Mainsheet November 2010

M A I N S H E E T

The Official Publication of the

Nedlands Yacht Club (Inc)

The Esplanade

Nedlands

Western Australia 6009

Ph: 9386 5496 Fax: 9386 5821

Editors: Barrie & Bev Dimond

(email: [email protected])

November 2010

Evelyn Doernberg and crew, Rose Murray, racing on the Swan River Sunday 14th November. For more pic-tures of racing on November 14th visit the website. A CD of photos is available at the office thanks to Gary Howlett who took photos while on a support boat.

Next Mainsheet Deadline: Friday January 28th 2011 Please email all submissions to the editor at: [email protected] For any Mainsheet queries, please contact Barrie or Bev Dimond on: 9332 6906

Coming Events

Sunday 12th December Championship Dinner

Sunday 19th December Cruiser Marathon

Sunday 19th December Act Belong Commit Try Sailing 10.30 to

12.00

Sunday 23rd January 2011 Championship Dinner

Sunday 6th February 2011 Short Course Regatta Day 2

Sunday 20th February 2011 HMAS Perth Memorial Regatta

NYC Website Information: www.nyc.org.au

NYC Email Address: [email protected]

NYC Website Email Address: [email protected]

Mainsheet on-line Back copies of Mainsheet are available at the NYC website.

Go to www.nyc.org.au and select Newsletters from the

Club Information Menu.

OOD duties coming up? Why not check out the current OOD guidelines for members

available from the NYC web site? Go to www.nyc.org.au and select Cluub Documents from the Club

Information Menu, then choose Club Policies and Prccedures. There you will find the latest information on Officer of the

Day Duties.

Page 2 November 2010


Commodore’s Report

We are already a third of the way through the summer sailing season! I hope you have all enjoyed the sailing thus far, even though we have had some pretty blowy Sundays and some damage to both boats and sailors. With masts replaced and boats repaired, we hope to see the sailors back on the water soon and in particular we wish Stuart Collison’s ankle a speedy recovery. As I write this I am looking forward to today’s first round of the NYC Short Course Regatta. It is always a great event and an opportunity to practise in the first race what you need to get right for the second and third race. It is

just a pity that all the other skippers and crews have the same chance to improve! As an invitation regatta for cruisers and Sports Boats, it is a great day on the water. The second round of the Short Course Regatta is scheduled for the 6 February 2011. NYC is having a cruise-in-company weekend of 27-28 November. So far there are10 cruisers of all shapes and sizes planning to sail to Garden Island, with a few skippers doing it as a solo sail. For those of you who don’t venture out on your cruisers very often or who don’t go beyond the Fremantle traffic bridge, cruising in company is an opportunity to be on the water in a non-racing activity and with the support of other sailors. If you have missed this cruise, think about getting involved in the next one. I hope all the sailors taking part have an enjoyable and social sail. With the untimely and very sad death of Keith Jackson, our bosun, we have had to undertake the task of filling the vacancy. Fortunately we had a good response to our advertisements both from within the club’s community and the general public. We have selected Jim Marriott as our new bosun. Most of you will know Jim as a sailor here at NYC and more recently Jim has been Rear Commodore and our on-water Safety Officer. Although his appointment as Bosun will mean that he stands down as Rear Commodore and we lose his experience and expertise on the Management and Regatta Committees, he brings some great skills and considerable experience to the role of bosun. Jim will be living on site and I hope you all make him welcome in his new role with us. In the period that NYC has had to manage without a bosun we have had to rely on a great deal of extra volunteer help to manage the club’s commitments to its members and functions. In addition to thanking the stalwarts on the Management and House Committees, I would like to acknowledge and thank 2 people in particular, Jim Marriott and our Managing Secretary Alison Robinson, without whose time and effort we would have struggled to manage. It is important to recognise that Alison has only been with us for 4 months but has shown great dedication to her new club and has put in a lot of additional time and effort to ensure that NYC managed this period without a bosun. From all of us, thank you. This is the last Mainsheet before the Christmas and New Year period, so I will take the opportunity to wish all the members of the NYC community and their families, a very happy and safe festive period. For those sailors competing in sailing championships over this period we wish you all the best in representing NYC and l look forward to seeing everyone back on the water in the early New Year. Juliann Lloyd-Smith Commodore

