Catamaran Sailing Day.

by Michele Cottrell

A pleasurable day's sailing was had by all on the cat on Sunday March 19. Eight of us met at the Colmslie Jetty, sunscreen, food and drink in hand. First Leon and Michele arrived, followed by Campbell, Sabina and Javier, Bert and Marie and lastly John Que.

We all took ourselves on a cook's tour of the spacious cat. It was complete with three double bunks, two single bunks, toilet and shower, a combined galley including a fridge and stove, a table and chairs and television, video, radio and cassette player. We were well set up for the day! No sooner had we started motoring toward the mouth of the Brisbane River and the kettle was put on for a cuppa. Marie didn't disappoint us - damper and syrup was available aplenty!

Toward the mouth and we could finally set sail into the wide blue yonder! We were overtaken by a large cargo vessel, but we were travelling in comparative silence! We saw a few dolphins near the mouth of the river. Col Flemming, the skipper and his brother Mal, capably crewed the cat with the sea-faring help of Leon, who so capably took the wheel and helped to set the sails. The dual steering was interesting because whichever wheel moved had control. Col has had fun with some previous passengers! Col had a racing cat out off Manly that day, so we headed in that general direction.

Moored off St Helena Island, we enjoyed a shared lunch with lots of delicacies! A bit later Sabina and Michele went for a swim around the cat. The mesh nets at the front of the cat were a great place to dry off in the sun, with a gentle breeze blowing. Sabina's partner Javier had hit the turps a bit the previous night and so was a bit 'under the weather' before we even started. He ended up sleeping it off with the help of Dr John's motion sickness tablets. Come mid-afternoon he had a much less green appearance and even wanted to have a bit of lunch! The time seemed to pass so slowly as we listened to the water and wind quietly rocking the boat! The time did eventually come to an end and we returned to shore. We found a nearby table to polish off the rest of the leftovers from lunch.

A day to be repeated sometime soon!