Issuu

December 2018

SUSIE GOODALL IN HOBART

SMALL BOATS Dragon Boats

SheSAILS Regatta SOUTHERN GREAT BARRIER REEF

BARGE BOATS

Dock parties SisterShip 1

COVER: A view from above, halfway up the mast of DHL Starlight in the 2018 Golden Globe Race (See story page 7. Photo courtesy Tina Richards).

Contents Features

Lockers

Page 3 Girls

The Bowsprit: Editorial

Message in a Bottle: Letters

Flat Bottomed Girl: Barge Boats

Halfway Around the World with Susie Goodall Fitzroy Reef: Jewel Queenslandâ€™s Southern Reef Six Critical Skills Women Bring to a Sailing Team SheSAILS NCYC 2018 Regatta

Sheroes: Patti Stickle

Holly Anne

Rising Star: Jill Reid

Who Needs a Fridge Anyway?

Art Feature: Emily Kalina

The Dragon Ladies

Pearls of Wisdom: Navigation

The Beauty of a Small Boat

Environment: A Very Reefy Christmas

SisterShip Coastal Navigation Course

Where in the World?

Socialise on a Boat While on a Budget

Watercolours: Photos

Dock Parties!

Market Place

Working on the Water: Kerry Lillian

Book Club

Lady Musgrave Island: Photo Essay

Service Directory

12 16

Brogo, NSW 2550, Australia.

ÂŠcopyright 2018. SisterShip Press Pty. Ltd. Original editorial and advertisements in this magazine are copyright and exclusive property of SisterShip Press Pty. Ltd. Reprinting of any material in whole or part requires the written permission of the publisher. Comments and opinions expressed within this magazine are not necessarily those of the publisher or editors.

www.sistershipmagazine.com

SisterShip Magazine is a participant in the

Published by: SisterShip Press Pty Ltd. ACN 623079587

ABN 46623079587

Editors: Jackie Parry and Shelley Wright Postal Address: 59 Bellemount Lane,

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Email: editor@sistershipmagazine.com

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Page 3 girls! Celebrating real women on the water LEFT: DEBRA CAULFIELD AND ALISON EADES after a race on Moreton Bay with Newport Cruising Yacht Club. Debra’s boat is Jo-De 7, a Hanse 575. Debra says “during the race we had about 21 knots breeze, our speed got up to 12 knots. It was a very tight finish with only a boat length between us and the next boat on the finish line - it was Alison’s first of hopefully many races with us and this would never have been possible without the wonderful WWSA group.” AUSTRALIA.

RIGHT: VIKI MOORE AND VICTORIA MURDOCH crossing New Zealand’s notorious Cook Strait aboard Victoria’s boat High Voltage. Viki and Victoria are training to do the around North Island two-handed race in 2020.

LEFT: CAT STURROCK prepping and applying PropGlide to her stainless prop. AUSTRALIA.

Send your ‘Page 3’ photos to editor@sistershipmagazine.com SisterShip 3

The bowsprit

Welcome to our December issue of SisterShip! As you are reading this, solo sailors Lisa Blair and Susie Goodall are more than halfway through their respective circumnavigations. Tina Richards caught up with Susie during her mandatory Golden Globe Race film drop at Hobart last month and we are thrilled to include a report of their chat. Susie is currently in fourth place battling cold headwinds between New Zealand and South America At the time of writing Lisa Blair was also battling headwinds, in her case off the Western Australian coast in her attempt to become the first woman to solo circumnavigate this continent. Sadly Lisa is dealing with news from home that her dad is seriously ill in hospital. We are sure all our readers join us in wishing Lisa’s dad best wishes for a speedy recovery. While Susie and Lisa are undertaking adventures at the extreme end of the scale, the recent SisterShip navigation course and the SheSAILS NCYC women’s regatta on Newcastle Harbour, illustrate how women on the water are pushing themselves out of their comfort zones at all levels. As a young landlubber, fresh from the lush green islands of Aotearoa, one of your SisterShip co-editors was very much out of her comfort zone when she first experienced the somewhat alien environment of a coral reef in 1985. Stretching some 2,300

