Bunbury Cruise 2015 Report

The following is an article that I've written for publication in the Fremantle Sailing Club's magazine "Blue Water Bulletin".  For those interested, it gives a comprehensive account of this year's Bunbury Cruise.  I've added a few photos taken by myself and others.

My role as coordinator took probably 100 hours of my time, but the reward was in the achievement of my goal of putting something back into the club after all that it has done for me.  There was another more personal reward: it forced me out of my normal Forrest Gump posture of background anonymity into a more socially active role associated with being "cruise captain" and representative of the club.  Meeting new people and remembering their names has never been my forte, but in my early 70's I'm having to get better at it.

Do not be concerned about my running aground in approaching the MOFSC on 4 March.  The approaches have been silting up while there is a battle raging over who is responsible for keeping the channel clear.  For me it was a soft grounding and I managed to back the boat out and enter the marina on the "wrong" side of the marker.

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Pachuca at Dawesville

Peacefully Anchored at Busselton

The Bunbury Cruisers at Augusta Marina

Panorama of Anchorage at Koombana Bay (Busselton)

Making a Point to Ron and Marlene

Tangled Fishing Line (won 1st prize for a pike)

Approaching Koombana Bay, Bunbury

Cooking BBQ Breakfast

With Brenda for Lunch at Parade Hotel

The Bunbury Cruise 2015
by Robert Morales

Yachts from four clubs participated in this year's Bunbury Cruise – five from Fremantle Sailing Club, three from Hillarys Yacht Club, two from South of Perth Yacht Club, and one from the Mandurah Offshore Fishing and Sailing Club.  Unfortunately two other entrants were forced to withdraw.

The cruise began with the pre-cruise dinner at the FSC restaurant on Friday 13 February.  This was followed by the Skippers' Briefing in which special attention was paid to the draft of the approaches to MOFSC, the re designed entrance to the Port Geographe Marina, and the state of the moorings at Quindalup.

The departure was delayed by one day due to strong winds, and the fleet of 9 boats set off from FSC on Sunday 15 February.  The boats were:
    Alyssa Lee (FSC)
    Diva (FSC)
    Georgia (HYC)
    Hannah Rose (FSC)
    Leola (SOPYC)
    Pachuca (FSC)
    Rumtum (SOPYC)
    SANA II (HYC)
    Stealaway (FSC)
Two boats were already in position at MOFSC:
    de la mer (HYC)
    WIM (MOFSC).

At the end of that day all boats were safely berthed at MOFSC except for Pachuca, whose skipper decided to make for the Dawesville Channel due to concerns about navigating his 2.4 meter draft boat through the approaches to MOFSC in a falling tide.

The following day the entire fleet made the passage to Koombana Bay at Bunbury for an enjoyable 4-day visit..  During that passage from MOFSC to KB Rumtum picked up a cray pot which it managed to cut free while on the move.

On Friday 20 February nine boats made the passage to the Geographe Bay Yacht Club near Busselton for a 2-night stay.  Hannah Rose had returned to Fremantle as planned and WIM had retired due to a battery charging problem.  It was a pleasant stay with walking visits into Busselton and a BBQ at a public facility overlooking Geographe Bay.  Alyssa Lee proceeded to Quindalup a day early.

On Sunday 22 February the fleet made a fast passage to Quindalup in a brisk SE wind for a 3-night visit.  The Dunsborough Bay Sailing Club was as welcoming and pleasant as always, and there were no problems with the security of the moorings.

On Wednesday 25 February eight boats set off for a 2 night stay at Port Geographe Marina.  SANA II retired as planned due to an HYC club commitment. 

Craig, the PGM manager, expressed delight at all of the boat registrations being submitted well before the fleet's arrival.  “This is the way it should be done.” he exclaimed.  And to PGM's credit, all of the BC boats were allocated spacious berths together at the end of H jetty near the club house.  There were also two PGM staff waiting at the jetty to take the lines of the first arriving boats.

That evening there was a very enjoyable gathering at Dennis and Kitty Gee's home on one of the canals.  Dennis and Kitty always lay on a splendid BBQ feast and the warmest of hospitality with amazing ease and grace.

The next day was dedicated to the bus trip along the scenic route to the Boranup Gallery, on to the new marina at Augusta, a short visit to the “water wheel” near the Cape Leeuwin light house, then a leisurely lunch at the Augusta Hotel followed by 30 minutes of private time for shopping.

