John Jackson 03 573 8401 – gone cruising…..
The 2017/18 year has been busy with several raft ups and cruises. Most events have seen 6-8 boats meeting and making new friends.
The season began with a raft up in October followed by our annual beach clean-up and on the seafloor around our moorings. This was successfully completed by eight boats. Thank you to the volunteer boats and crew. Also, a big thank you to Boating Marlborough Dive centre for providing divers. They picked up a lawnmower, batteries, plenty of bottles and general rubbish. We, as a club need to do our bit to keep the beaches and seabed clean and tidy.
The Cruise to D’Urville in November did not eventuate, we went but the bloody rough through the cape had us heading down to Penzance instead.
The Xmas raft up and BBQ at Turnbull’s holiday house in Kumototo Bay saw twenty plus boats with the skinny Summer Wine just squeezed in, great nights fun for all. Thank you to the Turnbull’s for hosting us again.
January and February raft ups and three boats venturing to D’Urville in excellent weather including some skinny dipping by some! The snapper cruise to Pelorus Sound was disappointing with just one boat. Of course our raft ups and cruises are very weather dependent.
In April Nicky and I were asked to escort four handicapped sailors in 3.4m sailing dinghies. They were towed from Picton wharf to Long Island then left to sail to Mana. They were then towed from Mana to the marina arriving at 6.30pm. In all they spent nearly 12 hours in the yachts – amazing people. The ferries were delayed that day due to rough conditions. We had TV3 and other media on board Fortuna Lights. What an amazing experience for us.
We have enjoyed a year of fun with WBC and look forward to plenty more.
John Jackson
Rear Commodore Cruising