Upcoming Events
- 17-18 November – Refuge Bay Kayak and Pot Luck Dinner
- 7 December – Merry Christmas First Friday
- 8 - 9 December – Coasters and a Walk
- Dec 2018 – Jan 2019 – Christmas Coastal Cruise to Newcastle / Lake Macquarie
- May – Oct 2019 Pittwater to Dunk RPAYC Cruise 2019
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If you have any questions or suggestions for cruise activities please contact one of the cruise committee:-
Leon Wilson Rear Commodore, Murray Glase, John Groves, Megan Nixon, Mark Stephens, David or Sonia Williams
Or email us at cruising@rpayc.com.au
Join us on facebook
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Estuary Cruise - Refuge Bay Kayak and Pot Luck Dinner (17-18 November)
 Back by popular demand is the pot luck dinner. Bring along a meal and enjoy company of some like minder cruisers to share experiences and stories. Plan will be to sail up on Saturday with the course involving rounding Lion Island and a prize for the boat the sails furthest up the Hawkesbury.
Bring a course and share with others
Your Cruise Coordinators are Murray and Joanne on Gipsy Princess. Meet at the RMYC “Port Pile” at 10:00am to sail up in company or rendezvous at Refuge Bay. As usual keep your VHF tune to Channel 77 for updates.
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December First Friday - Merry Christmas
(7 December)
 December First Friday will be a relaxing get together to celebrate the spirit of Christmas. Prepare your best Christmas joke or fun Christmas story. Just let Leon know you have one ready when you arrive at FF! Amazing prizes for the best joke/story voted by popular acclaim and the absolute discretion of RCC!
Happy Hour in on from 6pm and Halyards 7pm for 7.30pm.
There will be a little light entertainment with Murray Glase.
Book for First Friday dinner via the First Friday form on the Club Website or with Reception.
Last bookings by 5pm Wed 5 December.
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 Estuary Cruise – Coasters and a Walk (8-9 December)
To ease into the holiday season the December Estuary cruise with be a leisurely cruise to Coasters Retreat (also known as the Basin). For those who want to get in shape for Christmas, Greg and Margaret Dunstan will then take us on an interesting walk around to Mackerel Beach though the national park.
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Christmas Cruise – New Years in Newcastle followed by Lake Macquarie
 Planning is well underway for this years Christmas/New Year cruise. This years destination being is Newcastle for New Years Eve followed by a cruise to Lake Macquarie.
This will allow people to vary the length of their cruise to suit. We have reserved berths at Newcastle Marina. If you are lucky enough to be able to cruise for a longer period, the plan is to head into Lake Macquarie and enjoy these wonderful cruising grounds..
We have secured a limited number of berths at Newcastle Marina for approximately $80 per night (depending on the size of your boat). There is a 3 course meal at Newcastle Yacht Club for $80 per head including live entertainment or for $20 you can have band only access.
 As the numbers of berths are limited if you are interested in attending the cruise please complete the Expression of Interest as soon as possible.
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Invictus Games Recap
 Eight boats from Alfreds Cruising provided an opportunity for club members to watch the Invictus Games close up and interact with the competitors as they sailed from the CYCA to the course in Farm Cove. 8 boats provided the opportunity for 40 spectators to join us on Sydney Harbour to watch some exciting and close racing.
The cruise commenced on the Saturday with a sail down to the harbour in good conditions. Luckily all the boats were safely at anchor prior to the spectacular storm on Saturday night. On the Sunday the spectators were picked up from Middle Harbour Yacht Club and enjoyed a cruise down to the harbour dropping the anchor to enjoy front row seats to watch the racing. We were fortunate to have expert commentary provided by our own Tommy Spithill.
C ongratulations to all the competitors, especially the Australians who came first in the Elliots and second and third in the Hansa dinghy class. Very impressive given some of the competitors had not stepped on board a sailing boat until earlier this year.
You can read the full report on the club web site here
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November First Friday Recap – The Forgotten Flotilla
 The Forgotten Flotilla story enthralled those that love military history, solving problems and researching the marine past. Prof Michael Bendon (http://www.forgottenflotilla.com/ ) entertained the 60 club members and their guests with stories and facts about Crete, a secret flotilla of ships personally authorised by Winston Churchill and their part in the evacuation and protection of Crete.
He stumbled across the wreck site and then untangled the mystery of these secret ships, interviewed the locals and pieced together the history that included a war hero, a then 22 year old John Sutton. John lived to tell his tale to Michael and record it for us all. Amazing life rewarded with rare military honour and we were privileged to hear about his adventures. A great night out!
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Short Coastal / Estuary Cruise to Hallets Beach Recap
 Leading into the weekend the conditions were looking like they wouldn’t allow a safe and trouble free stay at Maitland Bay. The original plan was to journey out to this wonderful anchorage, perhaps have a lunch and a get together on the beach and then travel down “the creek” for the night. For those who haven’t been to Maitland Bay, the major attractions are that its great to head east for a change, you can see all the way down the coast to Sydney Heads and the beach is only accessible by boat or foot.
