GBBC NEWSLETTER AGM. September 2016 geilstonbayboatclub.com.au Issue No. 10

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1 GBBC NEWSLETTER September 2016 geilstonbayboatclub.com.au Issue No. 10 AGM The Annual General Meeting of the club was held on Thursday 25 August. Reports were tabled and Flag Officers were elected along with some new committee members. The following will be managing the club in the year ahead. Commodore Laurie Dean Vice-Commodore Vacant Rear Commodore John Brierley Secretary Peter Cusick Treasurer John Wilcox Committee Sue Hardwick, Mike Lever, Wally Purdon, and Margaret Mason-Cox. Don Mitchell has once again been appointed Club Patron. Peter Cusick and Margaret Mason-Cox join the Committee New Life Member At the AGM Keith Bolton was made a life member of the Club. Keith has made a valued contribution to the running of the club over many years and continues to do so. Congratulations Keith. Club Persons of the Year This year rather than acknowledge the efforts of one member as Clubman of the Year it was decided to recognize the outstanding work undertaken by the Slip Refurbishment Project Team comprising Mike Lever,, Brendan Boon and Scott Lovell. Commodore Laurie presents award to Mike and Scott. Unfortunately Brendan was absent. In general the reports showed that the club is in a healthy state. During the last 12 months we have embarked on a major upgrade of the slips, introduced a monthly newsletter, the kitchen and bar staff have been kept very busy and Dad s Army has continued to not only maintain the club but have made improvements as well. Fees have not been increased. On the downside we lack a Vice- Commodore and that has had a detrimental affect on our sailing activities. Unless this position is filled the situation is unlikely to improve. Although the accounts are still subject to audit it appears that the club made a profit in excess of $20000 in the year ended 310 June OPEN DAY SUNDAY 25 SEPTEMBER 2106 Proposed format will be 1200 Clubhouse open 1300 Official Opening 1400 Sail Past followed by a raft up. In case of inclement weather the sail past will be cancelled but all other activities will take place. Check website for up tot date details closer to the date.

2 SLIP REFURBISHMENT New members The club welcomes David Pepperell as an Adult member. We do not welcome this lot. No 2 Slip is once again operational. The cradle on No 1 slip which has given in excess of 40 years service, has been demolished Spotted recently from the Crows nest two and removed. Laurie Deans on the river. The new cradle is expected to be in place and operational by the end if September. If you wish to slip your boat before the season now is the time to a make a booking with our bosun Scott Lovell. DADS ARMY IN ACTION Dads Army has been very busy during August as the flowing photos indicate. There is nothing like a good hanging in the morning!

3 PRESENTATION NIGHT 20 AUGUST Due to lack of attendees the format of the night was changed from a dinner to drinks and nibbles. It also reinforced the proposal to bring presentation night forward to April, as that is when the main sailing activities conclude for the season. Keith Bolton and Nigel Grey shared running the event and welcomed Alex Burke representing one of our main sponsors Pieroth Wines. Also attending was Geoff Lucas of the Royal Hobart Regatta Association who awarded the trophies for the 2016 Royal Hobart Regatta. Presentation s made were as follows: (If you have not collected your prize contact Keith Bolton) Brierley Marine Sailday Series Division 1: 1 st Footloose Stewart Geeves, 2 nd Galapagos Duck Terry Bragg, 3 rd Pirates Pride Peter Masterton Division 2: 1 st Tara Keith Bolton, 2 nd Ragtime Julius Fitzgerald, 3 rd Wendy Craig Purdon Boat Sales Tas Sailday Series (Stan Harris Memorial Trophy) Division 1: 1 st Footloose- Stewart Geeves, 2 nd Pirates Pride Peter Masterton, 3 rd K2 Brett Clark Division 2: 1st Tara Keith Bolton, 2 nd Ranaguri Mike Lever, 3 rd Bahloo Nigel Grey DJ Motors Twilight Series 1 Division 1: 1 st,footloose Stewart Geeves, 2 nd Pyxis Chris Hadrill, 3 rd - Watershed Tim Mitchell Division 2: 1 st Bahloo Nigel Grey, 2 nd Sixpence John Wilcox, 3 rd Magnum- Chris Gray DJ Motors Twilight Series 2 Sailed as one division One Division 1 st Saltair Marly Flyn, 2 nd Footloose Stewart Geeves, 3 rd - Pinta Dan Ford Pieroth Wines Trifecta Stewart with some of his loot One Division: 1 st Pinta Dan Ford, 2 nd Tara Keith Bolton, 3 rd Footloose Stewart Geeves Sail Days Combined (Over three series) Alex Burke of Pieroth Wines presents Dan Ford with his Prize Clarrie Free Perpetual Twilights Combined Division 1: Foootloose Stewart Geeves Division 2: Tara Keith Bolton Neighbourhood Watch Shield Line Honours all Sail Days Division 2: Tara Keith Bolton Division 2: Bahloo Nigel Grey

