1973/74 - Aussie Titles - Derwent Sailing Squadron, Hobart.

These titles were a boy's 'weekend away'. I remember that Johnno Augustine and I had planned to stay in a caravan park in a tent. We stayed there for the first night and decided that we had to move. Now Ballarat Bertie had hired a house in Sandy Bay Rd. It may have been one of his clients. If you remember Ballarat Bertie (John Curwen Walker) was a lawyer from Ballarat. Anyway, as it turned out that Johnno and I moved into his house along with plenty of other guys. I can remember that there were guys sleeping in sleeping bags on the floor in hallways, everywhere there were bodies. I can remember one incident when Ballarat Bertie dressed up as a shiek which he did often and tried to get into the Hobart Casino, which was just down the road. We were all there but I think we started laughing and blew Ballarat Bertie's cover. Dorro and Zoob must have been staying there as well, because they had a disagreement and one headed to the airport and Bertie drove to bring him back and nearly cleaned him up on the road.
The club had a ferry trip to New Norfolk. Just picture this: a ferry load of Sharpie sailors descending upon a local pub on top of a hill. Business was brisk. The cops back then were excellent, they drove a few WA guys who were running late for the ferry, back to the ferry, under lights and siren. Unreal.

During one of the races, we were blown ashore, the club sent a car and trailer. We put the boat on the trailer and I think that we sat in the boat as they drove us back to the club.