The Old Sea Dog nears Australia!

[MalcolmP]

Anyone keep their boat near Bundaberg, Queensland? My cousin Barry Perrins, is just off the tip of Fraser Island and should be into Bundaberg within the next 24 hours.

Barry aka The Old Sea Dog, you may know from his videos www.youtube.com/@adventuresofanoldseadog

If you are in the area do pop in to see him, he is a real character to say the least. Say hi from me and Eileen.

[ianf]

I'm a YouTube subscriber to adventures of an old sea dog. Barry must have been without good internet service for a while as last I heard he was struggling north to get to Fiji. Hopefully we will get an update soon when I can tell him about a wonderful (and cheap) seafood restaurant overlooking the river in Bundaberg.
He can also have a night-time guided trip to the beach to watch turtles laying their eggs  

[MalcolmP]

Nov 29, 2022 11:21:54 GMT ianf said:

I'm a YouTube subscriber to adventures of an old sea dog. Barry must have been without good internet service for a while as last I heard he was struggling north to get to Fiji. Hopefully we will get an update soon when I can tell him about a wonderful (and cheap) seafood restaurant overlooking the river in Bundaberg.
He can also have a night-time guided trip to the beach to watch turtles laying their eggs  

Thanks ianf

He does have a Predict Wind tracker at: forecast.predictwind.com/tracking/display/SV_WhiteShadowofPoole/

His current passage is from Vanuatu to Bundaberg.

Sure he would love recommendations of what to do and see in Bundaberg, anything to keep him off Pizza and beer!

cheers Malcolm

[eoin2020]

Nov 29, 2022 11:04:36 GMT MalcolmP said:

Anyone keep their boat near Bundaberg, Queensland? My cousin Barry Perrins, is just off the tip of Fraser Island and should be into Bundaberg within the next 24 hours.

Barry aka The Old Sea Dog, you may know from his videos www.youtube.com/@adventuresofanoldseadog

If you are in the area do pop in to see him, he is a real character to say the least. Say hi from me and Eileen.

He is a character 😂, I do look forward to his videos. 

[MalcolmP]

Thanks Eoin

There are strong winds forecast, he has just updated his position, about 40 miles to go to the river, but has engine issues and his heavy steel 36 footer doesn't go very fast at the best of times, currently only making 2 knts...in 9 knts true.

Will be glad when he is safe in harbour. Malcolm

[MalcolmP]

Looks like the wind arrived before he could get in unfortunately. Looks like he is running downwind, IE north in about 25 knots, wind not forecast to moderate until the weekend....

[MalcolmP]

Quick update. Barry is now safely moored in www.bundabergportmarina.com.au/

His approach was not though without some drama. He had arrived off the tip of Fraser Island just at the time that the strong southerly winds arrived, inevitably with his slow boat he was unable to make a safe approach into the Burdett River and his engine is temperamental to say the least .

Result was he overshot the entrance and was being pushed north, although he was minimising his speed the wind was consistently over 25 knts and he would have been unable to beat back to the entrance.

I presume Queensland Rescue was also monitoring his progress (or lack of..) as he has working AIS transponder plus tracker and presumably they asked him if he wanted assistance. The wind would not moderate until past the weekend, by which time he would be many miles north.

So late last night (Queensland time) Bundy Rescue towed Shadow and Barry into harbour.

I am so grateful to the rescue services as no doubt Barry is (he was a member of the Plymouth RNLI boat for many years).

Great result.

[rene460]

Glad that he arrived safely Malcolm.

What are his next plans?

rene460

[MalcolmP]

Dec 1, 2022 10:26:43 GMT rene460 said:

Glad that he arrived safely Malcolm.

What are his next plans?

rene460

Many thanks Rene460

Knowing Barry, think it will be sleep, then beer, then pizza in that order!