kilometres, and 19 degrees of latitude, Australia’s Great Barrier Reef is formed by a myriad of reefs and cays. There are, as you would expect, distinct regional differences. The Capricorn Bunker group on the southern Great Barrier Reef is a cluster of wooded cays and reefs, many with large lagoons, some of which are navigable. It was this particular group that became that young landlubber’s backyard all those years ago, and it is with great pleasure that we feature the Capricorn Bunker group in this issue. With Christmas just around the corner it is fitting that we also showcase one of the reef ’s tiny treasures - the Christmas tree worm! As well as a range of sailing vessels, this month we bring you stories of a tug boat, barge boat, dragon boats, and a cruise liner! SisterShip loves diversity! This issue also highlights that you don’t need all the mod cons on a large boat to be out there on the water or to hold a great dock party. On that note, the team at SisterShip wish all our readers a very happy and safe festive season. Thank you for your support and enthusiasm during our first year at the helm. We look forward to new adventures as SisterShip continues the voyage in 2019!

Shelley Wright &

Jackie Parry SisterShip 4

Letters Message in a bottle Dear SisterShip team, All my life I have been around boats. My parents had motorboats and at age 20 I met a boat builder who was building a timber H28. It was a bare cold moulded hull at that point with the temporary frames still in place. We laboured every spare moment for the next four years and in March 1990 we launched our beautiful boat and married later that year in the October. We lived aboard for the next five years, working to save enough money to cruise the Queensland coast to the Whitsundays and beyond a few times. After 25 years our marriage failed and the boat was awarded to him in the settlement. At the time I didn’t think I would miss boating, but I soon realised I did. For the past seven years I have had a Kevin Dick 18’ open dinghy to cruise around the bay, taking my dogs most times for a swim at Horseshoe Bay and setting my crab pots somewhere along the way. A close girlfriend of mine also had a change of circumstance earlier this year which bought about her looking for a new yacht to live aboard as she has done for most of her life. Keen to help, I set about looking online for the “ideal” yacht for her and found many stagnant feelings inside of me were being stirred up about sailing.

I spoke to her about learning to navigate properly and not just by knowing where to go on the bay. She sent me a link to SisterShip and WWSA and said, ‘You should be part of this.’ Jackie and Shell were running their first navigation course in Lake Macquarie the following week. Not knowing exactly where

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it was, I checked it out on Google Maps and saw it was only nine odd hours from me. I knew I could do that in a day, so I booked my place on the course and set about finding some accommodation. I found a reasonably priced place called Squid’s Ink right on the lake and only 750 m from the yacht club. What was even better was the fact that I could take my two small dogs with me. On Friday October 26, I loaded my car and the boys and I left Brisbane at 3:30 am. After a few pit/water stops we arrived in Lake Macquarie around 2:30 pm. It was picture perfect; absolutely beautiful. The lake was so much bigger than I could have ever imagined and I was amazed at the number of boats and the size of them. That evening I dined in the Lake Macquarie Yacht Club where the course was being held the next day. I felt this inner peace that I’d not felt for some time. I felt at home and I knew there and then I had done the right thing.

The next morning I arrived half an hour early for the course. I collected my navigation kit/pouch, manuals and chart and met Shell and Jackie. I opened my chart with great enthusiasm to see where we would be “heading” on our nav course journey and you wouldn’t believe it, it was the Whitsundays! I cast my eyes over many of the places I’d visited so long before and as I did I heard a women’s voice coming up the stairs to the Bridge Deck room saying, ‘Wow did you see there is someone here from Brisbane!’ They sounded so surprised! As they entered the room, I said that it was me from Brisbane and I really didn’t think it was a big deal, in fact I thought there would be SisterShip 5

several of us from up that way. After all, what boating women wouldn’t want to do a course run by women for women about coastal navigation, I thought? With 13 of us on board for the course we quickly got started. The information flowed freely and openly ensuring we were all on track at all times. Shell and Jackie would have to be two of the calmest, non-judgemental women I have met. They bring out the best in you. There was no stress, just acceptance of who we were and what knowledge we did or didn’t bring with us. There was no such thing as a silly question. We all could relax. After two days and a lot of miles and knowledge covered, we all received our “Certificate of Achievement” in the SisterShip Coastal Navigation Course. Ironically it is dated on the day I was married some 28 years prior. After a group photo and the swapping of many phone numbers, I left the LMYC with a feeling of empowerment that I had

not felt for such a long time.

