5/1/2017 0 Comments May 01st, 2017I got up this morning to a beautiful clear blue-sky, warm and sunny May Day here on the Gold Coast. I had some plans today for maintenance. Several tasks that are on my ever-growing list of boat jobs that need doing were on my agenda but the light breeze was calling out to my friend Rob, and by mid-morning a plan was formulated to take his boat Eliza for a sail with me as first mate. Half of the Gold Coast was out on the water today – any why not – what a delightful day and a public holiday to boot – so we were in good company – surrounded really by a million jet skis, dozens of fishermen in every size tinny you can image, motor boats of all sizes and styles, houseboats and even other sailing boats! Eliza is a Miller and Whitworth 32 and the perfect boat for me to actually learn to sail. It’s remarkable really that after over 3,000 nautical miles I still knew so little about sailing but it’s the truth. I knew nothing about boats and sailing when I agreed to sell my house and move aboard a boat back in 2011 – and it was never my dream – I saw in it an opportunity to focus on getting well and to maybe develop my interest in writing – but I took a back seat when it came to the actual sailing. The last two years has been a massive learning curve for me in so many ways, though of course it was all so seriously interrupted when I broke my leg so badly. Still I have achieved a lot and while my focus has needed to be on the much neglected maintenance of my home, something which is always there in the back of my mind is the sense that Argos is a sailing yacht and one day I will need to learn to actually sail her! I have become quite confident about managing the boat under motor, I can pull up the anchor and move and drop it in a new location and do all of that with confidence, but learning to sail her! Oh my! People often remark to me that we have a ‘lot going on’ on our deck – a lot of ropes, a lot of sails, and a lot of old styles, and frequently when I am asked what does what job, and what lines are for which sail, I have to truthfully answer that I have no idea. One doesn’t simply hop in board and just sail a gaff-rigged schooner! It’s very complex. Very old-school, very much the kind of boat the most competent and serious sailor would find complex. And so I have tended to put it in the too hard basket. Into that scene came my friend Robert and his Eliza. A keen sailor, with a ton of experience, Rob invited me to come for a sail. I LOVED it! It was all so much easier than the sailing we had done on Argos – when we caught the wind it was exhilarating, not scary, and on a smaller boat everything is so much more connected – the feedback you get from each choice is much more immediate, allowing for more correction, and thus more learning. We sailed that first time up to Tipplers Passage where we had a lovely lunch, and then sailed back – tacking back and forth following the wind. It was fantastic and I was amazed at how much I learned in that one short trip. Since then we have sailed Eliza together a number of times and each time I have learned a little more - knowledge I take back to Argos with me. Knowledge I use to help me figure out what’s what, what goes where and how the heck I can begin to learn how to sail this old girl! It’s funny looking back now on our early days with Argos and how little we knew but took off from Albany across the Bight anyway! Oh gosh! We did so well, knowing so little. Now I am more daunted by this big and complex boat than ever before and very aware of how big of a task it is to learn to manage her properly. I don’t ever envisage sailing her alone – it’s never going to happen – but I would like to know how to things work on her more fully. Our plan is to have an ‘Argos sailing day’ extravaganza – a day that we head out of the sea way and out into the wide open space of the ocean for a day exploring how things should work. I expect to be accompanied by Robert and my good friends Kym and Andrew – together they have several life-times sailing experience and what they don’t know about sailing really isn’t worth knowing – but none of them has ever sailed a boat quite like Argos! The plan is to head out and work things out, work out what has been rigged correctly and what adjustments may need to be made, work out how things are supposed to be, and in the process equip me with more knowledge and some new skills. We have been working towards this for quite a while – fixing, repairing, resolving issues – we have one last significant thing to address before taking her out – a persistent problem with the engine overheating at anything past 2000 RPM - a problem we are close to fully resolving (thanks Rob!) – and then it will be on! We did everything the wrong way around when we got Argos, and maybe that was okay – if we had gone about it all in a better way we might never have left Albany that lovely October afternoon – but the reality is we were not even aware of what we didn’t know. Greener than green. We were plucky and game, and ready to learn how to handle things but sometimes I wonder how much better it could have been if we had known more and understood more. Still it is what it is and now is my time to learn. And learn I shall! Thanks to my friends here, to Rob, to Kym and Andrew, to Boyd, Jill and Jeanette and others who have taken the time to impart knowledge and will be a part of the awesome process of helping Mrs Argos learn how to sail – properly!
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September 2017
Our life aboard Argos has been seriously challenged this year with the surprise departure of our skipper. As a writer, diesel mechanics and the complexities of many aspects of Argos’ on-going maintenance are way beyond me! We would like to see Argos continue to sail and eventually hope to use her to offer support, encouragement and a break to people who are struggling in their lives. Any on-going help towards maintaining Argos would be greatly appreciated and enable us to achieve this goal.
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