The buying experience of Second Wind was quite remarkable. She was listed with Buyaboat at Lake Macquarie for $34,900 - make an offer. I had been looking at her and other yachts for 6 months or more.

I had consulted with local yacht owner friends and of course my wife, and the general consensus was that Second Wind was a right yacht for our intended use, was ready to go and did not need a major spend to get her home to Bundaberg.

When I inquired on the yacht, the broker offered to and did put me in contact with the owner of the yacht. All brokers should do this in my opinion. You want it from "the horse's mouth". I had a long conversation with the owner during which I got a good feel for the yacht and how it was used and maintained. My questions were very pointed and specific.

The three things in my buying criteria were, the yacht had to be 30 foot (not over 10 m) and not cost over $1,000 per foot and be ready to go ie. no big spend.

So Second Wind was there and approved by me , Wife and sailing compadres but not at the price. In the meantime Jonathan Frearson has this Cavalier 28 advertised for sale at $18,000 and appears to be a thing. I promptly put a $1,000 holding deposit on it and set off for Sydney the next day to buy it.

The thought then of course is, you are not going to drive to Sydney and back at a cost of $2,000 to look at one boat??? No!!! So I ring the broker on Second Wind and toss the question "Do you reckon the guy will cop $28,000 for it??" Intuitively he knew I was serious and said "I will make sure he does, leave it to me and I will call you back tomorrow."

Sure enough he rings me at 10 am the next morning aqsking me if I want to own A Lotus 0.2 for $28,000.

Stay tuned................

10 Meters makes sense for a lot of reasons . That was one of the reasons I didn't buy that Nantucket 33. My Walker can be sailed easily solo. I know I'm going to curse some where down the track for buying such a compact yacht with shallow draft, trade offs advantage running costs,Marina fees cost of maintenance ect all have a deciding factor .The main thing that worries me is shade and what sort of design for that shade on a Ketch. You have a good boat there Cisco

Yes, the 10 metre mark seems to be the magic number. Big enough but small enough. A very economic size for a coastal cruiser in comfort but big enough for the right design to sail the world.

I do not believe Alan Wright designed the Lotus 9.2 with world cruising in mind and world cruising is not my intended use of this beautiful yacht but certainly a beam reach over to Noumea and back is on the cards. It is only 450 miles which is less distance than I have just brought her from Lake Macquarie to Bundaberg.

Your comment on "shade" is very valid HG02. In tropical climes you must have it for the sake of your health. The trick is having it without affecting your sailing performance too much.

I am out of the loop for the next three days due to a necessary road trip to Brisbane and back so the next episode of "Second Wind sails North" won't be until about Wednesday. Cheers.

So when is your trip to Noumea planned ?

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Lexmark said..

So when is your trip to Noumea planned ?

It is not planned but it is a possibility.

So the deal gets done, I go to Sydney for a couple of days with HaveFun, back to the Lake for a few days to make some preparation and "The List" and I go back home to get rid of car and make repairs to the inflatable Avon.

One really great thing Wolf the vendor did for me was to give me his Yacht Club Member's card and sell me the marina key for $15. These came in very handy on my return.

Getting my self and personal luggage on a plane to Newcastle was easy enough but the bag with the inflatable, some tools and the oars was a major challenge. Without going into details suffice to say I got everything landed at Newcastle where "Lazzerae" picked me up in his burgundy Statesman with the leather seats and a big boot. Thanks again Larry.

He wheeled me past Whitworths where I unloaded $623.55 and loaded 7 items of safety gear. We then proceeded to Lake Macquarie Yacht Club where I inflated the dinghy, rowed out to the yacht, got her running, slipped the mooring and drove her over to the marina where Larry took my lines and we tied her up. Larry agreed to meet me there the next day around 10 am with his "Top Climber" and we would see if we could get the tri light to work and check the mast fittings.

