Cruising a Trailer Sailer

[Neeves]

I don’t even want to think about how challenging, costly and time consuming sailing/motoring from this Far North Eastern Australia cruising ground to our waterfront home on The Murray River in Southern Eastern South Australia would be. Let’s just say few would even contemplate doing it and few yachts would be even capable of doing it.

You would be surprised.

The Grey Nomads sail up to 'The Reef' in the Autumn and back in the spring - to escape the cold of winter in the southern parts of Australia. They have no schedule and take the weather windows. Once you get to around Brisbane, heading south, the Trades ease off, the frequency of the westerlies picks up and the East Australia Current, which flows south and can be as fast as 5 knots cuts in - all the way to Eden. If you take the time and anchor off - its effectively free, there are good anchorage all the way down the east coast, from Cape York to Eden. The part of the coast largely devoid of frequent places to anchor is Bass Strait and The Bight.

One further reason to leave The Reef in summer is the possibility of cyclones for which insurance is expensive on simply not available.

For those that make the passage in each direction it appears to be a pleasant lifestyle.

We made the pilgrimage 3 times, from Sydney to The Reef, but did not like the shear numbers of people doing the same thing. Idylic locations would simply be full.

Jonathan

 

[Grith]

You would be surprised.

The Grey Nomads sail up to 'The Reef' in the Autumn and back in the spring - to escape the cold of winter in the southern parts of Australia. They have no schedule and take the weather windows. Once you get to around Brisbane, heading south, the Trades ease off, the frequency of the westerlies picks up and the East Australia Current, which flows south and can be as fast as 5 knots cuts in - all the way to Eden. If you take the time and anchor off - its effectively free, there are good anchorage all the way down the east coast, from Cape York to Eden. The part of the coast largely devoid of frequent places to anchor is Bass Strait and The Bight.

One further reason to leave The Reef in summer is the possibility of cyclones for which insurance is expensive on simply not available.

For those that make the passage in each direction it appears to be a pleasant lifestyle.

We made the pilgrimage 3 times, from Sydney to The Reef, but did not like the shear numbers of people doing the same thing. Idylic locations would simply be full.

Jonathan

After traversing down the whole East Coast of Australia often taking months its then getting through Bass Straight then part way across The Bight which really adds to the challenge getting to our place.
Then finally to get to our home on the water with its own jetty you have to also run The Murray Mouth often breaking bar and then get through the last relatively narrow loch in Goolwa then cross the shallow with often exceptionally steep short waves of Lake Alexandrina!
I think that’s enough to put almost anyone sailing from our place to The Whitsundays and back!

 

[Grith]

We rushed back from our 3 month holiday which included 8 and a half weeks cruising out it The Whitsundays and Great Barrier Reef to see in person a new home we purchased sight unseen.
We drove/ towed our yacht a couple of thousand miles in 4 days of daylight only travel to get back to our new retirement location before the cooling off period ended and we were totally committed to the purchase.
Very happy to have secured a large peninsula end waterfront property with its own launching ramp and jetty with lighting power and water.
Whilst the house is modest and in need of a complete renovation the unrestricted lake to river views and ability to create our own personal pen beside our own boat ramp with on-land secure yacht, trailer and truck camper maintenance and storage area out of sight and secure behind some new high gates (I will fit) is just about a dream come true for a dedicated trailer sailer enthusiast.
The rear yard beside the lake even has a turning circle to drive in forward and turn up toward the house to back down the ramp and then upon retrieval drive out directly forward again back down the side of the house.
So much simpler than the long awkward backing up that the very few waterfront homes that even have boat ramps usually need.
Having secured this bargain by a sight unseen, cash, short settlement and totally at the elderly vendors discretion settlement date I promptly went cruising locally with my daughter.
We had promised Annabel a weeks cruise on the Hawkesbury near Sydney where she is studying animation on her last college break before graduating.
Our intention had been a leisurely drive home stopping at various places for short exploratory cruises including that one with Annabel along with visiting friends back in NSW.
Flying Annabel down from Sydney to Adelaide and cruising The Coorong was my compensation for messing up her planned holiday!
Clare stayed behind to renovate her garden at our existing relatively newly purchased retirement home here in this remote forgotten corner of South Australia in the tiny 110 lot marina development we also found and purchased totally sight unseen during the Covid lockdowns.
Only a couple of real estate junkies who really wanted cheap waterfront living would ever dare such a bold move now again repeated whilst away cruising!
At least this time we knew what the area looked and lived like!
Our new home has cost about the same as the worst home in the worst suburb in Sydney!
How crazy is that as in Sydney an equivalent home would likely run into the tens of millions not closer to $500,000 than to $1,000,000.
Our cruise to The Coorong was not without its moments and I definitely provided my daughter with an adventure not just a leisurely cruise!