Our much loved bosun Keith died tragically while on holiday in Goa. A memorial service was held for him at NYC where family, friends and NYC members gathered to celebrate Keith’s life. Here is the eulogy from our Commodore, Juliann Lloyd-Smith. I was very honoured to be asked by Keith’s Mum Joan to give a eulogy for Keith at his memorial service and contribute to the collective memory of a dear friend to many of us here at NYC. I would have been much happier if I had been able to say this to Keith in person. I also know he would be embarrassed and humbled to have heard his friends

and colleagues saying all the wonderful things I have heard about him in the days since he so suddenly and sadly passed on. Keith came to NYC a few years ago after we had had a string of relatively short term bosuns. Keith came to the club through word of mouth and it was Past Commodore Greg Hill who helped to make the connection with Keith and recognised his potential suitability as Bosun. The role of Bosun is pivotal to the success of any yacht club. Those of us who are flag officers and committee members like to think we are important to the successful running of a club, but the truth is the Bosun can be the making or breaking of a yacht club. We were fortunate to have Keith help to make NYC the club it strives to be. Keith took on his duties with enthusiasm and some trepidation as he was surrounded by well-meaning club representatives from Management, House, Maintenance and Grounds Committees, all ready to tell him how to do the Bosun’s job. But Keith navigated his way through those first few months quietly and efficiently, win-ning us all over with his gentle but hard working approach to every task asked of him. Keith took great pride in his work and took great pride in our club. He contributed significantly to making it a place that could be enjoyed both by the members and by the many folk from outside the sailing community who come to Nedlands Yacht Club for their weddings, birthday parties and family get togethers. Many people provided NYC with feedback mentioning how helpful Keith had been, doing that little bit extra to make their function really great. His continuous on-site presence and his care and attention to club security also helped to protect member’s property and contributed to NYC’s enviable record in minimising theft and damage. As well as a dedicated employee, Keith was a friend and helping hand to many of us. I know his presence at the club supported other key people at NYC; our Managing Secretary, Bar Manager, House Committee team, and Flag Officers, in ways that extended the contribution from being an employee to also being a friend. He was special in different ways to different people, something we have all been reflecting on since his death. We also knew that Keith was a little different when we found him meditating on the verandah in the quiet times. I am sure we all too feel the same calming influence of the river that Keith too experienced when he did his yoga on the verandah or took his regular walks.

Farewell Keith

November 2010 Page 4

Keith was a gentle soul. He maintained a peaceful and calm demeanour and practiced mutual respect as a ba-sis for his interactions with those around him. Keith spoke gently both in volume and content and was a chari-table soul who managed to see a positive side to every situation. Keith was also a very private individual who, on top of his commitments to NYC, managed to maintain his commitments to his mother Joan. Keith was a loving and supporting son, greatly loved in return. We are all too aware of the tragedy and pain that Joan must feel when faced with the daunting circumstance of the death of her son. It is really only since Keith has left us that we have come to realise just how many jobs both big and little that Keith did for us. As is always the way, we don’t really know how much people do until it doesn’t get done, and there are lots of things that we haven’t been able to get done since Keith left us. But mostly we’ll miss Keith as a friend. At Nedlands Yacht Club we pride ourselves on being a small and close community and I am delighted that Keith became one of our community. Though our grief can never be as intense as it is for his own family, we too grieve for the loss of Keith, a dear and valued member of the Ned-lands Yacht Club family.

KEITH

Was an ODD sort of guy. I first met him fussing about behind the Club House and thought “that’s a bit

odd”, so I went up and introduced myself and asked what boat he had. “I don’t have a boat”. Odd I

thought. “What boat do you sail on?” “I don’t sail” was the reply. Odd once again. “We are having a

bbq after the race on Sunday, are you coming?” “I’m a vegetarian, but thank you”. “OK, then how

about you joining us for a drink?” “I don’t drink”. Odd again. He excused himself quietly saying he

“had some ODD jobs to do”. I thought to myself, “We have the right person for the job then”.

Keith and I bumped into each other many times, often early Sunday mornings whilst he was arranging

chairs or picking up cigarette butts. He always had a moment to talk and report any strange or humor-

ous happening around the club. He befriended everyone. Now that he is gone the club seems somewhat

‘ODD” . That was “our Keith”.

Penned by Jim Marriott.

