Mission Sitrep
No. FB Canberra – 19/03 November Mission Report
Date of Mission: 23 Nov 2019
Location of Mission: Coombs Pond, Coombs ACT
Weather: Sunny morning with light breeze warming to a hot day.
Ships in Attendance: 20 plus, mostly navy with some merchant vessels and three tugs.
Members in Attendance: David Peterson, Bob Murdoch, Andrea Cortese, Brett Warburton, Mick Davis, Peter Cole, Doug Bain, John Harriott, Matthew Harriott, Peter Dowton (application pending), and Trish Price from the ACT Model Boat Club.
FBC members enjoying an impromptu local regatta at Coombs Pond 23 Nov 19.
Clearly we need to invest in some TF72 shirts.
Mission Actions:
Fleet Base Canberra members (FBC) who had previously indicated a desire to attend the Task Force 72 National Regatta at Wentworth Falls 23-24 Nov, unfortunately had to cancel due to conflicting commitments, health issues and car maintenance issues impacting our ability to car pool.
Thus, it was proposed to conduct a FBC sailing session for 1/72 scale models at Coombs Pond, cnr Annabelle View and Madgwick St, Coombs ACT on Saturday morning. Timings were flexible to accommodate Saturday morning odd jobs but between 0900-1130, there was a regular passage of up to 10 model ships on the water at any time.
This activity prompted a number of members to run models which hadn’t been on the water for some time. By bringing up to 4 boats each we ensured that new members were also able to enjoy a drive and that a sizeable fleet was on the water throughout the morning. This was to the delight of various family groups walking and cycling around the lake.
Portion of the fleet, Fleet Base Canberra 23 Nov 19
SS Freshspring, fresh water supply vessel built by Mick Davis. Note scratched paint on bow! Another boat must have surged sideways across Mick’s bow earlier in the day.
With the temperature, at noon members adjourned to the shade of the deck at the home of Mick Davis. Mick had planned to out source the barbeque to his wife Kerrie, but Kerrie had other plans so Mick put on the apron and prepared a sausage sizzle and liberal rations of his award winning, home-made, family recipe, tomato sauce. Cameron Glassford was also able to catch up with us at Mick’s.
The activity concluded mid-afternoon with members heading home fired with enthusiasm to finish some modelling projects and get a few new and not so new boats on the water.
The major local activity for FBC during the rest of 2019 will be finishing some models over Christmas and preparing appropriate models for Navy Day in the New Year.
Fair sailing,
John Harriott
FBC Representative