Our travels around the world by bike, barge, boat, camel or horse

A note about a well travelled (and received) book!

8/25/2019

I love hearing from readers!

This week I received this email, and realised that A Standard Journey has travelled from London to New Zealand, I wonder where it will go next.

"My friend Ann has recently lent me your book “A Standard Journey”, that you kindly signed in October 2015, when she purchased it at The Horse of the Year Show.

Both Ann and I have thoroughly enjoyed reading your horsey adventures and can certainly relate to how tough the trip across Australia must have been.

Your “ boys” sound wonderful, honest and kind and you couldn’t have done the trip without them.

We hope that they are still enjoying their lives in Australia and that you and Noel are still have adventures.

I will now look out for your sailing books."

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How Do You Prepare for Sailing Oceans?

6/15/2019

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It starts with a seaworthy boat AND knowledge

So how do you know you are ready to leave land behind and cope in the ocean with just your boat your beloved and your skills?

It's really quite simple, training and experience.

Experience
It takes time, you need to get out on the water in different conditions on a seaworthy vessel, with someone who knows what they are doing.

Training
Don't be fooled in to learning everything as you go. Preparation is key. If you are prepared your body remembers what to do and over-rides your brain. It muffles that Voice of Doom that gnaws at your nerves. So instead of succumbing to fear you can take action!

Lisa Blair presents a one day masterclass drawing on the unique offshore skills that she developed while she sailed solo around Antarctica and around Australia. Lisa will be sharing her firsthand account of her demasting, building a jury rig, and transferring fuel from a container ship as well as storm survival techniques such as use of drogues and heaving too.

"My heart jack-knifed in my chest as the boat bucked beneath me. I was alone in the frigid Southern Ocean and my boat had just shattered as the mast came crashing down. I was facing the horrible realisation that I might not live past the next five minutes as another wall of white water slammed into the boat, taking my breath away. Shaking with fear I needed to act. I needed to survive. "

Lisa Blair Masterclass - places are limited - BOOK YOUR PLACE HERE

+ Port Hacking: 21st July + More dates coming!

This is NOT to be missed - spread the word!

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Buying Gifts for Safety!

12/10/2018

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What can I buy someone who likes boats?

What can I buy a sailor?

It's the silly season where we all go potty buying gifts. Why not make this year's gift practical. It's still fun though!

This is my Nav Kit/pouch. I love it.
SisterShip Magazine sells these pouches here. (I am part of the SisterShip team).
$30 for pouch only and $115 for the full kit included. (There's a special price if you attend the course below).

Not only is my gear protected from scratches and cracks but I can hide additional items that may become useful (can you spot the treat?) It's the first time I've had my equipment safely in one place. It's super useful.

Here's the link to a wonderful gift of a course. Not just any course but a Coastal Navigation course.
Yes, I know many people use electronic charts, but if you have any sort of common sense you will know how to use and understand paper chart navigation also.

Here's what most people don't take into consideration. To understand your electronic charts properly you need to understand paper charts properly. Why?

1) Do you know where your Zone of Confidence is on your electronic charts and can you apply those changes?

2) What about your offsets? Where are they, how do you apply them on your electronic charts. On a recent forum on electronic vs paper charts, someone said to me 'this is overkill.' The island we found ONE MILE OUT on our charts (with appropriate offsets for correction) didn't make me feel learning and understanding offsets was overkill.

3) Don't start me on reef lottery.

So far we are running courses for women. We are discussing the possibility of opening this up to men too. (We receive comments, (some impolite), from men saying, 'What about us!' We are happy to provide courses for everyone - just let us know your interest.)

Do you want to be safe on the water?

BTW - do you want to know what the badge is on my nav pouch? You'll have to visit here again for the next blog to find out what this award was for... (hint, I talk about it a lot!)

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The Painless Way to Inject Your Horse - for you and for him/her

11/30/2018

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Why I'll Never Inject my Horse in the Neck again.

Did you know a 15hh horse can pick up a grown man and throw him twenty metres, if the horse so desires?

Couple this power with a terrified dislike of jabs in the neck and there's going to be trouble.

My Neddy -boy
Ned hates needles. Rouge (a pony I had years ago) hated needles. They both behave the same way. Barging, flicking their neck, using all their power to break free. Never kicking or biting, but squishing, barging, and running.

Ned is a powerful boy.

One day our vet (years ago) became so tired of Rouge squishing him in the stable he said, 'Right, saddle him up.' We were astonished but had a great deal of respect for our vet.

Mr Blackmore (yes, Mister!) jumped on Rouge (not an easy ride), allowed him to jig-jog in circles, reached back and whacked the needle in his rump. Rouge swished his tail and lifted one leg a little higher, then carried on jig-jogging in a circle.

We were amazed.