On Friday 27 February six boats made the passage to Koombana Bay for a leisurely and relaxing 5 day visit.  Alyssa Lee returned to Fremantle and Georgia departed for Quindalup for its usual extended stay in Geographe Bay.  The highlight of the visit was the very good live entertainment provided on Saturday night by Stuart Thompson, Commodore of KBSC, singing at the head of his mellow rock band.  (When I had spoken with him the day before he was in Dubai and he had landed in Oz at 4 AM this very day.)

On Wednesday 4 March the six boats made the long passage to MOFSC for a 2 night visit.  Pachuca arrived shortly after noon at mid tide and ran aground in 2.1 meters of water on the starboard side of the yellow traffic separation buoy at the marina entrance.  On Thursday evening was the end-of-cruise dinner.  All were happy to see Jim & Margaret Putt (Morning Tide), David & Joanne George (Alyssa Lee), and Brian & Rita Buzzard (SANA II) arrive for the dinner by car.  Rick and Theresa Oswald from MOFSC completed our dinner group of 21 persons.

The dinner marked the official end of the cruise and on Friday 6 March five boats departed for their various destinations.  Stealaway remained at MOFSC pending repairs to a water pump.

The skies during the 22 day cruise were clear, except for the day of the bus trip which was cloudy with the occasional shower.  The winds were generally good to excellent, other than one breezy night at Koombana Bay.

Ready for Sea

After putting the steering wheel back on, which I had removed in order to do the gas supply work in the lazarette, I went through my pre-cruise check list.  Other than the short rides to and from the hardstand, the boat had not been out in the water since last year's Bunbury Cruise, so I could not take anything for granted.

I ticked off the following:

- Chart Plotter OK
- Radar OK
- AIS OK
- Trimble and Lowrance GPS's OK
- Autopilot OK
- Wind Speed Instrument OK
- Wind Direction Instrument OK
- Depth Sounder OK
- Engine levels OK (Topped up the coolant)
- Engine start and run (in gear, 1100 rpm to full temperature) OK
- VHF radio OK (Got radio check from station VN6DI)
- Navigation Laptop charge from boat's 12V OK
- USB Hub (which allows 2 GPS's to be connected to 1 laptop USB port) OK
- GPS antennas for laptop OK
- Marine Plotter and OpenCPN laptop navigation software OK
- Marine Stove OK
- Refrigerator OK
- Marine Head OK
- All winches clean, lubricated, and OK
- Diesel fuel tanks full and OK
- Water tanks full and OK

I'll check the HF radio during the cruise.  I will not be using the Pactor III modem.

I won't be certain about the headsail and mainsail until I deploy them, but they are both in excellent condition and I expect no problem from them or their lines.

Today I brought two items of equipment up to date.

My flares were years out of date so I purchased a standard pack of 2 orange smoke and 2 red parachute rocket flares at a cost of $110.

The 406 MHz EPIRB beacon that I had purchase in New Zealand seemingly a lifetime ago expires this very month, so for $309 I purchased an Australian made Safety Alert model SA1G EPIRB, which boasts a battery life of 10 years, GPS accuracy of 3 meters and a transmit time of at least 3 days. 

All major boat systems seem the be OK (I write while knocking hard on the wooden desktop!) and I declare the good ship Pachuca ready for sea.

Assembling the New Dinghy

On Tuesday I spent about 2 hours wrestling with the new inflatable dinghy trying to assemble it on the foredeck.  In the end I had to give up on my goal of a complete assembly due to the short space between the life raft and inner forestay, the heavily curved deck, and worst of all, those two bollards along the center of the deck.  I managed to fit floor sections 1 and 2 at the forward of the dinghy and  sections 3 and 4 at the aft end, but could not come even close to lining up sections 2 and 3 so that I could snap them into place. 

I do not want to sail long distances with the assembled dinghy either on deck or towed behind the boat, so my plan is to assemble the dinghy on deck with only sections 3 and 4 of the aluminum floor.  This will be enough to support me on a ride to shore, where I will the fit sections 1 and 2.  With the dinghy fully assembled I'll then return to the boat to pick up Brenda and whoever else may be sailing with me.