Freezing cold, howling wind, driving rain, a huge lightening storm and an accidental grounding resulting in a 3.30am rise to drag the yacht off a limestone reef at high tide and some rollicking sails in high winds with big short steep waves were all just part of our very enjoyable 6 days out together doing a big dad and daughter catch-up!

 

[Neeves]

You simply emphasise why its called 'The Lucky Country'.

Maybe you need another, different, anchor.

Jonathan

 

[Grith]

You simply emphasise why its called 'The Lucky Country'.

Maybe you need another, different, anchor.

Jonathan

It wasn’t an anchor drag it was a stupid navigational error on a falling tide! Failure of the nut behind the wheel!

 

[Neeves]

Failure of the nut behind the wheel!

We all have one But usually try to forget the action or are too embarrassed to admit to it.

Jonathan

 

[Grith]

Map on a signboard showing The Coorong for those unfamiliar with this unique long shallow cruising area only suitable for very shallow draft trailer sailers and fishing dinghies. Also show the Mouth of The Murray which can be a challenging bar crossing in anything but calm seas.
The bird life is phenomenal in this very high conservation all value area. The Coorong and Mouth of the Murray are separated from the rest of The Murray by an extensive set of barrages with two lochs which retain the freshwater on their upriver side as well as maintaining Lake Alexandrina and Lake Albert as freshwater and over two feet deeper than otherwise making them about 6-8 foot deep on average and therefor just navigable.
The yellow area shown was were my navigation area led to our grounding on a limestone reef.

We tied up to the boat ramp jetty in Mundoo Chanel and walked across the island to view the Murray Mouth from the land lookout and have a fish and chips lunch at the famous caravan based fish and chip cafe there.

 

[Grith]

Further to my goal of creating a truly multi capable and comfortable trailerable cruising yacht I have now purchased a RO watermaker.
Our recent 9 week cruise in The Whitsundays saw us only once actually required to return to civilisation for supplies.
This was primarily as our potable water was nearly down to emergency reserve level along with perhaps more distressingly nearly running out of alcohol.
Whilst the latter can be rectified by carrying more and cutting down on consumption a little the former can be hard to deal with.
I will be fitting a stern seawater outlet for personal preshowering, seafood processing, Porta potty emptying and cleaning and general equipment and dingy cleaning which should extend our current about 200 litres of potable storage out to around 6weeks from the current just over 4weeks.
We already have pressure seawater to the kitchen sink and anchor locker at the front.
However our next planned major cruise is for 3/4 months in an area so remote that resupply is impossible and wild fresh water sources uncertain and often protected by prehistoric monsters! ( crocodiles! )
An RO watermaker is not normally needed for an inshore and inland waters cruiser may be a vital backup for this planned adventure.
Having purchased a relatively affordable Katadyn power survivor 40e secondhand in good condition with lots of spares fitting it into our already nearly every space utilised yacht proved challenging.
Also as this may be one of very few cruises we actually need it then the weight and space constraints of hard fitting it longer term have seen me try to find another solution.
I have now made the unit a completely portable system by fitting it into a pelican style case ripoff after much stuffing around with alternative solutions.
Hopefully I will be able to test my contraption later in the week as I have just completed it and we live over an hour from the nearest actual seawater and 30 minutes from artificial seawater aquarium supplies.
The portable unit fits in my stern generator box displacing 2x20 litre spare fuel cans but we still have 220litres in the main fuel tank and cockpit locker storage containers without the common jerry cans strapped to the safety rails required by many Kimberley’s cruiser.

