2013 sail away

[storm petrel]

Keith(Swift) is coming over with us on Storm Petrel so hopefully we will have a reasonable turn up tomorrow.

[SeaLady]

Sorry everyone.
The lousy weather forecast means I will not be on the water.
Pity as I was looking forward to catching up.
Diana

[storm petrel]

Shame you can't make it Diana but I am sure we will catch up next time. The forecast is only for isolated showers and a nice sailing breeze so my motley crew and our guest will still be coming.

Is anyone bringing a dinghy?

[woodsy]

I will have mine, with outboard but I will be leaving for work at 4pm.

[storm petrel]

Where were you? Woodsey and Storm Petrel made it in spite of the adverse weather conditions. We had a very enjoyable get together at the Basin. We had the wind on the nose sailing over to the Basin and a gusty following wind on the way home. Our guest, Keith enjoyed the day though I am afraid that we may have left him with hypothermia ( in November?). We also gave Keith a demonstration of how much fun it is to sail Into the channel at Little Box Head with a gusty 20-25 knot following wind, driving rain, choppy rising swell, a ferry cat coming out of the narrow channel and a fast run out tide. Keith is now extra keen to get his Mk1 (Swift) up to the Cetral Coast where he now resides. He reasoned that it is unlikely that he would be unlucky(stupid) enough to come into Brisbane Waters in such horrible conditions again. It was certainly a good test of the wet weather gear and the strength of the rudder.

In Keith's words," what else are going to do on such a crappy day, sailing is better than sitting at home in front of the TV". My motley crew were not entirely convinced by his logic...

Thanks Keith for joining us. In spite of the poor conditions, we enjoyed your company. Thanks to Larry also for sailing over to join us. I must admit I did not expect to find any other Top Hats at the Basin and was pleasantly surprised to see Larry's Mk1 nestled into the corner of the bay when we arrived.

A memorable day for all. Let's hope the next get together will be blessed with better weather and a few more participants.

[CALYPSO]

We were there! I had my son and one of his mates as crew.We got on the water later than expected. Arrived at the basin just after 1500. Couldnt see anyone, not surprised given the weather. Shot round to refuge bay, then yeomans and finally picked up a NPWS mooring near little shark rock point without as much shelter as I would have liked, fished in the pouring rain, without success, soup for dinner, and slept curled up in a somewhat damp sleeping bag. .Next morning more fishing in the rain. Struggled to keep the inside dry with two eleven year olds darting in and out oblivious to the weather, cleaned and washed up, finnally heading off around 1300 in the pitch pouring rain. Got back to boatshed to be greeted by "we think you kleft your lights on" . managed to borrow jumperleads and fished through a collection of marine batteries finally finding one with enough zip after several attempts.
How do I rate this bleakly dismall weekend? Nothing less than an outstanding success!!! They had a ball!! The weatrher didnt bother them in the least, even drenched to the bone!. It really wasn't too hard for me . OK, I had to zip my lip at times to prevent my "superior maturity" ruining their weekend, put up with a bit of discomfort(already long gone) and another happy memory created. Listening to them rabbit on during the drive home, not a word mentioning "wet", "cold" or "uncomfortable". I am sorry that I didnt get to catch up/ meet you guys, but I suspect there will be other oportunities in the future.

cheers Joe

[storm petrel]

We were there, right at the end of the bay. We didn't leave until after 1500 but that was today. The plan was to meet Sunday not Saturday?

[DESIREMK1]

Hi Guys ,

I was there overnight with my 3 young children , leaving around 11am today . It may be the case that the weather was a key player in the meet up being not as successful as invisaged , I know I enjoyed my Sailing in the brisk winds of Saturday afternoon , then around mid day today .

looking forward to attending next gathering ,

Brad
DESIREMK1

[storm petrel]

Sorry we missed you Brad, hopefully catch up next time. Pleased your kids had a fun weekend anyway.

Cheers,
Mark

[woodsy]

The inaugral meeting of rugged,handsome, male Top Hat owners went off without a hitch today.
Perhaps with the intro of new/gay marriage laws, things will be different in the near future.

Thanks for the hospitality today Storm Petrel!
Miserable as the weather was I enjoyed my time with you 3 gents.
My sail back to Elvina Bay was ...damp. I was only using the genoa, partly furled but after 4 tacks, gave up 1/2 way & motored home.
Another Mk1 was moored in the bay on my arrival. Lady ..something...Nebom?? ..maybe.
Quick shower to warm up then donned DRY rain gear, DRY clothes & off to work in an open tinny, then push bike. Arrrrgh.