Day sail

A brief but lively day sail on the weekend with family. We pulled the sails out for the first time in a while. The wind was up around 20 - 25knots so we had a great sail. Some sail maintenance pending as we noticed some repairs were needed.

When reptiles stalk

I'm thinking this blog should actually be called "When reptiles stalk you". After hearing some spooky rustling noises in the house, this is what came wandering into the dining room....go figure....

Blue Tongue lizard 

A bunch of canvas and other boat sewing bits

Uh oh! Received a tonne of fabric and other sewing bits yesterday from Sailrite for optimistic canvas sewing projects for the boat. Will be making...

• cockpit cushions
• sun screen for the wrap around windows
• lee cloths for the cockpit

Right now feel like a little overwhelmed but once I start cutting fabric it should be all OK....I think. 

Lastly can't say enough about Sailrite, it's customer support and delivery time. The order was placed online to the USA on 19 Jan and arrived on 24 Jan. Australian retailers take note...

Overnight on the Lake

A brief overnight trip. Not much wind for sailing. So we had a couple of drinks....

Did some fishing...yes, they were all this size....

And this morning, it's another day in paradise.......

Channel Billed Cuckoo

This is not strictly a 'sailing" post, it describes a sight I've never seen before. On an early morning walk, we saw a huge bird begging for food from a currawong.  The poor currawong was doing it's best to feed it as quickly as possible but clearly not keeping up with this enormous baby bird's appetite.

We discovered later the "baby" bird was a channel billed cuckoo (ugly). These are migratory parasite birds that remove the eggs from other birds nest (often currawongs and other larger birds) and replace it with their own. The cuckoo chick that hatches is then raised by the surrogate mother.

The photos below are from the internet but they reflected exactly what we saw...seriously weird.

On board eating - bread

While this post doesn't necessarily relate to sailing per se, it does relate to eating on the boat. Very important! One thing I've been wanting to do is make my own bread, for home and ultimately our trip away. Bread doesn't keep very well in the boat. As a bread making machine is not practical and endless kneading doesn't interest me all that much, ! discovered a book (when returning the faulty bread making machine) called "kneadlessly simple" by Nancy Baggett.

 I like both the "kneadless" and "simple" part and the cover mentioned "fabulous, fuss-free, no-knead breads" - perfect! For those interested, the key seems to be ensuring the dough consistency is right (ie. stiff) using cooled water. The first rise is left at at room temperature for 15-24hrs and the second rise is approx. 2hrs - this lengthly rise replaces the kneading. Cooking time is about 1 hr.

Here's todays result - looks good and tastes good too.

Now to try it in the boat oven....

Return to the Hawkesbury

Back home after a final easy sail from Quarantine Bay (dolphins and a turtle spotted) to Pittwater/Hawkesbury. Final anchorage for this trip was in peaceful Jerusalem Bay. Amazing sighting in the early evening of a Sea Eagle calling to it's young. Weather had changed from clear and sunny to overcast. A great trip with many thanks to our hosts Bob, Joan and Aseafari.

Jerusalem Bay

Tough sail