Owners of Careel Bay Marina, Gordon “Bluey” and Anne-Marie Woolcott have shared their love of classic timber boats with the community again this year, inviting all to visit that old marina at the end of George Street and indulge their aquatic senses in seeing some of Pittwater's most beautiful vessels up close.
Living Ocean members were on hand to speak about their work, as was a Sea Shepherd representative in Jools Farrell aboard the classic Reliance, a Goddard built ferry of who will be celebrating her centenary in 2019. 'Reliance' the grand old lady of Pittwater and her incredibly successful associated charter business have recently been placed on the market.
Also on hand were members of the Protect Pittwater group finding many willing signers of their petition to restore Pittwater along its original boundaries prior to the imposed amalgamations of May 2016. The volunteers reported last night;
"The support for the petition was way beyond our expectations. '
and
'So fantastic to have people coming looking for us - young and old alike. Even when we were busy packing up and had left it over on the table, supporters were going over and signing it! '
Beautiful hand crafted crab pots were for sale again, the wonderful photograph works of Jacqueline Andronicus, who shared a stall with Sheba McCaffrey (Beached Treasures - handmade artworks), great aquatic treasures, potted plants, face painting for littlies, all sorts of scrumptious food from cakes to sausages to paella.
The classic timber boats attracted the most attention though, with everything from a ferry to a fishing boat to the beautiful Clipper Utiekah II or the Jock Muir 1951 built sloop Patsy of Island Bay and the quite famous around here J Hayes 1912 built Merlin - owned and sailed by four generations of the Saunders/Taylor family.
With the sun coming out and the rain staying on the horizons this year's Careel Bay Marina Winter Festival has established this June event as one not to be missed - relaxed, family and dog friendly, tucked into the sheltered cove of Careel Bay, and showcasing all the best aspects of Pittwater by letting folks see what a great marina is all about.
Pittwater Regatta 1929
The Mrs E. G Greig Handicap for local boats 25ft and under 5m-Gannet (K A Larkin) scr 12- 25- 12 1 Valkyrie (R R Sinclair) 20m 2 30 47 2 Merlin (C J Saunders) 14m 12 31 34 3 Gannet won easily by 4m 35s with 47s between second and third Merlin (J E Audsley) finished next followed by Query (P G Taylor). PITTWATER. (1929, December 30). The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), p. 6. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article16614023
Pittwater Regatta - December 26th, 1939
Race for Local Boats (limited to boats 10ft. to 22ft. in overall length, exclusive of Port Jackson Skiffs). — Girl Pat (W. Bayly), 15.0: 1 Eileen (D. Steiglitz), 14.0. 2: Merlin (P. Taylor). scr„ 3. Won by 1.7, 0.33 Then came: Yankee, Jean, Woomba, Zena, Band of Hone, and Sarita. SPEEDBOAT IN FLAMES (1939, December 26). The Sun (Sydney, NSW : 1910 - 1954), p. 8 (LAST RACE ALL DETAILS). Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article231507336
Explore the pristine waters of Pittwater in "Kareela"
This 23' open timber launch is a little gem and now for hire 7 days.
