Mission Sitrep No. FBGS-1903
Date of Mission: Australia Day 26 January 2019
Location of Mission: Wentworth Falls Lake
Weather:
The weather was hot, especially for Wentworth Falls, my car indicated it was 30 degrees when I arrived at 0730 and when I left around 1500 it was 38 degrees. It was also quite windy with strong gusts blowing all morning making sailing challenging up until about 1300 when the wind subsided and perfect sailing conditions were had.
Ships in Attendance:
There were upwards of 42 ships running and on display ranging from Cruisers, Destroyers, Frigates, Patrol Boats to Cruise Ships and everything in between.
Members in Attendance:
Mike James, Michael & Robyn Brown, Mark Buttsworth, Tony Page, Russ French, John Konda, Phil Chapman, Jim Campion, Allan Pew, John Quick, Chris Uttley, Rob Ritchie, Craig Taylor, Phil Sommerville, Rob Corner, John & James Slater, Dave, Lachlan & Josh Pearce.
Mission Actions:
It was an incident packed day with John Quick’s partially started Flower Class Corvette blowing off his table and causing considerable damage, some gentle touches and a lot of near miss’s with formation sailing in the gusting wind, Liberty Ship SS John Brown t-boning the Ticonderoga Class Cruiser USS Valley Forge, The USS Valley Forge t-boning the Knox Class Frigate USS Kirk and the Homer if we had one on the day would have gone to Mark Buttsworth. As Mark slowly moved his Fletcher Class Destroyer USS Hazelwood thru the moored fleet and out to open sea a strong gust blew through and hit Hazelwood beam on, it moved the battery and over she went lying on her side and thinking about completely capsizing when Russ who was nearby attending to one of his moored boats quickly ran out and saved her. Unfortunately, no one had their cameras when the incident occurred so with some gentle coaxing Mark was persuaded to take Hazelwood out for another sail, this time he made it out to deep water and during a starboard turn Hazelwood almost went over again, this time Michael Brown Photography was on hand and captured the near roll. This was too much for Mark’s nerves so Hazelwood was quickly returned to shore, looks like Mark has some re-ballasting to do. Vice President Phil Sommerville took the opportunity to award Tony Page a much deserved, TF 72 Meritorious Service Citation for his tireless work as our club President. A great Australia Day display/run was enjoyed by us all even though the weather could have been better.
