Nomad Mariner

Why would you want to sail a boat other than an OK!

 

 

OK enthusiasts have again participated in a weekend of fun but hard racing. This time however a road trip was required because this weekend the racing was at the Big River Sailing Club in Northern New South Wales.

 

The Big River Sailing Club is situated on the banks of the Clarence River surrounded by the cane fields of Harwood Island. The club is quite small with a membership of just over 50, and while it’s a very family orientated club, the sailing is taken seriously and the courses are always a challenge. The river conditions too often add a unique degree of difficulty. That members take a very active role in the running of not only the races but the activities associated with the club creates a great dynamic within the members and adds to the warm atmosphere experienced by guests.

 

While in previous years the club has held an exclusive Laser-only regatta, last year OKs were invited to sail with them. One of the Big River Sailing Club’s OK sailors this year coerced other sailors from a number of other clubs to participate, and this expanded the regatta to three other classes: Sabres, Impulses and OKs. The Sabres and Impulses were no shows but the OKs arrived in force with a final fleet of 15 racing. Due to the distance most participants took time off on the Friday to make the drive of around 650 km; quite a commitment. But then again, OK sailors are a rare breed.

 

Saturday morning saw the campers wander out of their tents and slowly make ready for the days events. Club members were already there to provide a breakfast of cereal and coffee. By 1000, the club was beginning to come alive with meals being prepared, entries being taken for the regatta, people launching rescue boats and others setting out tables and chairs. Boats were in various states of being rigged while conversations were being conducted elsewhere throughout the grounds.

 

At the 1300 race briefing, the commodore welcomed everyone and laid out the law: what happens on the water stays on the water! The race officer then proceeded to explain his convoluted course to all the skippers. The river makes a full triangle course impossible. This means two things: a) more marks are required to be set; and b) the course gets pretty interesting. Navigating becomes essential and it’s easy to make a mistake.

 

The start for the first race was set for 1330 but ended up a bit later due to the length of the briefing. One good thing about racing on a river is that you are never far from the start line. The first start was tight ― as it always is with OKs ― and it was probably just as well the race officers were lenient with line breakers as a lot of boats misjudged the current and found themselves in all sorts of strife. Still, the start was fair and, as is always the case, the cream rose to the top. The wind was a nice 12 – 15 knots at most, enough to get most out hiking.

 

The first race saw Tim Davies and Darren Hunt clear out from the fleet and fight out for the win on their own. Tim eventually took the win from Darren and Peter Robinson having a well deserved third with his great off wind speed, “mind you it helped that the down wind leg was the longest and against the river current!”

The second race was held directly after the last boat finished race one. As before, the start was tight. This time, people were giving the current more respect. The race consisted of the same course, but with the windward mark being extended out further. This made for a better beat as well as testing the legs more. It also made the down wind leg even longer. So, with the tide fully flowing out, strategies for avoiding the worse of the flow were critical.

 

Once again Tim Davies took out first with his brother, Gareth Wells, showing great form taking out second. Peter Wallace took third place comfortably.

 

With the weather being perfect and still plenty of daylight left it was decided to go for a third race This time Tim Davies came second to his brother Gareth Wells who sailed a very good race. Third place went to Darren Hunt.

 

What a pleasure to be able to pull the boats out of the water and onto the clubs grounds. No de-rigging was required, just a quick wash down and check of the gear before throwing the covers over. Showers were hot and plentiful so people quickly returned to the Club’s porch with beers in hand ready to talk over the day’s fun.

 

This year marked the Big River Sailing Club introduction to “the Rum Bucket”: an event that is still new to the NSW association but fast becoming an accepted tradition.

The beauty about camping at the club is that it avoids having to drive. The end result was that much “Rum Bucketing” took place by a select few. This was offset by the club catering crew, who put on an excellent supper with lots of food. In fact, it was a credit to them that they actually managed to fill the OK lads.

 

It was to be only expected that three party animals were still up and carrying on at 03:00. In fact, they were very kind to ensure all who were camping knew this by gaining access to the Club’s portable air horn and megaphone thus keeping everyone posted on their progress.

 

The club has since decided that they would lock up all loud noisy devices for the next time!

 

Day two saw another leisurely start with the Club putting on a good cooked breakfast for all the campers. This set everyone up for the 0930 briefing and 1000 start.

