The lack of blogging is testament to how busy life has become.

After a trying few weeks, including some rather unpleasant medical issues, I can see a tiny pin-prick of light at the end of the tunnel - I hope.

Projects
The house - it's coming along. Noel's done most of this himself with empty promises from me, 'I'll come and help soon..'

SisterShip Magazine - our fourth issue went live at the beginning of October. The feedback we are receiving is fantastic!

SisterShip Press - four, yes FOUR books will be released by the end of the year. Facing Fear Head On is already available. Coastal Navigation Manual and the Questions and Answers book are almost ready... Destiny's Gold is well on the way!

Coastal Navigation Course - on the 27th and 28th October at Lake Macquarie Yacht Club, we are running a 2-day Coastal Navigation Course, see here for more details on how to book.  And click here for the list of subjects we'll be learning.

We (The SisterShip Team) - are now Licensed Chart Agents by the Hydrographic Office. As well as charts, in our store soon, will be navigation tool-kits in practical and stylish protective pouches.

This weekend we (Noel and me this time) are looking forward to doing our talk at Batemans Bay Yacht Club. We hope to see you there! 

Sometimes I find time for these guys... they keep me sane.

BTW - we've finally had some rain, it is a lot greener now!

​'Busy' is an under-statement for my life at the moment, but then who isn't busy?

Recently a large bush fire blazed out of control, sending our area into high alert. The fire still burns. It's controlled now though, and the panic is over.

Those that know me, know I am besotted by horses.

So, here they are... happy chaps!

With Roy fully limbered up, Dad and Noel measured up the required Aries support frame out of tubing. Then Noel and I commenced search by phone and many miles on pushbikes to find a fabricator to help fabricate the frame. A week later we changed tack and embarked on an oratorical fiesta searching for an electric welder large enough to handle our proposed projects and small enough to afford (in both dollars and power) and stow.
 
Noel had pondered the problems of the cockpit position and hydraulics and dialled up his ingenuity. Many moments I caught him gazing at the back of the boat trying to join the dots and ultimately creating an interesting overture. After many hours of internet searching, hoping someone had simply written up the answer, it seemed the emergency steering was the way to go. It meant much welding; weighing up the cost of paying a fabricator and buying a welder resulted in a new crew member in the form of an 110v/240v arc welder.
 

Holes were drilled into the hatch to allow an extension from the rudder stock up to the aft cockpit, leaving the sliding door closed (or open if we wished). Noel welded the emergency tiller arm onto the wind vane tiller (that in turn, was bolted onto the extended rudder stock). The emergency tiller is at an angle to allow us to stand on the seat in the aft cockpit. This gives us a much better view of the entire boat. Our last boat was tiller steered, but this is not quite the same. The emergency tiller on Pyewacket II runs aft, instead of forward, it is, in effect, backwards. So, to steer to starboard we push the tiller to starboard. Despite a little bit of wandering during practice, we’ve finally nailed it and are chuffed to have this steering available should the main hydraulic steering decide to opt for early retirement.
 
The Aries can easily be attached to the ‘wind vane tiller’. The ropes that run from the Aries are attached to chains, which in turn, slip over the tabs welded on the arms of the wind vane tiller. It is recommended that where the Aries ropes connect to the tiller in use, they should be 600-900mm from the rudder stock. The distance on our set up is only 450mm, in order to clear the life raft. Adding a block roved to advantage on each line has halved the effort and in effect, lengthened the tiller.
 

Yeah, I want to strip!
​
No, no, not me…. Uuwegghhh!

Strip back what ​New Year means!
My timeline has been full of lovely (and appreciated) New Year well wishing.
But for me it’s different.
Well, in this case, it’s not different.
​
What?
Okay, let me start again – the inspirational thoughts for a new year are my thoughts every day.
They don’t change because December turns in to January and 2017 flips over to 2018.

Every day I try to live by grace, inspire, motivate, and encourage.

Every day, I am:

• following my dreams
• having a fantastic life
• the happiest I have been – ever….

So, there is nothing new to do… except, to look back on what I’ve achieved:

• Sold our Dutch barge
• Moved back to Australia from Europe
• Co-founded a new exciting business (launch coming soon!)
• Got my boys back
• Moved onto our land we purchased several years ago
• The land was completely bare, so we’ve
•                 Installed a site office
•                 Built a shed
•                 Built a barn (after taking it down first from another location)
•                 Installed a container
•                 Started building our house (house design/drawing plans)         
•                 Built three big vege patches
•                 Installed water tanks, plumbing, electricity
• Sold lots of books
• Did a successful talk at The Gathering (Women Who Sail Australia)
• Sat on the panel (and had a great time) at The Gathering
• ​Started designing merchandise

• Wrote a navigation course (coming on line soon)
• Started writing two new books (both on hold!)
• There’s more… but I can’t remember… feeling a bit tired! ;_-)​

​I wish you all a healthy and happy life…. every day.

