Ahoy my fellow Wooden Boat Enthusiasts!
This report will be a short one, sorry to those who enjoy the elongated story telling. Due to scheduling conflicts with my personal calendar, the WBA calendar and the incredible Victorian weather, I had to miss out on most WBA events the past month.

To begin, Lake Eppalock was the new destination for the scheduled river trip, due to the high waters and rain on the Murray River. I was unable to attend because it takes a little longer than a month to build a boat, believe it or not.

There is an article in the pages to come, written by the Lake Loitering Crew who did face the rain of the North West. It is well worth a read, please enjoy it. The Paynesville trip was another adventure we had planned. I wanted to ensure my wife and dog’s first boat adventure was not a soggy one. This also gave me more time with the finishing touches of my new boat build. Like I said before, there are many great articles about the month’s past adventures in the pages ahead.

Let’s take the time now and mention the upcoming events, such as the Club Night on Wednesday 23rd of November: a presentation about Ken MacMahon’s recent adventure up in the beautiful Faroe Islands. It may be distant from here, but the weather is similar to our past October. Please contact Chris Kelly to RSVP.

Our next sailing day will be on the 27th of November at the Albert Park Lake. Please jump on our Facebook page and let us know if you will be there.
I refuse to have a repeat of the last sailing day on the 30th of October! Poor Graham and Nick were left on their lonesome. Where were you guys at? You can’t leave those two alone like that, or they’ll make crazy decisions, such as bringing Begonia - our beautiful club boat- into the Victorian Wooden Boat Centre for a little facelift.

Now that I mention the facelift, Begonia will be back in time for the sailing day on the 27th of November. And every Saturday between now and then, she and I will be there waiting. Waiting for enthusiastic members to help out with sanding and varnishing. Please get in contact with me, so I can tell Begonia when she should be expecting you.

Also, I am still waiting for people to get in contact with me regarding the video series I would love to film about our club members and their boats. If you think your boat is interesting and worth sharing, let’s make a video about it. If no one volunteers and gets in contact. I will hunt you down and record you, A Current Affair style. You won’t like me when I’m in Tracy Grimshaw mode!

With all that said, I look forward to seeing you all at the upcoming events and down at the Victorian Wooden Boat Centre giving Begonia some overdue love.
I know it is early yet, but now is the time to add our Christmas Lunch and Sailing Day to your diary. We are getting together on Sunday 11 December for our annual celebrations, with special awards to be made to some lucky individuals. Once again we will be enjoying a BBQ, with all meats supplied. As is our custom, we ask that you bring a salad or dessert to share. RSVP to Chris on 0438 519 033 by Wednesday 7 December.

Ethan Urch.
WBA President.