 

In the first race, with the wind light from the west, there was an urgency to have the proceedings underway and finished before the sea breeze would come in and kill the wind. Start was a tough one: right in against the shore from the club. The tide was setting up river, and racers were again being forced prematurely over the line. This time though, there was no room to the right of the line to set up for a starboard lay line start as the river bank was in the way, just to make it a bit more difficult. The course was to be a simple figure eight with two laps and the wind was light. After the first two marks the boats were running against the tide. Most of the fleet headed directly across the river to the next mark and were in the strongest part of the current. Some of the tail-enders decided to sail along the near bank to avoid the worse of the current with the idea of working up parallel to the next mark before reaching across the river to it. This worked well, and for a while Bill Tyler in particular showed all how to do it. Unfortunately, the wind just died away even before Bill could make the third mark and all racers found themselves slowly sailing backwards, despite still making way through the water. Sensibly the race officers cancelled and all boats went back in to the shore for lunch and to give the sea breeze time to fill in.

 

With the breeze coming in comfortably from the East the Race officers sent racers out on the water again, this time with a new course and a goal of two races.

 

Race four saw what was to be another typically tight start, and with the nice 12-15 knot breeze the OKs quickly made their way around the course. There were plenty of shifts to contend with and a definite wind curve to take into account when crossing the river. All legs were short, and plenty of mark rounding to test skills. Race four saw Tim Davies winning his third race with Peter Robinson taking out second and Glenn Yates pulling out a creditable third.

 

Race five was held straight after Race four and all the boats headed back to the start eager to have another go. By now the wind had set in to a steady breeze, with a bit more to the north but the tide was still on the change so no allowance required. This time, Tim Davies won his fourth race, with what was becoming typical of his minimum mistakes technique. Glenn Williams pulled out a second with Eddie O’Donnell coming third.

 

With the sailing being so good there was still plenty of time. The OKs requested a sixth race to be held. This was readily agreed to by the race officers and again the boats assembled for the last start. By now the current had begun to flow out as the tide change took effect, catching a few out on the start. The race was mostly a soldiers course requiring very few tacks and just out and out boat speed required. Eddie O’Donnell came out on top with an excellent win, followed by Glenn Williams and Tim Davies pulling in a third.

 

Overall, the final results were: 1^st Tim Davies; 2^nd Gareth Wells; 3^rd Glenn Williams third. Eddie O’Donnell took out the travellers trophy as he typically has a mammoth task every time he goes sailing, not only getting his own boat ready but also his two sons as well. Frank Prater took out the sportsman award for his consistently good manners and much improved skills.

 

With the racing being so good and the club being so friendly it would be fair to say that the sailors will be making the journey again next year only this time the talk is to bring more families up and take a bit more time off to enjoy the beautiful area of the Northern Rivers.

 

 

 

 

Place	Sail No	Boat Name	Skipper	Sers Score	Race 6	Race 5	Race 4	Race 3	Race 2	Race 1
1	732	Dune Buggy	T Davies	6.0	[3.0]	1.0	1.0	2.0	1.0	1.0
2	742	Mako	G Wells	16.0	5.0	4.0	[5.0]	1.0	2.0	4.0
3	719	Dilligaf !!	G Williams	22.0	2.0	2.0	7.0	[7.0]	6.0	5.0
4	734	Cracked pepper	E O'Donnell	23.0	1.0	3.0	[14.0]	6.0	5.0	8.0
5	7	A Fine Line	G Yates	24.0	4.0	6.0	3.0	4.0	[8.0]	7.0
5	474	Smash Skippy	D Hunt	24.0	8.0	[9.0]	4.0	3.0	7.0	2.0
7	736	Agent Provokateur	P Robinson	28.0	6.0	[10.0]	2.0	8.0	9.0	3.0
8	716	Natural Selection	P Wallace	31.0	9.0	8.0	[9.0]	5.0	3.0	6.0
9	726	Bundy	P Lynch	38.0	10.0	5.0	10.0	9.0	4.0	[16.0F]
10	692	Dining with devil	B Tyler	44.0	7.0	[12.0]	6.0	10.0	10.0	11.0
11	457	Hi-Je-Tarn ii	C Lynch	53.0	[14.0]	11.0	8.0	12.0	13.0	9.0
12	695	Pale Rider	T O'Donnell	57.0	12.0	7.0	12.0	13.0	[14.0]	13.0
13	685	Once More Dear Legs	J O'Donnell	58.0	13.0	13.0	11.0	[15.0F]	11.0	10.0
14	660	Beaver Fever	J O'Donnell	61.0	11.0	14.0	13.0	11.0	12.0	[14.0]
15	679	In the Black	F Prater	75.0	16.0S	16.0C	15.0	16.0C	[16.0F]	12.0

 

No man will be a sailor.