They are documenting their journey as "new boaters, but already they own a wealth of information.

Take a look - their website is fun and informative.

As with all people who are brave enough to catch their dreams, I wish them fair winds and following seas.

Extract from Cruisers' AA (Accumulated Acumen):

GPS (Global Positioning System) - Errors
GPS contains errors and therefore your position should always be checked via other methods.
Errors that occur within the GPS unit:

• Systematic: Some errors are caused by the changing satellite geometry. This is called Dilution of Precision (DOP). For a three-dimensional fix, you need four satellites. Ideally, one of the satellites should be directly overhead, with the other three separated by 120 degrees of azimuth. An arrangement other than this ideal situation will cause DOP inaccuracy. A good value of HDOP (Horizontal DOP) is between two and four, values in excess of this size are of poor accuracy - you can check the values on the GPS.
• Environmental errors: Moisture and salt in the air, poor weather conditions or lightning.
• Ionospheric delay: Signals from satellites bend on entering the ionosphere (aka refraction) and their speed varies. (The ionosphere is the outer region of the Earth's atmosphere).
• Multipath error: A satellite signal may be reflected off the water, or off metal objects on board your vessel. This may cause the GPS receiver antenna to receive the signal by two or more paths.
• Receiver errors: Mismatch of satellite signals.
• Selective Availability: SA is the military’s ability to scramble the GPS readings. At the time of writing, the USA is not scrambling the signal (the SA was turned off in 2000). DGPS (Differential GPS) was developed to reduce SA.

 
Common errors in using the GPS:

• Offset: The main position fixing error occurs when using the GPS in combination with older charts. The correct offset from the chart needs to be applied to the GPS reading (see ‘Chart Errors’ earlier in this section for full details).
• Ensure your GPS settings match the spheroid of your chart. The GPS operates on a spheroid called World Geodetic Spheroid 84 (WGS84). In the past, charts have been based on various spheroids, e.g., Australian Geodetic Datum 1966 (AGD66): You must check your chart to find out whether it is based on WGS84 or AGD66 and set your GPS accordingly.
• Magnetic or True: You can select Magnetic or True settings for bearings and courses. Ensure you have selected your preferred setting before completing these calculations. (See ‘True to Compass or Compass to True’ under Charts, earlier in this section.)
• Measurements: Are you reading statute miles or nautical miles for distance? Check your unit is set to nautical miles.
• Measurements: Are you reading knots for speed? Ensure your GPS is set correctly.
• Measurements: To reduce errors, check your GPS is set to degrees, minutes and decimals of a minute instead of seconds - to match your charts.
• Location: Follow the manufacturer’s instructions when mounting your GPS. Obstructions can affect the signal and the GPS unit can affect the ship’s compass.
• Input Errors: Double check the co-ordinates that have been inputted into the GPS. Ask someone else to read and check the numbers too.

​Electronic charts: are fantastic, but they can have errors. They are an aid to navigation and should not be completely relied upon. Use electronic charts in conjunction with paper charts. You could lose your electronic charts with a flat battery or lightning strike, but you won’t lose your paper charts this way.
Zooming right in to every area may reveal all reefs and obstructions. BUT not zooming in enough may hide them. (We used two version of electronic charts as a backup/double check - at times they were spot on, other times they were off by a worrying distance.

Paper Chart Errors
Chart Errors: If you are using very old charts you may find that the GPS co-ordinates put you on an island. In this case, the GPS is more accurate than the chart. All positions will need to be offset by the amount given in the title of the chart. Every modern chart will have a note stating whether the GPS co-ordinates can be plotted directly or an offset is to be followed. This is a good example that, shows that you must check all the information provided on the chart very carefully.
 
For example (1): Chart AUS 252 Whitsunday Group. Under the chart title it states:
 SATELLITE DERIVED POSITIONS
Positions obtained from the Global Positioning System (GPS) in the WGS 1984 Datum can be plotted directly onto this chart.
 
Example 2: Chart AUS 802 Cape Liptrap to Cliffy Island, states:
 
Positions are related to the Australian Geodetic Datum (1966)
(see SATELLITE DERIVED POSITIONS Note).
 
Next to title it states:
 
SATELLITE DERIVED POSITIONS
Positions obtained from the Global Positioning System (GPS) in the WGS 1984 Datum must be moved 0.09 minutes SOUTHWARD and 0.08 minutes WESTWARD to agree with this chart.
 
 Making the corrections: In the case of chart AUS 802 the correction would be as follows:
 
GPS (WGS 1984) position
39° 00.00’ S
146° 15.00’ E

 + 0.09’ S
----------------
+ 0.08’ W
-----------------
 39° 00.09’ S
146° 14.92’ E
 
Corrections vary: Some South Pacific Island charts will note corrections that can be a nautical mile out!