I left Lake Macquarie at 2:30 am the following morning. It was around the dawn that I realised I had had a taken a micro nap at the wheel having already changed lanes. I woke to see I was heading for the grassed medium strip. I yanked the wheel back on course and with a huge fright I realised that my (and my boys) lives could have changed so much in that split second. I figure life is short and although some things may seem out of reach nothing is impossible. It has made me even keener to fulfil my dreams of sailing once again. I feel so much safer on the water as opposed to the road. I hope to attend the WWSA Gathering at Port Stephens next April, and who knows I may prefer to journey by boat… Thank you Jackie and Shell. You are remarkable women doing remarkable things. Karen H.

Karen and Jackie at SisterShip’s ‘Introduction to Coastal Navigation’ course.

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HALFWAY AROUND THE WORLD WITH SUSIE GOODALL

Susie at the Hobart ‘film drop’.

Tina Richards The fierce Indian Ocean.

After 122 days at sea and not sighting another human being or land since the Canary Islands ‘film drop’ three and a half months ago, Susie Goodall, the youngest and only female entrant in the Golden Globe Race 2018, happily arrived at the Boatshed Drop Point in Hobart, Tasmania, on October 30th. Finally, Susie could say goodbye to the Indian Ocean after a gruelling couple of months where she found the weather challenging with the inconsistency of either calms or gales and icy cold temperatures. Just a couple of weeks before arriving in Hobart she faced her strongest storm so far with winds of 50 knots plus and swell above 10 meters. Trying to escape the worst of this storm, Susie had to reluctantly backtrack and sail west and then east again, which meant she passed Cape Leeuwin three times! Unfortunately, in the midst of the storm her wind-vane broke, requiring her to hand steer for 10 hours whilst not being able to eat for 24 hours! Working with the GGR team I caught up with Susie at the Boatshed Drop Point and asked her a few questions about her voyage so far.

What are you missing the most? Family and friends, fresh food, and a walk. What has been the most enjoyable moment so far? There’s been a lot of good parts. Finally rounding Cape of Good Hope was a very good moment! Are there certain moments when the loneliness is greater? And what do you do to cope with the feeling? I think the loneliest I felt was the day after the storm, that was probably the worst day. There was just no getting out of this hole that I was in. The conditions where horrible and it was just no fun at all. Generally, the temptation when you feel low is to climb into SisterShip 7

your bunk and do nothing. But when I feel low, I play some music and get up on deck and in the fresh air. Sometimes I pick up a new book but playing music for me is the best. Do you find yourself talking to the weather or the heavens above? (Laughs) I do tell the weather off sometimes. Why are you not blowing! Or why are you blowing too much! If you could have one additional piece of equipment from here on – what would it be? I’d take another A-symmetric kite, a bigger one. Is there a particular feature of your boat that you really appreciate?

The bimini, I love it! I love sitting there, I can reach the steering lines and adjust things, I can reach the main sheet and I can do most things from just being under it. How are you finding the completely watertight companion way hatch? That is the best thing that I did in the refit. It

is superb, absolutely brilliant! Water can’t get in. And is there anything you would change such as water proofing the switch board or radio? Not at this moment. Although when I go down and I’m soaking wet in foulies, I tend to make everything a little wet and damp. So, I could add some type of curtain to stop this. But it’s not too bad, having that hatch means it’s been pretty dry down there. Before you left Les Sab* you said that when you wanted to grow up you wanted to sail around the world. How is the job so far and is this how you thought it would be? Yeah, it’s alright! (laughs). I don’t really know what I expected. I knew I was going sailing but to know what I was going to get along the route is quite hard. I didn’t think I would struggle as much in the calms. If it’s calm weather, then it’s not a happy boat (laughs again). Would you recommend it? For sure! If someone wants to do it,

Happy to have arrived at the Boatshed Drop Point, Hobart, Tasmania.

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absolutely but just don’t underestimate those calms, that’s all I can say (laughs). What advice would you give other women contemplating a solo voyage, short or long? I think it’s one of those things, you just have to go for it. It’s so easy to think about but it’s not an easy thing to get to the start line or the finish line. However, I think if someone wants to do it bad enough then they can do it, so go for it! Why do you think there aren’t more women in the race? I don’t know, it’s a good question. I thought about it quite a bit and I really don’t know because it’s accessible and these boats are so simple. Why there aren’t, I genuinely don’t know.

