+1 on Robert's Musgrave Island trip.
I have said before here Petrus my minimum requirements for blue water boating are two bars and a theatre.
Having said that, I remember the first week I had Spritzig II on my old mooring an old bloke ( he would be young to me now) who had been moored near me for years rowed past and stopped to look at the new boat. He commented that he had one of the original 563s and it was one of the only TS's he would take out through the channel to open water.
That was reassuring but I have not tested his confidence.
Mind you Lake mac can get pretty hairy due to its shallow water in bad weather. As discussed on these pages the two main drawbacks for the 563 as an open water sailer are the hatches ( all of them including the pop top ) and the cockpit drains. I have replaced the hopper window catch on the front hatch which is about as useful as two garbage bag ties with a pressure down adjustable catch with screw through bolts as I figured 50 gallons of lake mac having a lie down on my v berth would ruin my day
The pop top has a large ss pad bolt on the front end and two hasp and staple catches on the back I can lock down in bad conditions. My storm board slides and boards have been replaced with more industrial materials as the standard setup is pretty sub standard given the excellent design of the rest of the boat. I have hopefully overcome the inadequate cockpit drains by having a very tall lower storm board that is higher than the cockpits coaming.
I am now close to being able to go blue water sailing. Once I work out how to get the two bars and the theatre in there I'm off for sure.
