I dream of doing that trip as my first big one, but not there yet. I would be keen to jump on board with anyone else though. Would be great experience for me as a greenhorn.

Really!! Morningbird....Wow, thanks for the encouragement!!

I have new EPIRB, liferaft that hasn't been serviced for a while. Raymarine C120W gps chartplotter that still needs installing, a few other minor jobs to do... plus I need repair job on my tender, more likely actually a new tender..... but yes...maybe it is do-able. The boat is up to it, and maybe I am too with an experienced person on board. I'll give it some thought. November is not far away!!

Thanks BlueMoon. At this stage I am right for crew but that can change very quickly. In 2013 my crew member's father in law died in the UK 2 weeks before departure. PM me your number and we can have a chat about it.

Santana might be interested from Ballina... any other takers from up north?

A few people have PM'ed me for some details of the LHI BBQ rally.

The BBQ on the Beach (a BBQ held by and for the yachtie rally to raise money for the Lord Howe Primary school) is planned for Tuesday 17 Nov. That date might change but I hope not.

There should be a skippers meeting in June at the Orient pub in the Rocks. Not sure of the date yet. Another meeting should be held at the SASC in Cremorne in Sep/Oct. Boats do come from other locations, there is no need to go to the meetings but you do get to meet people and get good info.

There is no formal coordination for this sail/rally and the skipper is personally accountable in terms of planning, sailing and safety. This is not an organized event, just a few yachties going for a sail. We share radio frequency type info, phone numbers and who is leaving when and from where.

I haven't heard of anybody having an easy sail both ways. Last year about 15 boats headed off and 12 made it. The smallest a 24ft ketch once owned by Jack Earl and sailed single handed by renowned marine artist and sailor Ian Hansen (another ex pusser, MOBI chippy) who was forced to heave to as he couldn't sail in the conditions coming home. We suffered some damage at the island in the gale and two boats suffered knock downs on the trip home.

In 2009 15 boats headed out including 3 S&S34s. 8 boats made it, no 34s. Lorelei (a mates 34) spent 24 hours against wind and tide to cover 50nm so with 100nm to go he gave up. I wimped out.

You need to book a mooring (www.lhib.nsw.gov.au/?option=com_content iew=article& d=1013). Moorings are few and they may already be taken as many book a year ahead. You can't anchor in the lagoon and you wouldn't want to outside the lagoon for more than a few hours.

You can stay on your boat (the rules are no discharges in the lagoon, toilets and showers are available on the jetty but the keys may not be available on a weekend). Staying ashore isn't cheap but adds to the enjoyment. You need a reasonable dinghy and outboard especially if you are put in Comets or south passage.

For most yachts the lagoon is tide dependent. You can only enter or leave under the direction of the LHI Maritime officer.

There is a $50 a head charge for the BBQ. Raffles etc drag a few extra $$ out of attendees.

Let me know if you get really serious.

I have done 3 trips out to lord Howe - all from. Ballina, we get a good sailing angle from here (apart of on in strong se winds). I always give myself a 3/week window for sail out, relax and return-/which has given me ample weather windows both ways. In good weather a trip to Elisabeth / .Middleton reefs are highly recommended, along with balls pyramid. Each trip I have experienced 40+ knots either sailing to or on mooring. This can be unpleasant but is part and parcel of sailing to this beautiful destination. Surfing, fishing, diving, kitesurfing, hiking and wildlife are all incredible. Bring all stores including ample outboard fuel as local prices are steep, along with the hike to get it!... The locals are pretty friendly and the tourists loaded and generally gerryatric! Well worth the effort of getting there, make sure you have the time to enjoy it!

Who's going on this trip?

How long will you be away in total, MB?

I went up to MB yesterday after a 3 month absence. Less than a litre of water in her. I think most of the water I thought was rain water that collected in the bilge previously was coming from the leaking salt water pump. As the sea cock hasn't been turned on at all there has been no water in the cooling system to drip into the bilge.

I got the recalcitrant pump off the engine using a tool borrowed from a mate. This was causing some concern as it is really hard to get at and I thought the engine might have had to be lifted to gain access. I have the seals for it but I have a feeling one of the ones I pulled out was fitted incorrectly. Ill drop over to the distributors on Monday and confirm the correct installation. The pump should be ready for installation next Friday day off work.

I also found an electrician who should be able to give me a fair deal on the best alternator for the boat and check the wiring for installation, just to make sure I don't fry this one.