Given the wind and swell being sizable and from the south it was decided that we would change the destination from Maitland Bay to Hallet’s Beach. This would still provide anchoring practice for those among us heading north next year as well as plenty of room for the fleet of eight boats.
It was a lovely warm day and we all had a great sail down to Hallet’s.
Later in the day we all gathered on the beach for a get together… A lot of the talk was about next years Pittwater to Dunk Island cruise. At this stage there are many people interested in going. It’s going to be a real adventure.
After a few hours later we split into smaller groups and had dinner on various boats. A peaceful night on anchor followed.
The following morning a number of boats had to leave early due to family commitments. The remaining boats had a nice BBQ lunch on board Verve.
Afterwards we all headed back to club. A great weekend all round.
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Very Special First Friday - 1st March 2019
 Lisa Blair is a lady who likes to go around things. She first circumnavigated in the Clipper 2011-12 Round the World Yacht Race. In 2017 she became the first woman to sail solo and unassisted around Antarctica. It took her 183 days, during which she was dismasted in storm conditions more than 1000nm from land.
You can see where Lisa Blair is right now via her Tracker page. By the time you see this she will be in Western Australian waters, nearing the half way point in her circumnavigation of Australia. She has slowed down recently but earlier she was flying.
 From her blog on 3rd November:
So last night I was making my approaches to the Pandora Passage which is the main shipping entry at the very top of the Great Barrier Reef. I arrived an hour after sunset with 30-35 knots of wind and 3-4 meter swell. On the entry there is a 10nm gap between the 2 outer reefs and then almost 200nm of passages that I needed to follow through all the inner islands and around all the reefs and rocks.
Climate Action Now has handled herself well and I had been maintaining a great average speed of 8.9 knots so far with 2 reefs in the main sail and my smaller jib out but I was completely powered up and as I needed to sail almost directly down winds to clear the reefs I was aiming to hand steer for a while so that I could soak the course a little more and give myself a better clearance from the reef. As I was so powered up and would likely need to gybe I decided that I would play it safe and put the third reef in the mainsail. This reduces the size of the sail by over 50 % making the boat more manageable. I had um’d and ahh’d about that reef for over 2 hours resorted to the old motto of 'if you are thinking of reefing just reef' or something like that.
I can honestly say that this was one of the best decisions of the night as I took the helm to drive the boat through this gap in the reef. I was still surfing waves at 16 knots even with the reduced sail up but when the 40 knots of wind hit I was safe. I did find myself laughing like a mad woman in the night. It was dark and the boat was firing away beneath me and I was on deck with bare feet in shorts and a T-shirt all along as I wildly drove my baby through these reefs. Even though I was nervous about making a poor calculation it was a lot of fun surfing those waves.
You can read more of Lisa’s adventures via her blog.
Make sure FF in March is in the diary.
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Pittwater to Dunk Update
 Members and crew are invited to enter the Pittwater to Dunk Island Cruise 2019 rendezvous
program via a two‐phase registration process:
Phase 1 ‐ registration of an expression of interest in the rendezvous cruise (completing January 2019) plus the preparation seminars (completing 31st March 2019),
Phase 2 ‐ registration of a commitment to participate in the rendezvous cruise,
commencing February 2019 and completing 19April 2019.
Members wishing to register for Pittwater to Dunk Island Cruise 2019 Phases 1 and or 2 are invited to visit the Pittwater to Dunk Island Cruise 2019 website at:
https://www.rpayc.com.au/sailing/cruising/pittwater‐to‐dunk‐island‐cruise
If you are interested in the cruise please complete the Expression of Interest here. This is not a commitment to take part in the cruise but will ensure that you are kept up to date with all the plans and proposed activities. Please note, If you haven’t put in an EOI you are not receiving the Pittwater to Dunk 2019 updates.
The Notice of Cruise is now available from the club website
Important reminders
- All participating boats must comply with the RPAYC Cruising Regulations requirements for a Short Coastal Cruise event, or a higher cruising event category. The audit form is available here
- In addition to the equipment items required for a Short Coastal Cruise audit an AIS transponder must be fitted.
- In Queensland waters the person in charge of the vessel must have a boating licence
- At least 2 members of the crew will need to have a current First Aid certificate
As part of the Pittwater to Dunk cruise in 2019 there are a series of seminars being organised. These are open to all members of Alfreds Cruising not just those who are planning to take part in the cruise.
Future events planned are:-
| Date |
Seminar |
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Location |
| Sunday 25 November |
Electrical Seminar
Register here |
Rob Starkey |
Pittwater room 9 am |
| Sunday 24 February |
Diesel Engines Seminar |
Shane Douglas |
Pittwater room 9 am |
| Sunday 17 March |
Navigation Seminar |
Leon Wilson
Rob Starkey |
Pittwater room 9 am |
| Sunday 31 March |
Hunting and Gathering |
Neil Edwards |
Pittwater room 9 am |
 Cruise Clothing Range
Orders for delivery prior to Christmas are now closed so order by 15 March for delivery by 15 April in time for the cruise departure.
