Last week I convinced 4 friends to help me sail my "new" S and S 34 from Sydney to the Gold Coast. We had a great trip and managed to make the voyage in just 72 hours with the help of some strong southerlies and a trusty Bukh DV 24.




We tore a (very old) headsail and had some problems with the boom vang fitting but nothing serious broke and the boat handled the conditions beautifully. Except for the big slabs of paint that peele of the topsides

Only 72 hours!! You must have been hooting.

We are leaving Lake Macquarie on Easter Monday on a Lotus 9.2 headed for Bundaberg. I hope we get as good a run as you did.

Well done Andy. Aren't they great sailing boats!

Cisco, I retrieved my stuff from Morning Bird for the trip north with yourself and Havefun.

I have Alan Lucas NSW Coast, hand held VHF with spare battery, harness and tether, inflatable life vest (with harness), wet weather gear, Garmin chartplotter with route saved (need 240volt to charge), hand held GPS with route saved, sea rug, bedding, spare AAA batteries, couple of head lights, ipod speakers. My phone has Navionics installed.

I have 9 Easymeals that are in date. I'll bring them on Sunday.

Anything I've missed?

Well I hope you have as good a run as we did. She looks like a sweet yacht.
Sounds like an exhaustive list Morning Bird. The Navionics phone app is so convenient its virtually all we used and everyone was navigator so the only thing I can think of that might be useful that isn't on your list is a battery pack for your phone because we found the 12 volt cigarette lighter type chargers a bit temperamental.
One thing we didn't use was the $800 worth of groceries I bought before we left. Only the old sea dogs amongst didn't get seasick at some point and it was so lumpy no one felt like eating much anyway so I have enough supplies left on board to sail to New Zealand and back lol.

MB..list well compiled, only thing missing , what is provision after sunset.
andy59, you right 12volts chargers are hopeless, even for me is hard to explain ,
I start using good quality 12to240 inverter, no more frustrations.

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MorningBird said..

Well done Andy. Aren't they great sailing boats!

Cisco, I retrieved my stuff from Morning Bird for the trip north with yourself and Havefun.

I have Alan Lucas NSW Coast, hand held VHF with spare battery, harness and tether, inflatable life vest (with harness), wet weather gear, Garmin chartplotter with route saved (need 240volt to charge), hand held GPS with route saved, sea rug, bedding, spare AAA batteries, couple of head lights, ipod speakers. My phone has Navionics installed.

I have 9 Easymeals that are in date. I'll bring them on Sunday.

Anything I've missed?

Anything left on MB

Heaps thanks Slainte. MB is ready to go to Lord Howe so has lots on it. I'd like to bring a Fleming or Simrad on Second Wind so we don't have to hand steer. :(
My experience on victuals is the same as yours Andy. That is where the Easy meals came from. Nobody wants to eat much for 24 hours, and then everyone needs to take a dump at the 30 hour mark. Happens like clockwork.
I also have a few bottles of ET's seasickness tablets. They are the best treatment for Mal de mer I have found.

Hi, you did well to do the trip in 72 hours, three of us brought my Cav 32 from Pittwater to Mooloolaba in 8 days from 30th March to late 7th April, the diary dictated when we left, we motored 85% of the time, wind on the nose until we got to Southport. We left Southport Sunday night with the wind finally in our favor and off south Stradbroke every thing that could go wrong went wrong, the genoa sheet port side lost it's stopper knot??? and went over the side and got caught around the prop, the motor wasn't running at the time which was good but we were left without a motor to get in mooloolaba, we were already logged in with the coast guard and arranged a tow when we got to Mool. the seas were building and with a following sea the boat took on a mind of it's own.
I won't mention the main sheet traveler coming off the car and the boom going AWOL port side, the genoa split 5 feet from the top, the drama went on and on but we made Mooloolaba and all ended up OK.

I learned heaps on the trip and can't wait for the next adventure.

Bill

Wow Bill that sounds like a full on trip. I'm sure Lady luck played a major role in our trip.

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Charriot said..

MB..list well compiled, only thing missing , what is provision after sunset.
andy59, you right 12volts chargers are hopeless, even for me is hard to explain ,
I start using good quality 12to240 inverter, no more frustrations.

