Flinders Day on Coochie

A bunch of us went over to Coochie for the annual Flinders Day celebrations. Peter and Eileen Lawson took daughter Justine over in their boat.

Brian and Annette Sutton were there on Whimaway.

Robert and Judy Smith kindly took Alene and Guy along in Gadfly. We were all very impressed by the sandy beaches on Coochie.

Next time, everyone is required to bring back a bucket each so we can start our own beach here.

We were very impressed by the markets and found some top spots to eat also. Judy and I are both hoping we won the raffle which had a table and chairs, lots of alcohol (yay!) and a couple of wine bottle holders shaped like gekkos. Brilliant!!!

I got sucked into trying out Dragon Boat racing. Nobody told me I would have to paddle over 2km. That is seriously hard work!!

Colin and Bob sailed over on Tycho Brahe. They disappeared to the bar at the resort and came back to tell us it was all very fine.

Next year, how about we sail over en masse in the Vagabonds?

The Commodore's Ball

What a night!!! We had a full house - in fact, several members missed out because tickets were sold out early.

Next time, remember, we can only cope with about 55 people so be early! (We don't take bookings from non-members until we are sure all members have tickets if they wish to attend.)



We were all seated by 6.15pm and admiring the decor, provided by Ole and Irene.

Then it was on to the speeches. Commodore Ole welcomed us all to the Club and said he hoped we had a good time.




Phil and Guy gave up their time to work behind the bar. As a club run by volunteers, there are always people like these working behind the scenes to ensure we all have a good night. Thanks to both of them!!






The meal was a great success, as usual. Providore Barry, ably assisted by his lovely ladies, once again proved that he can't be replaced. Jocelyn made vichysoisse as the entree and Barry provided mini chicken roasts for the main course.





Judy made a dozen pavlovas for dessert. Huge, luscious and full of cream with a fruit topping, they finished off the meal lavishly.










Three international judges arrived from Denmark, England and Australia to judge the Belle of the Ball, won by Val. And not a hissy fit to be seen amongst the girls. Well done, Val!!!

Then it was on to dancing. Matt the Piano Man played all the golden oldies in his inimitable style and we danced the night away.

And Jill donned her boots to walk home!!!

Working Bees Gather Members

We held our last Working Bee down at the Boat Club on Saturday 13th June. What a brilliant day!! With 28 members attending, it had to be one of the most productive days ever.

Mike and Ron got stuck into repairing the legs on our chairs, whilst Ole and Sid started on the kitchen. Check it out, it's gleaming white and freshly painted now. Barry varnished the front door and Margy was everywhere, helping out wherever she could.

Outside, things were hotting up. Brian donned his welding gear and started on the lean-to beside the boat shed. Peter worked hard on the pontoon and Phil (it seems) tried to support the shed - actually, he was repairing the door.



Guy supervised whilst Peter D and Brian continued to work on the lean-to. This will eventually hold one of the safety boats and a rack for our kayaks, leaving more room in the shed.

It becomes very cramped in there, doesn't it?

Meanwhile, back inside, Judy and Jill were preparing fantastic steak sandwiches for lunch. The steak was beautifully cooked by Barry on our bbq and served in fresh buns with tomato and onion. Yummo!!

We even had a visit from Peter Dowling, our Member of Parliament. (No, he didn't pitch in to help but he did offer some valuable advice on our planned Access Walkway for Water Sports).

Thanks to everyone for their invaluable help.

Tingira makes it on TV

Thanks to our wonderful members, Yvonne and Trevor Hulbert, we are about to feature on Queensland The Great South East, Channel 7, Sunday 14th June at 5.30pm. Be watching!!!

The programme producers were travelling around the islands in Moreton Bay featuring various options of things to do and places to stay. The Hulbert's 5 star B&B Yarrandabbi Dreaming has featured before on this programme and was contacted for another slot.

Last time they added cycling as a "thing to do" on the island but Yvonne suggested they take a look at sailing this time and recommended the Tingira Boat Club. (Thanks again, Yvonne!!)

The TV crew of Carol, Mark and Liz popped down on Thursday to the Club where they were met by Robert and Guy and a host of Club members who just "happened" to be around on the day.

Guy took Liz out in a Vagabond for a spot of sailing practice, whilst Robert took Mark the camera man out in our new safety boat to shoot the film.

We will probably only get a few minutes on the show but any publicity is good news, not only for the Boat Club, but for Macleay Island.

Voyage of the Camargue

Dudley and Billie have bought a new sailboat ... Camargue, a 21' steel-hulled gaff rig. It had just been on the hard at Manly having a hull scrape and paint and a few staunch Tingira members were requested to sail it back to the island.

Unfortunately, Dudley had to return to work on the mine the morning the boat was ready to sail, so Billie enlisted the help of Ole and Irene to collect Camargue.

Ole rustled up a crew aboard his boat Nepenthe to sail to Manly ... enough for half of us to decamp to the Camargue for the return trip.

We all groaned a little at having to get out of bed and be on the beach and Dalpura by 7am but we made it nonetheless. Peter was first crew on board, Ole and Irene having spent the night on Nepenthe. Birgitta, Arend, Guy, Billie and I all managed to squeeze onto the tender for one trip out to Nepenthe, with all our gear piled around us. (Why are you buying a smaller tender, Ole? We only just made it on this one!)

It was cold on the water and there was barely enough wind to fill the large sails of Nepenthe. Ole cheated a little and started the motor whilst keeping the sails up and we were soon in the marina at Manly. We found Camargue was still on the hard and would be for another hour before it could be returned to the water so we walked into town for a coffee and a browse of the ship's chandlery.

Our merry band ... Irene, Birgitta, Arend, Billie, Alene, Guy and Ole (Peter took the shot)

When we returned, complete with champagne to launch Camargue, it was already in the water.

Then the fun began. Nobody had sailed a gaff rig before and certainly nobody knew how to rig the sails. The jib was easy but two booms on the mainsail? Hmm! Ole, Guy and Peter spent some time in a huddle before they finally raised the sail in triumph.

All set and we popped the champagne. We cheated a little and drank most of it before Billie poured the last few drops over the bow of the boat.

Peter, Guy and Alene were to sail Camargue back to Macleay, whilst the others relaxed in luxury aboard Nepenthe. Even Billie, the new owner, took one look at the tiny Camargue and opted for the 38' Hans Christian. Tut tut, Billie!!


We waved farewell and started off out of the marina. It is HUGE! Takes half an hour to clear at least!! But we finally got out to sea, having already been overtaken by Ole, whose motor was much larger. Did I say much larger? We only had a 4hp!!

And that proved a problem because there was totally no wind whatsoever. I have never seen Moreton Bay so calm.

Remember the line from The Ancient Mariner? "As idle as a painted ship upon a painted ocean"? Well, that was us.

We pottered, we tottered, we meandered until Ole lost patience and came back for us.


"You will never get to the island at that rate" he called. "I will have to tow you." So he threw out a tow rope which we ashamedly tied to the bow and off we went, still keeping our little outboard thrashing away to help a little bit.

Nearing Macleay at last, we threw off the shameful tow and pretended to come into harbour under our own steam. A long trip, uneventful but a satisfactory ending. The boat is at Dalpura on its mooring and ready for Dudley to take out sailing on his return from the mine.

Another triumph for Tingira!!