 

[Neeves]

Further to my goal of creating a truly multi capable and comfortable trailerable cruising yacht I have now purchased a RO watermaker.
Our recent 9 week cruise in The Whitsundays saw us only once actually required to return to civilisation for supplies.
This was primarily as our potable water was nearly down to emergency reserve level along with perhaps more distressingly nearly running out of alcohol.
Whilst the latter can be rectified by carrying more and cutting down on consumption a little the former can be hard to deal with.
I will be fitting a stern seawater outlet for personal preshowering, seafood processing, Porta potty emptying and cleaning and general equipment and dingy cleaning which should extend our current about 200 litres of potable storage out to around 6weeks from the current just over 4weeks.
We already have pressure seawater to the kitchen sink and anchor locker at the front.
However our next planned major cruise is for 3/4 months in an area so remote that resupply is impossible and wild fresh water sources uncertain and often protected by prehistoric monsters! ( crocodiles! )
An RO watermaker is not normally needed for an inshore and inland waters cruiser may be a vital backup for this planned adventure.
Having purchased a relatively affordable Katadyn power survivor 40e secondhand in good condition with lots of spares fitting it into our already nearly every space utilised yacht proved challenging.
Also as this may be one of very few cruises we actually need it then the weight and space constraints of hard fitting it longer term have seen me try to find another solution.
I have now made the unit a completely portable system by fitting it into a pelican style case ripoff after much stuffing around with alternative solutions.
Hopefully I will be able to test my contraption later in the week as I have just completed it and we live over an hour from the nearest actual seawater and 30 minutes from artificial seawater aquarium supplies.
The portable unit fits in my stern generator box displacing 2x20 litre spare fuel cans but we still have 220litres in the main fuel tank and cockpit locker storage containers without the common jerry cans strapped to the safety rails required by many Kimberley’s cruiser. View attachment 167495View attachment 167496View attachment 167497

Really neat. I am very impressed. I find it interesting that the cartridge filter is as big as the heart of the system (the desal membrane). In no way a criticism - just that's how the supply of the components has panned out. You might have thought the cartridge filter manufacturers would have developed something 'neater'.

Rainman - watch your back.

One question, roughly what is the litre/amp ratio?

Jonathan

 

[Grith]

The output is around 5-6litres per hour and the required power is 4ah. Based on these specs it’s under 1ah per litre but importantly well within my solar panel arrays output and at12v.
The other thing that swayed me as well as price ( secondhand ) was it’s much smaller storage/fitment size than the rainman units which produce vastly more output but take up a huge amount of space comparatively which I didn’t have available anywhere on my yacht.
We were not looking at daily fresh water shower amount outputs just drinking and conservative water use supplies having proven the two of us can exist very comfortably on 8-10 litres per day combined including regular but not daily fresh water shower finishes and hair rinsing.
In fact if wild water sources prove available and accessible the watermaker is possibly an unnecessary luxury but means we don’t have to chance using the small dingy in crocodile infested waters due to running short of drinking water.
On our recent 9 week test cruise we were also using fresh water for some cleaning tasks as we had no pressure salt water on the stern of the yacht which is now fitted.
The photo below shows how neatly the Katadyn 40e made portable in its case fits into my yachts generator compartment.

 

[Grith]

Another issue for trailer sailers with large long range cruising ambitions is what dingy?
Obviously many trailer sailers with minimal draft can get very close to shore often removing the need for large dingy’s.
However when they are needed there is little likelihood carrying on davits is possible and towing dingy’s has many challenges and disadvantages.
I have tried most solutions from SUP’s, cheap pvc toy dingy’s, real smaller lighter PVC dingy’s small enough to store folded or carry upside down on deck, catamaran dingy’s storing in multiple bags (but too large to store on deck inflated) and now am trialling a folding potaboat wanting an oyster/sharp rock impervious dingy that can plane with a small outboard for a planned very remote cruise in a crocodile infested area. ( inflatables are called crocodile teething rings up there!)
This last choice whilst awkward to construct on deck on a small yacht will at least carry up in my SUP safety rail rack when not in use and even plane with a small outboard.
I have looked at nesting dingy’s but haven’t seen a really good affordable one and haven’t got the time or energy to construct one of these.
Shown is my current solution in less challenging locations. SUP combined with 2.3 metre inflatable.
Then a foldaboat in carrying mode, unfolded without seats installed and seats in a carry bag I repurposed from a kitesurfer board.
Thoughts anyone?