you’re just on your own. There’s no back up, there’s no help, really all you have is an EPIRP. So, having the race there and being part of the race family, you do feel a lot safer. I talk to Mark Slats and Uku Randmaa (other entrants) several times a day and we are always looking out for each other and sharing ideas, like what works in heavy weather, sail settings, especially because the three of us have the same boat. Just having that there is really important, I think. Sailing into the recent storm, were the events that took place with the other entrants Abhilash Tomy and Gregor McGuckin on your mind? Oh big time! I had discussed with Mark Slats a lot about his storm, we were always talking about it, so my plan was then if I ever got a storm like that, I would just sail through it. I

Do you think or feel it’s safer to participate in an event like the Golden Globe Race, knowing that race organisers are watching over you? Definitely. I mean it’s something I’ve always wanted to do and I’ve always thought about just getting a boat and setting off but then All suited up from the very cold water whilst inspecting the hull.

Susie anchored at Kingston Beach, Boatshed Drop Point, Hobart, Tasmania.

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Susie’s hands have become extremely soft and fragile due to the harsh conditions.

‘hove-to, rolled, dismasted’ kept playing over like a broken record in my mind. It was something telling me not to hove-to so I just sat there and helmed. It wasn’t fun. How do you feel about entering the second half of the race? Do you think it will be easier?

was doing okay but then before the height of it the wind-vane broke and so I had to steer. That was never my plan. I don’t know why I hadn’t set my drogues up beforehand. I didn’t want to leave the helm because during Gregor’s and Abhilash’s storm, Gregor came on the radio and I remember him saying he couldn’t keep the boat down wave; the boat just kept on sitting beam on. And that’s what I was afraid of, which is worse out on the helm, but it was either be on the helm or hove-to. But whenever I thought about hoving-to I remembered Are Wiig’s dismasting. Just after he was dismasted we got a text from Don McIntyre saying ‘Are, hove-to, rolled, dismasted’, and the words

I hope so. I’m looking forward to getting past New Zealand away from land again. It would be nice if the Pacific was blue skies and sunshine and 20 knots from the north-west but I don’t think it will be. I’m hoping that the Indian Ocean is as hard as it’s going to get but then there is still Cape Horn and the variables in the Atlantic so I’m sure there is still some tough times ahead to be honest. But I’m ready and the boat’s ready. Have you been thinking about what you would like to achieve next? I’ve been thinking about it a lot and my minds still pretty blank to be honest (laughs). I keep thinking, oh maybe I’ll do it faster next time but then I have a calm and I think never again. Then I’ll have a good day sailing and I think, oh I could do this again. I think there are a lot of options although at the

Tackling anything that comes her way, Susie fixing her wind-vane.

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moment I don’t really know. I think when I get back, it will be decision time. And finally, when do you hope to arrive back in France? It would be nice to arrive in February, that would be pretty cool. I think it will take me four to five months to get home, maybe closer to five, although now that the bottom’s clean I might be a little faster. I’m aiming for February but if it’s March I'll be okay about it.

Fortunately, Susie was able to fix her windvane, unassisted. And after climbing the mast to complete a rig check, then diving below into the very cool water to inspect the hull she was cheerfully on her way again. However, due to another nasty storm she made the tough decision to take refuge in Safety Bay, Tasmania until it passed. At the time of writing this article she is currently in fourth position, chasing down Uku Randmaa for third. Go Susie!

*Les Sables-d’Olonne For more updates on Susie Goodall’s progress and the rest of the fleet in the Golden Globe Race 2018 you can subscribe to the mailing list at: https://goldengloberace.com/ Or follow the GGR Facebook page at: h t t p s : / / w w w. f a c e b o o k . c o m / goldengloberace/

CURRENT PLACINGS: Jean- Luc VDH (FRA) Rustler 36 Matmut Mark Slats (NED) Rustler 36 Ohpen Maverick Uku Randmaa (EST) Rustler 36 One and All Susie Goodall (GBR) Rustler 36 DHL Starlight Istvan Kopar (USA) Tradewind 35 Puffin Tapio Lehtinen (FIN) Gaia 36 Asteria Mark Sinclair (AUS) Lello 34 Coconut Igor Zaretskiy (RUS) Endurance 35 Esmeralda

Heading off for the second half of the race in her Rustler 36 DHL Starlight.

In 2017 TINA RICHARDS hung up her teaching and everyday land boots to start a new life living aboard a 49ft sailboat with her partner. Having never sailed before, but was all for the adventure, TINA has had to face many fears and overcome new challenges as she adapted to life on the water. Now with 3,000 nm under her belt, TINA is hooked on sailing and all things water! SisterShip 11

Fitzroy Reef: Jewel of Queensland’s Southern Reef

Anna Ash MV Babieca.

