The Geelong Trailable Yacht Club

16. 10.

Next Sunday, 19th October is the 2008-2009 Season Opening Day for the Geelong Trailable Yacht Club. The program for the day is as follows:

10-30am Morning Tea and Official Opening.

12-00 midday - Sail past 

-  Lunch –

1-30pm Briefing for Stern Chaser

2-00pm Start of first boat.

Prize for Best Dressed Boat.

The Club will provide meat and salads, please bring a plate of nibbles, biscuits, cakes or desert to share.

Good Sailing!!

16. 10.

 The Farr Trailer Yacht Association of Victoria is planning a cruise along the Murray in September 2009 to which members of other yacht clubs and associations are invited. This cruise is part of the series of cruise organised by the Trailable Yacht Division of Yachting Victoria. Ron Tormey is the contact for this cruise (ph 9359 5648) and as you can see it will be a well planned event . Think about joining this cruise in 2009 (you have 12 months to plan!). It should be a lot of fun. I have more details from Ron re details river levels, wind strengths and temperatures. Contact Rob Ballard for this information. Ed.

1. Cruise Options

· Although the cruise is planned as a 3 week cruise, it could be taken by anyone wanting a shorter cruise as a 1 or 2 week(s) cruise by joining or leaving the cruise at Waikerie or Blanchetown (see suggested cruise details below).

· Option 1 Renmark to Waikerie, 1 week

· Option 2 Renmark to Blanchetown, 2 weeks

· Option 3 Renmark to Murray Bridge, 3 weeks (depends on water level past Blanchetown)

· Option 4 Waikerie to Blanchetown, 1 week

· Option 5 Waikerie to Murray Bridge, 2 weeks (depends on water level past Blanchetown)

· Option 6 Blanchetown to Murray Bridge, 1 week (depends on water level past Blanchetown)

2. River Levels

· Water levels in the river will be monitored before the cruise.

· The lock system maintains a reasonable level throughout the river although the level below Lock 1 at Blanchetown could create a problem.

· A final decision on the finishing point for the cruise will be made 1 month before the start of the cruise.

3. Logistics

· It will take up to 2 days to travel to Renmark by road.

· Allow 1 day to launch and provision the boat.

· It will take one day to transfer the cars & trailers to Blanchetown after launching the boat and return by bus to Renmark, see Car and Trailer Storage below.

· Total distance Renmark to Murray Bridge by water is approx. 456 Km. With an average speed of 6 - 8 Km per hour it would take 12 days, with approx. 6 hours motoring down the river each day, an average of approx 38 Km per day, some days longer and some shorter.

· There is no bus service from Murray Bridge to Blanchetown so we will need to move car(s) to Murray Bridge so we can return by car to collect cars & trailers from Blanchetown, one more day, see Car and Trailer Storage below.

· Suggest we have 3 or 4 spare days.  These spare days could be used for a rest day in the larger towns where people might like to have a break and look around town, or could be used to rest and shelter on strong wind days.  Advisable we don’t use all of them early in the cruise.  May need some towards the end of the cruise for windy days.

· Allow 2 days to retrieve the boats and travel back to Melbourne.

· Therefore 3 weeks, including the weekends before and after, would make a total of 23 days for the full trip from Renmark to Murray Bridge, see Suggested Cruise Details below.

2 days Travel to Renmark
1 day Launch and provision the boat
1 day Transfer cars and trailer to Blanchetown
12 days Motoring down River
4 days In reserve, rest or waiting days
1 day Retrieving cars and trailer from Blanchetown
2 days Returning home

4.     Car and Trailer Storage

· Move them to Blanchetown Caravan Park with lock up storage yard (am), distance approx. 120 Km. Return to Renmark by bus. Stateliner bus service departs Blanchetown 2.25 pm and arrives Renmark 4.15 pm.  Current cost for bus trip is $29.10, with pensioner concession $14.55.  Bus departs Blanchetown 2.25 pm and arrives at Renmark at 4.15 pm.

· When we arrive at Blanchetown, spend the next day moving car(s) to Murray Bridge so we have vehicle(s) to take the drivers back to Blanchetown to retrieve cars/trailers. Approx. 130 Km each way.

5. Additional information

· Recommended Guide Book; “Murray River Pilot” by Baker & Reschke

· You can rig the boat with mast raised and boom to support a boom tent for cover.  Otherwise you will need a jury rig to support a boom tent.

