, I spoke to Bob and he doesn't have an St1000 in stock. The one that is seized is an St4000+ GP. But I think it was Alan who suggested I have an ST1000 to operate the trim tab.

I can get an ST 1000 from Whitworths in Melbourne for $659. I'm trying to contact my daughter to see if she can get it for me before they close tomorrow. I might have to go into Hastings tomorrow and take a train too Melbourne to get it.

[Rustic Charm]

Thanks for your help Andrew,

My daughter is going to pick it up and bring it down to me tomorrow.

As Alan said, the ST1000 will take NMEA 0183 and Seatalk. Do I need to purchase a different cable in order to plug the ST1000 into my control head so it reads the fluxgate compass?

[JPA Cate]

RC,

Sorry for your troubles. When the dust has cleared, let's have a chat about windvanes, eh? Consume no power, are silent, and do a d--n good job of steering the boat. Ours steered our first Insatiable about 85,000 mi.

Good luck with the fix and the rest of the journey.

Ann

[Andrew G]

Hi RC. I'm sorry but I have no idea what your setup is or what comes in the box. Whitworths may be able to advise? The other Raymarine source is CH Smiths at 16 Language St Collingwood, (03) 9417 1077.
Discount Seamart, (03) 9347 4744, 678 Elizabeth St, 100m north of Whitworths might have parts too.
Whitworths close at 12:30 on Saturdays, DSM 15:00, CHS at 17:00.
Raymarine's best techos are in their Sydney office but I doubt they work weekends.
Good luck, Andrew

[Andrew G]

RC. I've now looked up the manual.
Yes you will possibly need a cable with a Seatalk plug on one end, bare wires at the other - see below.

The ST1000 should? come with a plug and socket. You will need to wire up the socket to your system. There will be:
0 volts
+ 12 V
Sea talk data - usually yellow
NMEA +
NMEA -
I have no idea if you just need the first 3, the first and last 2, or all 5 - it depends on your setup?
The socket appears to have terminals you can connect to bared wires.
If you have Seatalk instruments there might be a spare 3 pin socket to connect to - it will be flat, about 25x8mm with the 3 pins inline (the first 3 above). 0 and +12 are the outer two, data in the middle.
You will need a plug with enough cable to reach from your source of Seatalk data to the socket.
I suggest you confirm this with someone who knows your setup and proposed usage better than me.
I hope this helps?

Andrew

[hoppy]

Originally Posted by Rustic Charm

Thanks for your help Andrew,

My daughter is going to pick it up and bring it down to me tomorrow.

As Alan said, the ST1000 will take NMEA 0183 and Seatalk. Do I need to purchase a different cable in order to plug the ST1000 into my control head so it reads the fluxgate compass?

You can download the manual here Manuals and Documents | Raymarine and read up about what else you might need before your daughter picks it up.

I was going to comment more, but I see Andrew has beat me to it. The Seatalk/bare end cable is not included in the kit.

[Andrew G]

RC. I've been checking ST1000 manuals online and there are different versions. One talks about a three-pin plug and socket (like I have on my boat ST4000+) - not the one I described above. So you may need to tell us what is in the box.
You may also need to think about (and possibly buy bits) for how you attach the pilot to the boat and to the tiller/trim tab. The manual will give you the important distances. (my boat needed a longer post on the pivot and an arm under the tiller to attach the pilot to).
Bob Clow at Yaringa is the closest Raymarine dealer and there is no swell up there.
Good luck,
Andrew

[GILow]

Is it too late to grab something like a Tp1000 instead? A bit small for the boat but it should cope in most reasonable conditions. Being self contained there would be no need to interface it with anything.


Sent from my iPhone so apologies for weird autocorrect typos.