‘Have we died and gone to heaven?’ wondered our crew, on the first morning after a blissful night’s sleep in this calm anchorage out at sea. We looked out to the horizon where the deep blue sky met the clear turquoise water and it was like we’re suspended in a beautiful aquamarine bubble. For five days we floated in this unbelievably peaceful anchorage, swimming and snorkelling by day, and sleeping soundly at night. Fitzroy Reef - don’t bypass this turquoise and azure gem of the Southern Great Barrier Reef. Previously, on our ketch Zefr, we had stopped at Lady Musgrave Island 24 nm to the south, and sailed past Fitzroy Reef en route to Great Keppel Island. This time was different, we have crossed to the dark side and are now on a passage-making trawler style motor boat, Babieca, a Seahorse 52. She’s an ice breaker with an ice maker, business-like on the outside, but concealing within a comfortable world of full pilot house, walk around beds, upright fridge/freezer, and full stove as well as three air conditioners (rarely used!). Did I mention the ice maker? It’s worth repeating, after eight years of being a professional ice bludger, I now enjoy it rather a lot. Definitely

not a speed boat, but designed for going the distance, she has twin 150 HP John Deere engines and will cruise at 8 knots, sipping only 10 litres of fuel/hour. Truth be told, she’s not ACTUALLY an ice breaker, she’s a Blainey Steele designed fibreglass hull made in China, hull number 19 of around 40 that have been made. We bought her in April this year in a neglected state, caught up on maintenance, and installed solar panels and a dinghy crane. Next is a water maker and she’ll be ship shape and ready for long distance passage making. On the ketch, we used to wait for wind to cover distances, but now we look for calm weather and smooth seas which makes for a comfortable passage. Fitzroy Reef is 45 nm north east of Gladstone on Queensland’s Capricorn coast. The closest coastal anchorage is Pancake Creek just over 30 nm away, and many boats wait here for calm weather to head out to the Capricorn or Bunker Group of reefs and islands. We steamed 72 nm to Fitzroy from Great Keppel Island, planning to get there fast and then take it slow. We picked up my brother Mick and his wife SisterShip 12

Deb from Keppel Bay marina. Over the next few days we had light winds from almost all points of the compass, so we could show our crew a variety of lovely Great Keppel Island anchorages: Long, Resort (Fishermans), and Monkey Beaches as well as Humpy Island, where we went for some fishing. It’s said that the Keppel Islands have the best walks of all the Queensland Islands and I’m inclined to agree, certainly my calves testify to the height of their peaks. The walk from Svendsen’s Beach via Leeke’s homestead, still with some of its furnishings like a Singer sewing machine and fridge, and on to the resort area was a good warm up. The next day we followed it up with the 12 km round trip to the lighthouse which gave us spectacular views of the anchorage from Sailor’s Lookout and then a long hot climb up and along the ridge to look down on Wreck Bay (not a recommended anchorage) and then to the other end of the island to see the lighthouse and views south to Humpy Island. The Svendsens are unofficial caretakers of this part of the island and have provided seats at strategic places along the tracks, with inspirational quotes etched on to smooth rocks inviting you to take time out to just be.

Arriving back at the beach we plunged in to the clear waters and soaked our aching feet, then spent some time with the cruisers who regularly come in to the beach camp for coffee and a yarn. I met Shirley who willingly shows me how to weave a lightning bolt with palm leaves, she was wearing a palm frond hat that she wove over a year ago. We met several sailing cruisers at the regular sundowners on Svendsen’s Beach, the only ‘bar’ we go to these days, and found that they still talked to us, even when they learnt we are on a ‘stink’ boat. We were watching the weather and it looked good for a trip to the reef with less than 15 knots or variable winds for the next week. We left Monkey Beach at 04.00 for a ten-hour steam covering the 72 nm to Fitzroy Reef, passing One Tree Island and several reefs,

Playing in paradise. SisterShip 13

Glassed out.

