WISC 3

Wisc 2 was such a light day with only one race completed by the Folies and with the swimming and yummy lunch the highlight of the day that I completely forgot to blog.

WISC 3 held on December 6th was again a lovely day but had far too little wind for Folie to shine. The first race was shortened thankfully as it was painfully slow. The plan to start in clear air partly worked but we were a little late to the line. The down wind leg saw the crew triumph over the bastard pole with no injury but the wind shifts were such that the pole was unneccesary half way down the leg. The highlight was our token man, Dave's, cups of tea ("green tea with milk Angela?") and Mels banana cake. Also we did NOT finish last!

The second race was even slower and rounding the windward mark ( a feat that took 2 goes) Capt Sue thought that we had only 1.5 hrs ( in fact it was 2)so may as well put up the spinnaker for practice...maybe a little help from David with untangling..but essentially done beautifully thanks to a great crew effort we sauntered to towards Tarni, gybed the spinnaker for fun . We were surprised to see Tarni still there. Simon helpfully suggested we finish over the line which we'd missed and that we had 8 mins to go. The wind came up for the first time , the spinnaker came down and we whizzed through the line with 40 secs to spare.

WISC 1 OCtober 11th

Well as you can see there was just enough wind to get us over the start line and taking a right turn we managed to get just enough wind to get us to the windward mark (after being lapped by the fast boats. This was a little embarassing as the leg was quite short. As we rounded the mark , a shortened course flag was put up and some tooting done by the RIB near the windward mark. I , the skipper , thought that he race had been shortened so that we were on the home run. The pole (the bastard) was safely up and we drifted with the current over the finish line....only to realise that we were supposed to beat back to the windward mark. We were not the only confused boat that was scored DNF with a 24 . The 2nd race was cancelled due to lack of wind....but the emails went flying around and a protest was lodged by someone who knows the rules better that I , and the results amended so that the slow boats who didn't complete the course have hald a chance in the series. RBYC is also holding a rules night....AGAIN! Next race is on November 8th. I must say the highlight was the lovely lunch we enjoyed on the way back to Brighton.

Saturday Racing

This is the Wednesday Crew , Sue Burke, Gil Whitington, Angela Woodman and myself behind the lens. We are very pleased with ourselves because we have managed to put up the pole (otherwise known as "the bastard") on the second downwind leg. The first downwind leg was ....a learning experience. Today was a delightful sunny day with a steady 10kts fron the south. We are not going to consult the website for the results.

birdy foldable bikes - Google Search

birdy foldable bikes - Google Search

Yachties V Icebergers Trivia Night

Team Folie (Minus the Woodmans) with a few excellent ring-ins from Berwick (Carmel, Mal, Sally, Paula and John and our US/Aussie guest Maureen) came third defeating the team Fox. Halina exelled herself in a genuine hippy dress from Carnaby Street ...which still fits! Saturday was not sailing weather so the Folies drove to Queenscliff for the Blues Train ...an all singing and dancing night. Next Folies event is the Lady Skippers Short Course weekend 23rd and 24th MAy.

Easter 2009

Pictures to follow but Good Friday was a pleasant sail to Queenscliff with Mel sound asleep. Saturday eating and Sue swimming with Andalucia Pam. I retrieved a Barbie Mate in good knick from the bottom. The Rummikub tournament engrossed us til the wee hours of 10.30pm with 2 wins to the interlopers Halina and Mel. Sunday the sun shone and Peters bread rose to great heights. We were visited by Bryans work colleague , Chris Tattersalls , wife Jenny and other asorted relatives who brought very nice champagne.

WISC Number 6

The last 2 races were Windward Leeward returns off Green Point and with a windspeed of 12-14 kts we put up the spinnaker . The relatively flat seas made for good stable reaching ..once the spinnaker was up and after one impressive head up the helmswoman and trimmer were VERY careful . The gybe toook a few goes but suceeded (def. being no one injured , no sheets lost and nothing torn). By the time it came to the very last downwind leg Paul was exhausted with the stress of it and advised the jib be goosewinged with the boat hook. Good call. We raced back to RBYC to miss the storm and retired to Sandringham for lunch. Results were announced and no surprises, Hush got the trip , Clockwork won AMS ( Cathy De Garis has a new sleeveless top) and Hush IRC too. Congratulations to them. We didn't win the trip but we have learnt a great deal from all our mentors (pats on the back to Dick and Bryan and Don Richmond when Paul couldn't make it), from the racing itself . Next year though we may still get a trip to the Whitsundays??????Its not over though til the fat ladies sing. On Sunday 19th April, there will be a morning lady skipper race then the Brighton WISC lunch. There will be crew prizes and best of all the crew song. We need a new one this year so please get creative. This was the weekend we were going to do the Latitude race but now will not be.

