sailing on Port Phillip Bay
Posted: Mon Jan 11, 2010 6:13 pm
Last Saturday we went sailing on Port Phillip Bay. I had promised some friends a sail and the forecast looked right for a sail on PPB on Saturday. So I dragged the crew (my 15 year old daughter) out of bed at 6:30am and we headed down to the Werribee boat ramp. The boat takes quite a bit of set-up to get from the trailer to the water, the main bit being raising the mast, so we were rigged ready to sail by about 9:30am, when the rest of the crew arrived.
We set off, with my feeling a little anxious because I find Port Phillip Bay rather intimidating. After about an hour of sailing, the wind shifted (two hours earlier than the forecast) from the favourable NNW and came straight at us from the south. We were trying to get to Portarlington, but that's where the wind was coming from, and it was a strong wind.
So motored along with the outboard, sails furled, up and down into the increasing swell from the increasing wind. The little 5 horsepower Mariner was at it's maximum speed, and we were making about 2 knots, frequently being stopped dead by a set of larger swells. We all got very wet and so did the interior of the boat (must seal that fore hatch better, ideas?).
But we made it to Portarlington in about 4 hours, only to find that there were no spaces left for visiting yachts on the jetty. Unbeknown to us Portarlington was having it's annual "Mussel Festival" that day, there were boats everywhere. The town was chock-a-block with people and market stalls.
We found a cheeky spot to tie up in, someone else's space, and hoped they didn't come back while we were in town. We went to the Pub to relax, out of the wind, in the lounge bar.
Batteries refreshed, we went and had a picnic on the grass and for a swim.
We headed back around 5:30 and by this time the wind had eased, and it was behind us, so we had a fast and easy sail back to Werribee South, arriving about 8pm. We set up a picnic dinner while I packed up the boat, lowered the mast and put the boat on the trailer.
By the time we got home it was 10pm - what a long day. We slept like the dead that night and did nothing the next day.
It was all in all a successful day’s sailing, because everyone got home alive, all limbs still attached, and the boat still floating.
Am I a complete wuss or do other people find PPB intimidating? Saturday was the first time I’ve been out there in the Investigator, but in my previous boat (a 19 foot wooden keel boat) I’ve been out there half a dozen times, each time tuning quickly into a life or death struggle against the elements. Once I even had to be rescued by the Water Police, who chastised me for being out in such conditions (the forecast was for 10 – 15 knot southerlies).
Also, it took ages to get the main up, and it took three people, with the boat steadfastly refusing to remain head-to-wind. The main was furled around the boom, so the slugs had to be fed into the track one at a time while someone hauled on the halyard from the cockpit.
Unless I’m missing something here, it seems like it would be easier to haul the thing up if it was flaked over the boom (and lashed) with all the slugs already in the mast track. Then when you’re ready to set the main you just release the lashings and pull on the halyard.
My main has two sets of reef grommets, so I reckon I’ll be using them to reef, rather than standing at the mast trying to roll the sail around the spring-loaded boom – this seems like a three-handed operation.
Am I missing something?
Basically, if I’m confident I can reef quickly and easily, then I’m much less of a nervous nelly while sailing, because I know I’m ready for whatever Neptune sends my way.
We set off, with my feeling a little anxious because I find Port Phillip Bay rather intimidating. After about an hour of sailing, the wind shifted (two hours earlier than the forecast) from the favourable NNW and came straight at us from the south. We were trying to get to Portarlington, but that's where the wind was coming from, and it was a strong wind.
So motored along with the outboard, sails furled, up and down into the increasing swell from the increasing wind. The little 5 horsepower Mariner was at it's maximum speed, and we were making about 2 knots, frequently being stopped dead by a set of larger swells. We all got very wet and so did the interior of the boat (must seal that fore hatch better, ideas?).
But we made it to Portarlington in about 4 hours, only to find that there were no spaces left for visiting yachts on the jetty. Unbeknown to us Portarlington was having it's annual "Mussel Festival" that day, there were boats everywhere. The town was chock-a-block with people and market stalls.
We found a cheeky spot to tie up in, someone else's space, and hoped they didn't come back while we were in town. We went to the Pub to relax, out of the wind, in the lounge bar.
Batteries refreshed, we went and had a picnic on the grass and for a swim.
We headed back around 5:30 and by this time the wind had eased, and it was behind us, so we had a fast and easy sail back to Werribee South, arriving about 8pm. We set up a picnic dinner while I packed up the boat, lowered the mast and put the boat on the trailer.
By the time we got home it was 10pm - what a long day. We slept like the dead that night and did nothing the next day.
It was all in all a successful day’s sailing, because everyone got home alive, all limbs still attached, and the boat still floating.
Am I a complete wuss or do other people find PPB intimidating? Saturday was the first time I’ve been out there in the Investigator, but in my previous boat (a 19 foot wooden keel boat) I’ve been out there half a dozen times, each time tuning quickly into a life or death struggle against the elements. Once I even had to be rescued by the Water Police, who chastised me for being out in such conditions (the forecast was for 10 – 15 knot southerlies).
Also, it took ages to get the main up, and it took three people, with the boat steadfastly refusing to remain head-to-wind. The main was furled around the boom, so the slugs had to be fed into the track one at a time while someone hauled on the halyard from the cockpit.
Unless I’m missing something here, it seems like it would be easier to haul the thing up if it was flaked over the boom (and lashed) with all the slugs already in the mast track. Then when you’re ready to set the main you just release the lashings and pull on the halyard.
My main has two sets of reef grommets, so I reckon I’ll be using them to reef, rather than standing at the mast trying to roll the sail around the spring-loaded boom – this seems like a three-handed operation.
Am I missing something?
Basically, if I’m confident I can reef quickly and easily, then I’m much less of a nervous nelly while sailing, because I know I’m ready for whatever Neptune sends my way.