A champagne sail in a stiff breeze

[@davidbrayshaw3529]

You've quickly made it into my top list of sailing channels. You really do have a good knack of capturing "it". I love your narration, as well. I almost came screaming down to the comments section to ask about the balance and steerage of Sarah Ann under a reefed main with the tide behind you but before I could, you'd answered my question. Keep up the good work. I'm 28 years and 130kms. away from sailing, unfortunately. Content like this gives me a reason to go on!

[@SmallSailboatCruising]

Wow, thank you! That’s so encouraging. Stay in touch David. Personal regards Chris.

[@SailingKateLouise]

Great Chris, looked like it was very character building, cheers Paul

[@SmallSailboatCruising]

Indeed! Would have been even more so had the seals failed on the portaloo. It’s given me confidence to try something a little more adventurous. It takes time to learn a new boat. Next is to try a slightly heavier sea state. Up until now everything has been dead flat.

[@robertcoller1192]

Thanks Chris, enjoyed some time out watching your latest adventure. One tip, careful when blowing out the burner in the trangia as they can flare up. We use the spondonikles (Billy grips) to lift the dampener a little and then drop it down, that does the job to put the flame out nicely👍

[@SmallSailboatCruising]

Thanks for the info! I’ve had a love hate relationship with the trangia since I burnt my foot! I did a video on it. Cheers Chris.

[@nicolelinton4406]

Hello Chris . Great to meet you recently , even if it needed a little detective work. Both of us back safely in out respective states after completing the 12 day Tassie Tour. I’ll see you in Hobart in Feb. Regards, Phil & ( Chris )

[@SmallSailboatCruising]

Hi Phil. Nice to meet you at Deviot. Looking forward to AWBF. I need someone to tow Moonlight down from Gympie. They will get to do trips on her on the way down.

[@davelawrence6777]

Boy when the tide goes out there it goes out nice flushing action. Also Chris the more I watch the more I become convinced thst Sarah Anne was meant for you you two even look right for each other. Cheers thanks for posting always makes my day when you and Paul from sailing Kate Louise post.

[@SmallSailboatCruising]

Thanks for your kind words. I’m having a friendly tussle with Paul. He’s done very well.

[@АлександрКорецкий-п3ш]

Подкупает неторопливая, спокойная уверенность, с какой этот моряк комментирует свое плавание. Трепет парусов в начале ролика наполнил комнату ароматом моря и свежим ветром... Парусник великолепен. Природа Тасмании прекрасна. Привет от яхтсменов Владивостока!

[@SmallSailboatCruising]

Thanks for your kind and poetic words. Greetings from tasmania. I spent several weeks in the Black Sea just north of you at Yalta. It was there I fell off our ship and very nearly died. That was in 1993 and I survived to tell the tale. Cheers Chris

[@davelawrence6777]

The gentleman's suggest on the cook box is a great idea. Paul originally got the ide from Roger Barnes and made some modifications seems to work great for him

[@SmallSailboatCruising]

Yes I’ve seen those. They are very clever. I’ll do a segment on how she’s set up with built in pantry. Just need a nonslip mat and some fiddles to stop it sliding. I don’t cook much on the boat. I’m a fan of Carmen’s protein bars!

[@jonathanlewis1352]

Thanks for taking us along. Got a bit breezy but the spray didn’t make it to Southern California.

[@SmallSailboatCruising]

I was wondering about that. Thanks for confirming it didn’t get to you.

[@dougfairweather]

.. Great video again! If you're looking for other topics for a video, I'd love to see how you self-launch and retrieve "Sarah Ann"... I have a very similar boat and the wife isn't always available!

[@SmallSailboatCruising]

Great suggestion! It has taken a While to work this out. After several trailer sailers I can confirm every boat is entirely different. This one is differenter than most! It takes a bit of ingenuity but is easily done once you work it out.

[@Brent_K]

Another great video Chris. I've only done the Whirlpool Reach at slack tide and even then, it moves the boat around in very strange ways! I have wanted to try the Rowella ramp too and I think the road in is just wide enough to negotiate without any dramas. I'll try it (on a still day).

[@SmallSailboatCruising]

The ramp and pontoon are 10/10. The parking is great too. There is a pontoon at Bonny beach just around the point to the North but the back eddy is savage. I’d only tie up aligned with the bank. I did it the other way and got caught out. What are you sailing Brent?

[@Antipodean33]

Oh man when you took off from the jetty at the boat ramp I thought that was a gutsy effort, I'm unsure if i would've took off with all sails up it looked like it was blowing hard

[@SmallSailboatCruising]

Dead flat. Nothing to fear there. Just wanted to see how she would go overpowered. And learning to handle recovery. I’ve got some open water adventures planned and best to learn on flat and safe conditions eh?

[@SmallSailboatCruising]

And she handled it supremely well.