4 Royal Hobart Regatta Shield Division 1: 1 st Ciao Baby 2 Gary Cripps, 2 nd Zephyr Ian Johnston, 3 rd Nextedge John Mills Division 2: 1 st Bronzewing Derek Adams, 2 nd Bahloo Nigel Grey, 3 rd The Goo David Paine Ray Ewell memorial Bridge to Bridge Races Division 2: Tara Keith Botlon Trials & Consistency Shield (Saildays and Twilights Combined) Nigel and Keith ran the show Division 2 Saltair _ Marly Flyn Scorpio II s Adventures by Richard Hewson (continued) This is the last chapter in Scorpio II s adventures and on behalf of all GBBC members the Editor would like to thank Richard for sharing his story with us. The SSB HF radio plays an important roll in a voyage such as this. With no telephone or Internet, the SSB is a sailor s only contact with the outside world. My Dad John Hewson VK3HW listens on daily skeds reporting my position and the weather, and he tells me what the weather is like in Kyneton Victoria and what he has been up to for the day. Dad s radio station on his farm in Kyneton Victoria has a massive linear amplifier and directional antenna that enables communication which would otherwise be unachievable. On completion of the voyage I visited Dad and he showed me the antenna he uses and the power it generates, I would not be surprised if fluorescent lighting tubes were glowing throughout Victoria were glowing when Dad flashes up his equipment. I also use the SSB to obtain weather fax on my computer that gives me weather maps, and forecasts for anywhere in the world. A fantastic service, that is easy to use and free! The next day on the 4 th of September the next big system loomed. Looking up the sky showed signs of an approaching front, with cats paws and lambs tails, warning a sailor to shorten sail! I made preparations for the next big storm, taping and sickaflexing identified water leak spots, and also tightening all the screws on the hatches. Surely now the boat cant leak??? Once the preparations were done, I cooked a nice meal, and enjoyed the evening of pleasant sailing The barometer started falling rapidly the next day, warning that the front was imminent. I took the mainsail down and lashed it to the boom, and put a trysail up in its place. Scorpio II was ready to be hit by anything, and sure enough it came. This system was greater than the first, and the winds were as expected over 50 kts. The waves were huge, making me feel like I was on a 6ft surfboard, not a 46 ft yacht. As the centre of the low was quite close, and quite intense, the waves were a lot steeper, and the face of the wave curing up was quite visible underneath its foamy crest, the back of the waves this with spindrift. During the night we had a couple of huge waves. The first snapped one of my solar panels clear in half, the second almost took off the dodger (bimany), ripping the rivits of that affix the dodger out of the fibreglass deck. These huge waves once again overloaded the autopilot ram whilst I was on deck dealing with the chaos. The time was 2300, and it was too rough to find a comfortable course for Scorpio to sail herself other than being on a course due north or due south, so I remained on deck until sunrise, steering Scorpio through the swell, bitterly wet and bitterly cold. Occasionally I would set her on a

