Glowing All Over

 May 2025

A little bit of sunshine

Drifting in the Bahamas

 January 2025

Anchoring off Black Point Settlement,
making it just on sunset 

Under Your Spell

A Cold Moon rises - 15 December 2024
Sint Maarten

 

Suddenly, the Sky is Pink

Waiting on a sunset surprise in the Caroni Swamp, Trinidad

Sadly, all a bit out-of-focus. We were in swamp punts
and limited as to how close we could be. Ibis and flamingos.

 

Ladies of the Night

14 May 2024

Meeting a mature Mama just before heading back to sea

Setting her eggs in a carefully dug nest

A young, un-tagged, Mama getting help
(her nest was collapsing) from Park Wardens

Turtle Watching in Trinidad.  An experience not to forget!  Take a Tour with Jesse James Maxi Taxi  a Trini local highly recommended by Bruce on Wild Matilda, long-time cruiser.  And by us, the Windjammers, of course!! 

Golden threads over Leeward Islands

 2023

Sunset over Nevis & St Kits

Spectacular sunsets all through the Caribbean.  A study in colour and perspective all in one.  

Off Piste

Now that we are, after 3 long covid years, back on track with the cruising life and currently sailing Miss Windjammer3 in the Caribbean, it is time to get back on track and send “postcards” from our favourite boating destinations.  This view is of Warderick Wells, the main centre of a Bahama Land & Sea Park, covering some 112,640 acres of land & sea in the beautiful Exuma Cays, an island chain of crystal clear waters and stunning islands. The view is taken from Boo Boo Hill over the mooring field.  Visitors can leave a boat name token in memory of their visit.  You will always want to return.  It is so peaceful and pristine.

Discoveries along a Silo Art Trail

Hiding under a bridge in Seymour, VIC

Waikerie Silo Art, SA

Paringa Art Silo, Renmark SA

Hay Water Tower, NSW

Deception Bay, QLD

Make your own Art Trail discoveries along the Australian Silo Art Trail and enjoy this Gallery of photos of these wonderful masterpieces standing proudly across Australia. 

Blue Mountains Late in the Year

A View to Remember

Stunning Waratahs 

Banksia Seed Pods are real characters

A Blaze of Colour

After the Jacaranda's have flowered in purple triumph, it's time for a fiery-red display.  The heat of Summer at it's spectacular best for the land-locked to admire.  January 2022

Catching the Night Light

A beautiful evening in early January 2020.  Looking down river towards Broken Bay and Cowan Creek.  Little did we know what was in store for us then.... 

Sailing Greats

Gibraltar 2016: At La Linea Marina - a discovery...

La Linea Marina

I had hoped this was the original "Joshua" (Moitessier).  It's not, but still a heart beating reminder of an inspirational sailor and boyhood hero. 

Then, more excitement in the Cape Verde Islands 2017:

Imagine a chance meeting at Mindelo Marina with sailing legend, Jimmy Cornell - such an inspiration!  We were docked at Mindelo Marina, at the time as his "Caribbean Odyssey" participants all sailed in.  

 Jimmy Cornell and Greg (Sandro) on the right
in Mindelo with the 2018 "Caribbean Odyssey"

Remembering

Remembering... ANZAC Day & Remembrance Day 2018

Photo taken 31 May 2017 in Canberra.  Dedication of the National Boer War Memorial.  A video of the service can be found at this link. 

Bahamas 2018

Turks & Caicos & Bahamas 2018

Warderick Wells Land & Sea Park, Exumas

Local colour, Bahamas

There's a storm brewing over Turks & Caicos
South Side Marina, Providenciales

Remembering Venice

Venice 2015

In Venice, you could queue up for ages to see Saint Mark's Basilica or better still, just potter about to see what what might be interesting or quirky.

Admire Garden Art

Take a Punt

Cross a Bridge

Paint a Picture

And to remind yourself of the beauty within St Marks you missed as you did the conga line quick step through with many, many others, take this guided tour on-line of Saint Mark's Basilica with Khan Academy.  TOO Easy!

Two Views of Cape Verdes

I couldn't stop taking photos when we took a day tour of Santo Antao.  Yes, we really did sail to the Cape Verdes and stopped for a few days in Mindelo Harbour on Sao Vicente, just across from Santo Antao.  All in all, exciting stuff!

Up in the Clouds

Sea Haze over the Coast

Finding a New Direction

After a great deal of thought, we’ve decided to re-purpose this well under-used blog.  That said, it will still retain the Windjammer II information (just locate the compass 38 tag) however it has promise to become a testing ground for all things that might be part of our ship’s locker.  To that end, there will be a little more about boats, naturally; a little photography as new things about the camera are discovered; travel and art history notes as we sail the seven seas; even more about learning new stuff, as one does; and family history research, although there's nothing nautical in that.  Sometimes it'll be a wordy post and sometimes not.  The bilges will never look so good.  Or be so promising!

Just to celebrate, let's make a start with a few shots of street art we found down a side street in Lagos, Portugal.  (Taken with my ageing Motorola mobile phone and not edited.)