Its pretty tough when you have to host your own farewell but just as well as the Folie Crew could not have put on such a magnificent spread. Dick and James excelled themselves with chicken wrapped in proscuito, honeyed ham and things on sticks which were delish. The vintage port was enjoyed especially by Brad who drank it from a wine glass thinking it was red wine and became very animated about his run in with the Brighton police!

Folie was presented with a beautiful brass chronometer which will take pride of place on the back bulkhead. More holees fro Dick and Bryan to drill.

Wednesday Sailing and Sunset

WISC 5 22nd March

Folie A Deux was a bit slow in the light winds and heavy slop and seemed to point poorly making the windward leg of 5 miles seem like forever. The excitement started after rounding the spoil ground buoy. The spinnaker was hoisted but took its tackline with it then decided to pull the boat to windward with great force giving the boom a wash. The beast thrashed about shedding its snap shakles and the debate about having knots in the spinnaker sheets was settled when it was discovered that they had gone to King Neptune. Paul and Dick assisted in the spinnaker retrieval and we narrowly missed a very surprised David Bingham returning from Tassie in Mirrabooka. Mel and Karen cheered us up with some lunch. The wind then blew with great force making the final legs of the race lumpy but the best bit from my point of view was the ride back in sunshine and the G&T's afterwards. We're 4th in the series still and looking forward to spinnaker practice before the next race on April 5th.

The Return Journey

Mersey Yacht Club Devonport

Sea Eagle spotted on the leads our of the Tamar

We set off on Tuesday afternoon, 14th March for Deal Island but the weather man had it wrong and the wind blew up whipping up the swell and the contents of Bryan's stomach so after a few hours we turned back , found or way throught he moored boats in pitch darkness to the public marinas at Georgetown. There we had ANOTHER beautiful hot pot cooked by Mel and a big sleep in. By now it was getting to be a bit late to head for Deal or the Prom so we headed out the next afternoon (no point in hurrying) and pointed towards the heads. As it was getting dark and Bryan was recovering from the night before , we stayed the night in the Mersey at Devonport. The Mersey Yacht club have a floating pontoon for guests (great as the tides are big), a bar that is open every night and a very welcoming commodore. Best of all were the hot showers. Refreshed, we set off again at sun risefor the big blue. I could not convince Bryan that a slight deviation to the west out of the shipping lane might save us having to dodge ferries but during the night they were well lit and acknowledged radio contact and dodged us! We were able to sail for about 8 hrs during the night and had flat seas , dolphins and more wonderful scones ..made by Mel. We arrived at the heads just before the start of flood , stayed the night at QCYC and made it home Saturday in time for the WISC

Cruising Group Reunited

Sunday 15th Cruising group reunited over a beautiful meal

Back Downstream to Beauty Point

Early morning Sunday 16th saw us cast off at Launceston before the mud could trap us and head down river with a stop off at Rosevears in the hope of a cooked breakfast , coffee and a loo stp. They didn't open til 1100 then didn't have the coffee machine working! We met Howard and Cathy Strong on a 50 ft steel ketch Amanda plan to who were learning the ropes with a big plan to sail away into the blue.

Launceston

Today, Friday 13th March we woke to a horrible smell and the sight of half of the adjacent marina berths showing bottom ...mud...at low tide. Bryan was determined to go to TAmar MArine to check for necessary boat bits and insisted on going in the dinghy. Unfortunately the tide continued out leaving it impossible to get back until the tide rose again . Coffee at the The Mill , the off up Cataract Gorge where , tea..but not Devonshire Tea was had in Bryans absence. Currently its sun down but Bryan and Pete are in a cleaning frenzy with the availability of tap water ....no water conservation here....to wash down the topsides.

Up The Tamar

Thursday 12th March we headed up the Tamar to Launceston stopping at Rosevears pub for lunch with YKnot. We were running a little late for the tide so had about 1 kt of opposing tide which meant we got there a little late than high water. We had no difficulty manoevring into a marina pen