21 March 2010

Supporting Team Sheelas

Sunday 21 March started with the proud owners trying to look nonchalant while frantically making last minute adjustments to their craft. I was particularly interested in Stan's tin canoe. It was named "Noelzie" after his disabled wife. His Tshirt did not lie when it stated boldly "Big Dude". If Stan can fit into a tin canoe then maybe I can as well, well maybe... 
This is Rob Crosby's tin canoe Odd Job, a very different design.
The canoes lined up on the beach ready for the start. There was very little wind for race 1. Cathy and I had to leave before the later races to catch the tide back to Harwood and the wind didn't come up come up until well after we left. When we returned early evening for the prize giving we were regaled with tall tales of numerous capsizes and rescues. A special trophy was given  to a rescuer (who shall remain anonymous) who threw a line to Stan who was heading for the rocks but forgot to secure the line to the rescue boat. Luckily all's well that ends well.
The Commodore gave a course briefing and and then got  the skippers to line up ready for a running start when the canon was fired.
Race 1 underway. Cathy and I were cheering on the Sheelas who won (I don't think we helped). They were ecstatic as it was their first ever win. The rules permit a maximum of 2 paddles per canoe and both paddling and sailing are allowed. A trophy is awarded for the best paddler but I seem to remember that a trophy was also awarded for the crew that did the most sailing v paddling.
The Big Dude again. Stan is a woodworker who claims not to have much sailing experience, despite that he came second in each of the four races and carried off the main trophy.

I am still dreaming .... Shame I don't have any tin canoe building skills...  I wonder if the 10 teams that competed this year would countenance 11 teams next year?

 I haven't enjoyed myself so much for years as I did at this crazy, quirky  regatta. Thanks again Jill for inviting us.
The finish line is a tree with Will Banks photo (photo 7). Each team have to hug Will, who is clearly greatly missed by everyone. A trophy is awarded for the best hugging.

20 March 2010

The International Tin Canoe Regatta

20th March 2010. I learnt later that  the International Tin Canoe Regatta is always held close to the Ides of March. I was thrilled that Jill Trevillion had invited me to the 8th regatta to support "Team Sheelas". In a strange way it felt quite appropriate as when Cathy Jones, Nicky Greenlaws, Lee Fenton and I launched Little Dragon we were immediately dubbed "The Four Shielas!" (see blog 12 April 08).

My plan was to launch Little Dragon at Harwood and sail down the river to Iluka with Cathy as crew, after all Cathy was one of the original Shielas as well as a friend of Jill Trevillian. We are all Stingray Ocean Swimmers - another informal, unincorporated and uninsured group of which we are proudly "Non Members" as stated on our Tshirts. Unfortunately there was very little wind at all for ages and the occasional puff was easterly meaning that we had to tack all the way (with a bit of motoring) when it died away completely). Eventually we reached Iluka and anchored for the night near the Tin Canoe Club House. We had to leave again the following day before noon to catch the end of the flood tide back to Harwood.
The regatta is held in the picture perfect setting of Iluka Harbour. It is amazing that this private event has been able to continue under the radar of officialdom, sponsorship, tourist event calenders etc. The participants certainly do not adhere to the neo-liberal growth paradigm. At the prize giving there was an award for "maintaining the tradition". I hope that in years to come this gathering of friends/sailors/tin canoe builders will be allowed to continue to "maintain the tradition". So please readers of my blog - don't spread the word! As a child in England I grew up sailing with my parents at the local yacht club (that I will not name). By the time I was a teenager I rejected its overt sexism, snobbishness and anti-Sematism but I still enjoyed sailing. The "traditions" of this event were the antithesis of all that I had rejected so many years ago.

I witnessed one of the "traditions" at the Saturday night BBQ. With great ceremony I was given the task of unscrewing the base of the main trophy (a galleon that had to be a spoof on mainstream yachting trophies). Inside was the only only copy of The Rules. The Commodore read The Rules out to the assembled company and then they were screwed back into the trophy for another year. I don't remember many of The Rules as I was laughing too much and had drunk two glasses of wine. One rule was no protests which seemed to be contradicted by the rule that any disputes had to be presented by a dog on a specific date which I don't think exists.

Jill Trevillion is proudly posing in front of Team Sheelas splendid tin canoe. Jill and her partner Will Banks were two of the founding group and Jill has sailed in all 8 regattas. Sadly, her partner Will died in a tragic accident 4 years ago.
Jill was handing David a life jacket for his practice sail. David was going to become Daveena, Team Sheelas skipper, for the races the following day. I was a bit sad to yet again find that there are so few women sailors willing and able to be skippers. If you look carefully you can see Little Dragon anchored on the left.
There were 4 members of Team Sheela, from left to right Lucille, Victoria, Daveena and Jill.
I couldn't resist a close up of Team Shielas tin canoe. The only design rule for the canoes is that they must be made our of one sheet of roofing iron. As far as I could see most of them now had more wood and bamboo than iron. Part of the ethos of the event is that the canoes should be affordable. The original tin canoes only cost around $50 and had features such as an old shower curtain for a jib. Now they are more sophisticated and some have "real" sails and rigging, but there is a trophy awarded to the canoe with the greatest ratio of tin to wood.