My role as coordinator took probably 100 hours of my time, but the reward was in the achievement of my goal of putting something back into the club after all that it has done for me. There was another more personal reward: it forced me out of my normal Forrest Gump posture of background anonymity into a more socially active role associated with being "cruise captain" and representative of the club. Meeting new people and remembering their names has never been my forte, but in my early 70's I'm having to get better at it.
Do not be concerned about my running aground in approaching the MOFSC on 4 March. The approaches have been silting up while there is a battle raging over who is responsible for keeping the channel clear. For me it was a soft grounding and I managed to back the boat out and enter the marina on the "wrong" side of the marker.
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| Pachuca at Dawesville |
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| Peacefully Anchored at Busselton |
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| The Bunbury Cruisers at Augusta Marina |
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| Panorama of Anchorage at Koombana Bay (Busselton) |
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| Making a Point to Ron and Marlene |
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| Tangled Fishing Line (won 1st prize for a pike) |
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| Approaching Koombana Bay, Bunbury |
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| Cooking BBQ Breakfast |
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| With Brenda for Lunch at Parade Hotel |
by Robert Morales
Yachts from four clubs participated in this year's Bunbury Cruise – five from Fremantle Sailing Club, three from Hillarys Yacht Club, two from South of Perth Yacht Club, and one from the Mandurah Offshore Fishing and Sailing Club. Unfortunately two other entrants were forced to withdraw.
The cruise began with the pre-cruise dinner at the FSC restaurant on Friday 13 February. This was followed by the Skippers' Briefing in which special attention was paid to the draft of the approaches to MOFSC, the re designed entrance to the Port Geographe Marina, and the state of the moorings at Quindalup.
The departure was delayed by one day due to strong winds, and the fleet of 9 boats set off from FSC on Sunday 15 February. The boats were:
Alyssa Lee (FSC)
Diva (FSC)
Georgia (HYC)
Hannah Rose (FSC)
Leola (SOPYC)
Pachuca (FSC)
Rumtum (SOPYC)
SANA II (HYC)
Stealaway (FSC)
Two boats were already in position at MOFSC:
de la mer (HYC)
WIM (MOFSC).
At the end of that day all boats were safely berthed at MOFSC except for Pachuca, whose skipper decided to make for the Dawesville Channel due to concerns about navigating his 2.4 meter draft boat through the approaches to MOFSC in a falling tide.
The following day the entire fleet made the passage to Koombana Bay at Bunbury for an enjoyable 4-day visit.. During that passage from MOFSC to KB Rumtum picked up a cray pot which it managed to cut free while on the move.
On Friday 20 February nine boats made the passage to the Geographe Bay Yacht Club near Busselton for a 2-night stay. Hannah Rose had returned to Fremantle as planned and WIM had retired due to a battery charging problem. It was a pleasant stay with walking visits into Busselton and a BBQ at a public facility overlooking Geographe Bay. Alyssa Lee proceeded to Quindalup a day early.
On Sunday 22 February the fleet made a fast passage to Quindalup in a brisk SE wind for a 3-night visit. The Dunsborough Bay Sailing Club was as welcoming and pleasant as always, and there were no problems with the security of the moorings.
On Wednesday 25 February eight boats set off for a 2 night stay at Port Geographe Marina. SANA II retired as planned due to an HYC club commitment.
Craig, the PGM manager, expressed delight at all of the boat registrations being submitted well before the fleet's arrival. “This is the way it should be done.” he exclaimed. And to PGM's credit, all of the BC boats were allocated spacious berths together at the end of H jetty near the club house. There were also two PGM staff waiting at the jetty to take the lines of the first arriving boats.
That evening there was a very enjoyable gathering at Dennis and Kitty Gee's home on one of the canals. Dennis and Kitty always lay on a splendid BBQ feast and the warmest of hospitality with amazing ease and grace.
The next day was dedicated to the bus trip along the scenic route to the Boranup Gallery, on to the new marina at Augusta, a short visit to the “water wheel” near the Cape Leeuwin light house, then a leisurely lunch at the Augusta Hotel followed by 30 minutes of private time for shopping.
On Friday 27 February six boats made the passage to Koombana Bay for a leisurely and relaxing 5 day visit. Alyssa Lee returned to Fremantle and Georgia departed for Quindalup for its usual extended stay in Geographe Bay. The highlight of the visit was the very good live entertainment provided on Saturday night by Stuart Thompson, Commodore of KBSC, singing at the head of his mellow rock band. (When I had spoken with him the day before he was in Dubai and he had landed in Oz at 4 AM this very day.)
On Wednesday 4 March the six boats made the long passage to MOFSC for a 2 night visit. Pachuca arrived shortly after noon at mid tide and ran aground in 2.1 meters of water on the starboard side of the yellow traffic separation buoy at the marina entrance. On Thursday evening was the end-of-cruise dinner. All were happy to see Jim & Margaret Putt (Morning Tide), David & Joanne George (Alyssa Lee), and Brian & Rita Buzzard (SANA II) arrive for the dinner by car. Rick and Theresa Oswald from MOFSC completed our dinner group of 21 persons.
The dinner marked the official end of the cruise and on Friday 6 March five boats departed for their various destinations. Stealaway remained at MOFSC pending repairs to a water pump.
The skies during the 22 day cruise were clear, except for the day of the bus trip which was cloudy with the occasional shower. The winds were generally good to excellent, other than one breezy night at Koombana Bay.
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