S/V Rutea Sails Around the World: Bundaberg, Queensland, Australia

Saturday, November 17, 2012

Bundaberg, Queensland, Australia


Downtown Bundaberg

Our arrival at Bundaberg was just as we had predicted - just after sunrise on the 9th of November we steamed up the Burnett River to the Bundaberg Port Marina. There were several other boats waiting to clear Customs, Immigration and BioSecurity so we waited, not too patiently, for our turn. As the marina had hosted the Port-to-Port Rally (a rally for cruising boats coming from Vanuatu or New Caledonia) there were few slips left. Lucky for us our good friends on Dilligaf, Bill and Sue Teasdale, acted on our behalf and pestered the marina staff to get us a slip near them. It makes life much easier to have a berth in a marina after a long passage.

We didn't waste any time in getting back into marina-mode. The following day we took the shuttle bus the 20 kilometers into Bundaberg and got phone and internet connections. Bundaberg reminds me of any small town in the midwest - largely surrounded by big farms (mostly sugar cane), the town has little industry that makes it unique other than the three sugar mills and the Bundaberg Distillery which makes Bundaberg Rum. I have to admit it was kind of shocking when we stepped into the shopping mall - I knew that we weren't in Vanuatu anymore. Expensive merchandize spilling out from the stores and crowds of people doing their Christmas shopping. Without wasting any time, we spent more money that we should have. We had lunch at one of the bakeries, which are similar to the ones we found in New Zealand. They offer a wide selection of individual pies, mostly filled with meat or eggs and cheese. I chose one filled with camel meat, which I had never eaten before. There was no difference between that and beef, as far as I could tell.

That night the rally sponsors hosted a barbeque. In a large meadow just across the street from the marina, we could see kangaroos grazing so Ruthie and I walked over there and watched them for a while. There was no irony lost on us as we returned to the barbeque and ate - guess what? Kangaroo meat!

We rented a car to run some errands and I was hoping that I could play the part of Mel Gibson in Mad Max. Alas, I was driving an old beat up Camry instead of a super-charged muscle car and wearing a t-shirt and flip-flops instead of heavy boots and thick leathers. Also, the coast here is nothing like the Australian outback and I don't look like Mel Gibson. Well, maybe I do a little bit . . .

The days of boat projects (mostly cleaning) passed quickly amongst our discussions of where we go next. The Bundaberg Port Marina is hardly a place anyone would want to stay as it's kind of stuck out in the middle of nowhere. On Thursday, Corie left with Mark on Merkava in search of surf and more interesting points south. We sent our anchor and chain in to be re-galvanized so we're stuck until it gets back. Tonight is the final rally event, a Big Dinner for all participants and it should be interesting as there's some intense thunderstorms brewing.

The Australians we've met have been very friendly even though they talk funny and drive on the wrong side of the road. People give the impression that they're interested in us and our travels which is flattering. On more than one occasion people have gone out of their way to help. It will be interesting to see if that attitude changes as we migrate to the larger towns and cities. Weather permitting, we should leave here sometime next week.

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About Rutea

Rutea was built in 1984 by Conyplex in Mendemblik, Holland. A small brass plaque says that she's hull Number 9 but on the Conyplex website www.contestyachts.com there's no mention of them building that many. She's designed by Dick Zaal, who designed most of Conyplex's earlier boats. The brochure says that she's 48' overall with a 14'6" beam and she draws 6'. Her cast iron bolted-on fin keel weighs 12,000 pounds and she is supposed to displace slightly over 37,000 pounds but she's never been one to watch her weight and, ahem, she's gained more than a few pounds since we bought her in 1996. Her ketch rig sports Profurl furlers for the jib/genoa and the staysail. The main has a very tall aspect as does the mizzen. All of her winches are made by Enkes although I did add a Harken self-tailing for the main halyard. She uses an unusual reel winch that's equipped with Spectra rope for furling the genoa. There's a running backstay on the mizzen mast and there are no forward lowers on the main mast. The head stay is Dyform.

