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BERTH YOUR BOAT on the HAWKESBURY
MAKING WAVES Greater Sydney News
Members find silver linings in isolation Some pleasures among the frustrations.
• 88 berths with power and water • 23 swing moorings (free dinghy storage) • Boom gate access to car park • Toilets and showers • Slipway to 15 tonnes • Convenience store (Brooklyn Central) • Unleaded fuel on wharf for marina clients • Mechanic on site
SANDBROOK INLET MARINA Brooklyn 9985 5500
36 MARINE RESCUE NSW | SOUNDINGS
MR Middle Harbour member Ben McKeown and his wife Anne faced a ‘long, expensive and surreal’ challenge to get out of Cuba and home in the midst of the pandemic.
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s the nation adjusted to a new way of life forced upon us in a fight with an enemy we couldn’t see, MR Middle Harbour newsletter editor Howard Gipps polled unit members about their life in isolation. The volunteers pinpointed some upsides among the frustrations of social distancing and missing family, friends and time on the water. Frans de Wilde: I miss actual contact with family and friends, especially grandkids. I dislike the way in which some of the locals are taking their frustrations out on people who are only doing their jobs in the best way they can. Working from home means I can have longer in the surf before work in the morning. Joanna Mycroft: If I am honest, my life probably hasn’t changed as much as most people. I am still working (although office is now at home) and am able to catch up with people online. I love being at home on my own, always have. I am getting so much done, and enjoying picking up some new hobbies, or re-starting old ones. Brett Eagle: I miss most the quick sit-down at a cafe on a work day, unplanned lunch at a bistro, or a breakfast catch up at a restaurant. Life at present is most surprising with rediscovering the simple and
how enjoyable it is, the new routines and adjusting to them, easier than I would have thought. Evening walks, bicycle rides, planting a herb garden, things that I don’t think I want to give up once we get back to a more normalised routine. More of the life balance side on the work-life balance scale. Ben McKeown: Missing paddling with the surf ski crew, early morning coffee conversations, beers at the bar. I think age gives one the insight that nothing goes on forever and that ideally one should try to adapt to the situation you are in for however long it lasts. Howard Gipps: I miss the guiltfree ease of going out whenever I want without having to think about it. I feel so sorry for people who have lost their job and income. In a couple of years, will we wonder why we were so worried now? Will we learn anything lasting from this? Stan Watson: The thing I miss most is going out for a feed, be it breakfast, brunch, lunch or dinner. We sit on the front verandah, have a cup of tea and people watch (walking, running, taking dogs for walks). The best so far was a 50-60-year-old riding a skateboard down the street (flat terrain, not hilly) reading things on his mobile. What a belter.