Wolf told me that I should be OK on that side of the marina and would probably go unnoticed. It being the weather side of the marina with some rain coming through, it was not a pleasant night sleep I got. Bumping all night with the fenders squeaking between the boat and wharf reduced my sleep time to an interrupted 4 hours. At 7 am there is a knock,knock,knock and I am greeted by Mike the dockmaster. He is a lovely guy but his boss, the club manager Alan is not so.

Mike has to report to Alan who soon shows up and gives me the third degree. Why did I tie up there he asks three times. I am knocking the wharf around and my boat. That is bad seamanship he says. I show him Wolf's card and he says I will have to go around to the other side. So we move the yacht around there and Alan checks my name against the register and does not find it. He comes back and I tell him that Wolf gave me his card so that I could come alongside and prepare the yacht to go to Queensland where Wolf wants me to take her. So you are a contractor?? No, I am just taking the boat up for him and then I give him all the bills. Well you will have to go onto the work berth and that costs $45/day but I suppose I can give you member's rate at $30/day. Oh thank you Sir Alan. but yeah, I am in. as long as Alan gets his pound of flesh.

One of the members told me later that Alan can't handle the truth so you have to bullship him all the time and then he is alright.

The work berth at LMYC is something else altogether. It is a protected pen with power and water and is smack bang in front of the dining and drinking deck of the club. That deck is one of THE social hubs of Belmont so being there is a bit like being in a gold fish bowl. Watch your Ps and Qs, dress nicely, bare back and undies won't do and screen yourself or turn the lights off when changing. I wouldn't have it any other way. Top spot.









More a bit later tonight.

Cisco, why don't we look at taking my boat to Noumea? Via Bundy.

Hi Cisco,

I met u briefly at the Yacht club just before Easter.

Have u departed yet? Or like it too much Here?

We might entice a whole flotilla to Noumea via a rendezvous in northern Queensland at this rate. Not bad for a thought bubble Cisco.

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HaveFun said..

We might entice a whole flotilla to Noumea via a rendezvous in northern Queensland at this rate. Not bad for a thought bubble Cisco.

I would love to do this. work and no holiday's means that for this year at least I will not be able to do more than weekend sails.

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MorningBird said..

Cisco, why don't we look at taking my boat to Noumea? Via Bundy.

I don't know why we don't look at taking your boat to Noumea, via Bundy.

Maybe we should look at it. The Brisbane to Noumea Race was very popular in the early to mid 80s but I think got overshadowed by Hamilton Race Week.

It is a great place once you are over there and there are the Chesterfield Reefs on the way. Great diving but not for me. The French are notoriously expensive to deal with so need to look at that.

Great suggestion and food for thought. We sail over there and fly the wimmen in.

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warwickl said..

Hi Cisco,

I met u briefly at the Yacht club just before Easter.

Have u departed yet? Or like it too much Here?

I remember the occasion. I loved it there but my wallet and kidneys couldn't take much more. We left Easter Monday and got into Bundy 6 days later.

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bubble7777 said..

HaveFun said..

We might entice a whole flotilla to Noumea via a rendezvous in northern Queensland at this rate. Not bad for a thought bubble Cisco.

I would love to do this. work and no holiday's means that for this year at least I will not be able to do more than weekend sails.

Sounds like the makings of a yacht rally to me.

I need to recharge my holidays also . But if you needed a main sheet hand and some one to pass the rum bottle I'm in Next year would be better for me
Ciscos B.O.A.T has got hold of me and my blank (bank) balance

Secure in the work berth it was time to go to work. I bought 6 days on the berth from Tuesday to the following (Easter) Monday when it was planned by HaveFun for us to leave.

Larry came down the next day with his top climber and we set it up and used the spinnaker halliard as a safety line. Larry went up and soon we determined that the tri light was not going to be serviceable for this trip. A check of the masthead and spreader fittings showed no major faults so I thanked Larry and he went back to his business.

