Cup Cruisin'
The Annual Cup Cruise for 2009 saw a number of boats head out for a couple of destinations around the bay. On Saturday a cruise oranized by John and Heather headed up the bay for an overnight at Sandringham. Skippers and crews aboard Pelican, Allouette, Blue Dolphin and Yellowbird settled in for a pleasant evening. Check out Sharyn's report a bit further down the page.
I couldn't make the trip for Saturday and so on Sunday I headed up to the same location having arranged to meet my friend Peter on his Botterill for his first overnighter. I managed to spot our boats about lunchtime as they headed back to Mordi. Unlike the forecast the weather on Saturday was a bit grey, with quite changable conditions all day. However by evening things had settled down and we were able to spend a pleasant evening in a good spot at Sandy. We were lucky enough to meet Peter the owner of a familiar looking Motor Cruiser at Sandringham. More about him in a later story.
On Sunday I had a task ahead of me towing the Botterill back to be picked up as her outboard had died the night before. But in the light conditions it turned out to be an easy job and the arrival at Half Moon Bay was a pleasant almost Tropical experience. I then continued back home catching sight of Quicksilver as I came around Rickett's Point.
On Sunday afternoon David and Denis aboard Bosslady along with Brian aboard his new boat made the trip up to Williamstown for a couple of night's leading up to the Cup on Tuesday. I'm sure there'll be photos and a story from their trip in a day or two. In all a great time was had by all as you'll see from Sharyn's story and we'd all like to thank the clubs we visited for the hospitality.
Now some details from Sharyn:
Derek and I on Blue Dolphin set sail at about 2.30pm about 3hrs after John & Heather - Pelican, Paul - Allouette and Craig - Yellow Bird had departed. We passed Nigel on his Couta Boat obviously returning to MMYC. When we arrived at Sandy we discovered we had been allocated a huge mooring that could have well catered for more boats.
We arrived to find John, Heather, Paul and Craig had made themselves very comfortable in the Bar at Sandringham. After a few drinks we returned to the yachts to prepare for Dinner. We had a couple of John and Heathers friends and Steve join us.
The meals were fabulous. But the highlight had to be Paul's Seafood meal. It had everyone intrigued as it moved around on his plate!! The name of the dish escapes me. Seven of us returned to Dereks boat to continue to party. The day may have been a bit too long for one or two!
For Breaky, some ate at the restaurant, some on their boats and Craig missed it completely as he returned to noddy land after his first night aboard Yellow Bird. There were some fairly big fish swimming under one of the boats and after noticing them on Saturday night and them still being there on Sunday morning both Derek and Paul decided that a fishing line was in order.
These fish were smart and as soon as the line went in (with fake bait) they werent having anything of it and took off. It was still amusing to watch. John came up with the idea that he could do better by trolling the line, but only managed to get it tangled. Maybe next time boys.
After a wander around the marina for some, we all set sail back to Mordialloc passing Ian on Nina on his way to St Kilda to meet up with his mate Peter. We all had a great time and will do it again very soon.
Also worth a mention is a trip Sunday evening to Patterson Lakes by Des, Bob and myself . We grabbed dinner down there at the Chinese Restaurant and went back to Jay Jay 2 with some pickled onions and beer. There were Fisheries Police everywhere, at all the boat ramps checking on any boat wanting to come out of the water. We also ran aground at the Creek entrance on the way back in.
Sharyn
Some shots have also arrived from David who reports that probably due to a heavy police presence, the number of attending vessels at the Cup this year was very light. David and Denise, Brian and Jan and a group of friends appear to have had a great time at the Big Event. Although from what we hear, the trip home was "Shocking" ! (sorry) - with Brian deciding to stay and additional night at St Kilda !