He will have work to do on White Shadow as he needs new batteries and his engine is far from reliable. His sister Tina is planning to come out to visit him, so guess he will be in Bundy for several months until after the cyclone season. Not quite sure of his route, but guess north to Darwin then via Indonesia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Madagascar, Cape Town, Brazil, Caribbean, USA, Azores and eventually home to Plymouth... looks a long way just typing it guess it will be several years yet!

cheers Malcolm

[MalcolmP]

The volunteer rescue boat has some video of them going to his assistance in the night then the tow back into Bundaberg on Facebook, brave people!

www.facebook.com/search/top?q=volunteer%20maritime%20rescue%20bunderburg

[shenandoah]

Malcolm,
I follow your cousin Barry, he is great. But White Shadow is what we would call in the States a POS. It won't move with less than 18 knots and at 25 knots he is having to run down wind. At 25 knots on our 440 I'm smiling ear to ear and wondering when to put in the 2nd reef. 

You need to get your cousin into a Jeanneau.  

Warm regards,

Chuck

[MalcolmP]

Dec 1, 2022 18:35:30 GMT shenandoah said:

Malcolm,
I follow your cousin Barry, he is great. But White Shadow is what we would call in the States a POS. It won't move with less than 18 knots and at 25 knots he is having to run down wind. At 25 knots on our 440 I'm smiling ear to ear and wondering when to put in the 2nd reef. 

You need to get your cousin into a Jeanneau.  

Warm regards,

Chuck

Thanks Chuck

Yes agree, downwind in a modern two rudder boat is an enjoyable breeze. Barry wanted a steel boat for his around the world adventure, we have been aboard and she is very smart, a Van de Stadt 36, professionally built, unlike many steel yachts, but was not galvanized so rust is a perpetual issue. Barry has said when he gets home he plans to go for Fibreglass, so who knows?

Cheers Malcolm

[shenandoah]

She is a tank and will keep him safe, but she goes so slow she has to be a tank. Anyway, he is entertaining. 

[Charlie-Bravo]

Excuse my ignorance but what is a POS?

I have sailed a few tubs, some of which only ever seemed to want to go down wind, far worse than Barry’s.

Barry is out there, on a limb, on the edge, going places most wouldn’t dream of attempting, and seemingly quite calm about it all, in short, a remarkable man …… possibly mad.

My Grandfather always said “never go to sea without an onion” good to see a quantity swinging above the helm, they make anything tasty.

No reasonably rational person would head off alone over these seas, but those who do (and survive to tell the tale) will have lived life to the full.
Perhaps he should consider a junk rigged folk boat , it would suit his style.

Another Grandfather tip, is to always crush egg shells, as witches use un crushed egg shells as boats to go to sea and brew up storms !
possibly superstitious, but I do crush …….. just in case, please pass the tip to Barry, it might improve the weather.

Respect
CB

[Zanshin]

Dec 1, 2022 20:47:03 GMT Charlie-Bravo said:

Excuse my ignorance but what is a POS?

Piece Of S*it

[eoin2020]

Dec 1, 2022 9:24:10 GMT MalcolmP said:

Quick update. Barry is now safely moored.......

.................I am so grateful to the rescue services as no doubt Barry is (he was a member of the Plymouth RNLI boat for many years).

Great result.

Yeah glad Barry is safe and happy and washing the pizza slices down with beer 😁😉

[jy51]

Like many here I subscribe to Barry's YouTube site and look forward to his postings of this latest escapade.  

Many thanks Maicolm for keeping us informed, so pleased to hear he is safe.

[MalcolmP]

Dec 2, 2022 9:06:02 GMT jy51 said:

Like many here I subscribe to Barry's YouTube site and look forward to his postings of this latest escapade.  

Many thanks Maicolm for keeping us informed, so pleased to hear he is safe.

Thanks JY51

This is the report from the Volunteer Marine Rescue of the incident.

Note both the length of the rescue time and the wave heights. Amazing service.



