Aussie Daysailer up for grabs

[brad]

Greetings from south of the Equator
I recently posted some photos of an Aussie Daysailer(Cool Change) that I have been restoring - love the boat and really enjoy getting it on the water.
I knew there were one or two Daysailers around down here - but was surprised to see this in a local website:

http://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/sunnyban ... 1010197460

Any takers? ( shipping costs could be an issue!)
Anyway - will post a few photos over summer to make sure you guys don't forget the joy of sailing over winter.
Its warm down here - 33c (100 in your speak) at 3.30 pm today, tomorrow is forecast to be cooler at 92F. (Brisbane, SE Queensland)
Have really appreciated this site - most helpful in restoring my boat
(Don't know if you guys are aware but we also buy aerosol cans of fake snow down here to spray on windows for a wintry white Christmas)

[crocster57]

Hi Brad,

I just found your post. The Gumtree Daysailer ad you link to is for my boat. I've owned it for about 10 years. Always wondered how it came to be in Australia and how many more there might be here. Mine is a lapsed restoration project I'm afraid and so I'm hoping to find a good home for it here. Thankfully I've had good interest from a couple of people looking to finish the project off. It's a lovely boat with, hopefully, years of life left.

I'm in Brisbane. Where are you based. I'd love to see the photos you refer to. Could you post the link again?

Cheers

Peter

[brad]

hi Peter
PM sent
Brad

[graham5494]

Gidday Brad and others.
I have bought the Daysailer 1 from Peter . I am located in Clontarf 4019 , Brisbane , Australia. I plan to restore the boat to as near standard as possible , lack of funds may make that a slow process . Mine has a metal centreboard have any others ? If so are there any standardised tackle arrangements to lift the board ? Are there any other Daysailers out there in Australia ? I did spot a brown coloured one some time ago on the Trading Post site.

[graham5494]

Australian Daysailer DS1 . - graham5494

I had not realised just how rare the Australian Daysailers are . I include a picture of my own , purchased recently from Peter and another one that I spotted in July2009 on the (Australian) Trading Post website . I wondered whether the TP one was the basis for Brad's boat .
I cannot find any numbers inside the hull of my own . Mine has a steel centreboard (centerboard) , it has an aluminium mast support bolted to the mast foot under the cabin roof . The bottom of the support sits on a semicircular section of glassfibre . I note that this glass re-enforcing is different to other DS1's that I have seen . The sails with the boat were made locally by Geo Manders a sailmaker from Brisbane , Australia .
Interestingly s/s fittings on the boat are marked with Fico and Ronstan Australia brands . The implication here is either a re-fit or , manufacture here in Australia .
Hopefully the history of Aussie daysailers may be discovered.

graham5494

Mast support base detail Australian DS1

Daysailer graham5494.jpg (141.67 KiB) Viewed 15389 times

[DSGregLS]

Hi Graham, I now own that boat and would love to discuss its history with you. Is it really called 'Cool Change'? Could you send me a PM or would we be able to talk on phone?
Cheers Greg

[Damian]

Hi Brad, i now own that orange DS1. Purchased it around the time of that picture from John Crawford Marine, Tingalpa (Brisbane). I sail it mainly around Moreton Bay with my kids (usually 3-4 day stints) and have ventured up to Fraser a couple of times. I'm actually planning do some sailing up north around the Whitsundays pretty soon. The boat has a steel centreboard and i am just in the process of rigging up the spinnaker. I have made a boom tent for it and two bunks out of ply that stow up the front when not in use.

[carl10579]

Nice boat. Your DS1 looks a lot different then then one I have (next up for a restoration). You say you go out with your kids for 2 to 3 day stints? Would that be sail camping? Sounds like fun. Hoping to try that around here but it's pretty populated in the NY area. And my kids are grown.

My DS1 has the vee hull shape into the bow with a bulkhead near the front with 2 small access hatches. The front of the centerboard tunnel has wooden boards like an extension of the seat supporting lateral loads from the centerboard, through the CB tunnel and into the seat. Around the rail is a wooden back rest. Your looks so cleaner.

I wonder if you have a DS-III?

Anyway, I am planning on taking my other boat, a DS-II out on the mighty Hudson after work today. I work mid-nights.