In the forthcoming cruise we won't need the dinghy until we reach Koombana Bay, Bunbury.  I'll then assemble the dinghy and we'll tow it around the short distances of Geographe Bay.  Then on our second visit to Koombana Bay I'll ship the dinghy, break it down, and stow it for the long sail to the marina at Mandurah.

If this plan works the reward will be a large dinghy with a super strong aluminum floor, capable of getting us to our destinations with dry bottoms, dry cargo, end even dry feet.  ... IF!

Galley and Plank Finished

A few days ago Paul delivered the lids of the refrigerator and icebox which he had covered with stainless steel.  He did a fine job and fit is very good.  Note that the s/s surfaces fit into a rim of wood, which I plan to sand and varnish before the end of summer.

Note the s/s barrier in front of stove

Square tube barrier between sink and fridge

I had earlier picked up the s/s barrier made by Bret Snedden of Custom Sheet Metal in Midvale, the same man who had produced the counter top sheeting.  Bret made the barrier from 20mm square tubing and the length was to within 0.5 mm length of my specification and the fit was perfect.  The barrier prevents water from running from the sink area across to the refrigerator compartment.  Two days ago I bedded the barrier onto silicone sealant and screwed it down with two s/s pan head screws.

Boarding Plank

I also tried out the new boarding plank and it has been a big success.  The beauty of the system is that it uses the aluminum boarding ladder that was made for Pachuca in Port Townsend, USA.  Whenever we are cruising and want to go over the side for either a swim or to board the inflatable tender, I'll simply undo the ropes holding the wood plank (of 18mm marine ply) to the ladder and stow it away.  I'll also remove the two bolts holding the piece of timber at the curved end of the ladder and stow that piece too. 

The photo of the plank was taken at moderately high tide, but the plank comes into its own when the 1-meter tide is low, lowering the boat to the point where even I have trouble getting on and off.  At such times the ladder will be at a steep angle of perhaps 30 degrees.

The plank will be fixed at the boat end and slide over the jetty as the boat moves around.

New Inflatable Dinghy

A troll through the internet confirmed what I had learned the hard way about inflatable dinghies: It is the glue and not the material that fails over time.  The material can be easily patched but once the glue degenerates the dinghy is a write off.  I've got a Bombard and a Zodiac stored below my verandah for disposal to prove it.  The Bombard was in great shape when I departed on the circumnavigation in 2008.  In the six years of storage in cool, dry, protected environment of the garage the glue degenerated spontaneously.

Dry Run

Last week I purchased an Aristocraft "Bayrunner" inflatable with seams that are hot welded rather than glued.  Like most things, the dinghy is made in China, but I am putting my hopes in the PVC material that is sourced from Germany. 

The vaunted Hypalon material for inflatable dinghies is not amenable to thermo welding because it is rubber based.  Dupont must have seen the writing on the wall because it ceased production of Hypalon in 2012.  The future seems to be thermo welded PVC.

Because the instructions were execrable even by Chinese standards it took Brenda, Stephen, and myself a full 3 hours to assemble the dinghy.  After 2.5 hours I gave up and declared that Youtube was our only hope.  Sure enough we found videos on the Web that showed us the way.

The dinghy is heavy at 52 kg (114 lb) but the weight is distributed over two bags, one for the dinghy itself and one for the aluminum floor.   Installing the aluminum floor is a bit of an effort, but the result is superb and I am looking forward to our first ride in it. 

I wanted the 2.7m version, but they were sold out in the Perth area with no hope of one until March, which is much too late for the upcoming Bunbury Cruise.  So I asked for the 2.4m version (the same length as the Zodiac) but it too was sold out.  I had to settle for the 2.9m (9' 6") version, and the salesman knocked off $100 to make me feel better,  making the total cost $1250.

Gas Work Completed, Boarding Plank

The boat's gas system is now working and the new marine stove is operational.

I tested all of the couplings with a soapy water applied with a paint brush and after eliminating one small leak everything was safe.

Note in the photo how accessible are the gas cylinders and the manual selector switch above it.  The old system was set up terribly, with the cylinders hidden around the corner and the selector switch very hard to find, let alone reach and manipulate.

