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Heaven Can Wait - but not the Womboat

9K views 96 replies 12 participants last post by  tdw 
#1 ·
She's ready and raring to go .... her crew keen as mustard though her skipper is a wuss. :eek:

Guys and Gals, Ladies and Gentlemen, Good folk all ....

Over the first weekend of October the Fuzzball, the Wombet, Hartley18 and BentSailor are going to make up the core of what should be called Team SailNet to run in the Heaven Can Wait 24Hr race on Lake MacQuarie NSW in the the land of Oz.

If you don't know about the event , have a butchers at

Heaven Can Wait 24-hour Yacht Race 2011

A fabulous event for a truly worthwhile cause.

Now if you feel inspired get yourself along to the Womboats page at

Everyday Hero Australia: Heaven Can Wait 2011

I do hope you can help in any way you are able.

Andrew the Fuzzball and the Crew of the Womboat

ps - the page is only just up so if you are quick you could be our first patron. :)
 
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#2 ·
Give 'em hell, td.... show us what that slug - er - sled can do....:p;):)
 
#3 ·
Should be a lot of fun provided Bent and Hartley don't come to blows over matter religous and politic .... :eek::eek:

Thanks for your contribution Fast, I appreciate it.
 
#8 ·
Couse is basically 30 nms. We should be able to do that in 24 hours , easy. :p:p

The lake is notorious for calms, can get quite nasty in a southerly gale. Nothing like a Great Lakes storm though. LM is placid by comparison. Division 2 boats covered between 120 - 150 nms. Top placed did 146 so I guess we'll be hoping for somewhere in the middle of that. I'm presuming top placed boat had a crew who knew what they were doing. Its bound to take us a couple of laps just to figure out the basics and stop falling over each other, so lets work on 3 to 4 four laps, unles it is a complete fiasco.

I like the bit in the NOR where they recommend skippers note each makes coordinates in daylight .... we may not make it round one lap before night descends ..... :eek:

Anywho, I'm looking forward to it. 50nms dash up the coast from Sydney to Swansea. We'll do that the Friday or Saturday before the race. I'll enjoy that cos I usually do like offshore stuff but it will be just me and the Wombet so no crew training going on.

Bent spent a stormy day on board a few weeks back back but we did little sailing. Hartley has never been on board and we are still trying to lock in another couple of crew. If we don't, no big deal. Four people can handle it for 24 hours. We won't be using a symmetric, only the assy, so sail handling should be no big deal.

Hartley is a racer so I guess we'll make him tactician. Then when it all goes wrong we'll know who to blame.

As I said, biggest ask will be getting everyone used to the ship and her layout is intended to make short handed cruising relatively simple so I hope we don't need to do too much tacking.

:):):)
 
#18 ·
I am somewhat shamefaced to admit that a contribution from Quidam1947 has not been acknowledged here.

Now it has been. Thanks Q.
 
#19 ·
Dropping mooring and heading out this evening for Lake Macquaurie. LM is 50nms north of Port Jackson (Sydney Harbour) and we need to get over the Swansea Bar around dawn in order to make it through the Swansea Bridge and up the channel on the high tide. Would have been nice to do it in the daylight hours but we need to work with the tides.

I like offshore passages so happy to do overnighter though weather will be overcast and no moon. I'm never completely convinced about sailing in pitch blackness with no stars, so I am hoping the clouds will clear. Fingers crossed.

Mate of ours is coming out to assist in case we need to induce a bit of heal in order to clear shallow patch just before drop over into the lake.

We'll then leave her up there and train back to Sydney. Return Friday evening for pre race dinner and booze up at the Toronto Motor Yacht Club.

Hartley flies in from Melbourne Firday afternoon, BentSailor is a Lake Macquarie local.

There has been a gale warning out for the NSW coast but the Spaghetti Monster has smiled on us apparently as it was cancelled this morning and now predicted winds on passage are 10 - 25 out the south east so we hope for good reaching conditions. swell around 3 metres, so it could be a fun sleighride.
 
#22 ·
Latest from the womboat is that it's blowing 40kts off the entrance so they won't make it tonight . will try again on Monday .

let's hope Heaven will Wait for the Womboat . It's a bit tricky doing a race if you can't get to the starting line!...
 
#23 ·
First up, thanks to Tom Donnelly for the contribution.. Good on you. Much appreciated.

