Hi Everyone , Well its finally here with Christmas only 5 days away and the club officially closed until the 7th of January its time to look back at whats been a great year for Paradise Point Sailing Club . In the last twelve months our Junior sailing fleet has almost doubled especially amongst our younger sailors , its such a joy for me personally to see all these five , six , seven and eight year olds sailing out on the broadwater on Sunday mornings sure there has been heaps of capsizes and collissions and the odd worried face but they still come back on the following weekend for more .
All this is thanks to our big hearted bunch of volunteers from the canteen people to the boat drivers and shore people and of course our group of assistant sailing instructors who turn up nearly every weekend and teach our kids how to sail and also have fun ! 
Our racing fleet is also on the increase and the racing is awesome with really good competition amongst both the adults and youth sailors , it must be good racing as I have been getting plenty of practice with the recall flags 
Our Youth Regatta and Try Sailing days were also a great success and will return next year along with The Pan Pacific Masters Games which will be our third go at hosting this event .
Thanks to Harvey we now have our own keel boat in Public Nuisance which now looks awesome thanks to Boatworks and the suppliers who donated both time and product to give her a facelift and also a big thank you  to Peter Andrew Rod Roger and me for getting her ready by repairing and sanding her down prior to her rap . While Iam on the subject thanks to Roger Ash Andrew Peter Parry Paul John T Christy for donating their time in bringing the Boat from Narooma NSW  , for me my stint on board was just awesome especially the starts at night thanks mother nature for the nightly show 
Unfortunately I have to round out with the only really disappointing side of the year and that was our recent break in where heaps of Open Bic equipment was stolen but thanks to our Insurance company we should have the boats back up and running early in the new year
If you are not doing anything new years eve come down to the club as Andrew and I have decided to open the canteen for coffee and d rinks as a prelude to the 9.00 pm fireworks which is always an awesome event .

MERRY CHRISTMAS and CU on the water 
John Murphy                                                                                           

Hi Everyone , Yes only 11 more days until Santa comes so everyone is on their best behaviour including me so I will recieve what I wish for Xmas but my main joy comes from my grandchildren when they open their presents and the smiles it produces .

8.30 Sunday Juniors ;
Sunday morning started with mother nature deciding to slowly increase the wind speed so it was always going to be a struggle for everyone who came for a sail . Due to the increasing wind speed a lot of sailors stayed away as they all know now to check the wind speed and make the decision to try something else for the day .
We set up a couple of lasers so at least people could get on the water and get their sailing fix . Charlie and Casey had a tribe on board their lasers with Charlie absolutely flying past Casey on every lap but Case did have a full boat so tacking was a bit of an issue . Unfortunately conditions slowly got worse and we finished the session early so everyone could go and have a shower due to the fact everyone was drenched which might have had something to do with me making more waves in the powerboat .

10.30 Sunday juniors ;
We were definitely not sailing at 10.30 as the winds had increased to 18/20 knots and the waves were around half a metre so we decided to set up Public Nuisance for a sail instead but even that failed as firstly we had to reset our bridle as someone had run over it and shifted the anchor causing the yacht to start rubbing on the pontoon . Sounds an easy job but not really just ask Charlie next time how heavy was the anchor that was chockers with mud , by the time we reset everything it was even too windy for Public Nuisance to sail with winds reaching 30 knots so we just sat around talking using up time before we could head off to the Xmas Party ! The Xmas party at the bowls club was a great night with everyone joining in barefoot bowls and with expert commentary from the benches ( me and Charlie and Casey ) it turned in to a fun afternoon . As usual the bowls club put on a great dinner and desert for everyone including Christmas decorations and party favourites.

Sailing Camp;
Despite the very ordinary weather conditions ( 29 knots at the seaway ) on Monday we still ran our junior camp by towing the boats up to the top of Sovereign and with the help of Charlie , Dallas and Sienna we managed to get all the kids on the water and yes there was a lot of capsizing but slowly a few people started to get the hang of it . Tuesday was a better day with winds down to 20 knots but only averaging 12 knots back at Sovereign . Some of the first timers really went well with Griffin going well at steering Fletch really getting the hang of the main sheet Aidan and his crew of two keeping on course , Josh and co also getting the hang of sailing then Edwina who despite quite a few capsizes ( running aground ? ) and drifting all the way down the channel at one stage joining Charlie who had also drifted down there everyone sailed well and the best part was how everyone pitched in to help clean and pack up at the end . Sorry next weeks camp is full but there are still spaces in the new year !

NEW YEARS EVE 2017 : We will have our canteen open from 5pm New Years Eve so come down and watch the 9pm fireworks with us its always a great spectacle 

2018 
Juniors ; First sail for 2018 Sunday January 7th 
Open Racing ; First race Sunday 21st January

CU ON the water
John Murphy

Hi everyone , Well despite mother nature starting Sunday with heavy rain early the weather started to settle around 6.30 am which was great news for our annual Try Sailing Hospital Fundraiser . Although the conditions remained overcast all day at least we had the chance to show people our sport of sailing . 
I must thank everyone who came along and helped either on the beach on the boats in the canteen and on Public Nuisance as volunteering is the life blood of clubs like ours .

All our usual juniors either sailed  together our with new friends made on the day and despite the odd tow from down south including me when the wind just died out great fun was had by all . Tom had 6 budding sailors on at one stage and would you believe it the boat capsized and everyone fell off! I had one of the mums with me on the jetski and she at first panicked to see her boys in the water because they didn't want to sail on the beach but once she saw them laughing with the other kids she started laughing as well . good work Tom ! 
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Andrew took groups out in Public Nuisance which after some engine surgery was flying around under motor even creating a bow wave . After much pestering by all the kids I finally relented and took kids out for some fun on the jetski which I'm sure all the kids enjoyed even Abby who was gripping me some tight I think she bruised a couple of ribs just kidding Abbs!.

We had some hospital staff and their families there as well who set up their marquee with the help of our expert marquee setter upper Charlie ? well at least that's how he described himself ? and Sabrina from the hospital said all her people had a great day and were truly amazed on what we set up in aid of their fundraising efforts for the Hospital.

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On the day we raised nearly $600.00 which goes to the Gold Coast University Hospitals equipment wish list so well done to everyone involved.

Sunday Juniors is back next Sunday the 10th and is also operating on the 17th before closing down for Christmas and New Year then re opening on Sunday the 7th of January.

Holiday Camps are filling fast with the first camp now full and the second camp half way there as well so if you need a sailing fix join into one of the remaining camps and not only learn more about sailing but also have some fun ..

Christmas Party ; Our annual Christmas Party is this Sunday at Paradise Point Bowls Club starting at 4.00 pm with barefoot bowls included so come along and join the team and have some great fun on the night , tickets can be purchased at the club or at the venue Adults $25.00 children $10.00 including a buffet dinner and if its anything like last years meal it will be awesome .
New Years eve at Paradise Point Sailing Club ; After Andrew and I opened the canteen last year on new years eve to raise money for thge club we have decided to open again this year from 5.00 pm until 8.30 pm so come along and enjoy the 9 oclock fireworks at the club its an awesome spectacle PS GET IN EARLY AS PARKING IS A PAIN .

Ok CU on the water or bowls club!
John Murphy