I bought one of these the other day I keep forgetting to get the right hole saw
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/290826104943?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649 < Dual 5 Volt USB sockets drop voltage down from 12 volts

This unit looks very nice, except the cost.
Power limit is 5 Watts, be careful what you put in, camera & phone,
You probably overheat and blow it.
This one is 15 Wats and $4.

Second Wind departed Lake Macquarie yesterday at the 1500 bridge with Cisco, Havefun and myself onboard. Weather has been mild with light breezes, motor sailing all the way so far. The boat is performing very well to date.
Just passing Camden Haven.
First and hopefully only stop will be Southport.
Lunch is served.

So who's cooking ?, what's on the menu?
and Cisco's 1st rule 'Pics or it didn't happen'
Fair winds friends...

Fish and chips at the Coffs co-op is always nice, then a cleansing ale at the yacht club!

Any excuse for me!

I will be leaving Southport on Thursday or Friday and heading to Gladstone, Ill keep an eye out and call over to say hello if I see you

Reporting from my balcony....They are a couple of miles Sth of the Tacking Pt lighthouse, looks like they turned off the motor & are close-hauled into a 15-18kts NE'er, rarely see yachts come in that close too, looking good....perfect conditions to go Sth!, but looks like fun, all the best, cheers

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Charriot said..

This unit looks very nice, except the cost.
Power limit is 5 Watts, be careful what you put in, camera & phone,
You probably overheat and blow it.
This one is 15 Wats and $4.

Its only for phones and it has its own fuse on the back

All the motor sailing took it's toll. Stopped in Port to refuel and here are the other two enjoying a bit of brekkie without 20 deg of heel. Off to Coffs soon to arrive tomorrow am.

Are you guys still planning to stop at Southport?

Second Wind,
Heard you on the VHF today, sounds like you are almost there. Hope you had a great trip
I am 40KNM behind you.

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Charriot said..

MB..list well compiled, only thing missing , what is provision after sunset.
andy59, you right 12volts chargers are hopeless, even for me is hard to explain ,
I start using good quality 12to240 inverter, no more frustrations.

We had a 3 USB port cigarette socket charger bought from Super Cheap Auto for $17. It has dedicated ports, 1 for tablets Android etc with 2.1 amp output, 2 for smart phones and 3 for iPhones and iPads.

It worked really well and is certainly simpler than inverters etc. The key is the 2.1 amp output. It is sufficient to run as well as charge devices. I will be hard wiring mine into the boat's electrics.

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Propwalk said..

Hi, you did well to do the trip in 72 hours, three of us brought my Cav 32 from Pittwater to Mooloolaba in 8 days from 30th March to late 7th April, the diary dictated when we left, we motored 85% of the time, wind on the nose until we got to Southport. We left Southport Sunday night with the wind finally in our favor and off south Stradbroke every thing that could go wrong went wrong, the genoa sheet port side lost it's stopper knot??? and went over the side and got caught around the prop, the motor wasn't running at the time which was good but we were left without a motor to get in mooloolaba, we were already logged in with the coast guard and arranged a tow when we got to Mool. the seas were building and with a following sea the boat took on a mind of it's own.
I won't mention the main sheet traveler coming off the car and the boom going AWOL port side, the genoa split 5 feet from the top, the drama went on and on but we made Mooloolaba and all ended up OK.

I learned heaps on the trip and can't wait for the next adventure.

Bill

Considering that I think we had a dream run in comparison. I am glad we got into Bundy on Sunday night rather than last night. It was blowing dogs off chains yesterday.

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BlueMoon said..

Reporting from my balcony....They are a couple of miles Sth of the Tacking Pt lighthouse, looks like they turned off the motor & are close-hauled into a 15-18kts NE'er, rarely see yachts come in that close too, looking good....perfect conditions to go Sth!, but looks like fun, all the best, cheers

Cook didn't name it Tacking Point for nothing.

Tacking Point wasn't too bad. We spent about 6 hours (it felt like that anyway) getting around Smoky Cape with a 3kt set against us as well as the wind on the nose. Saw Smoky Cape light from every angle from the water.