Editors note: Jim is now the odd job man himself, having taken over the role of Bosun. Isn’t that

“ODD”!

November Page 5

ACT BELONG COMMIT TRY SAILING SUNDAY

19TH DEC.

BOATS ARE NEEDED TO TAKE OUT VISITORS

Hobies, Open Cats, National 125s, Cruisers If you own a boat and are not involved in the Cruiser marathon, and

are able to support the ABC Try sailing by supplying a boat and

skipper, please contact Colin Redman, on our Promotions Commit-

tee at [email protected]

5 MONTHS AS MANAGING SECRETARY “You are going to a sleepy hollow”, “You will be so bored”, “You will have no-one to talk to”……All these thoughts kept running through my head as I worked out my 4 weeks’ notice but Wrong! Wrong! Wrong! There are times when I wonder what on earth I have taken on. It appears a few MS’s have passed through NYC and I can see why. This role is massive and so diverse. You have to be able to run an office, you have to be a book-keeper, you have to have a hospitality background, you have to be able to sell, you have to be able to take minutes (yuk – sorry!), you have to understand the role of the volunteer, you have to be a confi-dante and it definitely helps if you understand all the different components that go into getting members on the water to race. 5 months have passed and I have loved it (forget the odd whinging day!). For those of you who don’t know 18 months ago I was charging round tennis courts, golf courses, etc but within 6 weeks was basically wheelchair bound with spinal cord compression that also affected my left hand. A very clever surgeon and a mortgage to pay helped me return to work within 12 weeks but I still type with one hand and cannot walk without a ‘çrutch’! However, this didn’t deter your Management Committee as they realised my knowledge from Clare-mont Yacht Club was more useful than my ability to move tables, clear up from functions or running around sorting out emergencies – there was a bosun to do that………… Sadly, those skills would now be useful with Keith’s passing but many of your Committee have been amazing. I can’t see many other Commodore’s derigging and setting up for functions, emptying bins and mopping floors along with those others who are always calling to check how I’m going as well as rostering themselves on to help. Their willingness to assist has just confirmed my opinion of what a wonderful institution a Club run by volunteers is - the galley, bar, training, maintenance, grounds, promotions, planning , storage as well as all the components of racing are done by volunteers. Read any Yacht Club magazine and see how many people they employ to cover these areas. Embrace what you have and call me if you wish to be more involved. We have a lot of new members and I am well aware that getting involved in a Club appears scary but I assure you all you need is willingness. There are many people able to ‘show you the ropes’ and I believe you will be surprised how much fun you have as well as gaining a load of knowledge and satisfaction. Keith – what can I say. I took the job never having met him but realising there would be a problem if we did-n’t get on seeing how we often were the only 2 in the clubhouse but getting on was never in doubt! We laughed from the moment we met and he was the calming influence I needed. The heater was on in the morn-ings, we used to sit and have a morning çuppa’, often he would come for a walk with me after work or we would just hang around the entrance talking before I went home. He was so happy at the Club. I told him I was getting him an NYC shirt and a badge – he was so thrilled as thought lots of members didn’t know who he was (I said he would need a Medium size shirt but he boasted about his broad shoulders so I got a large – he never got a chance to wear them). I feel his presence every day but his memorial service was beautiful and life goes on as Nedlands Yacht Club will and, hopefully, my role as your Managing Secretary. Alison Robinson

From the Office


FREEDOM IS NOT FREE

Just a reminder….. The freedom that we take for granted today is not the norm, is not something that just happens. It came at a price and it was not cheap. It cost many lives, lost in wars against oppression. The crew of H.M.A.S. Perth were part of

that fight. Having lost half its crew in battle, the survivors then had to endure atrocities in P.O.W. camps. Many died of starvation and sickness. Of the 681 crew only 229 returned home. The H.M.A.S. Perth Memorial Regatta is our way of honouring those that fought and died for us, and to remind those fortunate enough never to have experienced the horrors of war, that freedom is not free. The H.M.A.S. Perth Memorial Regatta will be held at N.Y.C. on Sunday 20th February 2011.


