Mallacoota Madness ... or Magic!?

Mallacoota Madness or Magic that was the question when Big Trevor "I'm Excited" Hippisley proposed a cruise at Mallacoota Inlet in June. Vote 1 Madness!! Surely you jest Big Trev was the collective response, it is a bit too cool at that time of year, even for us Canberrans.

Not to be deterred Big Trev went away and did his sums again. How about August? was the next suggestion. The Farr 6 guys said "Great idea, October sounds good to us." Why did that sound sensible to me? Thinking back to the balmy days of June an August cruise in a southern location sounded like a landslide victory to the Madness Party!! Nonetheless, Big Trev was not going to be deterred from his course twice. Lobbying hard it was soon apparent that madness was taking its toll and seven Gems agreed to a cruise in August.

Departing Canberra on Friday the weather forecast for Malacoota was not great, but could have been worse - Saturday: Northwesterly winds 5 to 10 knots increasing to 15 knots in the afternoon, min 4 max 17, sounds okay. Sunday: Westerly winds at 15 to 20 knots, rain areas, min 7 max 14, could be an eventful day!. It still looked as if Madness was going to be declared the winner.

The group met at Malacoota pub and celebrated the start of the cruise. Friday night was to be the first night spent in the boat for some of the cruising "virgins". Saturday morning revealed a beautiful dawn and soon the Gem group was busy raising masts and buying last minute items for the weekend.

By mid morning we were ready to launch. With our fearless leader out front it was looking good, that was until Big Trev ran aground. However, after some friendly encouragement we were soon on our way to the Spotted Dog Gold mine. A pleasant lunch in the sunshine and a tromp through the bush looking for the Spotted Dog Gold Mine followed.
After lunch we cruised to the Sou-West Arm in beautiful sailing conditions. Five to seven knots of wind had the Gems powered up and cruising in relaxed style. The conditions had proved to be a winner, Vote 1 Magic.

The Sou-West Arm provided a secure mooring. The Mallacoota Lakes are well provided for as far as trailer sailers are concerned. Various locations have jetties with BBQ and toilet facilities nearby. Saturday night was to be banquet night. Each of the boats had brought along a course for the evening's meal. With a surplus of goodies and good company an excellent evening was enjoyed by all. Vote 1 Magic.

Sunday morning was a gray, cold affair with the occasional spots of rain but nothing to put off the Gemsters. By mid morning it had cleared to another fine and calm day. In the morning calm we motored to Gypsy Point to have a look at the five star Motel located there. Obviously the place would be busy in summer but there was not much happening mid winter. We then headed back to Cape Horn for lunch in the pleasant conditions.
The threatening Sunday forecast did not eventuate and we enjoyed calm conditions for the remainder of the day. Lazily motoring our way back to Mallacoota. It was a good first cruising hitout and gave participants new to the game a chance to try out new equipment and techniques.
A relaxing and enjoyable weekend. What more can I say?

Mallacoota Madness or Magic? Mallacoota Magic by a mile ... of course I knew it would be. Where are we going next Trev?

The Last Word by Big Trev

One day in winter someone came up with the idea of taking Our Gems to Mallacoota, so the plans were made. We arrived at Mallacoota and saw Hydrogem, everyone soon realised the lakes were Megagem in size.

Awaking on Saturday the crews had Vegemite on toast for breaky before heading off for our first cruising adventure, there were not many boats on the lakes so there was no need to Dodgem.
We made Cemetery bight for lunch, that was about all that was planned so we needed to use our Imagemation to plan the remainder of our stay, which was wonderful, One owner was reported as saying "Now I know why I wanted a boat". No doubt about it, Life's a Gem !!!.