The Sailing Brothers · video

What this video covers

Adam and Luke sail the Rival 34 from Bustard Bay to Gladstone, Queensland, to collect a new inflatable dinghy — a Briss 3.3-metre PVC tender at roughly £500 — picked up from Gato Marina.1:12 The passage covers the approach around Bustard Head, where charts show one to two knots of current, and the 15-mile run up the shipping channel into Gladstone against a four- to four-and-a-half-knot ebbing tide.2:02 Under 13 knots of wind from behind, the boat makes 6 to 6.5 knots with a reefed main.4:08 Anchoring options inside the river are limited by shallow water and a 10-minute public dock limit; the crew spends one night anyway before moving to anchor near the Gladstone coal power station, about three and a half miles from town.8:42 The new dinghy, christened Cheddar, leaks at the bung fitting due to missing silicone, fixed with Sikaflex before launch.12:32 On the water it planes more easily than the previous 2.9-metre dinghy and uses less outboard fuel.14:39 Ashore, the crew explores Gladstone by folding bike, visiting the Boyne Aluminium Smelter on Boyne Island and flying a drone over it.16:37 The practical note: a larger, lighter-hulled inflatable planes earlier and more efficiently than a smaller one, even with the same outboard.14:42

Boats in this video

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