· Upon leaving Renmark we need to pass under the Paringa Bridge.  Clearance is 3.8m above pool level when the bridge is lowered, and 12.3m when raised.  The bridge opens once each morning and afternoon during weekdays and mornings only at weekends and public holidays.  Otherwise 2 hours notice is required to have the bridge opened.  We will need to time our departure to coincide with the bridge opening at 9.30 am.  There is only one other bridge to worry about.  When we reach Murray Bridge the Road bridge is 9.3 m and the rail bridge 8.7 m above pool level. If you have raised the mast you may have to lower it to pass under these bridges.

· There are several locks to pass through, only 1 on any one day.  It can take up to an hour to pass through the lock depending whether a boat coming up stream is passing through the lock when we arrive at the lock. Locks are usually a short distance downstream from town, and operate 8am to 11.30am and 1pm to 4.30pm.

· Departure time each morning will depend on the Kms to cover the next day and participants will be notified the previous night.

· Once we start motoring downstream it will be possible for boats to raft up together and run on 1 motor alternating between boats approx. each hour.

16. 10.

 Yes, it is on again, our annual cruise to Port Fairy!

 For those of you who have done this trip in the past: I will say no more. If you haven’t done this trip, and if racing is not your forte but you like cruising then this is the cruise for you. Port Fairy is a lovely old fishing village on the Moyne River. It is about 20 km west of Warrnambool. My preferred way of getting there is to travel along the Hamilton Highway, then from Mortlake to Warrnambool, then west to Port Fairy.

 Mooring and overnight stay will be in the river alongside jetties. There is some great sailing to be done in the bay and if the weather is goo, you could sail around Lady Julia Percy Island, as some of us have done in the past. I have made arrangements with the Yacht Club, and if some of you decide to take a caravan instead of a yacht, you can park on their Club grounds. I have also spoken with the Harbour Master. He will try and fit us in somewhere, as they are re-building some of the jetties. He asked me how many yachts were coming, i said about 6. However I will need to know the exact number by 18th October. Please give me a ring on 52 75 7 444 or 0428 586 029.

 Mooring fees in the river will be $15 per day per boat. The days of free mooring seem to have well and truly gone! The Commodore of the Port Fairy Yacht Club is Bill Morgan - 0409 147 696. The Harbour Master’s name is M Dumesny 0408 529 190.   

Jake Postuma                                                                           

16. 10.

 Last month Peter Jones, John Mole and I attended a meeting at Royal Geelong Yacht Club regarding the Channel Markers being used as sailing marks of the course. As well as our group the meeting was attended by members of the Lagoon Yacht Club, Portarlington Yacht Club and RGYC plus Harbour Master Dilip Abraham and Steve Mc Phee from Parks Victoria. 

Dilip gave us a detailed explanation of the reasons why the channel markers can no longer be used as turning points for our courses. This has been all brought to a head by the action of possible litigation to the Harbor Master and beyond…maybe all the way to the Coroners Court. If a serious incident takes place, this initially lands on Dillip’s shoulders. All boats may cross the channel and also use it as a transit lane in the shallow water areas, but at the same time keep well clear of large boats.

 We also have a meeting set up between the respective clubs to propose new permanent buoys to be placed a specific locations within the Bay, allowing for various wind directions. Also the Cluster and Steam Boat Piles are to be replaced with additional 5 knot buoys at the entrance to the groyne.

 All members should be aware that the Wilson’s Spit Pier exclusion zone has been lifted as the pier has been closed for 12 months for renovations. This means that Arthur the Great race will possibly be conducted on the original course for this race. Information on the course will appear in the course notes before the race.

 I spoke to Dilip Abraham re organizing a visit to one of these large ships whilst they are in port. It will be very interesting looking at the visibility that they have from the bridge, as well as the engine room and living quarters etc… hopefully this can be arranged to meet security requirements.

 Our new race divisions will be starting as from Sunday November the 16th with Short Series race 1 and Summer Series race 1. Be in it to win a new Club medallion awarded to the winner of each division for each race.

 Watch out for coming events: This Sunday, Seniors “Come Sailing” day; General meeting 17th October 7.30 pm at the Sailing School; Opening Day, Sunday 19th October, 10.00 am start; and Melbourne Cup Day weekend 1-4th of November for the cruise at Port Fairy…

 See you on the water…

 Jim Bland