"No man will be a sailor who has contrivance enough to get himself into jail; for being in a ship is being in a jail, with the chance of being drowned."

 

"A ship is worse than a gaol. There is, in a gaol, better air, better company, better conveniency of every kind; and a ship has the additional disadvantage of being in danger."

 

"Men go to sea, before they know the unhappiness of that way of life; and when they have come to know it, they cannot escape from it, because it is then too late to choose another profession; as indeed is generally the case with men, when they have once engaged in any particular way of life."
Boswell: Life

A nice childrens quote.

"You have brains in your head.

 You have feet in your shoes.

You can steer yourself

    any direction you choose."

 

"You're off to great places!

    Today is your day!

    Your mountain is waiting.

  So...get on your way!"

 

  Dr Seuss

You would be wrong if you think the next generation is without hope.

I find this message so simple yet so very powerful.

I hope you find it as motivating and encouraging as I do.

Of all things back in to Lasers!!

Last weekend my local sailing club the Big River Sailing Club (http://www.bigriver.yachting.org.au/), held its annual Laser regatta, for those who are not familiar with the boat check out the following you tube clip.

Note that I am not sailing in any of this video. When I was 21 I could sail like this and compete with the best but that was quite a few years ago, now I am happy to get around the course and have fun.

The week before the regatta I rang the club president and asked if he knew of anyone who had a boat I could loan for the regatta, preferably with the big rig. Within a day a boat was arranged and I was committed.
I rolled up early on the Saturday and was introduced to Colin who was the owner of the boat I was to sail. Great bloke and keen to see the boat do well as it was up for sale. This made me nervous and I had to explain to Colin that while I can sail a boat and used to be quite competitive in a laser, I had not sailed one for a long time. This did not seem to faze him much and in the end we agreed that the main idea is to have fun.
22 boats turned up at the club for the regatta and all were keen to get out on the river for a sail. The race was to be around 6 marks in a complicated zig zag and we were to do it twice. Lots of marks because the river is not that wide so to get a good race in we were going to be sailing a complex route. The wind was blowing accross the river and while on our side it was reasonably steady, I could see on the other side it was going to be light with strong gusts coming through the trees. Sky was overcast with what looked to be light showers, so they would affect the wind direction and strength as well. Quite a challenge and this my first time back in the boats, I could see that there was a very good chance of my going swimming.
At the end of the day we completed two races and I was exhausted. I capsized four times and had all sorts of boat handling problems, which absolutely drained me, but boy did I have fun! I didn't disgrace my self either finishing 5th on the first race and 7th on the second, so in the top half of the fleet and feeling pretty good about that.
I went home that night and after a long hot shower and a good meal it was not long before I was in bed feeling drained and content. Hopefully tomorrow the wind won't be so gusty and sailing will be a lot easier, don't know if I could keep up todays exertions again.
The next day it was still overcast but the rain had passed on and the wind was light. First race was away at 1000 and only 5 marks this time. Being one of the heavier sailors I did not fancy my chances sailing against all the light weights but even though I had shocking starts I quickly made my way to the front five each time and had good speed for most of the day. In fact the results show this with a 5th, 4th and another 5th. Races were quick and interesting with shifting winds and strong river currents, on the course tactics were important as in one beat I went from near last to 3rd around the next mark. Not having local knowledge I think helped as the river was not behaving as the locals predicted.
In the end I was very pleseantly suprised by finishing 3rd in the regatta and taking home a bottle of wine for my efforts. Colin was happy as his boat went well and he could use that to keep a good price on it.
Above all I had fun and revelled in the knowledge that the right decisions were slowly coming back to me. Now I just have to get the body used to sailing again, more fitness work and a lot more time on the water practising.
My OK dinghy will be in the water next weekend and I will be keen to see how it performs. I need to get it right as the following weekend it is down to Port Stephens for their regatta and there will be plenty of other OK's there as well, I want to make a good impression.