 

[William_H]

Nice photos and well done on the RO machine. I hope it all turns out well. Yes a real problem with dinghies and trailer sailers. Yes especially with crocodiles. I eard a talk by a sailor who had an RL28 sailed from Wyndham to Broome. Had a tinnie (ali dinghy) in tow. Described how a very large croc settled behind them just waiting watching for more than 24 hours while they were at anchor. So yes a concern. ol'will Ah the bities of Oz

 

[Grith]

We love the fact we can completely pack up our yacht ready for trailering without setting foot on the dock if required and then just motor around to the ramp and load and be gone in less time than many power boats.
Our main tow rig also provides a very comfortable base on multi day tows as will be required to reach the Kimberley’s in North West Western Australia from our home in southern South Australia. We recently towed from SA to Northern Queensland to spend over 8 weeks in The Whitsundays and Barrier Reef.
The return (somewhat rushed journey) took 4 days of daylight hours driving only versus who knows how long for anyone attempting to sail.
The yacht itself makes a very comfortable on land caravan and this was my original use but our more recently purchased slide on truck camper tow tug opens many further exploration options when leaving the yacht in secure coastal storage to go inland.

 

[Neeves]

Another issue for trailer sailers with large long range cruising ambitions is what dingy?
Obviously many trailer sailers with minimal draft can get very close to shore often removing the need for large dingy’s.
However when they are needed there is little likelihood carrying on davits is possible and towing dingy’s has many challenges and disadvantages.
I have tried most solutions from SUP’s, cheap pvc toy dingy’s, real smaller lighter PVC dingy’s small enough to store folded or carry upside down on deck, catamaran dingy’s storing in multiple bags (but too large to store on deck inflated) and now am trialling a folding potaboat wanting an oyster/sharp rock impervious dingy that can plane with a small outboard for a planned very remote cruise in a crocodile infested area. ( inflatables are called crocodile teething rings up there!)
This last choice whilst awkward to construct on deck on a small yacht will at least carry up in my SUP safety rail rack when not in use and even plane with a small outboard.
I have looked at nesting dingy’s but haven’t seen a really good affordable one and haven’t got the time or energy to construct one of these.
Shown is my current solution in less challenging locations. SUP combined with 2.3 metre inflatable.
Then a foldaboat in carrying mode, unfolded without seats installed and seats in a carry bag I repurposed from a kitesurfer board.
Thoughts anyone?
View attachment 169842
View attachment 169843
View attachment 169844View attachment 169845

We used a Folda Note, identical to yours for 25 years. On long passages we would fold it and tie it to the stanchions (disassembly and assembly on the foredeck). We hoisted it onto the foredeck with a halyard.

We liked it as it was robust, on coral beaches. It flexed slightly so did not bounce on chop. I could carry it vertically, the central seat sitting on my shoulder. Hand round the lower seat -somethimes a challenge in wind. We used a 2hp OB.

As it aged we did need to replace some of the rivets. Ours came with bulky plastic seats - we replaced them with marine ply - easier to find room for storage. (Simply use the original seats as a former. We put a bung in ours at the transom, on one side. If it caught, rain, water we would drain it easily.

 

[Grith]

We used a Folda Note, identical to yours for 25 years. On long passages we would fold it and tie it to the stanchions (disassembly and assembly on the foredeck). We hoisted it onto the foredeck with a halyard.

We liked it as it was robust, on coral beaches. It flexed slightly so did not bounce on chop. I could carry it vertically, the central seat sitting on my shoulder. Hand round the lower seat -somethimes a challenge in wind. We used a 2hp OB.