With luck the engine will be fixed next weekend, ahead of schedule for Lord Howe.

I have to replace a ventilator on the stern where I broke it off. This is a two person job if there are any volunteers to give me a hand.

My tacho wasn't working before I fried the alternator (which was u/s before I fried it) and if the tacho still isn't working when the new alternator goes in I'll need to replace it. I was looking at one of these.
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/271696964029?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

A steaming light needs replacing, again a 2 person job.

A rig check and thorough preparation for sea and she is ocean worthy again.

cisco said..

That looks like a good unit, very easy to read with black markings on white background and good price too.

If you wire it up exactly like the old one it should work I guess. Would be good to confirm with a sparky first.

Cheers mate. I'll do that.

I do wonder how they are calibrated. I suspect it would read correctly if I use the old pulley on the new alternator. If it doesn't I can do it roughly by ear and check accuracy with a full power run. The engine used to maxed out at near 3000 rpm with a clean prop and hull.

MorningBird said..

cisco said..

That looks like a good unit, very easy to read with black markings on white background and good price too.

If you wire it up exactly like the old one it should work I guess. Would be good to confirm with a sparky first.

Cheers mate. I'll do that.

I do wonder how they are calibrated. I suspect it would read correctly if I use the old pulley on the new alternator. If it doesn't I can do it roughly by ear and check accuracy with a full power run. The engine used to maxed out at near 3000 rpm with a clean prop and hull.

I have one of these.
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Handheld-LCD-Digital-Laser-Tachometer-RPM-Test-Small-Engine-Motor-Speed-Gauge-/360732853621?hash=item53fd5a8575


Have not used it yet. Just put a sticker on the flywheel and read off the RPM. Put a mark with a texacolour near your throttle for various revs. Use it for your car too.

jev7337 said..
Looks like an awesome trip.
Out of curiosity, how many of you consider ocean currents when planning the trip like that and where do you get the data from? What's a good accurate and reliable source?

Looking at one source (not sure how reliable), at the moment you would have a very favourable current on the way there but would struggle getting back - assuming you leave Sydney in a more or less direct line.
Green circle is approx location of Lord Howe.

Short answer is yes the current has a big influence on passage planning. I use the charts at the link below but there are others. I have found these ones pretty good.

oceancurrent.imos.org.au/LordHoweS/latest.html

In 2013 I tried to get to Broughton Island. The current was about 3 kts and we could only make 5 with a lightish nor east wind. On the northerly tack we were doing maybe 2-3 kts against the current. Tacked to the east and we were doing 5 kts but tracking 160. Bloody hopeless.

Although the current is important it has to be matched with the wind forecasts, VMG etc. A 1 kt current may be unimportant if you are doing 7-8 kts, but a major factor if you are doing 4-5 kts.

For Lord Howe you don't want to be south of the island as prevailing nor easters and a southerly set mean you will struggle to get there, even if close. A mate of mine on the 2009 rally in an S&S34 was 150nm south south west of the island and made 50nm in 24 hours. He ended up turning around.

The southerly set of the east Australian current means there is an advantage to get north of the rhumb line before crossing it. If the current is setting 3 kts to the south and 80nm wide you don't want to be punching into it at an acute angle for 24 or more hours as you will go a long way south. It is best to track north up the coast to say Port Stephens/Seal Rocks and cross the current at 90 degrees.

Sometimes it is best to just head straight to the island and let the current take you south initially and then a northerly set will just take you back to the rhumb line.

Last year we had a southerly wind the day before planned departure so Havefun and I set off and tracked north north east to get 30-40 nm north of the rhumb line. We crossed the current and on the other side were back on the rhumb line.

Sometimes you just get caught by the current. We had an engine problem about 300nm out at 2300 just as the wind died. The current took us 15 nm backwards while I waited for dawn to fix the problem. Havefun was helming and could not make any way towards the island.

We got to the island too late on Friday to get into the lagoon so we heaved to 5nm off the island to wait for the morning high tide. The forecast 15 kts from the south ended up being over 40kts from the south but the real problem was as the boat got further from the island the current setting to the south took us away at 3-4 kts to about 35nm from the island. We had to go all the way back to get into the lagoon on the tide.

The joy of sailing offshore.

Anyone got on update on the BBQ.

Im in Port Stephens and there is a lake Macquarie boat here that didn't make it also.

Good to hear your back after a great trip MB