South Australian Cruising Boat

AusCan, Hope it goes well; yes,there is a price before,and a price after survey. My mate with an 80s Resort 35 has never had osmosis.
Cresta 32, Welcome. I like them, the hull has a good reputation, looked at one at Brooklyn, before choosing a Masters 34 (my previous boat). Even suggested them to AusCan, he had already thought of them. Where do you keep her in Sydney?

BruceK said:

AusCan, Hope it goes well; yes,there is a price before,and a price after survey. My mate with an 80s Resort 35 has never had osmosis.
Cresta 32, Welcome. I like them, the hull has a good reputation, looked at one at Brooklyn, before choosing a Masters 34 (my previous boat). Even suggested them to AusCan, he had already thought of them. Where do you keep her in Sydney?

Click to expand...

Hi BruceK, thanks for the welcome, we keep her on Lane Cove River, I have only seen three other Cresta 32's around Sydney. Ours has apparently always been a petrol model, previously Chryslers. I think I would not mind I'll fitting diesels if it meant I could run over 7 knots at less than $100 an our upwards. I'll post some photos of her soon.

Cresta 32, we are on LC River too, sent you a PM.

BruceK said:

Cresta 32, we are on LC River too, sent you a PM.

Click to expand...

Wow, I think I recognise your boat from the picture, i'm sure I saw her today as we passed ! We are Lane Cove River South, right up near Hunters Hill High School.

Cresta32 said:

Wow, I think I recognise your boat from the picture, i'm sure I saw her today as we passed ! We are Lane Cove River South, right up near Hunters Hill High School.

Click to expand...

Amazing, you would see her as you pass , our moorings are about 1km apart! Friday I was onboard, saw a yacht (sailboat) aground on its side, towards you, you would know the channel well, if I come up for a look it will be on the tide. Must be ok though,I see a Clipper and a Steber up near you.

Hey guys,
Survey is done, All looks good, and the deal is done.
Took her out yesterday for a sea trial. She ran beautifully. About a 15 knot wind blowing so we raised the sails to (literally) blow the cobwebs out of her. She handled it nicely. She sometimes needed a bit of engine power when tacking but sailed nicely at about 4 knots downwind and even made slow headway upwind, which was better than I expected.
Hull was fine. No blisters, damage or apparent water ingress.
The only apparent work required is a new prop (still has original) and new mast/sail rigging. The small bow windows could use new seals, but overall, she is in very tidy condition.
I'm going to get the work done in Paynesville, Victoria before shipping it to Adelaide by truck. There isn't much for support services where I plan on mooring her so whereas Paynesville has quite a thriving boating industry.
Can't wait to get her home though.

AusCan said:

we raised the sails to (literally) blow the cobwebs out of her. She handled it nicely. She sometimes needed a bit of engine power when tacking but sailed nicely at about 4 knots downwind and even made slow headway upwind, which was better than I expected.
Hull was fine. No blisters, damage or apparent water ingress.
The only apparent work required is a new prop (still has original) and new mast/sail rigging. The small bow windows could use new seals, but overall, she is in very tidy condition.
.

Click to expand...

Good news. You are effectively renewing all the standing rigging but worthwhile with the real sailing ability, 4 kts downwind is good. Did you need engine to get through an upwind tack? Maybe that skill, without engine, comes with practice.

Yeah Bruce- I'm happy with what I've seen so far.
I'm replacing both the standing rigging and running rigging while I have the mast down.
The rigging hasn't been tested for quite some time. The present owner hasn't had a sail up in over 10 years.
The sail-ability of the boat really surprised me. It won't win any races, but its a great backup source of power to have. Its got a self tacking jib sail and all sheets are run to the cockpit, so its possible to single hand on a good day. The autopilot was holding well under sail. The boat also comes with a backup manual tiller which gives a better feel when sailing.
I didn't get a chance to trial her in rough water yet. That may have to wait until I get it home.

Sounds like you are in for a FUN time there AusCan. Enjoy.........hey, you've got the best of both worlds there...sails if the weather is right, and engine when it isn't. Both if really serious, and yes...built in get-home if the engine dies as well, so who needs twins eh...?

Congratulations Auscan! Great news, how nice to have a peaceful sail on a nice day as well.

Thanks PeterB & Cresta. I sure am looking forward to getting her home.
I've already reserved a berth at Glenelg, - on the Patawalonga River. Nice easy access to the Gulf of St Vincent via a lock. She's getting delivered in early March - the day after I get back from work in Iraq.

Congratulations. That will make a nice reward after your Iraq posting. I hope you get to enjoy her before the weather cools and strengthens.

Well she finally arrived, after a 2 week delay in transporting the boat from Paynesville to Adelaide.
I felt like a proud new father! We offloaded it from the truck at North Haven, set up the mast, installed the new prop and checked her over. It was getting late so had to berth her there for the night.

The next day I had a 2 hour run south to get the boat to its home berth. The wind was forecast to pick up to 25 knots by noon, so I got an early start. I had a quick play in the protection of the breakwater to get the feel of the boat, then headed out into the open water. The wind come in harder and earlier than predicted, so I ended up pushing into 6 feet of messy swell for an initiation run. It was quite a ride with a bit of water coming over the bow. The boat handled it fairly well, although I wasn't comfortable taking the swell on the beam when I wanted to enter my home berth at Glenelg. Instead, I kept taking it on the bow for another mile then turned around and surfed the swell Into Holdfast bay. The surf was breaking close to shore but the boat just loved it. With her canoe stern it felt like she was made for these conditions.

I made it into the lock and worked out the remote control system to get myself through. I entered the marina and then the fun really began. I thought – this was a really stupid thing to do solo. First attempt was too slow and the wind caught the boat as I tried to ease into my berth. I had to abandon the entry and was made to look like a fool as I was blown sideways down the aisle the length of the marina until I had enough space to turn around confidently. A bow thruster would be handy on days like this.

On the 2nd attempt I managed to get her in and tied off, although it still wasn’t pretty. *Note to self: - Have a 1st mate on hand when the wind is up.
I might have to drop some buoys in a safe place and spend some time getting a good feel of her under varying conditions.

After a few days of crawling around and getting to know the bilge and bowels of the boat, the wind dropped off and I took the wife for a short cruise. About 10 minutes out of the marina, we had a couple dolphins join us on the bow for about an hour. This sold the boat idea to my wife.

Our first overnighter was a 3 days over Easter weekend to Wirrina Cove & Second Valley (about 40 nm south of Glenelg. First day was calm and flat, an easy motor at 1800rpm / 6 knots. The wind picked up to about 10 - 20 knots coming home on Sunday. We raised the sails and shut down the noisy Volvo making 4 – 5 knots under sail despite a few improvements required to the rigging. The sails certainly reduced the rocking and rolling and made for a very comfortable cruise.

Overall – I’m super happy with my choice of boats, Thanks to everyone who helped us out during the decision making process.

Photo's coming soon.

A few photo's

Nice looking boat, dont worry about getting in sloppy on your first attempt we have all been there ourselves and it gets easier the next time out.

good on ya

A very proper boat, nice choice. I laughed reading about your docking, I had help and still needed two attempts my first time and can relate to the thruster comment. Fortunately my ego wasn't too bruised as nobody saw me drift helplessly down the fairway.

Great boat. Delivery cruises are always fun. Congrats!