Bass Strait Crossing 2022/3 - Fail 1 and 2
Zofia | Sailing Adventures
by
1y ago
Heading down from Queensland should really not have been such a slog but La Ninã delivered some weird weather across 2022.  A southward trip that took us 3-4 days in previous years, took us a month this time. We found ourselves grasping at tiny weather windows that involved 12 hours of motoring and 12 hours of sailing followed up with 5 -10 days of ‘hiding’ up a river system. We made the best of it but when your eye is on the prize: Tasmania, every stop along the way represented a diversion.  At least we managed a couple of new destinations en route. Shellharbour (just south of Sy ..read more
Visit website
We have Austrian Fans!
Zofia | Sailing Adventures
by
2y ago
The fridge on a boat is always a torment one way or the other. In the first place they are by far and away the biggest consumers of power and seeing as The Bloke is a paid up member of the ‘Power Police’, he is always on the case and monitoring. I am far less attentive and and chiefly interested in the lettuce not freezing or the ice cubes failing to set for my G&T for sundowners. Over our years afloat multiple modifications have been made for the refrigeration to work optimally. The cable run across the boat was replaced with thicker wire to reduce resistance  and consequent loss ..read more
Visit website
Going Off the Reservation.
Zofia | Sailing Adventures
by
2y ago
Unable to encourage The Bloke to traverse ‘The Narrows’ between Curtis Island and the mainland  on previous trips up and down the coast, this route emerged as s handy way to ‘steal a base’ while the wind blew from the wrong direction relative to our desired direction of travel. Perfect. No need to nag or plead. Dramatic sky to accompany our departure Islands being left behind Our night anchorage at Sea Hill Point ahead of our cross-country run the next morning. Having spent almost 3 months at Great Keppel Island and beginning to wonder just when we should head south, the de ..read more
Visit website
Sausage roll table of fame UPDATE
Zofia | Sailing Adventures
by
3y ago
 Well a new offering. I had the pleasure of sampling these magnificent sausage rolls twice; not that I needed a second tasting to decide these are the real deal. Judy has entered the table of fame at number 6 and in doing so has become the highest ranked amaetur. Peter of "Novae" will be disappointed, however, given he is planning to catch us up who knows a bake off may be in the offing. STAY TUNED! Sausage rolls from Judy of 'Hurtle Turle ..read more
Visit website
Servicing the anchor winch
Zofia | Sailing Adventures
by
3y ago
Let me say from the outset that I am not proud of the fact that I have created this post. The condition of our anchor winch and the amount of servicing it required does not reflect well on my maintenance of this equipment. My only defence is that I did regularly check and service some elements of the winch, in particular the cone clutches so as to maintain manual operation if it was required. What I did not do is service the winch spindle apparatus nor the gear box. It was not that the winch was not telling me to do so because it had been leaking a small amount of water into the boat for some ..read more
Visit website
Making the Boom Awning
Zofia | Sailing Adventures
by
3y ago
To say I’m a ditherer wouldn’t be overstating things. Sewing a boom tent has been far too long on the project list. In fact the first lot of fabric purchased for that purpose ended up as suncovers for our gerry cans that we took on our trip to New Caledonia in 2017, a cover for the Honda generator, replacement hatch covers and even a stern awning,  but no boom tent. Ciao Bella making a welcome lap Last year however, after endless COVID-19 related delays, we finally rendezvoused with Gary and Mil on Ciao Bella up at Great Keppel Island. Seeing their boom awning arrangement for the fi ..read more
Visit website
Saying Goodbye to Marilyn
Zofia | Sailing Adventures
by
3y ago
Marilyn was our dinghy/tender and came to be ours with quite a story attached. She had originally been owned by our sailing mentors. They had become separated from her during a storm whilst on anchor. Searches to locate the tender were unsuccessful, and an insurance claim made. Roll on 12 months and our friends received a call from the Police quite out of the blue, advising that their ‘missing tender’ was in their possession. A call was subsequently made to the insurers to explain and for instructions. The insurance company were very pragmatic and requested that the dinghy be sold and the sale ..read more
Visit website
Progressive Dinghy Lunch
Zofia | Sailing Adventures
by
3y ago
We’re not the only cruisers who’ve chosen an extended stay at Great Keppel Island. There is much to enjoy. Little did the 1970’s marketing  slogan inventors know that people would continue to ‘Get Wrecked at GKI’ long after the resort became insolvent and itself wrecked. The weather dictates where one can anchor and the ‘GKI shuffle’ can even mean re-location in the middle of the night as dictated by wind and swell conditions. The scenery is thus constantly changing and what activities are possible too. Songlines, Sans Souci and Supa Trooper were new arrivals that were later leaving the ..read more
Visit website
Bucket Lists
Zofia | Sailing Adventures
by
3y ago
From the outset, 2020 was looking to be a busy year. It looked like this: Complete an extended stay with family in Perth, return to the boat in Queensland and give Zofia a major service in preparation for another off-shore trip to New Caledonia in May (which we’d already twice deferred). Return to Australia in August so we could fly to Oxford for a God-daughter’s wedding in September. Then sail again to Tasmania for another summer. Almost a bucket list of journeys.  By April it was evident that off-shore sailing to New Caledonia was off the cards, indeed going anywhere beyond a 50km r ..read more
Visit website
Where is That Water Coming From?
Zofia | Sailing Adventures
by
3y ago
We are only 12 years into our ownership of Zofia and we continue to learn as we go. On the whole we’ve done a good job of maintenance, with The Bloke taking great pride in his ‘Mr Fussy’ title. Our recent boat survey confirmed what an excellent job he’s been doing. For one thing, we are a dry boat. Put aside the fact that there might be several cases of wine stored in the bilge, what we mean is there are generally no leaks. Sea water lives outside the hull but not inside the hull! Our sense of equilibrium was upset recently while trying to trace the source of seawater in the bilge. Yikes. Our ..read more
Visit website

Follow Zofia | Sailing Adventures on FeedSpot

Continue with Google
Continue with Apple
OR