Why do I have a boat?!?

[Hartley18]

With spring coming on fast, it's a nice sunny day today, so I went down to the marina to check on the boat.

* It's blowing 20-30kts from the North, so the hard-stand is dry, dusty and hot (and so is the boat).

* The tarp is in tatters, well-oiled trailer fittings are now seized up and my can of WD-40 is mysteriously empty (bugger!) ...

* The wind is howling in rigging all around me and there are white-caps and steep chop out in the Bay...

* As far as the eye can see, no-one is out sailing - indeed, it'd be 2 reefs + storm jib if they did...

What's the bloody point in all this? Can someone please remind me??

Melbourne really is NOT a good place to have a boat..


Cameron

(PS: Bad day at work)

[artbyjody]

It is how it goes there bud. Bare with it. One thing I learned this season was humility because whatever could go wrong would... and the only thing that salvaged any of it other than the pocket book - was (I hate to say this) zen peace of mind... ref: http://www.sailnet.com/forums/genera...tml#post373785

Hang in there spring is always the worst...

[Stillraining]

Could of fooled me..I thought you were all about suntan and snorkeling weather. Just my impressions of OZ. Mixed up as they might be.

[AdamLein]

You could look at it that way, *or*, you could say, "20-30 kt out in the bay, double-reefed and tiny jib.... *that's* sailing! Woo!"

We are often promised 20-30 knots up in the Strait of Georgia... and nature often fails to deliver!

[Hartley18]

Thanks, Jody - I hope you're right (and pretty sure you are)

Originally Posted by Stillraining

Could of fooled me..I thought you were all about suntan and snorkeling weather. Just my impressions of OZ. Mixed up as they might be.

Still, suntan and snorkelling does happen here - between the 3rd week of February and the 2nd week of March - but when people think of sunny days they're usually thinking of part of Queensland at least 2000 miles to the north.

Melbourne, Victoria, is more like someplace just north of you (without the amazing countryside, seascapes and nice places to sail) than, say, Florida.

If you sailed out through The Rip (the entrance to Port Phillip Bay and not incorrectly named), you'd be in Bass Strait (sort of a mini Cape Horn where the Roaring Forties hit shallow water).

*^#%%@#..... (sigh!)

Cameron

[Drylander]

Originally Posted by Hartley18

* It's blowing 20-30kts from the North...

Some people are waiting for such wind. That's where the fun starts...

[tdw]

Originally Posted by Stillraining

Could of fooled me..I thought you were all about suntan and snorkeling weather. Just my impressions of OZ. Mixed up as they might be.

People from the cold wastes down south like to pretend they are part of Sunny Australia. We humour them, even though we know they are kidding themselves.

Cameron appears more realistic than most.

[Omatako]

Originally Posted by Hartley18

If you sailed out through The Rip (the entrance to Port Phillip Bay and not incorrectly named), you'd be in Bass Strait (sort of a mini Cape Horn where the Roaring Forties hit shallow water.

I was going to say that you're only 2 degrees from the Roaring Forties!! You should be used to some tough wind.

My sister lives in Melbourne (nobody's perfect ). I never had a yearning to sail there to visit. My daughter's father-in-law is having a 34ft cat delivered from South Africa in the next few weeks and it is likely that the skipper will stop in Melbourne on the way past.

[Hartley18]

Originally Posted by Omatako

I was going to say that you're only 2 degrees from the Roaring Forties!! You should be used to some tough wind.

My sister lives in Melbourne (nobody's perfect ). I never had a yearning to sail there to visit. My daughter's father-in-law is having a 34ft cat delivered from South Africa in the next few weeks and it is likely that the skipper will stop in Melbourne on the way past.

We should be into the nice weather by then.. maybe.. hopefully.

I think the main problem I have is that, for one reason or another, I haven't been sailing for about 6 months!! (I was so looking forward to a sail with TD Wombat but it didn't work out) ..and what's the point of having a boat if it just sits there like a fish out of water?? Don't answer that..

I've heard numerous people lately say Melbourne is a nice place to leave... but I'm probably just jealous of you northeners, really.

Cameron

[Hartley18]

Originally Posted by tdw

People from the cold wastes down south like to pretend they are part of Sunny Australia. We humour them, even though we know they are kidding themselves.

Cameron appears more realistic than most.

Hey, it does get hotter down here you know!..

..for about 20 minutes in the middle of summer before a southerly change right from the center of Antartica..