5 course for long enough to duck below and make another cup of coffee, and try to warm up over the two burner stove, but it was so cold there seemed to be no heat in the air anywhere but inside the gas flame. The next morning conditions calmed enough for me to set Scorpio on a course to sail herself, and I went aft to the lazerette to inspect the Autopilot. I climbed into the laz and was re-bleeding the autopilot when the laz hatch slammed shut above my head, and the latches did what they are designed to do and latched. My first thought was oh damn, I m now stuck in the laz and wont be able to get out, but with a bit of furious banging, like a bear trapped in a cage, I managed to break free! Note to self.. if I go into the lazerette, I should tie the hatch open! I re bled the autopilot and it seemed to be working again, (at least that s what I thought), had a nice hot breakfast, and went to bet in my now wet again, but not as wet as last time bunk. I awoke a few hours later with the autopilot alarming, and not holding course. Again I went aft to check the hydraulics, (this time tying the hatch open) and found that all the oil had leaked out of the system. Given that I only had about 100ml of hydraulic fluid left, and the system takes a lot more than this I sat down and had a good think. Did I have more fluid somewhere on board? What else can I use? Can I hand steer for the rest of the way? After a bit of thinking, I decided to give the cooking Olive oil a try, with thankfully Emilie had bought in a bulk 4l container in Darwin and there was still about 2L left. It was the same density and viscosity as the hydraulic fluid, so I figured it could work. I re bled the system with the Olive oil and hay presto, it is working better than ever. The remainder of the sail to Hobart was in perfect conditions, down wind running with Scorpio surfing down waves at up to 14.5kts under a perfectly running autopilot. At the time of the evening sked I was 120nm from Maatsuyker Island and a passing ship relayed my AIS signal to the base station in Tassie, Scorpio II was officially back on the map, and unknown to me, many calls were made between Tas Maritime Radio, family and friends confirming my position. With full sail up, and the big Genoa poled out to windward the now environmentally friendly olive oil autopilot was enjoying the conditions, steering Scorpio straight and surfing down waves at up to 12kts. I had few good rests thought the night, setting my alarm every hour to check the boat and its position. At 2am we had already covered 100nm since the sked, and I remained on deck to sail past Maatsuyker Island. As I sailed into VHF range, Tas Maritime Radio Hobart called me up on Channel 16, informing me that a few mates would like to meet me at Southport for the sail up the river. Unfortunately, Scorpio had made such good speed over the past 12 hours, that I was way ahead of schedule, and the boys could not meet me until that evening. So, we carried on up the channel, giving Scorpio a well deserved clean and sort out as we went. Cushions, mattresses, bedding and wet weather gear were all back on deck drying, and in between navigating Scorpio up the channel, and negotiating the typical Tasmanian gusty conditions, I cleaned the interior and exterior of the boat so she was fit for arrival home. By 1630 I was passing under the Tasman Bridge with a clean, reasonably dry boat and everything packed away. Scorpio II ended her epic circumnavigation of Australia tying up to Gilston Bay Boat Club Jetty, with a small welcoming party, and Scorpio s tired skipper enjoyed a Cascade Larger with a few mates. Scorpio II crew Richard Hewson and Emilie Martinet both come from strong sailing families. Richard is a Master Mariner and Professional Sailor and delivery skipper with over 200,000nm of racing and cruising experience around the world. Emilie grew up in Malta and is the granddaughter of Paul Ripard who was a founding member of the Middle Sea Race committee. Emilie has worked on classics and superyachts for the past 12 years and seven Trans Atlantic crossings to add to her impressive sailing CV. Richard and Emilie have returned to Southern Tasmania to start a family. MAJOR CLUB SPONSORS: Brierley Marine, DJ Motors, Boat Sales Tas and Pieroth Wines OTHER SPONSORS: Chris Gray Bricklaying, Rockcote, Mechanical & Marine, Roof Coatings Tas, CED Williams Glass, Lindisfarne Service Centre, Nibbs Electrical, North Sails, Cranes Combined, Boat Biz, McDonald Builders, Custom Curtains & More, Masters Contracting, Quilt and Pillow Factory