INVESTIGATOR 563

Last Saturday night was my big son's noisy 21st birthday party. It was a perfect excuse to spend the night on the boat. Unfortunately the rest of the family was not interested, so it was just me.

Leisurely prepared the boat and launched at around 4pm from my usual ramp at Bayview, Pittwater in Sydney. The plan was to spend the night a few hundred metres away at the quiet head of the bay, and then be ready to pick up my crew at 0900 the next morning for a rapid getaway.
Motoring up the bay, with a fresh breeze behind, I saw a large keelboat making its way right into my chosen anchorage. There is a sand bar at the end of this bay, and my chosen spot was close to the bar, but not too close to the other moored boats. The keeler barged in and I had to swerve to starboard, keeping an eye on the fishfinder depth. It was showing 5 ft 6 in, so no worries- wrong. We went aground on soft mud.

Well it wasn't so bad, I was more or less where I wanted to spend the night. So I slid overboard and walked the anchor out to windward and towards deeper water. It was two hours to low tide. Slowly we heeled over, making it difficult for me to cook my dinner, so I had to contend with just having my caviar and crackers, followed by a can of dolmades, balanced on my knees as we heeled up to 20 degrees, and sipping my light sparkling wine.

The sun went down and the scene looked like the French impressionist painting that inspired the song "starry starry night". (See the painting in Australia- it is touring at the moment.) The lights of the boats and houses reflecting on the water, and the stars out above.

Slowly I watched the inclinometer creep back to zero, and at last we were free and swinging to the anchor.

Now here is the real point of my story. The keel boat left, and I could now raise the anchor and move to deeper water. Even the fishfinder was giving me the correct depth. There was no moon, so it was pretty dark. I put on my new cheapie forehead mounted LED headband light, and wow- it worked a treat. With just one LED switched on, I could see all I needed to start the motor, raise the anchor and even sort out the halliards to stop them rattling. I am a convert- what a great idea those old miners had!

Once re-anchored I could finish my dinner (Ikea Swedish meatballs sauteed with jacket potatoes followed by fresh fruit) with my single burner Swedish stove slid out on my left, and the table clipped into position between the bunks, it was very civilised.

It was superbly quiet night, the wind dropped, the water become glass like, and I could hear the crabs chomping away in the water. Slept like a log, and had a good sail on Sunday out into Broken Bay to Lion Island and back. Love my bimini, it is great in the summer sun, apart from having to crane the neck a little bit to check the sails.

Spent last weekend on the boat. Didn't run aground, but different problems.
Tried to make pie and peas for dinner, using the technique of creating an oven from a saucepan, where you place some metal egg rings in the bottom, and then put a cake tin bottom over. Non-stick cake tin bottoms are no good- overheat and they become toxic. Managed to buy some foil pie trays, so that worked. Result- yes, got a hot pie, took half an hour to cook, impossible to get out of the saucepan without tongs. I dropped mine on the cabin sole! Luckily I am not fussy, wiped it off and still ate it. While the pie was cooling, boiled some water to re-hydrate the peas. That took another ten minutes. All in 45 minutes to make a simple meal. Pie bottom was burned, pot bottom blackened.
Conclusion- using a single burner stove to make pie and peas is a waste of time. Next time it will be something like a stew which is pre-cooked and only needs heating up.

Next problem was on Sunday, negligible wind so we motored out into the swell and choppy, lumpy seas at Broken Bay heads. The boat hobby-horsed so much that the prop came out of the water. Kept going long enough to get half way back to the ramp, then the shear pin on the prop failed. Tried to sail back, but only got about a mile when the wind dropped to zero. It was not long to dark, so used the classic technique of waving a length of rope at a passing stink boat, and they very kindly towed us back to the ramp.

Been thinking of how I could have lifted the motor off the bracket and onto the deck, as we carry a spare shear pin, but my back was not up to it. Also remembered how dropping the motor previously broke a rib as I smashed into the pushpit. Guess I could have rigged some kind of crane using the boom and a spare block and tackle.

Commiserations Ian

My wife seems to have perfected the two tin method when we were Kombing around Oz even did cakes in it. I think she put in a water bath. I will ask. My culinary skills stop at scrambled eggs and meat and three veg... ehrm no, not together. I console myself than even packet soup tastes good out on the water, must be the fresh air

In regard to the access to the OB I have the same hassle. My original problem was getting it off the tender onto the transom bracket. I already have a stuffed back from a crushed vertebra and this was a real ***t of a job. I eventually solved it by making a loop of an old seat belt end with clip buckle which I would strap around the corner brace in the tender and over the pushpit rail.... quicker than rope and very strong. This meant that as I lifted the OB the tender moved against the 563 and the whole lost moved down in unison providing a stable? platform to lift and transfer the donk without assistance from my wife. Makes boarding more stable as well.

Of course the last two times I have done a shear pin I was not towing the tender

Now for the idea I would like to kick around for input. Simple answer to this is a transom platform. Advantages- Access to OB on water, transfer OB in/out/off the vessel, easy swimming access, clean fish, spot for mother-in-law to sit etc.

I have been impressed with the platforms some members have built but I am always looking at the extra weight this adds to the rear of the boat. I want to make a small SS targa for Spritzig II eventually as part of my bimini setup and this will gobble up any additional weight allowance I am prepared to hang on the blunt end. My thoughts are to make an "as needed" platform from something that's already on the boat, the rudder. Its long thick and solid, two chains to the pulpit and some brackets. Its the bracket set up I am thinking about. It cant interfere with the pintails, gudgeon or normal rudder op but must be strong enough to take my 94kg and the OB 20Kg. The asymmetry would not matter, wide bit near the OB. After use back onto the gudgeons and off you go

Any ideas welcome.