APPEAL FOR HELP FOR THE 51st HMAS PERTH MEMORIAL

REGATTA

A notice to all that the 51st HMAS Perth Regatta is being held on Sunday 20th February 2011. We have been holding this Regatta every year since 1964 to commemorate the HMAS Perth, which was sunk by enemy action in the Sunda Strait on 1st March 1942. This is the biggest event on the calendar of the club and we would like as many members as possible to attend the day to meet the survivors and their families and special guests and to enjoy the race. The costs of hosting this event are many and if there are members who have businesses and would like to con-tribute towards the costs in the form of a donation of $100.00 or more, we will print their logo and/or business details in the Program. Your business will also be put on the NYC website as a sponsor of this Regatta. Even if you don’t have a business any donation will be gratefully accepted. Alternatively, you may be willing to give of your time to help set up on the Saturday or Sunday. Details for this will be sent out a bit closer to time. If you would like to help out in this way, please contact the Managing Secretary at the office on Mon, Wed, or Friday, 9—4 pm. 93865496 or [email protected]

Several new and existing volunteers have engaged in large and small activities that may not be visible to all members at the club. We wish to thank them for their special contributions to NYC.

From our membership

Special thanks go to Jim Marriott, David Cliff and Ian Smart for providing demo-sails on short-notice at the October Try Sailing Day. NYC is grateful for Karen Schuepp, Magnus Ingleboo, Evelyn Doernberg and Kryz Czasptezy who met and greeted public participants on shore and at the docks. Gratitude goes to Junior Coordi-nator Gavin Jones and the coaches Kent, Evelyn and Andre for promoting the Juniors to parents and helping a few youth crew get a Try Sail. Member and Delisio restaurant founder Raffaele Brotzu generously donated pizza and a mobile pizza oven for the fundraiser. From our training section

Instructor Brian Pettit proofed and edited the First Aid and CPR updates to the Emergency Preparedness Plan. New instructor Andre Pedroli has been donating time to the junior and adult Learn to Sail registration and op-erations. Instructor Graham Sharpe has offered to share his grant work experience and advise NYC member Wayne Fay on upcoming grant applications.

From our local community

Photographer Sam Chesterfield-Evans donated his services to get publicity photos of members and the public using the club on Try Sailing Day. Declan von Dietze gave his skill and time to taking pictures at the Cat Clas-sic. Svenja von Dietz has assisted with the Learn to Sail registration processing and Try Sailing sign-in.

Members are helping members

Several new and returning Hobie and Cruiser crew have recruited friends to come sail in their sections. By in-troducing new crew to the Hobie skippers, many boats have been able to race and several skippers are racing more often. As the season moves forward, we hope that many of these friends settle into a team and join us as members. Volunteering at the club can be a short, fun event. Offering to help with an event is a great way to meet mem-bers from other section and shape the identity of our club. You don't have to be a member to volunteer, so bring a friend to participate with you. Helping out regularly or committing to a long-term service, such as a committee, gives older committee mem-bers a rest and provides fresh, new ideas to the direction of the club. If you or a friend have the passion for sailing and the club and would like to get involved, contact Alison at [email protected].


THANK YOU VOLUNTEERS FOR YOUR GREAT SERVICE

Editors Note: Shauna herself has been a tireless volunteer who has been heavily involved in promoting the club and has obtained grants for the club from organisations such as Act-Belong-Commit and Healthy Life. Shauna has been tireless in finding crew for skippers and she has kept our website current and vibrant. Shauna is now having a well-earned break from NYC duties.

Junior Learn To Sail Dear Members, the next junior learn to sail courses (aimed at 8 to 13 year olds) are now open for enrolment. This is the perfect opportunity to invite friends with a little or no sailing experience to come and join in the fun over the school holidays. The two courses run from January 17th to 21st and from January 24th to 28th, from 8:30 to 12:30 each day. The courses aim