Ned likes a good scratch - he trusts me not to hurt him.

Thirty years later, I can inject three of our boys (Noel does some, I do some) and we all cope. But not Ned. I've spent ages pinching his neck, showing him the syringe, faking injections.

He tenses.

The white of his eyes show.

He barges.

He is terrified and hard to keep hold of - Ned is powerful but would never intentionally hurt us.

Yes, I could strap up legs, twitch him and lock him in a hold and terrify him even further - but I choose not to for both our sakes.

I've been thinking about Mr Blackmore and Rouge and discussed the idea with a few horsey friends who were suitably horrified. Noel gave me a look as if to say, 'You are an utter lunatic!'

I put the idea away until today. Yesterday the needle jumped out of Ned's neck as he fearfully swung his head until it could no longer hold. He was hurt, betrayed, and extremely unhappy. So was I.

Noel was shaken, he gave the jab and the kerfuffle and Ned's utter fear of Noel after the deed really upset him.

Ned is the most intelligent horse I've had the honour to welcome into our family.

So, today I cleaned Ned's rump, marked the spot, jumped on board, rode him for five minutes so we both relaxed (just along a short, level track).

'Okay just hold his head in case he pig-routes,' I said to Noel.

I swung around, confidently plunged the needle in - Ned did the tiniest flinch - I took a breath, and slowly injected the liquid with no pain, worry, fear or look of betrayal. He didn't know it happened.

I walked him for a few more minutes - gave him a big pat, jumped off and he showed no fear or upset towards me in the slightest.

I am not recommending everyone try this - this worked for us. There are downsides, if Ned gets an abscess it is not in a great place to drain. But that is a risk I am prepared to take, it is far worse seeing the fear in his eyes and the pain I know he feels in the neck. Rump injections are not as painful as neck ones- and Ned has just proved this.

(BTW - the others take a jab the neck fine and I am happy to do it this way as they are happy.)

And you should know that Noel distracted Ned a little and gave him a carrot and Ned does relax when I am on-board - all these factors helped.

All of us - we no longer fear the needle!

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What's Been Going On?

10/10/2018

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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!

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House, Bush Fires, Heart-Attack, Floor Office, and an Echidna

8/29/2018

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'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.

A local family, with their property threatened by the flames took refuge in our house, camping there for a few days - all seven of them!

One afternoon the effect of the smoke created a flame reflection in the creek, for a split second I thought our paddock was alight - that was the heart-attack!

In a impossibly short amount of time I have to finish writing a navigation manual and a navigation exercise booklet. It's a struggle, doing navigation on the floor. But instead of letting that worry me I think how lucky I am to have shelter and warmth and enjoy what I'm doing - it's funny really, at 47 starting from nothing - again. It's a great life and focusing on the positives is my style.

And the house is coming along beautifully!

On a weed-pulling walk this afternoon (which is my exercise, my therapy, and my paddock management all rolled into one), I met this fellow, isn't he a beauty? I snapped off a quick pic and left him in peace.

Life is hectic, but good. I am re-focusing my days to include areas of my life I've been neglecting, including this blog, so there will be more pictures and fun posts to follow.

All is well with the world - how's your world?

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Horses

7/13/2018

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

So, here they are... happy chaps!

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Fitting An Aries Windvane

5/24/2018

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Steering By A Star

I suspect that if it is your personal aphrodisiac to hand steer, you sail for short periods. Connecting with nature through steering gear is admirable. From time to time I like to hand steer... out of port. Once clear of land Roy takes over. Roy is our Aries wind vane, named after my dad who assisted Noel in scraping off the decades of salt, lubricating, and fitting new bearings; allowing the $US300 ($AUS347) seized Aries to flex his muscles and get to work.

While Roy attended fittings, fellow cruisers tossed a few skeptical looks our way, which we refused to catch. “You think the Aries will steer a 51’ boat?” Admittedly, a Toredo of doubt had wormed its way into my thoughts. The enigma compounding these concerns was connecting the Aries to hydraulic steering and operating the vane from the centre cockpit.

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.

With my dad, Roy.

Onboard Pyewacket II, the design of the emergency steering places the helmsman in the aft cabin, standing in a dark room, staring at him/herself in the full-length mirror; the only visibility to the outside world being the side and rear port holes. The rudder stock is directly below the stairs that leads to the boot (aft cockpit), which is the reason for the obscure positioning of the helmsman. Above the stairs is a hatch. To connect the Aries to the rudder stock we had to extend the length of the rudder stock up through the stairs and through the hatch and to this extension fabricate a ‘wind vane tiller’. We also had to find a way to quickly and easily turn the by-pass valve, to by-pass the hydraulic steering.

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.

