It was a slow start this morning, as there was heavy cloud and hardly any breeze, so it took some time to get everything rigged. Ken was our Sailing Coordinator, Helen the Registrar, Ray the TIME-KEEPER, John our Power Boat Driver, Observer and Photographer Ivan to start, then new volunteer Maleea took over. Sailors were: Denis, David P, Cathy, Michael, Vince, Helene. Help on the pontoon was supplied by Liam, Ryan, Jannie, Jim, and up on deck by Lyn and Val.
Our very keen group from the community: Ollie, Vanessa, Val, James and Ben started off the sailing in a quiet 4 to 5 knot westerly, which was a joy to sail in..
Rap’n’Rave arrived next, with Danielle, Mark and Jesse arriving early. Danielle hopped straight into a boat with Cathy and stayed out there for the duration, while Jesse chose the Support Boat, and Mark had a shorter sail, as he was feeling the cold.
Jackie, Diane, Tess came from Housing Connection, with helper, Kundel.
Then the last group down, Creativity Inc with Kathryn, Alex, Harry, Ricky, the 2 Michaels and Lachlan arriving in 2 car-loads. What a pity the southerly arrived early with a huge 40 knot gust, that sent everyone flying for home just as this group were all settled into boats and on the water. Of course, the sailors had to get them back to the pontoon, which was an exciting manoeuvre. John in the Support Boat was busy helping the sailors along with advice. Michael gave us a wonderful display of backwards sailing as he battled his way home in the single sail 2.3.
Perhaps the best part of the day was David G up on the deck repairing Alex, which was damaged last time we sailed. When he finished this task, he had a short sail, as he was one of the sailors caught up in the gust, then helped everyone get the boats up on the deck as quickly as possible, packed up and stowed away before damage to any boat occurred.