to cover the Yachting Australia Basic Skills 1 and 2 certificates, and teach the young sailors everything they need to know to be safe on the water and start sailing triangular courses. Get in quick as these courses will be advertised at local schools and in local newspapers shortly. Enrolment is best done online through our NYC website. Remember this course includes free junior membership for the rest of the season, so that sailors can easily take full advantage of the clubs Sunday morning training program upon completion. What Next? Just finished a junior learn to sail course, and want to keep sailing regularly? Been crewing in the junior fleet but want to move to skippering your own boat? The next “Transition” course will run for 6 Sunday mornings (9am to noon) commencing in February. The course is free to members and a number of lease boats are available for sailors to use. This course aims to fa-miliarise sailors with our junior racing fleets and help them become happy, confident, independent Manly Jun-ior or Flying 11 sailors, so that they can join in with the regular Sunday coaching. Speak to Evelyn or any of the training team if you are interested or have queries about this course/ Regular Sunday Coaching Congratulations to the sailors and to the coaches who have been out on the water every Sunday morning this season, and a big thank you to the parents who so strongly support the program. A consistent group of six to eight Manly Juniors and Flying 11s have had a lot of fun and improved greatly in skill and confidence already this season. The junior fleet is planning an informal series of handicap races starting early next year. Juliann has offered to help our dedicated MJ and F11 parents learn about running these races, and Rob has come up with some fun ways of introducing the sailors to the handicapping system which allows all sailors to have a win during the series. Much fun was had in a series of handicap wheelbarrow races on shore last Sunday, and while they thought they should win, coaches Evelyn and Graham were disqualified for not meeting the age requirements for the competition! (While Graham argued that they were well within the maturity level requirement)

Adult Learn to Sail

Our adult and older teen learn to sail courses are very popular. The first course for the season has just come to a close and the next one will be commencing Saturday November 20th. With both of these courses having filled up very quickly, make sure you watch the NYC website where enrolments for the next course commenc-ing in February will be opening shortly.


Stuart McDonald and Eibhlin Marsh from October/November Adult GISBS

What Next? Dear Members, please make our learn-to-sail graduates feel welcome on a Sunday when you see them, and help them to find the sailing opportunity that best suits their ambitions: Sunday morning social sail on Pacers - hire a Pacer for the morning and practice what you have learnt with Coach Kent in a relaxed and informal way (for juniors and Adults alike). This runs on a fortnightly basis, so check the website calendar for dates. Join a keel boat crew for the afternoon race - meet under the tree near the keel boat rigging area at 12:30 on any Sunday and put your hand up to join a crew which is down on numbers that day (there are always boats looking for crew) Learn to crew on a Catamaran - depending on your body weight and agility, and need for speed, there is a cata-maran for you. The skippers who need crew are happy to show you the ropes before you head out for the time of your life! Or get serious and buy a boat.... we will help you learn to sail it well.

Recreational Skippers Ticket and National Power Boat Handling Certification

Each season NYC conducts power boat training for RST (license) and NPBH (accreditation) to enhance the skills of sailing and non-sailing members for the on-water support of club racing activities. Having a pool of licensed and accredited volunteer power boat users is essential for programming the club's support boat activi-ties for Sunday sailing and NYC hosted regattas. Thanks to an enthusiastic response from club members our current course, which includes RST and NPBH bridging components being run in early-mid December, is full.

A lesson in handicapping for the juniors Sunday morning.


Storage Fees

The Club has a number of facilities available to members for the storage, maintenance and launching of their boats, dinghies, boards, trailers, etc. These facilities include compound storage for catamarans and cruiser tenders, hardstanding, pens, moorings and launch-ing ramp for cruisers and sheds for dinghies and sailboards. In addition, storage areas are provided for boat trailers and jinkers and there is a Club jinker and Club mooring available for carrying out maintenance work. All these facilities incur costs to install and maintain and these costs are financed in part by the storage fees received by the Club. If you are using storage facilities at the Club then you are required to pay the appropriate storage AND boat registration fees. BE-FORE any of these facilities are used, approval must be obtained from the Club’s Managing Secretary. All the storage and boat registration fees can be viewed on the Club’s web site however there are some fees that should be brought to the members attention as follows :- Sailboard Storage - $85 per annum. Trailer Storage - $260 per annum, i.e. trailer or jinker only without boat. Cruiser Tender Storage - $85 per annum, cruiser must be registered and storage paid. Club Mooring usage - $10 per day after initial 14 days free, must be booked. Club Jinker usage - $10 per day, must be booked. Club Launching Ramp - $130 per annum, used by boats other than those paying storage. Other storage arrangements can be made with the Club by contacting the Club office to make the necessary arrangements, determine the appropriate fee and obtain approval. It is essential that the boat’s name and sail number be placed on all boats, trailers, etc. stored at the Club. Club By-law 5.3 states "The Name and Sail number of a boat entered on the Club "Boat Register" shall be clearly marked in letters not less than

50mm in height, on the outside of the hull and on any associated boat Trailer and/or Tender." Boats and/or trailers that can not be identified will be removed and locked away until they are claimed by the owners or, if not claimed, may be disposed of by the Club. Don Mullaley,

Club Storage Officer.