Well, that was a fiasco, I must say. We'd just topped up on diesel and were heading out when the gale warnings started coming in. The entrance to the lake is over a bar and to be honest I didn't fancy it in 40knt winds. Not sure if they did reach that but even at anchor inside Sydney Harbour it was a mongrel of a night.

Swansea Bar Web Camera - NSW Maritime

Looks pretty calm this morning.

Anywho ... we'll now head up to the lake Thursday. Means taking a couple of days off work but for some reason the Wombet is not opposed. :)
 
#25 ·
Getting there safely is step one of the 'plan to kick butt' during the race, n'est pas?
 
#27 ·
The wonderful Laurie Anne(s), and the fella she(they) hang around with has added to the pot. Cheers John, thanks mate.

Hey Smack ... we be trying .... mind you the Wombet reckons I very very trying at times ... tish boom ....
 
#30 ·
Rules?? That's easy: "the little boat gives way to the big boat - especially on the start line". That Nathan Outteridge had better get a good start because the Womboat will be right up his ....! :p :D

Shoals will be more of a challenge.. So long as the depth sounder is working and the PDF boating map is relatively recent, by watching other boats roughly the same size as us (particularly the locals or those who have done it before) we should be fine. Otherwise Bent gets lead-line duty for the entire race. ;)

I do find it difficult to believe the Organisers would design the course around the premise that "he who wins runs aground the least", but, hey, the Marlay Point race is like that, so anything is possible. P'raps we just need plenty of wind!..

I'm looking forward to working with OpenCPN. :)
 
#31 ·
Depth Sounder - tick

PDF Boating Map current - tick

guess what -- we even have forward sounding sonar. could come in handy if I knew how to use it ...
 
#37 ·
I expect a finish going into my BIG race this saturday womby! only issue, winds are predicted to be light! now how can a race named "FOUL weather Bluff!" have light winds?!?!?!...........

any who! should be a fund day, even if womby and pals finish their saturday before I start mine!LOLOL
 
#42 ·
I just noticed that the Mannering Park mark will have boats heading out and back over roughly the same course. That'll be fun in the dark!! :eek:

View attachment 8976

Here's hoping there's at least a bit of moon-light..
Watch for



And

 
#45 ·
by the way, here is your wind forecast......please note, it sure is heck going to change in the next day or two!

PZZ135-271615-
PUGET SOUND AND HOOD CANAL-
300 AM PDT TUE SEP 27 2011


TODAY
S WIND 10 TO 20 KT. WIND WAVES 1 TO 3 FT. SHOWERS LIKELY
EARLY...THEN CHANCE OF SHOWERS.

TONIGHT
SW WIND 10 TO 20 KT...EASING TO 10 KT OR LESS AFTER
MIDNIGHT. WIND WAVES 1 TO 3 FT SUBSIDING LATE. CHANCE OF SHOWERS IN
THE EVENING.

WED
N WIND 10 KT RISING TO 10 TO 20 KT LATE. WIND WAVES 1 FT
BUILDING TO 1 TO 3 FT LATE. PATCHY MORNING FOG.

WED NIGHT
N WIND 10 TO 20 KT. WIND WAVES 1 TO 3 FT.

THU
LIGHT WIND BECOMING S 10 KT IN THE AFTERNOON. WIND WAVES 1 FT
OR LESS.

FRI
SW WIND 10 TO 20 KT...BECOMING N 10 KT IN THE AFTERNOON. WIND
WAVES 1 TO 3 FT...SUBSIDING TO 1 FT.

SAT
N WIND 10 TO 15 KT. WIND WAVES 1 OR 2 FT.
 
#46 ·
Fair suck of the sauce bottle you lot.

Of course the Womboat is fitted with Radar. :)

No of course I've never used the bloody thing. We don't get much fog down here and AIS is all one needs to dodge the commercial stuff. Never thought I'd need to be dodging other bloody sailing boats who don't have AIS transponders. Inconsiderate rabble. :p

Oh yes.. Hartley, mate, have a look up at the sky tonight. It might give you a hint re moon .... oh of course ... Melbourne ... if its stops raining for long enough .. :p

Well gentle folk, Marty and Smack.. what with weather and a desire to avoid trading bottom paint with a coal seam we sail at midnight tomorrow to make the midday high water over the bar.
 
#47 ·
Did y'all see this on SA today???? Loved it! (from last years event)

 
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