TWO MEN IN A ‘DOG' OF A
CAT
Blustering upriver, salty and tangy, the afternoon breeze
invades their senses. On such a bright and blue Queensland post meridiem our
two heroes choose to launch themselves onto the waters by renting a
catamaran for an hour or two. The previous day, with a much more gentle
breeze, they had chatted up the attendant and been informed that the
questionable and lonely looking twin hulled unit languishing on the sand
strip was a bit of a &lsquo ;dog' to sail on account of the starboard
sponson opening up when tacking and allowing the ingress of water. The boat
they needed was out but would be available tomorrow - it was duly booked.
Today, with a good eighteen knot breeze blasting off the sea
and approaching the crumbling hut that grandstanded as a sales office, their
craft was spied cutting neatly up on to the beach coming to rest alongside
the ‘dog'. Payment in advance was demanded and docilely handed over. The
proprietor in attendance today, kits them out with broken zipped and ill
fitting life jackets amid many instructions as to where they can and cannot
sail. He points out the jet ski channel markers( I always understood that
power gives way to sail!), to various jetties and sand bars (which at half
tide are rather obvious!), and definitely not to sail over the bar into the
open ocean. Ready at last, our men turn to find that their boat has been
released seaward again with the explanation from the attendant that the
hirers' wanted another hour! With their artful chicanery of yesterday blown
in an instant and this being the last day of their holiday they allow the
proprietor to convince them of the sterling qualities of the remaining
‘cat'. He postulates that the attendant was vastly overstating the case of
the water entry and that the tiny ‘rip' in the jib was of no consequence and
would not slow the boat down too much when tacking. Glances are exchanged,
but with the afternoon sun slipping forever horizonward, our intrepids
trudge over the sand to the awaiting cat. Turning it seaward takes a mighty
effort as she seems somewhat heavy - maybe the wet Queensland sand clings
more vigorously to fiberglass than its southern variety?
Shoving off the beach at ninety degrees to the wind she
gathers moderate speed whilst heading directly toward the jetski channel and
the first sandbar. Getting the feel of her, our crew play with the tiller
for direction and the clew for speed, knowing there is plenty of time left
before they need to tack. Boat speed varies from not much to five to seven
knots, but she should be going much faster. Taking her further off the
breeze does nothing to increase speed. Cats are not known for sailing close
to the wind but this is ridiculous. Several tacks are attempted, but
immediately the tack is put in she stops dead in the water without her head
coming through the wind. Four or five of these unsuccessful attempts later,
they arrive at the first sand bar - literally - bumping to a standstill.
This entails jumping off and manually turning the boat around. This achieved
they jump aboard again to repeat the process all the way to the other side.
The boat certainly seems to sail better on this tack and speed picks up to
more like what it should. Whilst this lifts their spirits, spray flying in
their faces and wet to the waist, the next problem is emerging. The
starboard sponson cutting through the water begins acting like a submarine
as the speed increases. The nose digs deeper and deeper into the water,
listing the craft further and further to starboard. Our stalwarts have
deduced by now that there is indeed rather more water in that hull than
should be and that the attendant from yesterday was more accurate in his
description than the proprietor today. This is of no great comfort to our
crew at this point. The bow knifing deeper at an ever increasing angle, in
turn encourages more water to run forward, which with its weight rushing
downward, of course pushes the bow down even further. If no correction to
this situation is taken, the hull will dive so deep and at such an angle the
whole craft will execute a spectacular barrel roll catapaulting our crew
into the water. As warm as the breeze and water is, it is felt that this
would not be the best option from the point of view of seamanship, getting
very wet, possible injury and not the least, spectator viewing from the
shore!
All sheets are let go and the boat rights itself. By this
time, the tiny ‘rip' in the jib has run virtually all the way to the
forestay, the upper section flapping wildly in its bid for freedom. Almost
having lost all way she steers herself very neatly into and behind one of
the very jetties our crew had been instructed to avoid (something to do with
irate owners), running herself onto the rocky breakwater. The space is just
wide enough to take her, but not nearly wide enough to turn her around.
Wrestling her back out again into open water exhausts our crews' patience
and most of the time, so a decision is made. They turn her downwind and head
homeward. She likes this much better and they cruise downwind in a direct
line for the hirers shed, gybing all the way. A wary eye is kept on the
recalcitrant hull, but the increased speed with virtually no list keeps the
water and therefore the boat, more on an even keel.
Aiming for the beach, our crew notice that the other cat
has returned. They hit the strand at around four knots and slide gracfully
to a halt beside the other boat - best manoeuvre of the day!
Marching purposefully toward the hut, the proprietor sees
them coming. His interpretation of the situation is quite rapid, prompted no
doubt by his own guilt and he offers the other cat free for a further hour.
Meanwhile however, his enthusiastic attendant has de-rigged it and with the
suns' lower limb closing rapidly on the tree studded island to the west our
stalwarts call it a day. Under duress their fee is refunded and they stalk
off having relieved their spleen on the proprietor by questioning his
parentage and highlighting the dangers of renting out deficient equipment.
Trouping down the jetty and passing by the statuesque and
salty blonde from the other cat (their cat!), she grins broadly at them and
offers:
'Hey, great fun out there today?'
Ouch! How to wound male pride! Our crew look at one
another - was that a genuine comment? Or was she winding them up? Her smile
was so wide and her white teeth backed up by two brilliant blue eyes in her
happy sunburned face, they give her the benefit of the doubt.
Lounging around the pool in the soft evening and washing
the experience down with a couple of cool beers puts it all in perspective.
Couple that with several borderline jokes at the expense of the proprietor
helps to restore any lost male face and once again all is well in the world.
SAFETY FIRST
Firstly, being as suspicious as we were,
we should never have taken the craft out. Our excuse was that it was our
last day of the holiday and it was the only boat left on the beach(for
obvious reasons!). Secondly, and more importantly, the owner should not have
been renting it out.
Here is a list of the
faults we found:
-
One lifejacket partially torn
-
Zippers had no tags(broken) to open or close zips.
-
Buoyancy of jackets not tested so don't know whether
they worked or not.
-
Jib torn at seam which had gone full length in the
stiff breeze by the time we returned.
-
Traveller cam cleat so sloppy that the sheet had to
be constantly re-positioned and held in place to prevent it from
popping out.
-
Starboard sponson held so much water it affected the
trim of the boat - you can see in the pic how we have a decided list
to starboard. With the breeze we had that day the boat should have
been heeling well to port.
Can you wonder that we asked for our hire money to be
refunded?
With those lessons learned do you think we would be any
more circumspect next time? - probably not!! All you want to do at the time
is get out on the water and have some fun!
Nautical Expression for the Month
'By and Large'
A very common expression in daily use by
most of us. When a vessel is sailing close to the wind it is 'sailing
by the wind'. When the wind is coming over the
quarter the boat is sailing 'large'. If a
ship sails well under both types of conditions, even though a contradiction
in terms she, is said to be able to sail 'by and large'.
Christmas is closing on us rapidly and no doubt many of us
are contemplating some kind of holiday. See if those of you in warmer(summer)
climes can include some sailing in there somewhere. Good luck and talk to
you again soon.
Cap'n Vinnie
