First time on the water

After the offer was accepted we made the trek from Sydney back up to Belmont again to pick her up. We carefully towed her back down to the F3 and Pacific Highway, and carefully is key here. Towing a 30 year old yacht on a 30 year old trailer on one of the hottest days in January (only a week before the car had boiled and a new radiator was deemed necessary) and on one of the most notorious roads in the country. But, in the end we made it back to Sydney without issue.

I decided to take the boat up to Bathurst to Dad's place for a good going over as we have a better workshop there than I do in Sydney. We also thought it would be a good opportunity to put a trailer yacht on Ben Chifley Dam.

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Ben Chifley Dam is the main supply for Bathurst's water and is more commonly used by water skiers than trailer yachts. There is dinghy sailing but not normally a 20 footer.

We waited until the afternoon when most of the skiers would be heading home and we headed for the dam. We turned a few heads as we rigged in the car park.

Did I mention the 30 year old trailer? We backed down the ramp and gave a good push and nothing happened. Various combinations of in deeper or shallower and pushing and tilting were tried. She had been sitting on the trailer for quite some time and wasn't too keen to come off so we enlisted the help of some skiers (who were keen to get us out of the way so they could retrieve).

Then we were off for a few laps of the dam under motor to see how everything performed (and check there were no leaks!

We even manage a lap under sail (jib only), ghosting along in the whisper of a breeze. Again, we attracted a few onlookers of skiers and fishermen. The local maritime inspector even showed up and was stunned to see a trailer yacht on the dam.

A look at the rigging showed a few potential failure points so that was put down as the next job, and an inspection of the trailer with the boat off showed a bit of rust (I guess that is to be expected on a 30 year old trailer) and a few bent rollers (the reason for the not so easy launch).