This put nav lights at the top of the list and this is what I came up with. Basic but functional.







The stern/steaming light turned out to be a dazzling distraction for the helmsman so we tried putting tape over the front of it but it was still no good. I had bought a set of emergency LED nav lights for $80 so we used that on the stern which was excellent.

I had bought the yacht as a non-fixerupper which it was but all the safety gear had to be checked and updated as required. That week I spent $1,232.80 on the boat and of that $974.50 was purely on safety gear. New lifelines had to be made up and I thank Gordon Seabreezer (Lmy) for the loan of his wire cutters.

The cabin had gear all over the place for most of the week before it was sorted and correctly stowed.





Again I went through all the lockers and drawers, rearranging everything into a logical place for them to be when sailing. An inventory of spares had to be determined, batteries had to be fully charged and their terminals cleaned and treated with petroleum jelly which gave an immediate increase of 1 volt on the meter. The stern gland had to be adjusted to make sure there was adequate water lubrication on it and the stern bearing. Halliards and control lines had to be checked for freedom of operation. The ground tackle had to be upgraded.

I had HaveFun and MorningBird arriving on Good Friday to go over the yacht and make their final decision to do the trip or not, assess what gear they would be bringing, go over the voyage plan and make a provisioning list. HaveFun had the last two items well in hand bringing a printed out voyage plan complete with strip maps and navigation notes that he had compiled using the features of the "Quick Charts" program and a printed out provisioning list. An excellent resource for referral while underway.

They went back to Sydney and would return on the Monday and about all that was left to do was the provisioning so I was able to relax a little and enjoy Easter at Lake Macquarie Yacht Club. The Gunyah Hotel was just up the hill and Coles, Woollies and Aldi a short walk down the road.

Here are some of the great yachts tied up at LMYC.










Lake Macquarie is a beautiful part of the world and if you lived there you would have to have some kind of boat. This little chick magnet would do me for fun in the sun.










I have always thought the Lazilas dan bouy light were a piece of rubbish and I replaced this one with the little yellow American made LED lights. I thought what better to do with this old one than to add it to the decore of the deck at LMYC. It gives it some character and I hope it starts a tradition of adding various nauticalia to the deck.




There are some wonderful characters at LMYC in particular Kieth and Hilton, and I want to thank those that gave me assistance and advices on transiting Swansea Channel.

The advice is and confirmed 6 times over is to plan your bridge opening for 2 to 4 hours after the Fort Denison high tide. The ideal is 3 hours after for entering or leaving.

Next up, we actually put to sea.

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cisco said..

So the deal gets done, I go to Sydney for a couple of days with HaveFun, back to the Lake for a few days to make some preparation and "The List" and I go back home to get rid of car and make repairs to the inflatable Avon.

One really great thing Wolf the vendor did for me was to give me his Yacht Club Member's card and sell me the marina key for $15. These came in very handy on my return.

Getting my self and personal luggage on a plane to Newcastle was easy enough but the bag with the inflatable, some tools and the oars was a major challenge. Without going into details suffice to say I got everything landed at Newcastle where "Lazzerae" picked me up in his burgundy Statesman with the leather seats and a big boot. Thanks again Larry.

He wheeled me past Whitworths where I unloaded $623.55 and loaded 7 items of safety gear. We then proceeded to Lake Macquarie Yacht Club where I inflated the dinghy, rowed out to the yacht, got her running, slipped the mooring and drove her over to the marina where Larry took my lines and we tied her up. Larry agreed to meet me there the next day around 10 am with his "Top Climber" and we would see if we could get the tri light to work and check the mast fittings.

Wolf told me that I should be OK on that side of the marina and would probably go unnoticed. It being the weather side of the marina with some rain coming through, it was not a pleasant night sleep I got. Bumping all night with the fenders squeaking between the boat and wharf reduced my sleep time to an interrupted 4 hours. At 7 am there is a knock,knock,knock and I am greeted by Mike the dockmaster. He is a lovely guy but his boss, the club manager Alan is not so.