Hi all! Its nearly halfway through the season already..it’s gone so quickly hasn’t it?! The 125s started the sea-son with really good numbers, but since opening day the numbers have dwindled yet again. Each week sees just a couple of boats hit the water, which is a bit disappointing. The first Club Champ will have to be resailed later on in the season as only 2 boats turned up for it, and a number of other races haven’t counted as there haven’t been the minimum number of starters (3!) to make it count. I would encourage all of you to try and make it to as many races as you can, and if you are missing a crew or a skipper email around the fleet and you may be able to pick one up for the race. It’s also a good opportunity to sail with other members of the class and learn a new trick or two! (Well done .

Above: Round the day buoy...then finish line. C’mon wind!

National 125 News

Andrew for always seeking a spot, even when Brian is away). It’s been a difficult time with uni exams and work commitments but hopefully the on water numbers will improve now for the rest of the season. It’s hard to give an idea of how the results are going for the season..it looks like it’s still anyone’s game for the consistency title..basically you just have to be there and sailing to get a handicap position. The more races you sail the greater your chance of claiming the trophy! The second club champ saw a much better turn out. It was a windy day and great to see those colourful spinnakers burning along! Well done to Evelyn and Rose on their ‘gun’ finish. You seem to have a really good handle on your boat now and Consuming Passions is just going faster and faster....which is scary for the rest of us! I have included some photos from last Sunday’s Short Course Regatta. Unfortunately the winds were so light that only 2 races were sailed..and the first didn’t count because no boats made it in the time limit. That’s such a shame and surely means that the short course isn’t short enough or the time limit needs to be extended...an issue the Club could address?? But in saying that the first finish was a very close one with 4 out of the 5 boats jostling for line honours. “Two wet Bums” (but in French!) from EFYC took out both firsts for the afternoon, with our boats closely behind. It will be interesting to see how the Neddies lot fare in the Metro races that will be held this weekend at EFYC and NYC on Sunday. Goodluck Neddies...lets win that trophy this year!!

I don’t think there is another Mainsheet newsletter before Christmas so have a won-derful Christmas break and a fabulous New Year. I hope to see you on the water in 2011! Annika J


Vanishing Point closing in on Closing

Vanishing Point just about gets it... Check out their trim!

Coming in to finish..its gonna be close!

Cruisers


Racing round-up

Our Sunday racing program is well advanced with two championship heats completed, almost a third of the consistency heats sailed and the first half of the short course regatta sailed just a week or so back. Good num-bers at the start of the season have been challenged in the last few weeks with a couple of our regular racing participants away and others on rostered racing support. Those of us that endured (or tried to endure) the 24 October Championship Heat 1 found it very hard work with bruises and knocks. Reduced sail areas set up some of the boats nicely for the day. Speed demons among the Division 2 boats have been enjoying the fresh conditions - next time you run into Greg Hill ask him how it feels to take an Elliott 7 up around 20 knots. Despite some contrasting conditions among the race days, most of us enjoyed the challenge of light wind sail-ing during the short course event but had to settle for completing only two of the normal three race program with slow course times and several course adjustments to cater for the changeable wind conditions. PRO Rod Bryant did a great job at keeping the racing fair for all participants on the day.

Cruise in company hoping for fair weather

As we go to press we have 11 boats registered for the Cruise to Pig Trough Bay, Garden Island, 27-28 Novem-ber. Six boats plan to stay overnight and have been allocated moorings that NYC has arranged thanks to the generosity of Hillarys Yacht Club and Fremantle Sailing Club. The remaining boats are planning day sails, subject to weather. We are all hoping for favourable conditions and a chance to enjoy a group barbecue at the day-visit facilities at the bay. Those of us who normally enjoy a swim of the back of the boat may look twice given the 2-3m shark attack survived by Elyse Frankcom as she led an underwater dolphin tour off Garden Is-land in late October. River Cruising

