Wishing Everyone a Happy, Healthy, Prosperous and Peaceful New Year!

OUT WITH 2007 - IN WITH 2008 .....

Two Thousand and Seven (2007) was a year of major transition for us (to put it mildly). Our voyage in 2007 started with bad weather and ended with bad weather. In between, we saw many beautiful sights - sunrises over the open ocean, dolphins, whales, abatross', more storms and many sunsets.

And now we start another 'New Year'! This one is starting with an additional family member - 'Connor the Kitten' - whose energy, I'm sure, will have a major influence on us......

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This is our new family member...

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Practical Seamanship (24 x 7) on board a 50-ton, Steel Hull, '60- foot Trawler' with 30-foot Stabilizing Arms on each side.

Pictured: Students, Main Engine Panel, Battery Banks. Generator, Teacher (Dave) in Engine Room, Docking. The Elisabeth Margaret II, Main Engine. Teacher (Paul), Back-up Engine, Students working on Aft Deck. Cleaning up Lines, Bilge System Controls.

WEATHER Oh, let's start with the weather. "Forecast: A strong wind warning is current for St Lawrence to Point Danger, including Hervey Bay. SE winds 20/30 knots. Heavy rain and scattered thunderstorms." Now would I consciously take out my own boat in this weather? Just in case you weren't sure - the answer is NO! Does TAFE consciously take us (students) out for our 'practicals' in this weather? The answer is YES. The 'Heavy Rain' and 'Thunderstorms' followed us the entire night. At times the only way we were able to navigate was with the radar. So, for all those boaters who don't currently have a 'RADAR REFLECTOR' I strongly suggest you get one. And by the way we were traveling at 8-9 kts in that weather.

SHIFTS We sailed out of Bundaberg, into Platupus Bay, down the Great Sandy Straits. The crew consisted of 2 Teachers, 8 Students (all male expect me). We were informed we would be doing '2 hour shifts' (in teams of 2) - NOT! A '2 hour shift' just meant - '2 hours in the wheelhouse doing navigation' (although Alan & I did 3-hours before the next crew relieved us of our duty) - when finished with navigation - you did Engine-Room-Duty, Diagramed Layouts, Ropework, Man-Overboard, or setting up and using the Emergency-Steering-System - by then it was time for your next '2-hour shift'. Notice I didn't mention stopping for breaks or eating..... We finally had diner at 2045. After diner they wanted to give us a 'written test'. OMG!!

NAVIGATION Well, Alan and I were 1st up on navigation - so we had the task of plotting the initial course, factoring in set & drift, use the 'stand- alone radar' to obtain fixes, etc. Fortunately, I feel pretty comfortable with Navigation so we did really well and the teacher decided to let us use the 'New GPS Plotter with the Radar Overlay' while he took a break. Now we had the full control of the boat!!! The radar overlay (over the GPS Plotter) is fantastic!!!

ENGINE ROOM CHECKS. The vessel has 3 Engines, the Main Engine is a Gardner, the Cummins is used as the generator and the Detroit is used as the back-up (come- home) engine. The engine room is quite big, hot, dirty and VERY, VERY, VERY LOUD. You need to wear 'protector ear gear' - a fact we did not know the 1st time we went down for our Engine Check - I didn't think I was ever going to hear again. Access to the engine room requires opening a large steel hatch on-deck and climbing straight down a skinny metal ladder (which is slippery when wet). I can honestly say - I didn't like engine duty.

SLEEPING QUARTERS The bunks and bedding - YUCK! Pillows that seriously should have been thrown out a hundred years ago. I don't think the sleeping quarters have ever been cleaned (if they have you can't prove it by me). Although, this really didn't matter because we didn't really get to sleep, anyway.

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