As it aged we did need to replace some of the rivets. Ours came with bulky plastic seats - we replaced them with marine ply - easier to find room for storage. (Simply use the original seats as a former. We put a bung in ours at the transom, on one side. If it caught, rain, water we would drain it easily.

Yes have purchased a bung to install in the side at the rear for draining and may even do a matching one each side as they came purchased and packaged as a pair.
Having constructed the porta boat on an open patch of grass I am a little concerned about the foredeck construction location but have decided to replace my safety lines to pulpit attachments with pelican clips allowing opening them from the pulpit to the first stanchion creating a little more room.
My mast raising A frame sits parallel and close to the deck here which should also make launching through this gap easier as it will provide a smooth stainless pole edge to pull the boat over.
I currently use my spinnaker pole and it’s topping lift back to a cabin top sheet winch as a dingy crane and hope to be able to also do this with the Portaboat.
I have added a couple of heavy duty stanchion bases to the underneath of my truck tray with attached short stainless tubes which will allow my SUP carrier from the yacht to relocate here to carry the portaboat when trailering.
Up on the yacht it would create too much windage towing at 100kph and the additional weight may also tip me over the 3500kgs towing limit which I run close to when fully loaded and equipped for long range cruising.
They will fold in and partially underneath the tray when carrying the porta boat. The slide on camper sits on top of the tray with the sides removed.

 

[Neeves]

Yes have purchased a bung to install in the side at the rear for draining and may even do a matching one each side as they came purchased and packaged as a pair.
Having constructed the porta boat on an open patch of grass I am a little concerned about the foredeck construction location but have decided to replace my safety lines to pulpit attachments with pelican clips allowing opening them from the pulpit to the first stanchion creating a little more room.
My mast raising A frame sits parallel and close to the deck here which should also make launching through this gap easier as it will provide a smooth stainless pole edge to pull the boat over.
I currently use my spinnaker pole and it’s topping lift back to a cabin top sheet winch as a dingy crane and hope to be able to also do this with the Portaboat.
I have added a couple of heavy duty stanchion bases to the underneath of my truck tray with attached short stainless tubes which will allow my SUP carrier from the yacht to relocate here to carry the portaboat when trailering.
Up on the yacht it would create too much windage towing at 100kph and the additional weight may also tip me over the 3500kgs towing limit which I run close to when fully loaded and equipped for long range cruising.
They will fold in and partially underneath the tray when carrying the porta boat. The slide on camper sits on top of the tray with the sides removed.
View attachment 169969
View attachment 169970
View attachment 169971

we lifted our Portaboat 'horizontally'. We had a rigging point on the aft seat, 3 wraps of 8mm polyester and similar round the bow seat, each point at the centre, side to side, of the seat. The rope wraps were quite tight but loose enough to get carabiner onto the wraps. We then took the halyard through the carabiners and back to itself. You quickly work out how to arrange to keep the dinghy horizontal. this way you do not need to lift so high to clear there stanchions. You need a boat hook to keep the dinghy away from the stanchions, the rowlocks love to catch under the lines. . We never bothered with the bow foredeck thing. We used full sized oars. For the bung we had a ply pad at the hole to beef up the plastic. Our bungs were made for a thicker attachment surface. If you row a lot carry spare pop rivets as it is easy with time to destroy the rivets.

Jonathan

 

[fredrussell]

I’m amazed how versatile your setup is Grith - really clever modifications. Perfect boat for Australia I reckon.
One question I have re the watermaker; I always assumed they were designed for the more sediment-free waters of oceans. Will it operate ok in the less ‘clean’ waters of estuaries and tidal areas?

 

[Neeves]

If you want to replace the bulky plastic seats of the Foldaboat

Our thoughts needed to consider that the seats also had to take the weight of the dinghy when we hoisted it. If you use a 15mm ply, which would be adequate 'normally' you weaken the ply when you drill the holes for the bent steel wire braces. We simply beefed up the ply with a patch of the same ply, making the structure 30mm where the hole is to be drilled for the braces (which we then drilled at the interface of the seat and each of the braces). We simply screwed the braces on, you could be belt and braces and epoxy and drill.