And I’ll eventually get round to fixing up the header & blog basics…  

Updating

Now that these words are posted, photos will follow soon to show you what a great sailboat we had.  Not that we have that many!  Those we have were taken long before the digital revolution, so sticky albums and boxes of photos will have to be "sorted"...  In the meantime, this might tide you over...

Then it's on to other nautical treasures as we continue to float....

Design Specifics



Compass Designer Smith 1934-2008

Designer.  Claude A. Smith Junior, 4 September 1972,  New Zealand.

Capsize Screening Formula: B/cube root of (Displacement/64) = 11/cube root of (16,676/64) = 11/cube root of 260.5 = 11/6.4 = 1.72.  Note: Result should be less than 2

Displacement Length Ratio.  Equals (long) tons/(.01 x LWL in feet) cubed = 7.43/(.01 x 30.67) cubed = 7.43/.3067 cubed = 7.43/.0288 = 258.  Note: Boats with a D/L ratio of more than about 325 are heavy cruisers. A number between 200 and 325 indi­cates a light- to moderate-displacement cruiser, and less than 200 is very light displacement.

On her Hawkesbury River Mooring

Ballast to Displacement Ratio. B/D = 7304/16676 = 44%

Sail Area to Displacement.  SA/D = sail area divided by displacement (in cubic feet) 2/3 = 577/260.5 squared then cube root of result = 577/cube root of 67860 = 577/40.7 = 14.2.  Sail area is size of mainsail plus size of foretriangle (area bounded by headstay, mast, and deck).  To find dis­placement in cubic feet, divide it by 64, then square number and, finally, find cube root.  A SA/D ratio around 12 indicates an extreme under-rigged heavy cruiser.  A ratio double that one is typical of racing boats, and most modern cruisers fall between the two extremes. You can carry all the sail you want for light air (so long as you can reef quickly). Eg Windjammer main is 234’sq and no1 genoa is 504’sq = 738’sq.  SA/D ratio = 738/260.5 2/3 = 738/40.7 = 18.1

Hull speed = 1.34 times the square root of LWL  = 1.34 x square root of 30.67 = 1.34 x 5.54 = 7.42 knots

This report from the NZ Tradeaboat will fill in any technical gaps that I'm bound to have missed.


On the Hard at Oyster Cove in the wonderful Nelson Bay area

Plans & Build

Main Bulkhead reinforcement

Plans.  We had a complete set of plans included with our initial purchase.

Build.  I would have to say very strong. 

Bulkheads and knees glassed to hull and deck. 

Hull and deck internally joined by fibreglass and bolts approximately 6”/15cm apart through aluminium toerails running full length of gunwales. 

Main bulkhead strengthened with 4x beams of laminated timber glued, bolted and glassed to bulkhead, hull and deck head. 

3x internal substantial horizontal stringers glassed along each side of hull to aft bulkhead. 

Engine beds glassed to hull.



On the Hard at Oyster Cove Marina

Hull

Protection.  4xlayers of epoxy Interprotect rolled on bottom and 3xlayers on topsides before final painting and launching.  Topsides painted in (2xpack) Navy Blue. 

Keel.  Ballast: 3.25 tons/3.32 tonnes 7,304 lbs, 3320 kg.   Encapsulated internal mix of lead ingots and lead shot all bound together with resin and covered with 4x layers glass.  Reinforced with glass-covered ply floors to top of keel and hull.  A deep bilge located after side of keel where an automatic bilge pump is located plus the two manual bilge pumps hoses. Bilge area also coated with 3x coats of epoxy Interprotect.

Mast and Boom.  The mast is T11section, one standard stronger than T10 section, originally recommended by La Mer Spars for the Compass 38. T11 section has same outside dimensions as T10 section but also has two reinforcing ribs extending along length of the section.  Masthead is a welded fitting by Sheerline Spars.  Single spreader rig plus set of diamonds for inner staysail so no need for running backstays.  Boom is T9 section. 2x spinnaker poles, deck mounted.   Mast, boom and spinnaker poles painted white with 2x pot paint, on top of etch primer. 

Steering.  Whitlock wheel steering system via chain and flexible wire pulley system to quadrant mounted on rudder shaft below rear of cockpit.  Accessible through lazarette.  Emergency tiller fits directly to top of rudder shaft should wheel steering system fail.

Rudder.  Skeg-mounted with solid stainless steel shaft.  Pintle and gudgeon fitting at bottom of skeg supporting rudder.  Bronze thru hull fitting where rudder enters bottom of hull and another bronze fitting supporting rudder shaft at top where it enters cockpit.

Canvas Work.  Folding dodger, 2x hatch covers, 7x winch covers, compass cover, mainsail cover (new 2008) and large heavy-duty awning covering cockpit and extending forward to mast.

Self Steering Gear.  We installed a 1990 Fleming Major wind vane servo-pendulum self steering gear.  Heavy duty stainless steel and worth every penny!