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This weekend has been a series of firsts for the mighty little Snow Bird.

First 2 night outing. Sat in Botany Bay (saw the outriggers and the police boat ) and Sunday night at Balmoral ( seeing the ocean swimmers.)

First time using the new Tumo motor for our tender.

First passages since we brought Snow Bird to BBYC from Etalong beach.

First time anchor ⚓️- put out way too much scope.

Lessons. If you are not making headway particularly going back into Or leaving Botany Bay use the iron sail.

Don’t be afraid to go out a bit to get some clean air.

Keep an eye out for whales. #wharram #tiki30

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I have been very busy so sadly 1 sail in the last 4 months. Haul out coming in a fortnight. I have the engine service and the sparky lined up for the lift. I have a couple of projects to do for the boat. Before we start the good sailing season.

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After being away for a few weeks those naughty birds made a mess of Snow Bird. We have tried a number of approaches. To discourage them.

We made a cover to cover the whole boat. Except the flappped to much from wind through the tramp.

Our last attempt seemed to work well which was good old fashioned bird netting.

When I got back after a few weeks without the netting we had to do some serious cleaning.

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Well have not posted much lately. Did the Safety at sae and survival course SSSC with #pacificsailingschool. Slowly chipping away at the qualifications. The ail is for us to be as safe as possible. #wharram #catamaransailing

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Been away with work currently in Fiji. Rest day and we went to Leleuva Island Resort for the day it was spectacular. I will make a return Trip on Snow Bird.

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https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cw-Qv_FNGK9/?igshid=MTc4MmM1YmI2Ng==

Not good.

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On the search for boats to get pictures of while traveling.

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The last couple of weeks it has been too windy to go out. Sorry no tales of messing about in boats to write about.

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Snow Bird was sailing company with Bula and Moody Blue today on a BBYC Cruising Division monthly sail. We are getting it down to a fine art getting too and from the boat. We have changed the side we board the boat from the starboard to the port side wich is easier for loading the dingy onto the deck.

The winds were light to begin with but they picked up throughout the day to a very strong NWly which is good for getting out of the heads but makes for significant work trying to get back.

The whales did not disappoint us today with us spotting a number. One got fairly close to us. We also saw dolphins on the way back.

We became over powered as the day went on. We partly furled the Genoa and then put in the first reef. We practiced on the mooring a few weeks ago. Then figured safety was the better part of Valour and engaged the iron sail. Eventually giving up all pretences of sailing and brought in the rest of the sails.

All in all it was a good sail.

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Snow Bird was out again today. No wind so we were a motorboat today. We did have the Genoa up for a while. But we did not get much with the flakey winds.

The Dingy fleet was out racing today. We had the lad with us today and we loitered alongside the runway so he could get some plane spotting in and get some pictures.

Minor work new halyard shackle installed on the top car of the mast. On Saturday I rejigged the stack pack & tested the reefing while on the mooring with no wind.

We now lift the dingy whenever we sail. The previous owner had a clip at the port side beam and we used that on the bow of the tender. Today I noticed 2 loops rope attached to the beams. I attached 2 clips and to the dingy. Sweet.

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Snow bird took flight today. We went with the club on a cruise. By the time we got going the fleet had sailed as they say. We hoisted sails just past the channel and sailed in light winds. So 1-2 knots.

Things picked up as the day went lots of jibing and tacking. We went past the heads and then sailed back. Topping over 8 knots. Starting to get the hang of backing the main to tack.

We cooked toasted sandwiches 🥪 for lunch. Another first. We came in on sunset. Fantastic day. Good tired tonight.

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We had Snow Bird out last week. Weather was overcast steady winds. Learned that we need about 6 knots to be able to do a tack. Dave said to go gently around and back the head sail. A bit different method from a monohull. Next time we will try that. We saw a pod of dolphins 🐬 and a seal 🦭 that was the first time we have seen them. Very cool.

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Repairs to steering.

Last time out we noticed the steering was playing up. Upon investigation we discovered the block of wood that holds the turning pulleys (from the horizontal to down below deck) had perished.

I have rebuilt the block out of pine and stainless steal bolts. I will make a more permanent version over the winter and then reinstall it.

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Tenders

As in a previous story we bought an inflatable tender as a couple of motors. The seams on the boat failed progressively so we had to replace it. We bought a Achilles 2.7. Here is the unboxing. We use the Torqueedo 1003S we got with the previous tender. We use a small motorcycle battery to power the air pump. And a collapsible sack trolley to move the boat between the car and the pontoon for setup. Setting it up usually takes about 10 min and 10 min to pack it all up.

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Electrics, communications, and navigation installed.

Fortunately I had a blank slate to work with. Railblaze mount to mount the iPad which is running Navionics. The Link 9 has GPS and AIS receiver. I use the Yakbitz wifi bridge connected to the NMEA 0183 output. I direct the iPad to pickup wifi and that provides the GPS & AIS on the Navionics. Tested the system on Sunday and it works seamlessly. You can see the wifi bridge on top of the radio. #wharram #wharramtiki30 #catamaransailing

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Tenders:

We bought a second hand inflatable tender. It came with a toqueedo 1003c electric out board and a 2 stroke 3.5 petrol. For less than the the price of the electric motor.

The tender seams popped on our trip down. I tried to repair it but then the seam opened up somewhere else. Pictures of the repair attempts.

It was a fail. So we decided to buy a new tender.

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Snow Bird had a shake down cruise today. We were focused on testing our systems. And exploring the bay. The light winds in the morning made for slow progress but it suited us just fine. The winds picked up in the afternoon. Great conditions for a shake down. She handles great. A friend who sailed with me a few years ago joined us which made things easier.