If you carry the dinghy on the lifelines, as shown in one of your pictures, then using the aft stanchions is best as the further forward is the dinghy the more like is it to be hit by breaking seas.

I agree with Fred - you have developed a neat rig.

We used our Spectra desalinator in some pretty murky Australian estuarine locations and what you lose on the swings, frequent cleaning of the filters, you gain on the roundabouts, treating water with lower salinity. Water is at its most murky after heavy rain. The most effective way to 'make' freshwater is to find a clear estuary where the salinity is low to start with. We had lots of spare filter cartridges but would clean any that were fouled by tying them on to a length of rope, bowline, and trailing them off the transom - in clean seawater. If your filters are located so that you can easily see the filter cartridge you soon see if they are fouled.

It will be interesting to read what your expectations are.

Jonathan

 

[Grith]

I’m amazed how versatile your setup is Grith - really clever modifications. Perfect boat for Australia I reckon.
One question I have re the watermaker; I always assumed they were designed for the more sediment-free waters of oceans. Will it operate ok in the less ‘clean’ waters of estuaries and tidal areas?

Katadyn actually produce a silted water upgrade kit with additional finer 5 micron filter and extra water pump to drive the silted water through the fine filter.
Not wanting to pay their somewhat exorbitant prices I created my own alternative via my existing pressurised salt/river water system already supplying my galley sink, anchor well and stern saltwater shower/cleaning water outlet.
I added an extra tap and prefilter cartridge to the pressurised saltwater shower feed hidden inside a previously unused and inaccessible area behind the rear cockpit seat. I now access the prefilter and turn on tap via an added screw in cover inspection port which is adequately sized and placed to allow cartridge change outs.
The output of this additional pre filter is also ball valve tap controlled and can be directly connected to my RO watermaker with the same hose normally used to draw up water directly from over the stern with the weighted course strainer removed.
The seawater intake for the yachts pressurised ancillary system already has a course strainer. I also have an air bleed valve at the highest point of this system.
I hope to use clean seawater when available but built in this fairly cheap simple upgrade if forced to use silted water. I can actually also utilise my ballast tank water if dried out for extended periods having made modifications to allow ballast water to feed my seawater intake as well.
The 730litre ballast water tank is kept scrupulously clean by extremely regular complete water changeouts and complete drying out whenever possible. The hot/cold freshwater shower and seawater shower covers can be seen side by side in the second photo.

 

[Grith]

If you want to replace the bulky plastic seats of the Foldaboat

Our thoughts needed to consider that the seats also had to take the weight of the dinghy when we hoisted it. If you use a 15mm ply, which would be adequate 'normally' you weaken the ply when you drill the holes for the bent steel wire braces. We simply beefed up the ply with a patch of the same ply, making the structure 30mm where the hole is to be drilled for the braces (which we then drilled at the interface of the seat and each of the braces). We simply screwed the braces on, you could be belt and braces and epoxy and drill.

If you carry the dinghy on the lifelines, as shown in one of your pictures, then using the aft stanchions is best as the further forward is the dinghy the more like is it to be hit by breaking seas.

I agree with Fred - you have developed a neat rig.

We used our Spectra desalinator in some pretty murky Australian estuarine locations and what you lose on the swings, frequent cleaning of the filters, you gain on the roundabouts, treating water with lower salinity. Water is at its most murky after heavy rain. The most effective way to 'make' freshwater is to find a clear estuary where the salinity is low to start with. We had lots of spare filter cartridges but would clean any that were fouled by tying them on to a length of rope, bowline, and trailing them off the transom - in clean seawater. If your filters are located so that you can easily see the filter cartridge you soon see if they are fouled.

It will be interesting to read what your expectations are.

Jonathan

Hi Johnathan See above for my fitted potential silted water solutions. I also carry excess spare filters and intended to clean by dragging in clean seawater.
Regarding carrying the Portaboat having carried our SUP central on the stanchions in some fairly strong conditions ( for a trailer sailer ) I feel the central location should be fine. Our Imexus’s excessive freeboard for such a small yacht generally keeps this location clear of wave impact anyway. Got to be some other advantages to it’s slightly slab sided profile and associated windage issues!