[@drmikejoy]

great stuff, what about reefing the jib?

[@SmallSailboatCruising]

It is hanked on and doesn’t have reefing points. But I’m working on an alternative.

[@phrize]

I miss sailing. My health limits my walking, but I do like to dream. Are the lines of Sarah Ann published anywhere?

[@SmallSailboatCruising]

I do enjoy connecting with old sailers. I guess the time comes for all of us when our storehouse of dreams kicks in. Glad I can encourage you in some way. She is based on a scaled down H28, but she's a custom design, built eyesweet. Thanks for reaching out, stay fit, walk when you can! Cheers and best wishes, Chris

[@SarahSANDFORD]

Your Trangia became loose in the strng breeze. Have you considered making yourself a cook box. If you go and look at 'Sailing Kate Louise ' I think that gentleman has a lovely example of what I think you could construct. That channel is mainly sailing on Lake Macquarie. Your boat appears to have plenty of room to store a cooking box. Another example is the president of the Cruising Dinghy Club of England, he lives in Dourines [spelling is not my forte] in France. He sails a Frenchman designed Dinghy , and has a lovely cook box which he built. From Smithton, Sarah.

[@SmallSailboatCruising]

The Trangia was the least of my worries. It was the portaloo bouncing around that was a little unnerving

[@dennisflemming826]

Hi buddy I just payed a deposit on a lovely fibreglass yacht from the 70s , her name is saffron , please don’t be a-fended but I’m looking to respray her at some points with two pack epoxy, so I need to know what paint you used on this lovely lady, ps I have the same affection for good old glass as you have for old wood

[@SmallSailboatCruising]

G’dday. No offence Taken. She’s painted in Resene 2 pack polyurethane

[@steinrich56]

Greetings from a 74 year old ex "Lonny" boy who has great memories of growing up with holidays on the Tamar.....! Just a quick question......what do moorings cost on the Tamar these days...??....and what are the chances of Gravelly Beach Marine continuing on...?? Kind Regards, John E. ps.....I used to own an 18 ft. "Jubilee" class wooden daysailer....it drove me nuts with maintenance, so I sold it. I really enjoy the Tamar vids you post....brings back memories of Tassie in the 50' and 60's........just another time and place in my life.

[@SmallSailboatCruising]

I’m not sure the cost but last time I registered one it was only a little over a hundred dollars per year to own. I’ve been offered a free one. Lots of them unused in the Tamar.

[@dreamtimesv]

You mentioned you have trialled 4 drones to date, can you mention please the name of the one you finally were happy with. Thanks, Mark

[@SmallSailboatCruising]

The cheaper ones simply don’t work. Ignore the reviews. They are fake reviews . I bought a Holy Stone. It is crap. The only reasonably priced drone worth buying is DJI. I bought a Mini 3 For about $750 from JB HI-FI. It is just about perfect from my point of view. Does everything they claim it will do and more.

[@SmallSailboatCruising]

It’s very quiet too compared to the others and the software is supreme. Boots up in half the time. Fly with confidence. But you must put in the hard yards studying drone basics and practicing in a totally open flat area. No or very little wind. If you don’t you will pay for it.

[@dreamtimesv]

Many thanks for very useful info, ill investigate this option. Happy to learn the basics before taking it on the water. Best. 😊

[@SmallSailboatCruising]

I just noticed the DJI NEO has come out at a reasonable price simple and effective tool that won’t break the bank if you ditch it into the ocean. Cheers Chris.

[@dreamtimesv]

@@SmallSailboatCruising thx for heads up will investigate. Best

[@dennisflemming826]

Im not good at this . Subject cheep grip deck paint , if you won’t a good finish dry rock salt , filter out the little bits a kitchen strainer is to fine , better than nothing, don’t havent a good way to evenly spread the rock salt . Just litely cast it works for me . New subject; water grass tamer . I have mentioned seed from shipping bailest ? TAS started farming Radiata pine at 7 mile beach . An infestation of sirex wasp attacked the trees , CSIRO was lorded as saving the industry by introducing its natural enemy the European wasp ( like the cane toad ) not so smart ! Today that wasp is a mistery , probably came in with a shipment of timber? The sad thing about getting old is knowing when we pass so dose wisdom , did you watch the moon landing ? Started with terrible res of a man in a suit, viewed from above descending a ladder , he then took the camera and pointed it at his foot print. In this ? 20 minutes or so most of it por Lo Ris and upside down there was now side view of the ladder on the Lem . Only when every thing reported is backed up with a BS detector test will the little lying monkeys skuring around this rock have a feutchr ! Just a little rant cheers buddy

[@SmallSailboatCruising]

I’ll experiment with this. Your good at explaining your method

[@johndouglass3010]

Looks terrible..

[@SmallSailboatCruising]

She is well and truly up to the challenge