Calm morning on Rose Bay

[khiemtran]

Back on Sydney Harbour, and Liem and I are out for another sail on a light-wind day...



Ahead lies Shark Island. Will we make it this time?



Light wind sailing is a tricky art. Building momentum is crucial and one slip can blow all your speed in a second. Here we are chasing a group of Pacers heading out for a lesson. The Pacers have a bit more speed than us, but we are able to catch up with all but one of them.



Getting closer. We're only doing two or three knots here, roughly the same as a moderate walking pace. On the other hand, it's a nice sunny day and the sea is smooth and glassy.



One of the Pacers changing course to start their lesson. Unfortunately, we had to change course too to avoid them and that cost us a lot of our hard earned speed.



Rose Bay is a seaplane landing area and they provided lots of entertainment. This is one of the photos Liem took.



Looking out towards the famous bridge and the Opera House.



We're going slowly enough that it's easy to take photos with one hand, while the other holds both tiller and mainsheet.



Here's a telephoto shot of Shark Island. We can't get too close because there are sharp rocks around it, although you can land there if you have a kayak.



Liem gets another seaplane shot.





Almost there. But now the wind is dying and we're slowing to a crawl.



By now, we've had about enough. It's time to turn back.



As always, the wind picks up as soon as we turned around, but it quickly dies again soon after. Poor Liem is starting to feel seasick from all the bobbing around in the swell. It's back to the sailing club for us for a well-earned hot lunch.

Comments

[duccio.livejournal.com]

Not boring at all. Lots of fun reading and sailing along with you. What is that kind of boat you are sailing called?

[khiemtran.livejournal.com]

It's called a Mirror. The one we sailed today is about forty years old. They were really popular around that time because they could be built at home with what was then average woodworking skills. These days, they're dirt cheap, not because many survived, but because more survived than there are now people who know what to do with them. They're not fast, but they're sea worthy, and versatile enough for a lot of uses.

[puddleshark.livejournal.com]

Beautiful shots! And what a way to view the bridge and the opera house!

What happens if the wind dies entirely? Are you stuck?

[khiemtran.livejournal.com]

We have a small paddle for emergency propulsion, plus there are various techniques for moving a boat without one. You can "scull" by moving the rudder like a fishtail, for example. Or "pump" by rocking the boat and pulling the sails in and out. Neither seem to be terribly effective in a Mirror.

Thanks for the sail

[mnfaure.livejournal.com]

Poor Liem. I have the kind of seasickness that comes and goes, too, there one day but not the next.

Re: Thanks for the sail

[khiemtran.livejournal.com]

Yes, it was unfortunate that the wind died and we did a lot of bobbing in the swell from the passing boats. Luckily, he perked up quite well as soon as we got back on dry land.

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

Liem's shots of the seaplanes are great! And I like your close-up shots, where we can see the wood of the prow of the boat and the ... is it the boom? The wood at the bottom of the sail in the shot with Liem? I like these shots because I can almost feel the wood.

Shark Island. A name out of a Boy's Own Adventure-type story... and yet absolutely genuine, no doubt, right? There are sharks about? Not to mention those shark-tooth rocks.

[khiemtran.livejournal.com]

It's supposedly called Shark Island because it looks like a shark (or maybe it did without the trees). There's also another Shark Island off Cronulla (closer to where I live) and I think that one might be named for actual sharks. It's a popular place for surfers and there's an ocean swim that goes around it.

Yes, the wooden spar above Liem's head is the boom. It's quite small on a Mirror, and you can see this one has had a lot of wear.

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

Yes, I can see the wear.

Do you rent the boat for the day--is that how it works? Or is this your own boat? (You probably mentioned this already, but can you refresh my memory?)

[khiemtran.livejournal.com]

With the Mirror, I own it, but part of the sale contract was that I have to make it available for other club members to use when I'm not using it. (The reward for this is that the club promises to buy it back again off me if I want to sell it.) It's also quite cheap to hire boats for a couple of hours, but the catch is proving that you know what you're doing first (and some clubs insist that you join before you can hire their boats).

[wongkk.livejournal.com]

Lovely. Beautiful photos and nice narration of the trip. Not boring at all!

[khiemtran.livejournal.com]

I'm glad you liked it!