and seeing many large turtles. It was with some trepidation that we approached the channel through the reef into Fitzroy for the first time, but while narrow, it’s well marked with port and starboard buoys on the outside and a couple of posts showing the way in. We could clearly see the reef on either side and were in painlessly. The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority have installed three mooring buoys rated for 25 metre boats to 34 knots of wind, and we were happy to pick one up. We kept shaking our heads at each other, gob -smacked. How could it be so blue? So blueon-blue? We needed some new terms to describe the colours of this serene, ultramarine lagoon-at-sea. In the early morning there was glass-out, and the water’s surface reflected a scattering of clouds and boats. Then with a gentle breeze it darkened to teal shading up to turquoise near the reefs. At low tide the surrounding reef was exposed, a gold setting for this opalescent gem, with frothy white waves crashing on the outside. We had been carefully checking the Marine Park Zoning Maps as we trolled a line whenever we were underway and didn’t want to fall foul of the law. Fitzroy Reef is entirely in a blue zone, a habitat protected area which means you can line or spear fish. We grabbed snorkels and skipper Gary dug out his spear gun. While a couple of us floated around enjoying the coral and fish life of the reefs, Gary was in hunting mode, diving down to

look under coral ledges for an elusive painted crayfish. He pointed out a three-metre grey nurse shark dozing in a cave. At that point Deb propelled herself into the tender with unprecedented speed! The water clarity was gin-like, and turtles, rays, and small black tip reef sharks cruised past us. Gary shot to the surface with a cray over his head, and then ten minutes later, a coral trout. That was dinner for four taken care of and we headed back to the boat for a siesta. Crew from the other two yachts on moorings came over for sundowners on the top deck and we watched as over 30 little trailer boats came into the lagoon and anchored for the night. Fitzroy’s proximity to Gladstone means that weekends can be busy with fisher folk, but as we found, during the week there was only the occasional yacht or motor boat stopping for a night. The weather was perfect for five days and we slipped into an easy routine of swimming, snorkelling, SUP boarding, and snoozing. Mick, Deb and I SUP-snorkelled around the drop-offs and over several large reefs that exist within the lagoon. It’s great as you can paddle from the mother ship out to the reef, then don mask and snorkel and drape yourself across the SUP board and drift with the current over the reef. Just a tad relaxing! We found that the reef had suffered a significant bleaching event with a lot of the staghorn corals white or fluorescing at their tips, but the fish life still seemed healthy and there were little patches of healthy corals coming back. We supplemented our food stores with freshly caught crayfish and coral trout, leaving the parrot fish as they play a valuable role, eating the weed that grows on dead coral reef. Books were read, many games of Rummy contested, and a state of supreme relaxation was achieved. There was no mobile reception. What initially seemed like an annoyance was a blessing, the four of us were just ‘there’, no virtual reality for five days was a welcome change. SisterShip 14

After five days we reluctantly dropped the mooring line and headed north, thinking we would explore Heron and North West Islands. We picked up a mooring at Heron Island and dinghied in through the channel to the boat harbour. Again, the water was so clear that we spotted all manner of marine life in this short distance. I spoke with a staff member who apologised but said yachties weren’t welcome. In contrast a friend had gone ashore at the beach on high tide, walked around the island and past the resort, perhaps that’s the better approach! We snorkelled along the drop off, there was a lot of life in the water, reef sharks, turtles, and pelagics. We heard that manta rays are prolific but didn’t spot any this time. The mooring is well positioned, and we had a very comfortable night there. The following day, due to time constraints, we bypassed Wistari Reef and motored to North West Island. There’s a mooring on the northern side, just outside a dinghy channel into the reef, which would be great in SE winds. There were many campers ashore who come out on a barge from Gladstone with tinnies, kayaks, solar panels etc. It was a turtle cannery for many years, but now is a major turtle nesting site, and today the beaches are crisscrossed with dozens of turtle tracks. It’s also a haven for many sea birds with a massive colony of black noddies, as well as terns, oyster catchers, little brown sandpipers, and ospreys. The bird life seemed to be thriving amongst the many visiting campers. As we walked around the island, we were regularly wowed by the prolific sea life: turtles, rays, shovel nose sharks, and then an ominous dark shape that campers said was a tiger shark that they were monitoring, as there were several oblivious swimmers further down the beach. In northerly winds we had a fairly rolly night on the mooring, so the next day steamed back to the shelter of the Keppel Islands. Last year we had sailed Zefr through

Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand, and hadn’t found such a beautiful, unpolluted reef anchorage. To be fair, we hadn’t been to Raja Ampat, by all accounts Indonesia’s last unspoilt reef wilderness. We certainly have a new-found appreciation for the beauty and pristine quality of many parts of coastal Australia. The Great Barrier Reef is truly one of the seven natural wonders of the world and, under threat from coral bleaching, run off and crown of thorns star fish, needs all the protection it can get. Deb and Mick described our sojourn at Fitzroy as a once in a lifetime opportunity, and they may well be right, because it’s not often that an ideal location coincides with ideal weather. I wholeheartedly recommend a trip to the reefs and islands of the Southern Barrier Reef. It’s definitely worth waiting for the weather to calm down so you can head out to Fitzroy Reef and relax.

