DEANBILLA REPORT by Keith Miller

OUTING REPORT   …  19 – 20 March 2011

Friday dawned overcast and cool, perfect boating weather, so Ande hit the water at Horizon Shores and after lunch at Slipping Sands, anchored at Canaipa where we were able to enjoy the hospitality and company of caretaker Kevin while we had drinks and cooked tea on shore. Membership of SYC certainly has its benefits! The evening developed some showers but remained perfectly calm  which made for a great night’s rest. 

Saturday morning saw the showers develop into fairly steady rain but we stuck to “the plan” and headed North to Horseshoe Bay on Peel Island. Despite the rain it was the calmest run we have ever experienced on these waters. After a brief stop in the bay for morning tea the wind swung to the SSE (as predicted) so we moved on to Deanbilla Bay. On the way however, we circumnavigated Peel …. not a good decision as the waters to the North were quite choppy and we had some heavy rain making for very poor visibility. Once settled at Deanbilla we were joined by the intrepid and dedicated crew of Odianne and we were very pleased to have Susan and Richard’s company for the rest of the weekend.

After lunch it was apparent that we were the only dedicated (foolish?) boaties attending so we headed back to the calmer waters of Canaipa where we could at least go ashore for a hot cuppa under a sheltered kitchen and have a long walk on Russell Island in the rain.  Back on the boats we had the only minor incidents for the weekend. Richard skilfully fixed a dripping hatch-cover (see photo … he is not really being thrown out the window!) and Ande slipped anchor on the weed-beds in Canaipa Creek.  As a result we  decided to cross over to the Eastern sandhills where we spent another perfectly calm night.

Sunday dawned overcast  but soon reverted to rain so after morning cleanup we departed Canaipa and worked slowly back to the ramp where the weather was kind enough to be fine while we pulled out and dropped our covers.   One sunny day later all is dry and clean and Ande is ready to go again.

Despite the rain it was a very enjoyable trip, proving once again there are never bad days when you are on the water!