Amusing & Unusual Incidents in Australia
by PETER HUNTER (A.P.R.O.)

During the "Bridge" race, I agreed with Colin that Lindsay and I on the Committee boat would start the fleet and then proceed up the course and either be the next mark or verbally inform the competitors which was the next mark. We also agreed that, because there was a significant difference in the speed of the first boat and the speed of the last boat, I would put in loops, 720's etc in order to keep the fleet relatively bunched up and therefore easier to cover with rescue boats. In the event, it became easier to allow the back markers to miss out a mark thereby catching up with the front runners. This was not a concept that came easily to the back markers and so despite the fact that I tried to explain it to them as they sailed past, some of them felt more comfortable following the boat in front. In desperation, I bellowed at their leader "Come here!!!" at the top of my voice and several such hails, they came and I was able to explain their new course to them. By this time Lindsay, who had been a race officer for the Olympic Games a few weeks earlier, was helpless with laughter to the extent that his legs would hardly carry him! When they had finally gone off, we had another beer and he said " This is a rather different way of running racing to the Olympics, but I prefer it.

One afternoon when we were out sailing, there was a huge bang and a lot of black smoke from the general direction of King's  Cross. It can't have been anything to do with Willie Edwards because he was out sailing at the time!! We later discovered that it was an electricity sub station blowing up under the weight of demand. It plunged the whole Rushcutters Bay area into darkness including the Yacht Clubs and our hotel. I commented in Lindsay's hearing that I didn't think much of Southern Hemisphere grid systems since the last time I had been down here, I had been in Auckland and the re the whole city had ended up in without electricity. Quick as a flash, Lindsay christened me "The Prince of Darkness".

Whilst the lights were still out, we returned from dinner one night to find (expectedly) our hotel in darkness. We asked for a drink and were told that we couldn't have one because the electric tills were not working. We extolled the virtues of pen and ink, and after much meaningful discussion the young lady who was duty manager very reluctantly agreed to let us have two bottles of white wine. At this point Louise F-P suggested that we might have a bottle of whisky as well. The explosion that this provoked was sufficient to light up not only the hotel but the whole of Sydney as well!

Another satisfactory moment occurred when Caroline Simonds kindly lent me her boat to sail back after an excellent lunch at  Doyles in Watsons Bay. I was sailing through the moorings just short of Rushcutters when I passed a Dragon on a mooring with 3 people on board. "What's that?" they cried; "A Seaview Dinghy" I replied; "What's that?" they cried again; "The local one design class from a small village on the North East corner of the Isle of Wight, an island off the south coast of England. There are 190 of them; designed in 1930, you know" I said; "Why are you here?" they asked. After a theatrical pause I said "Why not". I added (gratuitously!) "I used to have a Dragon."

Some of us then moved up to Queensland and the highlight of our tour (for some!!) was to go on a cable car above the rain forests. I suffer badly from vertigo and so I decided to forgo the delights of this trip. Therefore, as soon as the last intrepid SVOD warrior had been despatched to swing dizzily over the rain forests and ravines (ugh!!), Uncle Nev and I repaired to the boozer for a few "tinnies". (he drank ginger beer!) The pub he chose doubled as the local betting shop and was, without doubt, the roughest bar I have ever been to, and I have been to some pretty rough bars in my time. (SVYC?). I can't remember how the subject came up, but (never having ridden a horse in my life) I found myself explaining why fox hunting should not be banned. Gradually, more and more of the inmates of this nefarious establishment joined in until we ended up with a full blown debate on the merits or otherwise of foxhunting. I'm pleased to say that the Australian view was that to ban it would be an affront to the freedom of the individual...... and they seemed quite sorry when we left to pick up the intrepid dinghy sailors who had by now reached the bottom of the cable car ride.

".... THANKS TO OUR A.P.R.O. & A.A.P.R.O!"