Sailability Tin Can Bay

by Raewyn Oliver

Raewyn Oliver is past secretary for the Tin Can Bay Sailability for 5 years and involved in TCB for 7 years. Previously, Raewyn and her husband Paul lived in Bundaberg and were also committee members for Bundaberg Sailability. Raewyn has always had an interest in writing as well as reading and is in charge of the TCB Writers' Club which has published one collection of our short stories, and Raewyn is about to publish her own collection. Raewyn is current secretary for both the TCB Yacht Club and the local Mens' Shed.

Sailability Tin Can Bay has been operating for almost 11 years. Sailability as an organisation is known world-wide as a means to give different types of recreation to those who are disabled or disadvantaged in some way.

The Tin Can Bay (TCB) group was first mooted when a group of yachties were enjoying a Sunday sherbet at the Yacht Club, as they included some very enterprising folk, they got onto the job immediately, and five months later the club was a reality. Some of that group are still involved and one is the current Commodore of the Yacht Club.

The sailors come from some great distances; Hervey Bay (2 hours north), Gympie (55 mins west), Maryborough (1.5 hours west), and also some

communities in between. Most of the sailors (often attending with carers) make a full day trip out of their weekly excursion, either bringing or purchasing lunches to eat on the foreshore, before driving back after an exhausting day of sailing!

Sailability TCB has a few hurdles in that whilst we collect our participants as a group in the open-air area at the yacht club, (the pergola over which was paid for by Sailability from a government grant), we actually sail from the Coast Guard pontoon, located some 150 metres away. Thus, each participant has to be called up via radio, to come to the pontoon to have their PFD fitted and be escorted down the ramp. This means some difficulties for those able to walk as it is through a public carpark for the boats and trailers of the recreational kind. The area is ‘sealed’ but not smooth, and cars/trailers/ boats/campervans etc can all be sharing the space! Likewise, should the Coast Guard be called out, they need the pontoon to be vacated, and this can be at only a few minutes notice. Our new hoist, from ParaMobility, replaced another hand wound hoist. Given the average age of our volunteers being past 60; this winding action was a big problem and we only really had one chap capable. The new electric hoist made such a difference that members were all keen to be the hoist operator!

The pontoon itself is quite steep, but also narrow. A participant who is a wheelchair user has room only for themselves and their attendant, which can be isolating for a young or new client. On the pontoon is a sturdy chair, which the individual is transferred to whilst the sling is sorted, then the straps are slipped into place and the remote buttons send the client slowly up and the operator manually moves the hoist arm over the boat and then lowers the client into place. Then the grins start!

This activity would be made so much easier for all if there was a dedicated pontoon, wide enough for two persons, with extra hoists to allow the loading of more than one boat concurrently. To that end a pontoon builder was asked to provide plans and costings for the placing of a new pontoon for Sailability use only (no public fishing etc) adjacent to the Yacht Club building itself. The funds for this were quite considerable, so funding from an external source (such as a government grant), money is going to be essential. Sailability TCB is currently sourcing funding for the new pontoon and hoping they will have this dream realised with the next change in government!

Sailability TCB operates every Friday morning – weather permitting – from 9.00 am until everyone