The lines to adjust the Aries (directionally) run into the centre cockpit, so changing course is simple. The by-pass valve was not so simple. Flaunting its conceptual imperfections sitting under the aft cabin stairs is the hydraulic by-pass valve and relief valve. All hydraulic systems incorporate these two valves. The relief valve comes into action if the rudder is put under an unexpected load, for example being hit by a large wave or a grounding. The by-pass valve is just that, to bypass the hydraulics and must therefore be utilised when using the emergency tiller steering (and, in our case, the Aries). To add to the complexity, once the emergency tiller is in place we cannot lift up the stairs (to access the valve) without a complete dismantle of the system. Also, the by-pass valve neatly sits under the hydraulic hoses. Enter: remote spindle. Noel made a kind of crankshaft to go around the hydraulic hose obstacles, drilled another hole in the stairs and hatch and created a remote spindle to turn the hydraulic by-pass on and off. This we can operate from both cockpits. I tell Noel I think he is a genius; he simply shrugs his shoulders and says he is not the first to do this. It is the first contraption of this type I have seen and I am impressed. It means I can sit and write (as I am doing right now) while Roy merrily steers our course (Noel is currently tinkering with a dickey regulator), any adjustments are just an arm stretch away.

As with most operational systems onboard there is a compromise. Catching a fish and hauling it in the aft cockpit does now require a certain amount of limbo dancing and partaking in a boat ‘twister’ game. Successful cruising is about finding a solution and accepting compromise. Whether cleaning dishes in a storm, reefing the main downwind or connecting conventional self-steering to an unconventional set up. We are fortunate to have an aft cockpit where all the lines are situated, out of the way (mostly) but easily accessible. We are happy ‘wackets’ with hands free steering to pee and make tea at will.

Incidentally, the worm of doubt turned into fish bait. So far, we have successfully tested Roy in 8 to 40 knots of apparent wind. We are in no hurry to try him out in stronger winds and we are confident he will cope admirably as the Aries generally works better in stronger winds.

So, now we steer by a star as the romantics prefer. However, our ‘star’ is the wonderful Roy.

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Delicious, Low Fat, Pumpkin Cheesecake

5/13/2018

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I can't confirm how much fat it in this - but compared to others, not much. And you can improve on that if you want.

Here's the recipe I, sort of, followed.

I't s pretty good, but a few weeks ago I used a different recipe which, I think, was better, but I can't find it now! This one is very close though and I made a few, minor adjustments. Below I've detailed the adjustments:

First, ask husband to cut pumpkin, I am dangerous with a knife.

I used about three-quarters of a medium sized pumpkin as my cheese cake tin is large and I made some smaller ones too (and I think pumpkin should be the main ingredients in a pumpkin cheesecake, not just there for show).

Next cooked the pumpkin and mash it up.

Add the cream cheese. I used full-fat, so you can use low fat to save some calories. This recipe said 2 x 8 oz blocks, which I used. The recipe I used previously (which I've lost), I am sure, used only one block - and that cheesecake was slightly better. However, because I have no memory and can't remember exactly what I did before, I put two in this time.

So this is the pumpkin cream cheese, sugar. I used half a cup of dark brown sugar, not a whole cup, it was still sweet, I could have used less in fact. I added a tiny bit of cinnamon and nutmeg, I only like a whisper of these flavours, so just a sprinkle of each. I also put in 6 eggs, as that is what the previous recipe called for and I felt rebellious.

See, this is why I don't write recipe books. Here's the mixture in the pan. Below the mixture is the base. I used plain old shredded wheatmeal biscuits which are not at all sweet, and I threw in about half of ginger nuts which are very sweet. I blended them into crumbs - (that was a laugh, Noel was working at his desk and if you don't know, we currently live in a shoe-box, literally, and I had to traipse out to the barn to do the blending - making a cheesecake is, I found out, a noisy process). I followed the recipe for the base, but used a third less butter. And didn't add any additional flavouring.

(Yes, bottom right, that's my finger print!) I made a large square cake and 6 small ones. They took about 1 hour and 10 mins to bake. BUT I am working in a "kitchen" that is not big enough to swing a mouse, let alone a cat - and I am working with a camping oven that is more dodgy than the dodgems. Round of applause please!

Yum! In these confined quarters I am also running a publishing business, with my business partner Shelley Wright. Take a look: Success, Failures, and Fun! We do have a lot of fun!

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Women on the Water

2/28/2018

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SisterShip Magazine

First launched thirty years ago, SisterShip Magazine has been taken out of drydock, refitted, and is now ready to set sail. Our team has been busy in the ‘shipyard’ and we are about to untie the lines. We would love you to join us on our voyage!

Our website will be revealed soon, follow us on FB to receive up-to-the-minute events. Issue one is well on its way - here's a taster, straight from our wonderful contributors.