Cruising News
Cruising Update
By Jim Cormack
The June First Friday Dinner heralded one of the most severe
storms that the NSW coast has seen. Extensive damage
was experienced up and down the coast including serious
damage to the Coffs Harbour Marina which was to be one of
the en route destinations for the first of the Sesquicentenary
Cruises to be held over the season. At a briefing held on the
Saturday morning following First Friday Dinner, around 12
boats expressed interest in joining the Clarence River Cruise
during October and November. We expect that some boats
will join the cruise on their return leg from the Hamilton and
Magnetic Island racing events. Others will either join the
Cruise in Company or make their own way to Yamba for the
commencement of the cruise, timed to coincide with the
opening of the Grafton Jacaranda Festival.
At the dinner we heard about the formation of a new group,
‘Women who Sail Australia’ with interest shown by our lady
members. The group was introduced to us by a panel consisting of Judy Readman, Debbie Cordukes and Gail Grant who
read a piece from Shelly Wright the founder of the Australian
group. Unfortunately the foul weather from the storm interrupted Shelley’s ability to be present on the night. The evening
will be followed up by a reverse role rally to America Bay on
July 2nd where our women crews will be encouraged to take on
roles that they do not normally fill on the boat and a pleasant
evening of activities are planned.
The second and major cruise of the Sesquicentenary will be the
Coral Coast Cruise from May to October next year. A significant
briefing was held, attended by some 40+ people who are interested in making the trip. Leon Wilson will be the Cruise Coordinator and will arrange for the lead up seminars to be presented
during the early part of the season. If you are interested in
attending the cruise or the seminars contact Leon to get your
name onto the circulation list.
There are still plenty of activities planned for the remainder of
the year so jump on the calendar or keep a look out for your
newsletters to see what is planned. Our estuary and offshore
cruises are proving to be popular as evidenced by the great
turn out for the recent Queen’s Birthday long weekend cruises to Akuna Bay and the Harbour where we had a total of 17
boats enjoying the company of others at these two great cruise
destinations. The Vivid Spectacular proved to be a good drawcard for those going to the Harbour. An additional benefit with
such venues is the ability for those who are a bit short of time
to be able to join in the fun by driving to meet up with others
for the planned events during the cruise. Thanks go to the
cruise coordinators, Leon and Nirvana and Jim and Clem.
Congratulations to Leon, his nomination for the position of
Rear Commodore Cruising has been accepted and he will be
elected unopposed to the role at the AGM on July 12th.
I would like to thank all of our cruisers for the opportunity to
represent you over the 4 years of my term as Rear Commodore.
I have been lucky to have been involved with the growth of
cruising over my term. I thank my hard working committee, my
fellow Rear Commodores, Commodore, Vice Commodore and
Management for their support over the period. I encourage
all of our cruisers to get involved as participation in both
events and in volunteering for the club are really rewarding
and will continue to help our great club to prosper and
provide the events that interest you. Finally I thank Clem for
her encouragement and assistance in welcoming new and old
members alike to our functions and cruises. Her warm and easy
going nature have made my involvement even more rewarding.
Fair Sailing.
Upcoming Events and Estuary Cruises
First Friday 1 July 7pm for 7.30pm - Christmas in July
Sat/Sun 2/3 July - Women’s Cruising Rally and
America Bay Estuary Cruise
First Friday 5 August - Olympics Night
Sat/Sun 6/7 August - Estuary Cruise