Home for November

I got off of the ship at the end of October and for once it was on the scheduled date, amazing. The swing at sea had gone relatively smoothly and I was by all accounts quite relaxed, tired but not stressed as has been the case on some swings. Good crew and good vessel really helps, I just hope that after the vessel has been in dry dock we will pick up another contract here in Australia and I can continue aboard as master.
Just as well I was rested as there was not a moment to lose when I got off. Made it home on the Thursday and stayed in my flat that night. Next morning at 0530 I was on the road south with the car packed full of friends belongings, camping gear and sailing gear. Drove down to Sydney and stayed with my friends Jon and Sandy that night, it was there belongings in the back. It was only to be a one night stay with them as I was off to South Lake Macquarie for a sailing regatta.
After a few wrong turns getting to the South Lake Macquarie Amateur Sailing Club (SLMASC) I arrived in time to set up my tent, pay my entry meet Paul who was kind enough to loan me his Ok dinghy and check out the boat. Paul's boat can be described as 'Bright' he named it 'Jesus built my Hot Rod' and I was not going to be missed out on the water.
The regatta was sponsored by Zhik (pronounced a bit like psych) and it was for single handed dinghys, so we had the full range of small boats a total of 56 of which 15 were Ok dinghys.
The format for the weekend was to be two races each day and the races were to be about 60 minutes long, so nice short fast courses, just right for me as this would be the first dinghy race I had participated in for the last 25 years.
It was strange getting in the boat again but I was able to keep up right and just in the top half of the fleet finishing what I would call a creditable 6th place for the regatta. We sailed the races in light winds around 8 - 12 knots, which allowed for me to get out hiking some times and test the legs out.
                                           
Lots of fun and the Ok people are very friendly and helpful I can understand why people who sail the boats do so for many years.
The regatta just gave me more enthusiasm and determination to get my own boat in the water ready for sailing. This was going to take time but it would be worth the effort.

On the Monday I made the long drive back home and basically crashed for the remainder of the day.

Whales

Gota love them as they migrate up from the southern oceans to where we work. Out here off of North West Cape we are in 400 + meters of water and are obviously unable to anchor. This means when the rigs do not need us we are forced to steam to weather making runs 3 – 5 nautical miles either side of the rigs. Very boring, but it does give us some time to catch up on work and to look at the whales.

The whales move in pairs usually and don’t seem to mind us out here in their play ground; it’s a pity we don’t share with the rest of the world as easily or as amicably.

What type are they? They are the whale hunter’s favourites, Southern Rights. Lovely creatures and so much a part of our world, every year I look forward to this time when they arrive. Cannot imagine what it would be like with out them, it would be a sad world should they be hunted to extinction.

My first encounter with the Southern Right whales is one that I will never forget. I was studying for my Master five skipper’s ticket, the course was being run by the Geraldton TAFE College and I was boarded there for seven weeks. Even though I was quite studious I took time off each weekend to go diving with the local dive club on their boat. I looked forward to the trip out to the reef, there was always something interesting to see and the surge from the big swell made for some interesting moments such as when a particularly large swell surged me head first towards a large wall of rock. I managed to stop a collision by putting my hands out to fend myself away. My face masked stopped a few centimetres away from a rather ugly stone fish. Very scary as they are very poisonous.

One weekend we went out but without the normal boat skipper he could not make it and one of the dive clubs members volunteered to take us out. It was a great day and the swell was moderate, we could see for miles. Unfortunately our first dive was a fizzer as by the time we anchored and put all of our gear on, the anchor had dragged. Of course we could not know that until we were on the bottom and looking around for something interesting, no such luck. I realised that the anchor had dragged and signalled for my diving buddy and I to surface. The boat was a long way from us and it was quite a swim to catch up. We made it but were both too tired to think of a second dive. The rest of the diving group managed to get back and we decided that it would be best to call it a day and head in. This was the right decision as it is never a good idea to dive in strong surge and current when you are tired at the start.

On the way back in we spotted three whales cruising along the coast in a southerly direction. The skipper hoping to make up for the disappointing first dive told all of us to get our snorkelling gear on and he would drop us off in the water before the whales. What a great idea I was soon kitted up and we were dropped off in the whale’s path. The skipper took the boat well out of the way and we waited.