ANNA ASH is having a break from working with Aboriginal communities on revitalising their languages. She and skipper Gary Lindfield lived on their ketch Zefr for eight years, and had the trip of a lifetime sailing through Indonesia and Malaysia to Thailand in 2017

Their YouTube channel can be found at https://www.youtube.com/channel/ UCnu6eh8vGanaPi3zQGPrhLw They are now enjoying cruising the Australian East Coast and getting to know their MV Babieca.

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Sheroes! SEW MAD REGATTA PATTI STICKLE We all know what incredible trust, friendships, and bonds are formed with your sailing buddies. We trust our lives to each other, we depend on one another... it’s part of the sport. If you are lucky enough to have these friends, well, you are lucky enough. I am fortunate to be part of a great yacht club that supports active women sailors... and there are a bunch of us! Every year we have one allladies regatta named SEW MAD. The name seems a little strange until you learn that the letters are the initials of the two women that started this regatta 28 years ago. The event grows every year. This year we had over 50 women racing at Lake Canyon Yacht Club on Canyon Lake, Texas. This year’s race was dedicated to one of my best friends and sailing buddies, Joy. Joy passed away early this year after a short battle with a leukemia related cancer. For years, our families and friends raced in our annual Leukemia Cup Regatta to raise money to fight this disease. Little did we know this year’s Leukemia Cup Regatta would also be in memory of our close and dear friend. We were all numb and couldn’t believe we were racing without her. It was during this time we realized how sailing was helping to heal our grief. For the SEW MAD Regatta Joy’s partner had asked me to be on helm of their boat...truly an honor. It was one of those races from hell… everything went wrong, starting (or rather not starting!) with a dead battery. We finally got out to the regatta late, blew out a jib, finished all three races, turned on engine

key... dead battery again. We were a crew of four women with everything thrown at us that could go wrong, but we never gave up. That’s what we women do… just keep sailing. All the boats had lavender and white streamers flying aft… Joy’s favorite colors. I know she was looking down on the women in the regatta and smiling. I know she was proud of us on her boat, was smiling, then laughed her ass off! On a good note... we did win the Floppy Sail Award!*

*The award presented to the team that is in last place for each of the fleets. Their sails must have been ‘flopping’ during the race.

PHOTO: Patti and crew in SEW MAD Women’s Regatta racing with over 50 women sailors!

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LINDA FRYLINK ANDERSON

The beauty of a small boat

Lati, Spain.

Small boats are lovely to look at. They can also be brilliant to sail, but one of the most important considerations is whether they are comfortable to live on. This is especially important if there are two people. My first experience with offshore sailing was in a 24-foot (7.3m) Primaat, a Van der Stadt plywood yacht, in 1980. I was young, innocent, and knew nothing about sailing. My adventurist husband Bill could barely contain his excitement when he found a boat we could afford berthed in Sydney harbour. I was happy to quit my job in a paint shop in Canberra and quench my yearning for travel. She was the first ‘little house’ we could own, floating on the water to go wherever we wanted. With $1,000 in the bank, our active cattle dog, and the disbelieving faces of my parents, we set out on our adventure. The previous owner left us with charts for Australia and not much else. The dinghy was an inflatable and had to be blown up by mouth. Weather forecasting was a quick look in the newspaper weather map before we left, and the VHF radio gave us occasional weather forecasts. No self-steering, no

Lati, Cephalonia Greece 2013.

sounder, and no toilet. Beds were two bunks and cooking was done on a kero stove. I didn’t expect there to be a shower or refrigeration as I knew no better. It was more luxurious than camping. Alouette was her name and we sailed her from Sydney to Brisbane crossing almost every bar so Jane, our dog, could go to the toilet (and us too), as all we had was a bucket. I suffered with sea-sickness and sometimes couldn’t SisterShip 41