Mike has to report to Alan who soon shows up and gives me the third degree. Why did I tie up there he asks three times. I am knocking the wharf around and my boat. That is bad seamanship he says. I show him Wolf's card and he says I will have to go around to the other side. So we move the yacht around there and Alan checks my name against the register and does not find it. He comes back and I tell him that Wolf gave me his card so that I could come alongside and prepare the yacht to go to Queensland where Wolf wants me to take her. So you are a contractor?? No, I am just taking the boat up for him and then I give him all the bills. Well you will have to go onto the work berth and that costs $45/day but I suppose I can give you member's rate at $30/day. Oh thank you Sir Alan. but yeah, I am in. as long as Alan gets his pound of flesh.

One of the members told me later that Alan can't handle the truth so you have to bullship him all the time and then he is alright.[/i]

The work berth at LMYC is something else altogether. It is a protected pen with power and water and is smack bang in front of the dining and drinking deck of the club. That deck is one of THE social hubs of Belmont so being there is a bit like being in a gold fish bowl. Watch your Ps and Qs, dress nicely, bare back and undies won't do and screen yourself or turn the lights off when changing. I wouldn't have it any other way. Top spot.









More a bit later tonight.

Geezus, are you so important that not following L.M.Y.C. policy about reporting to the office or bar staff of your intention to stay overnight does not apply to you?? There are signs around the marina.
Alan does a good job as General Manager, why did you lie to him, did you pretend to be this Wolf character, why did he give you ($15, is a security deposit), a security key, without the club having YOUR details,
Why did you need to lie to him regarding the true ownership of the boat, do you really own it or are you just delivering it?
It is absolutely Bad Seamanship to tie up on the windward side of a jetty, especially to do so for the reason of "would probably go unnoticed", why were you planning on keeping yourself unnoticed?
Yes he did you a favour by charging you members prices, your deceit of true ownership has cost the club $105, or had you owned up to being the owner by then.
Maybe next time you can tie up at Belmont wharf, a free public wharf with no power, or amenities or security, where nobody will ask you 3 times why you are there. As it is a private club, Alan has every right to question you, and to ensure that you carry the correct Public Liability Insurance to be there.

The L.M.Y.C. is a welcoming club for visitors, just go about it the correct way, you have to show respect to earn respect.
Dave.

Looking forward to the next instalment Cisco, its a good read.

pssst, I did the same thing, in the same spot(only for 1 night tho'), but got away before Mike (& the southerly wind!) came knocking, but don't tell anyone.

In fact I was there with BlueMoon too.

We were also assisted by a "member"

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BlueMoon said..

Looking forward to the next instalment Cisco, its a good read.

It is coming!!

I was busy writing a response to morningsun and then lost it in the ether. Have to do it again.

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morningsun said..

Geezus, are you so important that not following L.M.Y.C. policy about reporting to the office or bar staff of your intention to stay overnight does not apply to you?? There are signs around the marina.
Alan does a good job as General Manager, why did you lie to him, did you pretend to be this Wolf character, why did he give you ($15, is a security deposit), a security key, without the club having YOUR details,
Why did you need to lie to him regarding the true ownership of the boat, do you really own it or are you just delivering it?
It is absolutely Bad Seamanship to tie up on the windward side of a jetty, especially to do so for the reason of "would probably go unnoticed", why were you planning on keeping yourself unnoticed?
Yes he did you a favour by charging you members prices, your deceit of true ownership has cost the club $105, or had you owned up to being the owner by then.
Maybe next time you can tie up at Belmont wharf, a free public wharf with no power, or amenities or security, where nobody will ask you 3 times why you are there. As it is a private club, Alan has every right to question you, and to ensure that you carry the correct Public Liability Insurance to be there.

The L.M.Y.C. is a welcoming club for visitors, just go about it the correct way, you have to show respect to earn respect.
Dave.