At first the whales were altering course to avoid the dive boat but once it was clear they straightened up directly for us. They knew we were there as we were in a group swimming about. At first they swam to our left and began circling around in an anticlockwise direction. They were so close, we could see every detail, there were two cows and a calf gently swimming about us. to give an idea how gentle and careful they were with us one dived directly under the group and swam along the top of the reef, with the water being so shallow we could see clearly, as it passed under us I was a bit concerned with the tail sweeping up and giving us a flick, but no the whale did a half beat, never raising her tail above her body, and the tail did not come even close. What a magnificent encounter for all of us.

This of course has not been my only great encounter with the seas leviathans, there have over the years been many very memorable moments. One occasion was aboard the S.V. Tradewind in the Southern Ocean.

We were on passage from the Chatham Islands, WSW of New Zealand, to Ushuaia in Argentina via Cape Horn. It was my watch and I had a voyage crew member on the helm. The weather was cold, sky overcast with low heavy clouds and the wind on our starboard quarter blowing about force seven. Our lookout spotted a whale off to Port and immediately the word was about the vessel. People off watch below poured out on deck and my watch were dashing below to grab cameras and rushing to the rail in the hope of seeing our first whale. I did the right thing taking the helm from the voyage crew member and he dashed off to see the fun. I was very much a solitary figure at the steering station on the poop, but I think I got the best view of the whale. Our visitor first passed under the vessel to the starboard side and surfaced with every one looking to Port. Then when everyone aboard moved over to starboard the cheeky whale surfaced at our bow. This had every one in confusion, the whale again surfaced to port and then went deep. Most people stopped looking and began talking amongst themselves. I was still at the helm waiting for my watch to return and take over when all of a sudden the whale broached nearly its full length out of the water off our port bow, a magnificent sight and I am sure I was the one who had the best view. Later it was agreed that it was a young Sey whale, unfortunately no one managed to get a good photo. I however, have a great photo in my head, with that whale in full flight, the vessel under sail in the foreground and the low dark clouds meeting the dark green sea in the back ground.

Sometimes you just get lucky.

What have I done!

I am supposed to be building a house not buying a boat!

But that is exactly what I have done, A momentary lapse of reason? Maybe but one thing is for sure I have a new boat to add to my armada at home.

So what have I done and why, well a few months ago I was having a conversation with my brother, Brent, over the phone and he mentioned that he had sold his Taser dinghy and was in the market for buying another OK dinghy, which he used to sail in the early 80’s. The fact that he had just competed in the Australian International Class Regatta held at his club and won the OK dinghy class comp. in a borrowed boat, may have something to do with it. Any way by the end of our conversation it was decided that I should buy a boat and that we would both compete in the Australian National Championships that are to be held in NSW around the New Year.

Having decided to get back into dinghy racing after a break of nearly 23 years, I started on with the campaign by looking at my fitness and where I needed to focus. First off was to lose some weight and to build up muscle on the legs again. To do this I decided to spend some money on a personal trainer for a session once a week at the local gym. This proved to be an excellent idea as I was pushed to the limit and shown all sorts of interesting exercises that would achieve my aim. These exercises I could carry out at home and aboard the ship so I would be able to keep up the good work.

At the same time that I started my fitness program I also set out to buy a boat. Not easy since I have been out of the dinghy racing scene for a very long time but the OK people have a Group on facebook and I found them to be very useful. So much so that after looking at three boats and getting a feel for what is available in my price range, I bought OK 691 for a good price. I knew there was going to be work in over hauling the new vessel but was not prepared for how much.

The trip home was interesting enough as the boats last home was at Wang Wangi on Lake Macquarie just south of Newcastle. I had to first get new tires and a spare wheel for the trailer at Newcastle which set me back several hours and then drive north through an amazing amount of rain. So bad I had to pull over for breaks at about every hour and a half just to rest the eyes from the strain. Of course only the tail light on the unregistered trailer worked, so what is new there.

The boat made it back to my place in good shape and before long a place in my shed was arranged for it to live in while I did the over haul.

At first I just looked over everything, making notes and deciding how far I was going to take this. I had picked up some valuable hints and ideas from the UK website and was slowly warming up to the idea of a complete overhaul.

While I was mulling over the ideas I began to build a hiking bench to start building up my hiking endurance while I was ashore. I made the bench to the same dimensions as one side of the cockpit so that I could try placing the hiking straps in different positions. At 186 cm I am quite tall for the boat and the straps in their present position means to hike comfortably I have to have them almost bar tight. I will try them positioned a bit further towards the boats centre and see if that works.

