Greetings From Topaz Bill

[Andrew]

I have the same motor as Bill, a Toey SP ULS with the 12v recharge. It's been far better than my old 2 stroke. The excellent fuel economy makes all the difference for long haul trips, it has a small 12 Litre external tank in the locker. 12 litres motored half-way around Hinchinbrook about 70-90 km's (wasn't counting exactly) at 5 knots! (took 42 litres aboard, way more than heaps. Another good thing about 4 stroke outboards , the excess fuel can be poured into the tow cars fuel tank and used up, so no stale fuel for the next trip.

I anchored off North Zoe creek second night, little bit further out than where you were anchored, a Northwind 7 and 40 ft Wharram cat were anchored right inside North Zoe. Next trip a better mozzie or sandfly net for the pop top will open up those spots. lucky to have the weather so calm for a few days to do the east coast of the Island (motored it) from Lucinda. Returning south along the channel, ran past Gayundah ck, Deluge Inlet under sail as the North to North Easterly was too good not to keep going, its spectacular country.

Those u-tube videos were great Bill. They capture the essence of cruising a small boat. Your autohelm 1000 would be almost essential to prevent tyrany of the helm on long legs. Day hopping sounds like the best bet, and the coast and Islands seem made for that. Nothing wrong with running downwind or using the motor to make the anchorage before dark, it's my modus-operandi and that of many others too. Liked the Percy Island yacht club, good place for cruising yachties BBQ's.

In one video spotted the swing out arm on your charplotter/sounder - looks like a good solution and location for it.

Cheers

[Topaz Bill]

The fuel tank David is separate, and it is something intangible how water enters the fuel system. It's not much fun hanging over the transom in the conditions I was in, trying to change filters and spark plugs. Why do these things seem to happen at the worst possible times?
I'm glad Andrew that you have been to Zoe Bay, I hope to go there again after my trip to Lizard. The arm you mentioned on the plotter is actually a shower rose arm, it works well and is better than commercially made ones. The stabiliser made from a dinghy anchor and fry pan base worked really well too, it didn't stop the roll, but dampened it to make life a lot more bearable. On the three nights when rolling was really annoying, I was too lazy to deploy it.

[Andrew]

The plotter arm is ingenious Bill, i would never have guessed that! (Had a good look at my shower Rose, its an old style double pivot one..that would be the type?)

Your "flopper stopper" ,, how does it go together and work? I googled them today,, many complex commercial ones for big boats. but did see a good simple design, triangular ply with 2 lead weights to hang off the end of the boom. Seems like if the exact size/type swell hits on the beam , a harmonic oscillation type roll can occur..saw one good video where the yacht with the flopper stopper was hardly rolling and but others were in a pendulum effect, there was almost no swell visible but it was exactly in harmonics with those 30 ft plus yachts.

I noticed Teria harmonic rolling like that in Radical bay, where a larger yacht was hardly moving, so i only lasted about 20 minutes and left ( but Horseshoe bay was flat and level, as it usually is)

[Topaz Bill]

You can see the flopper stopper deployed on port side on the YouTube video I did at Middle Percy, that was ideal conditions for it to work. I'm going to pull yacht out of shed on a couple of days, I'll rig her and set up the stabiliser to do and do another crappy video. It seems to work well with virtually no jerking, although probably in really bad conditions it wouldn't be up to the task.

[Ozzie]

I enjoyed your vids Bill I think content is more important than production values. I was interested in your comments on sleeping athwart ship. I’ve only tried it on the trailer but I figured that in rough anchorage it might be a pain with your head see sawing up and down. Which is why quarter berths are used at sea.

Might work in the quiet anchorages I use or my mooring which is mostly protected.

[IanS]

Hi Bill, loved the videos. Great to see what can be done in this little boat. I posted the following in your last video:

A few things I wondered about open water sailing in the Investigator:

1. how do you secure the pop top incase of knock down?
2. same for anchor well - could you please give us a close-up of any hatch latches you have fitted
3. same for companion way boards - mine are really flimsy, what do yours look like and do you have barrel bolts or similar

I'd love to see where you stow the battery, cooking gear, navigation gear etc. so I second Sasha's request for a video tour!

Cheers,
Ian

[Topaz Bill]

Hello Ian, I keep finding posts that I haven't noticed, me and technology never the twain shall meet.

I'm happy to do a video and try and attach it, there are many opinions on our blog, and most will be better than what I do.

Regards, Bill

[IanS]

Hey Bill thanks so much for the video tour, greatly appreciated!

This is the style of catch I was thinking about for the anchor locker (not this expensive hopefully) https://www.theboatwarehouse.com.au/coc ... ess-steel/

[IanS]

Thanks for the ideas David.

At the moment there are no catches anywhere on my boat, the ones on the cockpit lockers have been removed. I am thinking about this for two reasons:

1. to secure the boat when/if I leave it at anchor (I am on a waiting list for a mooring)
2. if I every summon up the courage to do the trip from Broken Bay to Port Jackson

I am a long way off #2. I need a radio and some more heavy weather experience, plus lots of little details to sort out on the boat.

I may start another thread to see if anyone has found good replacement hinges for the cockpit lockers as mine don't have much life left in them.

Cheers,
Ian

[Geoff]

Hi Ian,

Ray did a post and great research on locker hinges:

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=913&p=4747&hilit=locker+hinge#p4747

However I couldn't find them anywhere anymore.

Mine had been replaced with large offset SS ones that sat well proud of the lids. After tearing the bum out of 2 pairs of shorts on them I replaced with these:

https://www.ebay.com.au/i/113073835049?

Correct size for the cutout but different hole pattern, so need to fill and drill.