sailing on Port Phillip Bay

[Normanby]

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.

[Yara50]

Hi Matt
The one good thing about PPB is that you dont get the sudden "bullets" of wind that Pittwater is subject to.

Hoisting main: Forget roller reefing. It is just a convenient way to store the sail on the boom when on the trailer. Invest in a stop device which fits in the mainsl track. When rigging slide all the slugs into the track and then fit the stop. Flake the sail on the boom and fit a couple of ties around it. On Yara I have the main and jib halyards led back to the cockpit. The jib has a downhaul, so that with it, and the sheet tight, the jib doesn't flap around too much.

With motor going, point into wind, release jib downhaul, hoist jib. Back the jib and lock helm hard over so boat is in hove to position. Kill motor. Undo ties on main. Now you can hoist the main at leisure.

On the weekend it was slow going beating to an anchorage. So instead, we just hove to, and sat in the middle of Pittwater eating lunch. As long as you heave to on starboard tack, most people just have to go around you.

[Normanby]

Thanks Ian,
That sequence sounds like the go. My old boat used to point into the wind while hoisting the main, with the helm free.
But i'll make a thingy to hold the slugs in, and heave to as you say to hoist the main.

[peter yates]

I have to agree that PPB can be intimidating, mainly because it has nothing to shelter behind and with 40km or so of open water at times, the wave action can be quite scarey, especially for us part-timers.
Coming from an aviation background, the story about needing to get from Werribee to Queenscliff and return in a blow is familiar. The press on attitude creates pressure and ruins relaxation, so maybe planning shorter trips is the go.
I have taken to launching at Newport and giving the grandkids a sail around the top of the bay if conditions suitable, before motoring up to Docklands for refereshments. A good varied half day outing.