Gas Detector in Position

Cylinders and Selector Above Very Accessible

I then turned my attention to finding a way to make boarding of the boat from the jetty walkway easier and safer.  The problem is that the Fremantle Sailing Club has anachronistic fixed jetties which means that the boats are constantly dancing around their pens and worse, going up and down with the 1 meter tide.  When the tide is very low even I have trouble getting to the boat, much less passing supplies and equipment to it.  To date I have neither fallen into the water nor dropped anything, which I credit to focusing very hard when I am getting on and off the boat.

I've been nudged into action by my invitation to Bill and Pat, friends that I've met through Brenda, for drinks aboard Pachuca after I return from the Bunbury Cruise.  It is unfair to ask them, other guests, and Brenda to take that big step across the gap onto the moving boat.

I settled on the idea of setting up the boarding ladder as a part-time boarding plank.  The advantage of this is that I will not be burdened with yet another piece of large equipment that I must either carry on the boat or somehow hang from the jetty. To this end I have cut a piece of 18mm marine ply to fit along the length of the ladder.  The ladder will be fixed at the boat end and move at the jetty end.  I'll also rig a rope rail from the jetty post to the boat and drop the top rail on that side of the boat so that guests can step directly onto the boat.  If it works I'll name it either Bill's Bridge or Pat's Plank in honour of the guests who inspired me into action.

Proposed Boarding Plank

Yes, setting up the system for guests will be awkward, but if it work as planned I may be able to find faster ways of setting it up.

Gas System

The attempt to fire up the new marine stove has led to an upgrade of the boat's gas delivery system.  The stove was not getting gas and I tracked the problem to the cylinder selection switch which worked in one position but not the other.  Replacing that switch would require the extraction of the entire gas delivery assembly so I decided to take the opportunity to replace as much of it as possible.

Starting at the gas cylinders the components are as follows:
1. Hoses from cylinders to manual selector switch
2. The manual selector switch
3. The gas cutoff solenoid switch
4. The pressure reduction valve
5. The hose connecting to the copper gas line that supplies the galley

The first item was not critical since I had replaced those hoses in Hawaii about 4 years earlier.  However, I had to assume that the other items dated from 1983 when the boat was built.  I was particularly concerned with the last item, a fairly shabby looking flexible hose.

It took a bit of searching but my friends at Gas Components Australia at 1/4 Panama St, Canning Vale were able to replace everything but the solenoid switch.  I can live (literally) with that solenoid switch because the only consequence of it failing would be the shutting off of the supply of gas into the lines.

New System in Foreground

New Case

Case Ready for Varnishing

The photo tells the story, with the old items at the back and the new ones at the front.  The black rectangular component in the back is the solenoid switch, that will fit between the selector switch and the new 2-stage regulator.

The old setup was terrible, with the selector switch hidden at the back at a bad angle and difficult to see.  I decided to build a new cylinder case and put the selector switch on top of the case, where it will be easy to see and reach.  Besides, the old case is literally coming apart at the joins because it was too small to hold the larger cylinders that were introduced after I purchased the boat.

I then purchased two new gas cylinders because there is no hope of the existing cylinders meeting Australian standards.   I purchased them from Bunnings (sort of an Aussie Home Depot) knowing that I can exchange empty cylinders at any of their branches and any day of the week.  They are 3.7 kg in size, which should be ample for coastal cruising. 

I then purchased a nice piece of 18mm marine ply just large enough to do the job for $42.  I took great care in designing which surface would nail into which in order to maximize the strength against the tendency of the cylinders to break out of the box.  I joined the edges with Sikaflex construction adhesive (waterproof, paintable) held down with 40mm long galvanize nails.  The photo shows the new case with the new cylinders and the regulator assembly in its future position.  The holes at the sides will be for hooking "ocky" straps shown at the right.  The case will be screwed into the lazarette floor.

The final photo shows the case ready for varnishing.  I decided to treat the wood with several coats of Danish oil because it will penetrate the wood.  Neither sunlight nor aesthetic beauty will be issues, given that the case will be hidden to one side of the lazarette.

The gas supply system represents probably the last dark and mysterious corner of Pachuca because over the years I have been forced to deal with just about every other aspect of the boat.  I departed on the circumnavigation in 2008 knowing that I had not checked out the gas system and hoping for the best, placing great reliance on the gas detection and cutoff safety system.  Fortunately I made it back to Fremantle safely with no line ruptures or regulator failure