
It's quite fascinating to think that the Royal Geelong Yacht Club was actually founded in 1859, (just five years after the Eureka Stockade incident, and around the same time as Great-Grandfather Alexander Smythe Forbes first stepped off the "Chimborazo" from Scotland to set foot in Australia). I sometimes fall into a daydream gazing into the water beneath my boat, wondering what stories lay buried in the mud below me. In its heyday, Geelong was the main port for the Western District wool trade, and the famous clipper ships all loaded their cargoes here. The Ballarat goldfields shipped their wealth out through the very port where "Endurance" is tied up today, and even the venerable Captain "Bully" Forbes (no relation that I'm aware of....) once strode the dock.


But with Admiral Mary finishing work next weekend, we'll soon be able to attack the job with ruthless determination. Getting the family home in a state fit to hand over to our kids to take control is a mammoth task....I'm looking forward to only having a boat to clean up.