VMR assists overseas yacht in rough seas

At 16:15 on Wednesday our Duty Skipper was advised by the radio room that a 38’ overseas yacht with 1 POB may require assistance to navigate the Burnett River channel as he could not start the engine. A rescue crew was placed on standby, but then not required as a trawler had offered assistance. At 18:07 VMR Bundaberg was activated as the trawler had been unsuccessful (after 5 attempts) to secure the yacht in rough seas. Thanks to the trawler crew for the assistance offered to a fellow mariner in need.

Bundy Rescue 2 was then activated and departed Base at 18:40 to chase down the yacht which was making way to the north at up to 3 knots under bare poles as a strong wind warning was still current. The rendezvous took place 24 nm north of Burnett Heads in seas up to 3.5m (over 4m had been recorded at the Wave Monitoring Buoy). The rough conditions resulted in breakage of two tow ropes and all heaving lines being on the yacht. What was Plan B? Sail north with the sea to Gladstone? This was attempted but a trailing rope had fouled the yacht’s rudder, so the skipper did not have full maneuverability. Plan C – Another tow rope was constructed from spare anchor hawser and a heaving line from light rope and a half full water bottle. After 1 hour of trying to hook up, the tow was under way at 23:20.

The heavy sea state and not wishing to break another tow line restricted tow speed to about 3 knots. See photos and videos of the challenging conditions. Bundy Rescue 2 entered the channel at 07:00.

The plan was to anchor the vessel downstream of the marina for later movement to the marina for clearance by Border Force and repairs. However, the anchor restraining mechanism was damaged by the pounding sea, so a marina berth was eventually negotiated, with berthing at 09:00.

The yacht’s skipper was a former member of the British RNLI, a sister marine rescue organisation and was well prepared for the tow.

The crew returned to Base at 09:35 after a 15 hour and 56 nm activation to be welcomed by a washdown / refuelling crew and a cooked breakfast (thanks guys).



Crew: Graham K (Skipper), Peter W, Brian & Jo, John M and Rod. Radio room: Roger C, Jimmy and Ross.

Photos: See separate video posts. Wave heights, It rained for 12 hours, Tow in the dark, Morning shows sea state.

More images and video at: www.facebook.com/VMR.Bundaberg/

[eoin2020]

It's a sobering thought watching the videos and seeing the pictures of the scene. The actual real life experiences though, can be lost on those that don't own boats or have never been underway.

Well done to the rescue crews and well done to Barry👏, glad this story had a happy ending.

[NZL50505]

It looks like one of the worst boats I’ve ever seen sailing.

We see shots of what looks like perfect sailing conditions - off the wind in 12-15kts under full sail - and instead of cracking along at 6kts he seems to be wallowing around at about 3!

I’m surprised because VdS are obviously great pedigree boats. So what’s the issue? Are his sails bad? Or the boat? Or his sailing skills? Surely a 36ft boat should make better speeds despite being heavy steel!

[MalcolmP]

Dec 17, 2022 3:39:10 GMT NZL50505 said:

It looks like one of the worst boats I’ve ever seen sailing.

We see shots of what looks like perfect sailing conditions - off the wind in 12-15kts under full sail - and instead of cracking along at 6kts he seems to be wallowing around at about 3!

I’m surprised because VdS are obviously great pedigree boats. So what’s the issue? Are his sails bad? Or the boat? Or his sailing skills? Surely a 36ft boat should make better speeds despite being heavy steel!

I don't disagree about Van de Stadt design skills, but the Seal 36 is quite a short boat to be built in steel, so is relatively heavy for the length. She was professionally built, so made of rolled steel, not hard chine like many home built Seal 36's. I wonder if they over engineered her making her even more heavy. White Shadow also has a fixed prop, Barry does have scuba gear, but I know he has still had quite a few issues with marine growth, which certainly doesn't help.

He had a new mainsail made in New Zealand, but think the genoa is still an original Jeckells. He has been sailing a long time and whilst probably doesn't have the patience or energy to keep tweaking the boat to get the maximum speed, he certainly knows what he is doing. I think he has learnt to be cautious and being single handed probably means he will tend to go slow if there is any question about weather, especially at night.  

