Thursday, September 09, 2010

Boating community gets active

Image of storm over Moreton Bay, courtesy

SOFTLY spoken Janis Clarke, who grew up in the land-locked English district of Essex, will always remember her first experience in a sailing boat on Moreton Bay.
"It was quite beautiful really," says Janis, who describes herself as "very unboaty" and "a non-swimmer".
Luckily, Janis has a very boaty husband, John, who also hailed from the English countryside at Surrey, but nevertheless has seawater in his veins.
Janis says it took time after the couple bought a Farrier trimaran for her to build up enough trust and confidence to venture out on the bay.
WHEN she took the leap of mind and spirit the reward was memorable: A beautifully clear day with the sun shining.
"We motored out then, John put the sails up and the wind caught them," she says. "That was my first experience with sailing - it was quite relaxing, quiet calming, no noise, just pleasant.
"I felt very very safe; the boat rode the waves beautifully. On another occasion we even went through a storm and I wasn't worrried at all.
"It is very stable because it's a tri, but I wear my life jacket at all times."
The Clarkes live at Birkdale. They had two teenage children when they migrated to Australia 17 years ago; now they have two grandchildren.
"We are very settled and very happy here," Janis says.

THE Farrier has featured recently in the Classifieds Boats & Marine column for $21,000, with options to reduce the price by including just the original motor and removing the solar panels.
The column has been looking busy. The boating community, while active year round, seems to spring into action at this time of year, when the Redlands subtropical climate and the glory of Moreton Bay combine in heart-melting splendor.
The view across to Straddie and Moreton, with the multiple layers of the other islands, always evokes in this bay-lover a vision of an English ship arriving here in the 1840s.
If you pick your vista, without channel markers, you can tell yourself it hasn't changed much in the past century and a half.

YET here we are in a modern Redland City, with a vibrant culture of human activity reflecting in every edition of our local papers.
That's how I found out the Clarkes are selling their trimaran. Don't worry, they are not turning their back on the bay.
John has simply bought a new boat, so the Farrier needs a new skipper.

Thanks for joining me today in the marvellous community of classified advertising. This column has appeared in The Redland Times.

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