South Brisbane Sailing Club

Mark and Erik aboard "Pedro the Swift"

Well, we are now into our third attempt at finding a sailing venue that suits our needs. If you remember from previous posts, last year we tried the Oxley Sailing Club near our house. However, Mark found the Mirror dinghies to be too heavy and boxy, and I found the ramp to be too steep for Erik and I to manage alone.

Then earlier this year, we both sailed big boats a bit at Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron, which is an excellent club, fairly similar to Royal Vic, but unfortunately a 45-50 minute drive from our house. Just the time spent getting there makes for a long day and leaves whoever is not sailing without a car. The other downside is that they don't have loaner boats and when sailing on big boats, we can't really bring Erik. We still hope to go out there occasionally and Erik has sailing camp there again this summer (in January), but it's just too far to go every weekend.

This season, we are trying the South Brisbane Sailing Club, about 15 minutes away, near South Bank and the Central Business District/Downtown area. The club boats that members can "hire" are Herons and are usually sailed by an adult and a child. Mark and I sailed together once to try them out, had an enjoyable time and even won our race. We hadn't sailed dinghies together for ages and had forgotten how nice it is to just sail with one other person. Then last Saturday afternoon, Erik and Mark went out together while I paddled around in my kayak taking pictures and watching the race. The breeze was a bit light and Erik thought he should have perhaps brought a pillow and some snacks; however, on the whole he was pretty positive and even thought we should get our own boat. We'll see about that!

Leading the Competition (at least for the moment)