August 2020... Fellow delivery skipper Mark was contracted to deliver Banter from Mooloolaba to Sydney. He got her as far as the Gold Coast but was hampered by weather. Eventually when the weather changed, so did Sydney become a 'hot spot' and the Queensland border was closed to people having recently visited Sydney. As...
Continue readingAuthor: Grahame Bear
‘Bella’ Tasman 37ft Catamaran Sydney to Coffs July 2020
July 2020 Sydney tio Southport... The crew and I met owner Ric at Gibson's Marina Pittwater and after having a very thorough hand over took Ric ashore and settled in for the night to wait for the weather to abate. Up the next morning to near perfect conditions and dropped the mooring line at...
Continue reading‘Nutcracker’ Northshore 380C Pt Stephens to Pt Mac July 2020
July 2020... Catherine and Jack contacted me with a shortlist of three boats they were looking at. I checked out the listings and gave my opinion and after they inspected the yachts, chose Nutcracker (also my choice). After survey, engine service and letting an East Coast Low pass and seas abate, we departed around...
Continue reading‘Sea Mist’ 39ft 1951 timber sloop Brisb to Melb Feb & June 2020
February 2020... Ross and his friend Phil, joined Ray and myself at Southport YC the morning that a cyclone was tracking toward Lord Howe Is from Noumea. Despite the lovely calm night Ray and I had bringing her down from Brisbane, shortly before meeting time, the heavens opened big time. Nevertheless, we headed out...
Continue reading‘Sailfish’ Dyna 53 Hobart to Pittwater March 2020
March 2020... New owner Jim joined me initially for the trip north. First fuel stop at Triabunna and fortunately still tied up when Jim received a call about a family emergency which saw him on the next plane out. Always ready and reliable crewman Ray to the rescue and after an 0800 phone call,...
Continue reading“Johanna II” Hanse 355 Melb to Auckland Oct 2019
October 2019... Delivering a yacht across the Tasman always has some days when the weather is somewhat interesting. Not to disappoint, days 5 to 7 were 35-50kts with seas reaching 5 mtrs but Johanna II handled the conditions exceptionally well. What I found most impressive with was the ability of the auto pilot to...
Continue reading‘Evening Breeze’ 35ft Catalina Sydney to Airlie Beach November 2018
November 2018... A sea change for the owners required their yacht to be relocated to Able Point Marina, just down the road from their new residence. A couple of issues setting up the new CPT auto pilot but once we made several adjustments we were much more confident in its ability.We had a new...
Continue reading’42 South’ Sunfast 3200 Hobart to Sydney November 2018
November 2018... Bruce searched for some time to find what he was looking for and eventually found the Sunfast in Hobart. Previously campaigned by a very experienced sailor, it was exceptionally well set up and maintained. Bruce joined us for the trip north and so at some stage tried every sail plan and had...
Continue reading‘Matrix 111’ Custom 75ft Aluminium Fremantle to Pittwater October 2018
October 2018... With a huge fuel capacity and very economical fuel burn, 10700 lt for the 2200m was achieved without the necessity to stop for fuel. we also lucked it big time with the weather only needing to stop once for weather at Apollo Bay for 12 hours.Matt, the permanent mechanic for Matrix 111...
Continue reading‘Dolce Vita’ Fairline Squadron 60 Perth to Sydney June 2018
June 2018... Difficult to get ideal weather windows, we left Freo hoping to get to Esperence as first stop but approaching Albany it started to get uncomfortable so four days in Albany, we caught up with friends, visited the entertainment centre and obtained the last tickets to the final performance of Little Shop of...
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