I replaced the original Volvo MD40A six-cylinder diesel with a Beta Marine 90 and I've been very happy with it although it puts out nowhere near 90 HP - probably 70 is more like it. Regardless, it's adequate and very economical on fuel. I also replaced the original Westerbeke 6kw genset with a single-cylinder Kubota diesel that drives a 150-amp alternator. Since we switched over to 12-volt refrigeration, we no longer have any 110-volt appliances on board, other than the water heater. Since the new Beta Marine engine has two big alternators (one is 100 amps and the other 175), we have our Victron inverter/charger power the water heater when we're under power (we don't have engine coolant circulate through the water heater).

Rutea's layout down below is different from many boats of her size. Aft of her water-tight forward bulkhead is a 'wet' head, complete with two sinks. Aft of that are two cabins, both with bunk beds on either side of the boat and each has a door to the forward head. This was perfect when we cruised with our family as our 3 children had their own quarters. The main saloon occupies the area aft of the forward cabins and her dinette and settees are large enough to seat 10 people (we've had many a memorable meal here!). Under the cabin sole are two 90-gallon stainless steel fuel tanks. Under the settee seats on either side is a 120-gallon water tank, also made of stainless steel. On the starboard side, aft of the dinette is the foward-facing nav station and on the port side is the galley where we have a 7 cubic foot refrigerator and a 5 cubic foot freezer. Aft of the nav station, on the starboard side is my work shop. This was originally designed to be another stateroom but the original owner had Conyplex convert it into a work shop, complete with a heavy-duty work bench and a massive 6" vise. I sometimes spend days at a time in there. Many a visiting cruiser has eyed with envy, drooled with desire and blatantly coveted my work shop! I have access to the engines from there. On the port side, aft of the galley, is another 'wet' head. Aft of that is the aft cabin, which has a settee as well as a full double-size berth. Aft of the aft cabin or 'owner's stateroom' as it's called on many boats, is her spacious lazarette, which is where the water heater and diesel-fired boiler are located. Bolted to the back of the aft deck and overhanging the transom are her Simpson davits (I sometimes tell people that the boat was built around those davits - they're very substantial with a capacity of 250 Kgs). Resting on top of the davits are Ruthie's roto-molded kayak and above that are two 215-watt solar panels. Hanging off the davits is our Aqua Pro dinghy and it's 15-horsepower Honda outboard.

On deck, starting at the bow, is Rutea's primary anchor, a Bruce 30 kilogram that's connected to the 350' of 3/8" Hi-Test chain with a Wasi Powerball. The anchor and chain are deployed and retrieved by a Lofrans Progress II windlass. In the anchor locker lives another Bruce 20kg anchor that's connected to 50' of 3/8" Hi-Test chain and 150' of 1" MegaBraid rope. Also in the anchor locker, amongst many other things, is the 18' Para-Tech sea anchor with it's dedicated 100' of 1" single-braid rope. Moving aft is Rutea's main mast, which has double spreaders, four Enkes winches and one Harken self-tailing winch. The mast is made by Selden as are the two heavy spinnaker poles. The tracks for the staysail and the genoa are stainless steel. In the cockpit are five more Enke winches and a Harken mechanical backstay adjuster. The mizzen mast is also quite substantial and has three Enkes winches on it. The turning blocks are stainless steel. The steering system on Rutea is the Whitlock Mamba system using a torque tube and a push-pull rod. The compass in the binnacle is made by Sestrel.

Even though we try to keep up on Rutea's appearance, she's still starting to show her age. I replaced her portlights (all twelve of them) and Ruthie has taken over the job of varnishing her brightwork. In 2000 we removed her teak decks and replaced it with painted fiberglass. Much less maintenance! She's what I call a 200-foot boat: She looks great from 200 feet!

Regardless, the best part of Rutea is the way she handles. While she's not the fastest filly in the fleet, she can cover a respectable amount of distance in a day. Her sail plan allows her to be easily balanced to the point where the autopilot has very little correcting to do. Her sails are all made by North except her spinnakers are Dutch-made.

Rutea’s electronics package includes radar, chartplotter, AIS, sounder and sailing instruments - all made by Garmin. Her radios are all old but they work well. Her Icom M802 SSB has been modified to use ham frequencies.