He has just put up his latest video of the final passage into Fiji a couple of months ago at: 

This does have quite a few shots of White Shadow under full sail and to my eye at least the sails look like they are still reasonable. I have been on White Shadow and whilst she is now certainly aging after 6 years of his voyaging, in essence she is still a good workhorse. Although Barry has said when he gets back to Plymouth he will look for a Fibreglass replacement.

Just a personal view but I suspect that the fear of all the containers and junk in the sea was the reason Barry wanted a steel hull, but undoubtedly he would have made much faster times with a glass boat.

He seems to remain amazingly stoic in really demanding conditions and I really applaud him for the tenacity in sticking with his long held aims and dreams.

Malcolm

[NZL50505]

I agree he has tenacity when many others would have have given up, got off and left the boat with the nearest sales broker.

Seriously, many people get part way around the world and only then realise their choice of boat isn’t the right one. Whereupon they sell and either buy a plane ticket home or search for the right boat.

So I’m surprised he’s realised he wants out of White Shadow but is still willing to sail her all the way back to Britain. Maybe it’s a budget thing - but having such a slow boat is seriously demoralising especially when you see your cruising friends in ‘normal’ boats making passage 50% faster!

[Don Reaves]

Barry released the YouTube video showing his approach into Australia about a day ago. (I don't do Facebook, so don't have real time access to his adventures.) It certainly looked like a harrowing experience, and I was glad that he finally decided to call for help.

Given that he knows his boat is so slow, I'm surprised that he delayed his departure from the previous islands as late as he did. He even commented that the other cruisers had already left.

[MalcolmP]

Hi Don

His troubles unfortunately are still not over. He had a very slow journey up the barrier Reef, and eventually crossed to Gove in Queensland. He then cleared out of Gove heading initially for Lombok, Indonesia. But again the weather wasn't playing ball.

So he drifted for many days, all the time running down his food and water supplies.

In his own words in a email to me, you will see he was getting to his wits end....

Quote:
Am out at sea a few miles from Darwin. I had got turn around as I was becalmed for over 20 days! Not a breath of wind to move the boat. Been 34c in the boat everyday while just sitting still on a mirror sea. Originally I couldn’t make Saumlaki as the wind was coming from that direction. Decided too go back to the original plan and try for Lombok with a midway stop at Kupang on Timor island. Got 170nm toward Kupang mostly by drifting.



By now supplies of water and food would become critical after another 3 weeks. If a no wind situation was to continue I’d be in trouble.



Decided to turn back and ‘drift’ back to Darwin as it was the closest point of safety 170nm. Been in touch with their boarder control aircraft over the last few weeks so they know my situation.




Waiting for the sun now then in to port in the morning. I’ll fire this off as soon as I get internet so I’ll be closer then. Hope port and customs tomorrow.



Had a big blow a few days ago that blew out my foresail, got ripped to buggery and a hole in it the size of a car!! Down to the main and staysail now. At least that all kick started the breeze that Im moving with now.



Very tired but well. Had an ear infection, broke a tooth and a toe !! Lots of sweat sores but all good. Looking forward to pizza (if they let me back in !!).


End of Quote

So if anyone happens to be around Darwin at the moment, please do look him up and give him some moral support if possible. Of course Cyclone season is just yet another worry, so hopefully the Australian Customs will take pity on this wandering Pom.

Thanks Malcolm

[Chris Meyer]

Nov 29, 2022 11:04:36 GMT MalcolmP said:

Anyone keep their boat near Bundaberg, Queensland? My cousin Barry Perrins, is just off the tip of Fraser Island and should be into Bundaberg within the next 24 hours.

Barry aka The Old Sea Dog, you may know from his videos www.youtube.com/@adventuresofanoldseadog

If you are in the area do pop in to see him, he is a real character to say the least. Say hi from me and Eileen.

Just watched Barry's Youtube video of this storm and rescue.   When Barry said 'I am scared', you know it is bad.

I really enjoy watching these videos and it reminds me never to attempt what he has done.   I will stick to sailing on the Great Lakes!