Sailing around the Bay

Nine o’clock on Sunday morning and I am standing at the foot of the steps leading up to the main balcony of the Townsville Sailing Club. All around me people are rigging boats, putting on life jackets and talking about trips along the Coral Sea coast. Palm trees frame a view of Magnetic Island and a warm wind blows from the sea. Will I get a place on a boat or not?

Leandra, Club Secretary, meets me as I venture up the stairs and soon has me fixed up with Lucas and Fiona in one of the 5 Pacers. As it is a family Adventure sail the training boats are the only ones setting out so that there will be a good mix of experienced and novice in each boat. Fiona has just completed her first weekend course and Lee (aged 13) is our Skipper.

At the briefing we are given times of tides, times of the ferry boat departures and a warning to keep out of the way of any large ships as we are going across the bay and into the main port. We wil meet up to have lunch at the Yacht Club there.

The pale sand already feels warm under our bare feet as we pull the boat to the water. We will have to tack out against the smart waves that break on the shore line. Splosh! Um – salty water rather than fresh! And we are off.

Lee is amazing and talks both Fiona and me through everything that he is doing. I try to remember what Neil has said about steering up and down waves. As we get closer to the port entrance more boats appear, some big yachts and fast jet skis and an unannounced ferry boat. They all leave a lot of wake to mingle excitingly with the existing slopes of water. Around the harbour bar and suddenly all is still again with very little wind. We sail with it behind us slowly up to the Yacht club. Fish and Chips of course!

Coming back the wind has freshened and we have to tack back up the fairly confined channel out to sea again. Half way up there is the siren to say that a huge black tanker is starting out and that the Portway is closed. We have just passed the closure buoy and our Skipper decides to race in short tacks to round the bar before it gets under way, rather than go back. It is a bit nerve-racking, but he is quite confident and in fact the tugs are only just starting to pull as we lose sight of her.

Low tide unveils an unlooked-for problem. We get out a yard or two from the beach and sink in thick warm mud up to our knees. Quite a therapeutic sensation if you keep your mind firmly away from what might be living in the morass. It also makes it really difficult to get the trolley out or the boat on so in the end we are hauled out by truck.

Plans next weekend . Yes!