Strewth, are you Alan's brother or something??? You keep asking "Why,why, why" just like he does.

"Alan does a good job as General Manager"

Not according to several long standing members I met whilst there, and that was without me broaching the subject. He is an employee of the club. Nothing more.

"It is absolutely Bad Seamanship to tie up on the windward side of a jetty,"

I noticed several club members do the same over the Easter weekend. You might like to chip them about their "Bad Seamanship" too.

"your deceit of true ownership has cost the club $105,"

No. I gave the club $180 it otherwise would not have had, plus what I spent across the bar there. If you want the $90 difference between member and non member price of the work berth for 6 days, send me the bill. If you want the key back, it will cost you $15.

" Alan has every right to question you, and to ensure that you carry the correct Public Liability Insurance to be there."

He did not ask me about insurance (which I had) and that is a failing on him. You might want to chip him about that.

"The L.M.Y.C. is a welcoming club for visitors, just go about it the correct way, you have to show respect to earn respect."

Yes, L.M.Y.C. MEMBERS that I met were very welcoming and knew exactly what I was doing there. I am unable to say the same for the management. However I did show respect to all people I met there to the point of taking empty glasses and bottles back to the bar from the table I was sitting at that were left there by the non member socialites. I expected nothing in return except common courtesy.

This is the thing about clubs and in particular yacht clubs. You get asked the question "Are you a member??" in a pompous tone, like "Do you have blue blood???", "Are you related to the Queen???"

It is a "put down" and the reason I do not join "clubs". However, I am a member of "The Bundaberg Ancient Mariner's Society" and they are not a bunch to be messed with.

So morningsun, next time you are headed up to Hammo for race week on your flash racing yacht, do drop into Bundaberg and say Hi. We have a warm hospitality here that is completely lacking of formalities.

Cheers Cisco.

True aye Cisco about some clubs. Cottage point club is a wankers club it seems. THey have a big sign saying "Fuel and Ice" they charge 2 bucks a litre for the fuel and thats totally cool. In my 22 footer i tie up and patiently wait for some fuel, leave cash and keel the change fellas. The members of cottage point club - not the management always ask "are you a member?" & "dont tie up here" Or "you can join the club" etc. Last time some old coot, said "oh no one will be here for half an hour , you might as well scoot off and come back" it was 8.30am on easter sunday. I ignored the dick and the marina workers were there 5 minutes later...Btw the club managers etc never have a problem - they look stressed(probably because of their demanding members) - they are busy there. im patient and try to make our transaction as easy for them as possible. its always the members that have a problem.
I would NEVER join that club, because of the dickheads ive met from that club.

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Sectorsteve said..

True aye Cisco about some clubs. Cottage point club is a wankers club it seems. THey have a big sign saying "Fuel and Ice" they charge 2 bucks a litre for the fuel and thats totally cool. In my 22 footer i tie up and patiently wait for some fuel, leave cash and keel the change fellas. The members of cottage point club - not the management always ask "are you a member?" & "dont tie up here" Or "you can join the club" etc. Last time some old coot, said "oh no one will be here for half an hour , you might as well scoot off and come back" it was 8.30am on easter sunday. I ignored the dick and the marina workers were there 5 minutes later...Btw the club managers etc never have a problem - they look stressed(probably because of their demanding members) - they are busy there. im patient and try to make our transaction as easy for them as possible. its always the members that have a problem.
I would NEVER join that club, because of the dickheads ive met from that club.

Montys marina. that's a marina that isn't pretentious! almost got killed by some big orgre dude for unplugging his power by a mistake. there was a murder a few yeas ago. bloke burnt himself in his boat maybe a year after that. the only beer is VB and I spent the first few weeks rolling around in dog sh1t while scraping my hull. (the local dogs seemed to mistake my keel for a toilet :(


however there some pretty cool people that I have met that have helped me out which was great