Carl

[Damian]

actually im not really sure if its a DS1,2 or 3. I have had a look around and can see that DS1's do not have a closed in cuddy whereas the DS2 and 3 appear to have partly closed in cuddy's? this is why i assume mine is a DS1...

yes it is camping and we sleep on board. i will get a pic of the bunk panels next time i have them up but have included a pic of what it looks like under the boom tent (without the bunks set-up). I have never been over to NY but through google earth it looks like there is plenty of awesome sailing up on the lakes to the northwest or even the water body to the east! is it New jersey Harbor?

[carl10579]

On second look, it looks like you have a nicely modified DS1. Not that I'm anything close to an expert. I haven't even sailed mine yet! But I have 2 of them. Yours has a raised flat floor and a higher raised floor in the cuddy. My DS1 does not. It has only minimal floatation and there is no raised floor at all. You also have cutouts and blocking for wood bracing notched into the seats like my DS1.

My DS2 is on a trailer ready to go. Was going to try it out in the Hudson River near Croton-On-Hudson. Zoom in to Georges Island Park. But an ambitious trip would be from Mystic CT to Block Island in the Long Island Sound for an overnight or two.

What I would really love to do is sail up the coast from the Carolina's riding the sea breeze and taking a couple of weeks to do it. Bucket list! I read about a guy once who spent a summer on a Sunfish sailing from Key West Florida to someplace in New England and camping along the way. This was in the 1970's when there were less people and America was still the land of the free. But I would still like to try it. Who knows.

But the Hudson this weekend for sure.

What waters do you ply?

Carl

[Solarwinds]

I aspire to overnnight on my DS1 and am very interested in seeing pictures of your bunks. Please post.

[Solarwinds]

In the picture with the young lady reading by a headlamp, I think I see that the block on your Crosby rig going to your mainsheet is not knotted.
Is it free? And if it is, how do you bring it to the centerline when you're close hauled?

[Damian]

Carl the trip up from the The Carolina's would be magic! Looks like plenty places to tuck in for the night. Mostly i sail in Moreton Bay which is also very beautiful and surprisingly secluded given how close it is to Brisbane. Anchored on the western side of Moreton Island you always get amazing sunsets over the water - something a little different for us East Coasters. My bucket list DS adventure is to sail Brisbane to Cairns up the inside of the Great Barrier Reef.

Solarwinds yes the main does at the moment run free and the only way to bring it to the middle (or close to the middle) is to pull down hard on the main sheet. Funny you mention that, and this is mainly why i recently found the DS forum. I was looking up how to rig one of these boats - found info here https://www.daysailer.org/Rigging-Guide. I was a little concerned with windward performance so when i fix the problem you mention i hope it is better... Another thing i have been struggling with and which has also prevented good windward performance (i think) is the position of the blocks where the jib sheets are cleated to the deck. they appear to be too far out to the side and on other DS's that i have seen in this forum have the block positioned in further on the seat back. Rather than moving the current jib blocks i am going to try a technique i discovered on the rigging guide using "barber in-hauler". I hope this will help improve the windward performance. You can see the current jib sheet blocks are close to the outside edge of the boat in the pic...

I have included a pick of the plywood bunks i have made for your interest. There are three boards that i use for comfortable sleeping. Two go either side of the centreboard housing and one straddles the gap across the seats aft of the centreboard housing. They are held in place by small timber lugs glued just below top of the seat to make the board and seat flush. I actually made a fourth to cover the cap even further back but have found that it is not needed. I use a swag (canvas bivvy bag) that has mosquito protection if needed which it generally is where i live in the sub-tropics.

[Solarwinds]

Thanks for the pic, Damian, I have to get to work on that project, even if I never overnite, I could take a serious nap.

[carl10579]

Maiden Voyage a success! Very stable boat. Centerboard ropes and cable worked just fine. Sailed from Georges Island to near Croton Point and back. Went through some good sized wakes from passing cabin cruisers and the hull didn't even slap.
The boat feels much heavier than it is. Very relaxing. Hoping to go again this Friday too (with more wind).

Comparing it to the DS-I. The DS-I seems to be built a little tougher. The deck is thicker and doesn't give at all under foot where the DS-II flexes a little. I'm still in the decision mode. I want a pretty nice one to keep for a while and although I have too of them now I found another DS-II with no damage but missing parts that I can get really cheap and also a DS-I that seems to be a trailer queen and looks to be parked 20 years or more in a friends, neighbors back yard (never painted and still has the wood trim). I think that's the one I would like to invest in. So I might end up with 4 of them. But how will I sail them all when my wife runs away? (Actually I would give one away and sell the other 2.)

Anyway, I will be looking at Google Earth at your area.