CRUISING ASSOCIATION UPDATE

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Adrian Wotton for his great work in heading up the Cruising Association for the last seven years. I recently had the privilege to host the second Saturday BBQ as the Chairperson of the Cruising Association. We had a good turn out and the raffle was run and won with many thanks to our sponsor Charlesworth Nuts. I reached out and asked for ideas and support to further enrich our experiences through our cruising community and am happy to welcome Howard Murton and Jack Didyk as new committee members. Our vision is to get more on-water events in the Club calendar on a regular basis. All ideas are welcome and Howard, Jack and I are happy to discuss any activity that you think would interest our members.

MANGROVE TOUR

Marty’s Magical Mangrove Tour was a great morning over at Garden Island and surrounds. A big thank you to James Theodore and Port River Marine who lent a magnificent Highfield tender to lead the flotilla of rubber ducks. We were joined by Paul, Mark and Joy, Ian and Leslie and Andy and Mandy. We launched at the Garden Island Boat Ramp and crossed the Barker Inlet to navigate along the edge of the mangroves and head up Broad Creek to the historic munitions loading wharf and railway line where a raft-up and morning tea took place. The flotilla continued back out of the creek and into the North Arm for a close-up look at the ‘Ships Graveyard’. The Port River dolphins did not disappoint as we had a visit from an inquisitive pod on our way back to the boat ramp. The group met back at the Club for a BBQ lunch and a drink to finish a great day out and talk about the magnificent scenery, bird life and dolphins we had just experienced. We first did the mangrove tour many years ago and this is the second time I have led it. We plan to make this an annual event. We now look forward to Easter and Anzac Day. Keep the Anzac Day Long Weekend free for a special event in Port Vincent to celebrate our new facilities there. Safe cruising.

Marty Heffernan