Debbie Jonker – General Committee
The boating lifestyle attracts me because no experience on any day on the water or in a marina is ever the same! The water changes colour or temperature, the wind changes far too regularly too. In Victoria at Wilson’s Prom we were so cold last June that we jumped into beds early , fully clothed as it was a freezing 4 degrees! The excitement onboard of seeing spectacular sunrises and sunsets, navigating through unexpected fog or drifting logs, dolphins swimming towards us then jumping over our wake, birds swirling over a tuna slick, catching fish or the drama of losing the bite , getting up at 4 am to beat the low tide over the Wide Bay bay at Fraser Island or dodging wales along the Eastern Coastline keeps us on our toes and we are never bored .
Covid lockdown brought our dreams of cruising in retirement forward and so for the last few years we’ve had the pleasure of cruising our local waterways as well as up the amazing Australian East Coast as far as the Whitsundays. Along the way we’ve experienced the coldest and hottest of days with temperatures ranging from 4 to 41 C and the warmest of welcomes at Marinas in Mooloolaba, Port Stephens, the Spit Sydney, the new Shell Harbour, Bermagui, Lakes entrance, Princess Street Marina PittWater, Coral Sea Marina and Harvey Bay Marina to name a few.
The boating community is usually welcoming , whether it’s helping with dock lines, giving general advice (sometimes unwanted) such as where the best fuel price is or the hamburger joint in the village is. The best advice we ever got was from a local Trawler Captain. We asked if it looked good enough to go south tomorrow because there was no wind forecast after 4 days of waiting for the gale to blow over. He asked, “Is this your day job or are you on holiday?” I said holiday, he said “heck no I wouldn’t go – it’s still gonna be bumpy for another 24 hours…..” so we waited and were blessed with a millpond sea which for us motor cruisers is the best ever waters.
There is a boat or a boating program for everyone at RBYC to have a go, learn new nautical skills and meet fellow ‘sea tragics’ who just Love Boats ! We spend more time talking about boats, boat maintenance and boating weather than other humans. The spectacular sea views from the club provide a welcome home-base for all nautical types to launch their boat or dreams from, what a privilege !
New members are welcome too … sssssh ( that’s a secret) Join now! – Royal Brighton Yacht Club (rbyc.org.au).
Debbie Netto Jonker
