Been busy!

by John Curnow on 14 Mar 2017 No. Not doing that… Although getting married would be a superbly awesome, and a terrifically good excuse to use a boat, however. Anyway, humblest apologies, for it seems we missed a week since Immortal came out. Doh! Was not planned that way at all, just how it came to pass. More importantly, how have you been? Well, we trust…

As you can see, what a day this couple chose to come out their celebrate their nuptials. Love the safety-first life vest on their infant, and their crew were very jovial and totally had the same hymn sheet. Their local club, which caters for everything from OTB to long haul cruisers was sitting under AP with nary a breeze on offer to even consider a start, so they came right through.

Thunderous applause followed, and as a smaller club, just about everyone knew exactly who they were, and the lovely history behind it all. They of course had a great time and headed back ashore for more festivities, no doubt with even more souls who could not be aboard for the real deal. The racing fleet looked at the red and white for a good deal longer, BTW…

Righty then, and stepping straight into the breech, we’re unequivocally about boating. Nothing may sum that up more than Stefa Katamay’s piece about getting oneself used to the sea, and all its myriad of conditions. It is OK to know your limitations and work to those, and also to expand them. Not everyone wants to, or needs to, look at 70+ knots in the eye, and deal with the time at hand, or the aftermath.

Indeed I really did pause for this one, for there are many who could easily draw a lot of personal reference to her explanation of how you can overcome many an obstacle of the mind. Yes, that most personal and ever-so-strong, regularly misused, and more often than not covert ‘muscle’ could do with a heap of training!

So if you have had the big look in the mirror and realise you can take it on, then some may also need to look at gear on the boat. Putting a whole heap of sticky back, liquid nails, no more gaps and even gaffer tape may keep a sail in the air, but whom are you really fooling in the end?

When you’re left with nothing more than tapes to bring it down, and it is blowing bags, that so called ‘economy’ you’ve been considering may be looking about as thin as the ancient cloth you put your trust in. All sails have a lifespan, no more so than the modern man made fibres we all love.

Organisations like Carl Crafoord’s sailexchange.com.au exist so that you don’t have to do it in the first place. You can source a new, or new to you item at a great price, and have your old one shredded up for bean bag filler, so you can always say you helped to eliminate landfill. Well done, you!

They have sails going into Asia and the USA, so it is not just a Southern Hemisphere scenario, and if it is cost effective, then it rapidly comes into the old no-brainer territory. UV, salt air and the harsh marine environment do take their toll on all things nautical. Keep the maintenance up and it is not so much of an issue, and peace of mind is not something necessarily sold at the marina or local chandlery…

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