Some members may not be familiar with some additional red public moorings now available on the river. There are a total of 32 short-stay courtesy moorings in strategic locations for use by the general public. Vessels may secure to the moorings for period of up to 4 hours at a time. These are located at Blackwall Reach, Matilda Bay, Freshwater Bay, Mosman Bay and Fremantle Traffic Bridge. There are also some on the north and south shores of Perth water. For more information visit www.swanrivertrust.wa.gov.au. Rob Loughman Cruiser Scribe


Another Osprey

sighted on Shark Bay A very large expanse of relatively sheltered water combined with local history and natural wonder make Shark Bay an irresistible attraction. We decided to take a Canadian visi-tor for some sailing and beach camp-ing in the protected waters of the Bay, renowned as the site of the earli-est recorded European landfall on the West Australian coast. Dirk Hartog charted this coastline, landing at Cape Inscription in 1616. He left an engraved pewter plate re-discovered by Dutch explorer Willem de Vlamingh in 1697. Vlamingh left his own memorial plaque before having the original pewter plate returned to Holland. The Vlamingh plate in turn was removed from Dirk Har-tog Island (DHI) by the French navigator de Freycinet in 1818. After World War II the French government gifted the plate to the people of Australia and it now has pride of place in the Western Australian Maritime Museum, Fremantle, together with a replica Dirk Hartog plate. Our arrival at Shark Bay came at the end of an 11 hour drive in mid-September, with wallabies and rabbits lit-tering the road in the encroaching dark of the last 50 km. The dim town lights of Denham were a welcome sight for us as they must have been for many new-comers in previous times. Our first sail came in the afternoon of our first day at Shark Bay. The aboriginal name for Shark Bay is Gathaaguda or “two bays” and after sharing our lunch with a family of Grass Wrens we launched on the inner bay side at Monkey Mia. We sailed north on a light south-easterly looking for dolphin and dugong among the vast beds of sea grass. The inner and outer bays of Shark Bay combine to provide 10,000 square km of sea grass beds, a vast fish nursery and sea mammal habitat. Our patience was rewarded with a fascinating expo-sure to around 30 dugong surfacing for air and diving down to graze on the sea grass. With an estimated population of 14,000 dugong representing 10% of the world’s population of this curious 3m mammal, you might expect to come across a few of them! We also saw sea turtles and sea snakes in the magnificent clear waters. We returned to the boat ramp satisfied with the feel of our gear-laden Swarbrick 20, and our first expo-sure to the natural splendour of Shark Bay’s waters. Day 2 we set off from Denham in a howling easterly that had picked up quite a chop overnight. Our route west was very uncomfortable for the first few hours as the little boat ploughed down and up wave after wave that passed beneath us as we set jib to goose wing in the following wind. By mid morning the wind moderated and as we passed between the two prongs of Useless loop it eased to a few knots before dropping out com-pletely as we reached the end of the navigation channel across the prongs. It became obvious that we wouldn’t make our intended 52 km destination at the southern tip of DHI in one day so we dropped the shapeless sails and struck north under the bone jarring hum of the little outboard. Our route took us past a family of hump-back whales including one small and one very big animal that reminded us that Shark Bay was among the early centres of bay-whaling back in the 1800’s. We tucked in behind a headland at Notch Point, easing into the knee-deep shallows to unpack the boat for the night. As we lugged tents and food onto the beach we scat-tered a school of small sharks that had been hunting through the shallows. The full moon rose a few hours af-ter dark, and a few hours later the south easterly came in, the boat riding comfortably at anchor in the shal-lows.

Without doubt Day 3 provided the most spectacular sail of the week. As we poked our nose back around Notch Point a steady 13 knot south easterly kissed the sails and bought the tell tales to life. We made about 6 knots on a reasonably close hauled course and once we entered the main channel to the south passage were able to continue to bear away gradually, touching 7 knots under the boats original old wardrobe of cruising sails. We reached our camping spot around 1330, after a lovely 5 hour morning sail. We found a fisherman’s old mooring and with a fresh mooring line this gave us ideal shelter from both the south east and the south west breezes, at the well named Shelter Bay. Day 4 was spent based at Shelter Bay in the South Passage with Os-prey only leaving its temporary mooring to sail over to the southern