Hawaiian Shirts
- Men’s cotton Hawaiian shirt ($55)
- Ladies’ cotton/rayon (to make it easier for the husband to iron) Hawaiian shirt ($59)
A range of T-shirts are also available for order as well as base ball caps ($15) and Wide brim hats ($20)
 Order your Pittwater to Dunk Island Clothing Here. Download the order form and email to: cruising@rpayc.com.au.
Murray Glase is preparing to take part in the Pittwater Dunk cruise in 2019. In a series of articles he will take you through his preparations for his “First Time North”. You can read Murray’s articles here
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Useful links for Pittwater to Dunk Cruise
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Meet your Cruise Committee
Sonia Williams is our newest member of the Cruise Committee, she has the important role of being the link between the Cruise Committee and the Activities Committee who organise the majority of the activities that are not based on the water.
 Sonia has always said her happy place is on the water. However she came from a land- lubbing family. Her first experience of sailing was on her father-in-laws 26 ft Folk boat which she thought was the biggest boat in the whole world. She was excited to finally get out on the water and when she fell in love with sailing. Since that time she feels very privileged to be able to own and enjoy sailing a number of yachts starting with a Mutiny 28, moving on to a Hanse 370, a Bavaria 42 and finally Galadriel a brand new Bavaria 46. Despite the Mutiny 28 the smallest boat, Sonia treasures the memories of managing to fit three young children and her husband on the boat for magical weekends away.
Sonia enjoy’s cruising and whilst too nervous to race, she has taken part in long distance non-stop passages from Mooloolaba to Sydney and Southport to Sydney.
She loves the wonderful places that cruising allows her to explore.
If you have any questions or suggestions please do not hesitate to contact any member of the cruise committee. We are looking for new committee members so if you would like to help please do not hesitate to contact us.
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Boating Apps – a new section in the newsletter
This month we have decided to introduce a new section to our newsletter covering boating apps. Whilst this is in no way an endorsement of any particular app it is intended as a forum for reviewing some of the many boating apps that are available, especially those applicable for cruising.
We start off with some general advice, Whichever app(s) you chose, be mindful that they use a significant amount of power, particularly if they use GPS to track your progress. It is a good idea to investigate how you can set up a charging facility on your boat if it is not already fitted with one. The easiest option is probably to connect a cigarette lighter plug to your battery bank and use a USB adapter. Some apps have been developed for both Apple phones (iOS) and phones using Google Android, whilst some are only available for one operating system. All apps are available for download from the apps store.
Electronic devices do break down, and compass accuracy can be significantly degraded by the proximity of magnetic objects and other metal masses on board. Finally, keep in mind that, unlike your chartplotter and other marine instruments, your smartphone or tablet is not impervious to the elements, and will benefit from having a water- and shock-proof case, possibly with built-in buoyancy.
This months boating app – Anchor Watch by Lukassen
This app could be the key to a good night’s sleep at anchor after a fun day out. It lets you set your anchor’s position either by a tap on the screen or by entering GPS coordinates manually, and then choose any safe radius you like, from as narrow as 10m. If the boat drifts outside of your “safe zone”, not only will the phone vibrate, ring and display a pop-up, but you also have the option of sending an SMS and even automatically calling a number of your choice, so your crew members can be roused from their slumber if the need arises to get all hands on deck. Of all the anchoring apps this ones seems to be the most recommended.
Platforms: iOS only. Cost: from $1.49
As a reward for reading the newsletter we are giving away a prize to the first reader to send an email to the Alfred Cruise committee at cruising@rpayc.com.au with the answer to this question – how many boating apps do you have on your phone and which is the one you would recommend.
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Tip of the Month – Alcohol and Boating
This month we cover the topic of “driving” under the influence whilst on the water. Driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs is an offence. Random breath testing (RBT) and random drug testing (RDT) can be conducted on the operator of a vessel while it is underway, including drifting. RBT or RDT do not apply when a vessel is moored, berthed or at anchor.
Being detected in excess of the permissible concentration of alcohol by way of a breath test may result in immediate suspension of a boat driving licence and/or Police issuing a court attendance notice. A designated driver (skipper) should remain under the legal limit when out on the water in case you need to move your vessel. It should be noted that in NSW there is no restriction on the minimum size of vessel that can be tested and the rules apply to both power and non-powered vessels.
As the planning is underway for the Pittwater to Dunk Cruise, it should be noted that the rules in Queensland waters are subtly different to NSW. In Queensland, the skipper of a recreational boat must have a blood alcohol limit of less than .05. Skippers should be aware that the limit is still .05 when your boat is at anchor, unless the boat is securely moored in a marina, to a jetty or wharf or on a swing mooring.
In Victoria it is an offence for any person to operate or be the master of a vessel, including one at anchor who is under the influence of alcohol or any other drug to such an extent as to be incapable of having the proper control or directing the proper operation of the vessel.
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Cruising Events August 2018 to August 2019
CLICK HERE TO VIEW CALENDAR IN PDF
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