With the straps needing to be so tight and my weight of 100 kg the points at which the straps are secured would need to be very strong and on inspection of the boat I noticed that while the fittings down aft were secured to backing ply, the ones up forward only had one bolt backed. This would need to be changed, while my hand was feeling around on the inside of the bulkheads I also noticed that none of the nuts securing any of the fittings were nyloks and they were only hand tight. The compass, an old analogue, broke free with a gentle push from the inside. After these initial investigations I basically had no choice but to strip the boat of all the fittings and begin again.

Taking off the fittings only took an hour and before long the beautiful varnished deck was clean. With a closer inspection I noticed that the last varnish job had not been done that well, in fact the person who did it failed to take the fittings off as the build up around them showed. It was also peeling off way to easy and this meant I would have to sand all the varnish work back to almost the ply and re do it all. Not a big job and I guess it is best to do it now while the fittings are off.

On reading the UK documents I noted that it was suggested to over haul the old plywood mast slide, a locator fitted to the mast step to provide adjustment, with a new plastic one. This intrigued me so I had a closer look at the mast slide and noted that it was quite chewed up on the forward edge. Now this part of the boat is very important as the whole mast is supported here. There are no stays supporting an OK mast and so the forces are extreme, particularly with the way I sail. I reached for the appropriate spanner and began to undo the nuts that held it in place, unfortunately the bolts which are normally fibre glassed in place were loose and just turned in their recesses. This was going to be a problem and access is only through a small slot, which the mast passes through the deck. I reached under the mast step to feel for the offending bolts so that I could get an idea of what is involved, when I felt something soft. Pulled my hand out to find it covered in large ants! These had set up their home under the mast step and I had rudely intruded.

I removed the ant colony and set about inspecting the step so that I could start planning on a repair. Something very strong but light was required and preferably simple to complete.

I had only another day before I was due to go back to work for five weeks so decided to clean up what I had done to date and leave the rest until I returned. Never a bad idea to take a break and apply the thinking cap, after all I had managed to find a good boat and I would not want a rush job as I could never be happy with that.

So I have a new boat and I cannot go out and play on it until I make all the repairs to my satisfaction. To make things more complicated when I next get home I will be starting to build my house, which will take up a lot of my time and energy, so slowing the work on the OK.

One thing is for sure I don’t get bored.

If you would like to see what I have got myself in for, there is a great video of the world championships held in NZ around the mid 70’s and while the boats and gear look old (cutting edge back then) they are essentially the same as today. So click on here and watch.

Financial Nightmare.

If a second of time was one unit

Then

One million units would be approximately eleven days thirteen hours forty six minutes and forty seconds.

One billion units would be thirty one years two hundred and fifty nine days one hour forty five minutes and five seconds

One Trillion units would be more than thirty thousand years!

U.S. NATIONAL DEBT 

The Outstanding Public Debt as of 01 Apr 2008 at 10:46:55 AM GMT is:

 

The estimated population of the United States is 303,728,171
so each citizen's share of this debt is $30,994.04.

A family of four would then owe $123,976.16

The National Debt has continued to increase an average of
$1.65 billion per day since September 29, 2006!

Which means each citizen would owe a further $5.43 per day

or 21.72 for a family of four per day.

Pretty scary stuff !

Trees !

I have been home now for about 12 days now and have spent a lot of that time cleaning up the property, mostly cutting grass.
Over the years I have been steadily planting trees, sometimes it may only be 4 or 5 when I am home. Other times it could be as many as 30 + depending on what is happening in other parts of my life. I have had mixed success with the trees and as most are ones that have been given to me I am fairly philosophical about it. Last time I was home the river had flooded and areas of my property which is flood plain were under water. With all the rain the property never really dried out and the wettest areas were of course where I planted my last lot of trees, all 24 of them. Some just didn't survive and there is nothing but a bare patch surrounded by meter high grass. Others have absolutely thrived and you can see that they have doubled in size over the last three months, just fantastic. What is really amazing is there are a couple of trees that I thought were absolutely gone and I would be re planting there. But on looking closer this is not to be as amongst all the grass, when it is carefully cleared away, there is regrowth occuring, how it gets enough light or space I just don't know but there you are nature is tough on its plants and they in turn are fighters.
Should be planting about another 20 trees and shrubs this time home and that will probably be the last big push for a while as then it will be time to focus on building the house. Aside from that my source of free seedlings will be moving south for good, which is a real shame as I like the people but we all have to follow our dreams.