end of DHI and for some snorkelling. We didn’t get to see the spectacular corals that are said to be found in the waters south of DHI but did get to see one of the residents that give Shark Bay its name. This was just after Rob thought as he snorkelled along “at least I haven’t seen a shark!”. Also missing from the waters were the fish that he patiently but unsuccessfully tried to catch while moored in the middle of the channel. Day 5 saw us heading back to Denham. Anticipating another repeat of Day 2 when the wind dropped out in the afternoon, we had the little boat loaded with tents and gear and we were sailing north before 8am. With an incoming tide, a good breeze and the decision to take the inner and shorter channel we made great time. Pass-ing very close to the island we enjoyed watching the birdlife on the small islands. A valuable guano export in-dustry thrived in the colonial days, requiring the Government to station a protective military force on Dirk Hartog Island in 1850. By early afternoon we were within sight of Denham when the breeze dropped right away again. Unfortunately this time the little motor indicated it needed a rest and we eased our way back towards Denham, using all of Rob’s light wind dinghy sailing skills, and at various times surrounded by surfacing dugong. Our return coin-cided with our pre-scheduled radio call at 1630 hr and as is always the way, a 25 knot SW came in just as we got to do the tricky manoeuvre of getting Osprey out of the water at the old steep ramp. Why hadn’t anyone told us of the new gently sloping twin ramps complete with finger jetty hiding at the northern end of the car-park!?! Our overall impression was that sailing in Shark bay is not as popular as you would expect. Maybe it was the time of year but we only saw one other boat in the western side of Shark bay and that was a 40’ luxury cat. The audience of idle onlookers who watched us departing and returning also gave the impression that either we were making a spectacle of ourselves (no, surely not!) or the fishing at Denham jetty is no better than most other jetties! In any case it appears they don’t see many little yachts sailing out of Denham. The local Tourist Office was very helpful but were also quick to warn us that the seas pick up very quickly with anything other than light breezes, which was pretty true, but we came to realise that this is more of a con-cern for the power boaties who don’t enjoy bashing into chop as they speed to their favourite fishing spots. The local Volunteer Sea Rescue was less than welcoming when we radioed in to see if we could get weather updates. Fortunately the local Australian Coast Radio Monitors (ACRM) base Denham volunteers were moni-toring the radio communication when we next braved the unfriendly VSR operator and they went on to offer both local waters updates and log in support. A great service provided by volunteers who had already closed


the base for the season but gave up another week of holidaying to monitor the travels of our little sailing boat on Shark Bay! A set of charts and a hand held GPS were essential for worry-free navigating. After a few hours of sailing when you lose site of recognisable landmarks you come to realise how big Shark Bay is! The distances were

quite deceptive, the channels across the top of the Useless Loop and Belfin prongs were less that easy to pick up and getting a vis-ual on Denham was challenging except with clear skies and good daylight. We would rec-ommend a Shark Bay sailing ex-perience for any-one with a trailer

sailor and we will do it again if only to explore the other 95% of Shark Bay that we didn’t have time to visit. Juliann and Rob

Top: Wading in among the sharks at Notch Point, DHI. Left: Breakfast on the beach, Dirk Hartog Island Lower: Sailing the inside passage along the south east end of DHI


Regular extra crew member required

Successful applicant will be as strong as a Gorilla as nimble as a pickpocket have the balance of a tightrope walker and move at the speed of light. Preferences will be given to those that can predict wind shifts a minute before they happen and can shout Starboard and Water loud enough and in such a manner as to terrify the crew of any approaching boat.

or Failing the above any young, middle aged to very old person. Male, female or other who knows the difference between a wart and thwart, pointed end and blunt end, have vision in at least one eye and arthritis in no more than one hand will be considered.

or If none of the above, any enthusiastic and obedient dog, cat or even a talkative shoulder sitting Parrot is in with a chance. This could be just what you’ve been looking for. Hurry this never to be repeated offer is for a limited time only and you wouldn’t won’t to miss out on what could be the golden opportunity of a lifetime….. now would you ? Applicants should approach Ray North, from the Port side. Master and Commander of the good ship “Blown Away”.


SPINNAKER FOR SALE TO SUIT A SMALL CRUISER Mint condition. A few years old but incredibly - only ever used once. Rolley Tasker Spinnaker. Viewed by Sailmakers WA for a genuine valuation. 6m from Head to Clews and 4.2m from Clew to Clew. (Deck sailbag included) Will consider any offer around $550 Contact Paul on 0423 985 387

SPONSORS

HMAS Perth Memorial Regatta 2011