Cruising Helmsman – June 2017

original junk rig. Port Douglas was also the

departure point for several delightful day-sails

to picture postcard Low Isles, including with my

son who had missed out on my first incarnation

as a sailor all those years ago before he was born.

My return to the sea has provided the

opportunity to spend treasured times af loat with

old friends and fellow ancient mariners, some of

whom I may otherwise have lost touch with.

Sharing a spinnaker run through the sheltered

waters of the Hinchinbrook Channel, or taking

in the vista of sea and islands from the Dunk

Island summit, or a morning spent soaked to

the skin while motor sailing into a tropical

downpour, or successfully navigating the

foaming surf of the Johnstone River bar at 12

knots with less than a metre of water below,

these are experiences that nourish human bonds

too often frayed by time and distance.

From time to time I have berthed Placebo in

marinas in Rosslyn Bay, Innisfail, Cairns and

Port Douglas to luxuriate in hot showers and

rendezvous with new crew. These occasions

revealed two truths about Placebo: she

appears tiny and fragile compared to many of

the swanky and spacious vessels that inhabit

marinas and it can be tricky and stressful to

manoeuvre a multihull powered by a single

fixed outboard among all these high-value

inhabitants, especially in windy conditions.

I could not do much about Placebo’s d i m i nut ive

status, but I did radically improve her slow speed

manoeuvrability by linking the outboard via clip-

on lines to the tiller through pulleys at the aft end

of each ama. When the lines are clipped on, the

outboard rotates when the tiller is moved, thereby

aligning the direction of propulsion with the

rudder, yielding spectacularly enhanced control

and stress-reduction.

REFLECTIONS

Six years after purchasing Placebo I can now

ref lect on what this return to the sea has

meant to me.

It has reconnected me with the wilderness

of the sea, marine life, the gorgeous islands of

the Great Barrier Reef and with some of the

coastal Aboriginal groups who are involved

in environmental management of the region

through Indigenous Protected Areas and

Indigenous ranger programs.

It has provided memorable times with

family and friends, enjoying shared

experiences free from the time-constrained,

screen-plagued obsessions and the general

stresses of urban living. Most of all it has

allowed my identity as a sailor to re-emerge:

an altogether satisfying phenomenon.

I have also learned a lot about the unique

combination of multihulls and trailer sailers

embodied by a Farrier TT680. Like many before

me, as a former monohull sailor I have been

converted by the stability and pace of multihulls,

especially in the shallow waters and anchorages

of the Coral Sea. I have also enjoyed the greatly

expanded cruising grounds made accessible by

being able to launch Placebo at many locations

RIGHT: Keeping

an eye on Placebo

from the bar at

Fitzroy Island.

OPPOSIE PAGE:

Placebo anchored

off Wheeler Island,

in the Family

Island group.

42

Cruising Helmsman June 2017

REFLECTIONS