Blue Moon, modified junk rig
Blog of Blue Moon, a 25 ft long Top Hat yacht, built by Formit Yachts, that was rigged as a modified junk rig, by her original owner, who was an engineer.
| Vessel Name: | Blue Moon |
| Vessel Make/Model: | Top Hat 25 MkIII |
| Hailing Port: | Laurieton |
| Extra: | Blue Moon is a unique MkIII Top Hat, It was built as a Modified Chinese Junk Rig, sometimes known as a "Junkette" rig. |
| Home Page: | www.tophatyachts.com |
21 January 2011 | Laurieton
16 January 2011 | Laurieton to Broken Bay
16 January 2011 | Gosford to Newcastle
10 January 2011 | Home Port
Recent Blog Posts
21 January 2011 | Laurieton
Sun Shade
This large "Outdoor umbrella" that we had no use for at home, does make very good shade for the cockpit, although it is heavy & quite cumbersome to put up, it covers most of the cockpit. I just need to fabricate a stainless steel socket for it (similar to a fishing rod holder), that can be clamped to the pushpit. Obviously it can only be used on calm days at anchor, & (as someone pointed out) it does look like a giant "cocktail umbrella"! :)
16 January 2011 | Gosford to Newcastle
My first coastal passage
This is about the Top Hat, that I owned before Blue Moon.
10 January 2011 | Home Port
Trying to connect the mainsail to the mast.
I'm having trouble trying to connect the along the "luff" front of the mainsail to the mast, this is one attempt, where I diagonally laced the eyelets of the sail around the mast but upon raising the mainsail, it continually snagged, forcing a trip to the mast to un-tangle(the lacing) & it caused a lot [...]
My first coastal passage
16 January 2011 | Gosford to Newcastle
Shaun
This is about the Top Hat, that I owned before Blue Moon.
After buying "Night Cap" TH 25 MkIII, in November the task was to get her from Gosford to her new home port, Laurieton on the mid north coast of NSW.
This task proved to be both a longer process than i thought & to cost more than i anticipated.
Gosford to Newcastle
This passage was a big learning experience, we under-estimated the time it would take to do it, estimated the nav calculation at 4kts, but the predicted SW never arrived, in its place we had a 18-23kt NE to beat against!, this threw the schedule out the window!.
I made a lot of mistakes, eg - didn't take any precautions to avoid seasickness (since found "Kwells" work well for me), neglected to Log on with the VMR (seasickness played a part here, not wanting to talk on the radio, now log-on before pulling anchor), didn't organise proper food/lunch , (snacks all day arent good).
We were forced to do an unplanned night sail, making Newcastle at 3am, with only a few litres of fuel left (now carry enough fuel to motor the entire way).
Newcastle to Laurieton approx 106nm.
Had to leave the boat at Newcastle marina (that was the expensive part) over xmas & NY, until having
some spare time coincided with favourable weather.
Organised a mate as crew, not a sailor but an ex-soldier in an eastern
block army, he said he was used to suffering, so i thought he's the
perfect candidate!
Logged On with the VMR!
Left Newcastle early on fri 16th Jan, just after a weak southerly had
come through, S/SW winds fairly light so motor sailed to keep to the
schedule!, arrived Shoal Bay Port Stephens, early afternoon well
before the predicted stronger S change that nite, btw great place &
plenty of courtesy moorings. No petrol station in Shoal Bay, so caught the bus to Nelson Bay to replenish the fuel.
Was a fairly strong S change that came in about 10PM & was still very
strong on sat morning so hung around & prep'ing boat till 1300, then
set off (again obviously logging on etc),
had an excellent sail !!, doing around 5 - 5.5kts(on gps) , i estimated
in 20-25kts of SE, 2-3m swell, careful Nav was required around Seal
Rocks, with frequent plotting position on chart, glad we cleared them
with some daylight!, they are a surprising distance offshore, we were
a good distance to their E. Wind died around 2200, so motored thru the
night, then sailed again when a light SE arrived in the morning, we
had timed the arrival at Laurieton bar to be there at the slack tide,
which made the bar benign, easily crossed, most of my family was on
the breakwall to greet us!,
& we had an escort of Dolphins 3 times during the trip, fantastic!
a short video we made:
http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=YhX22jGaf1U
cheers
Shaun
"Night Cap"
After buying "Night Cap" TH 25 MkIII, in November the task was to get her from Gosford to her new home port, Laurieton on the mid north coast of NSW.
This task proved to be both a longer process than i thought & to cost more than i anticipated.
Gosford to Newcastle
This passage was a big learning experience, we under-estimated the time it would take to do it, estimated the nav calculation at 4kts, but the predicted SW never arrived, in its place we had a 18-23kt NE to beat against!, this threw the schedule out the window!.
I made a lot of mistakes, eg - didn't take any precautions to avoid seasickness (since found "Kwells" work well for me), neglected to Log on with the VMR (seasickness played a part here, not wanting to talk on the radio, now log-on before pulling anchor), didn't organise proper food/lunch , (snacks all day arent good).
We were forced to do an unplanned night sail, making Newcastle at 3am, with only a few litres of fuel left (now carry enough fuel to motor the entire way).
Newcastle to Laurieton approx 106nm.
Had to leave the boat at Newcastle marina (that was the expensive part) over xmas & NY, until having
some spare time coincided with favourable weather.
Organised a mate as crew, not a sailor but an ex-soldier in an eastern
block army, he said he was used to suffering, so i thought he's the
perfect candidate!
Logged On with the VMR!
Left Newcastle early on fri 16th Jan, just after a weak southerly had
come through, S/SW winds fairly light so motor sailed to keep to the
schedule!, arrived Shoal Bay Port Stephens, early afternoon well
before the predicted stronger S change that nite, btw great place &
plenty of courtesy moorings. No petrol station in Shoal Bay, so caught the bus to Nelson Bay to replenish the fuel.
Was a fairly strong S change that came in about 10PM & was still very
strong on sat morning so hung around & prep'ing boat till 1300, then
set off (again obviously logging on etc),
had an excellent sail !!, doing around 5 - 5.5kts(on gps) , i estimated
in 20-25kts of SE, 2-3m swell, careful Nav was required around Seal
Rocks, with frequent plotting position on chart, glad we cleared them
with some daylight!, they are a surprising distance offshore, we were
a good distance to their E. Wind died around 2200, so motored thru the
night, then sailed again when a light SE arrived in the morning, we
had timed the arrival at Laurieton bar to be there at the slack tide,
which made the bar benign, easily crossed, most of my family was on
the breakwall to greet us!,
& we had an escort of Dolphins 3 times during the trip, fantastic!
a short video we made:
http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=YhX22jGaf1U
cheers
Shaun
"Night Cap"
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