Ferry: timetable change

As of Monday 28 July, the Mon to Sat early morning train connection ferry will leave at 5.20am. (Sunday service unchanged.)

And a friendly reminder that Ferry Pass Renewals can be done at the Paynesville Library/Business Centre: Monday-Friday, 8.30am - 5.00pm.

RI Football League 2014

It’s footy time again on Raymond Island.  The RIFL (Raymond Island Football League) is ready to launch its 2^nd Annual Football Match.

The all important date is Saturday 4 October at A’Beckett Park.

To be part of this exciting event, as a player or volunteer, register your interest by email to riflmatch2014@gmail.com.  Get in early with your player registration as team numbers will be limited.

We will send you back all the info you will need for the big day.  Players of all ages, male and female, are welcome.

Raymond Island Reds vs Raymond Island Blues

Who will be victorious this year?

Put it in your diaries now:

Saturday 4 October, A’Beckett Park, Raymond Island

$5.00 entry

Corporate facilities available

Sausage sizzle and soft drinks

All proceeds to the Paynesville Ambulance Service

Proudly sponsored by Bairnsdale Mazda & Hyundai

Girls' night in

Cathie Gaffney reports on our ladies in pink - some local islanders joined together on Friday 18 July at the Happy Hour before heading to the Golf Club for The Girls Night In - held to raise funds for cancer.

Happy hour movie night fundraiser

HAPPY HOUR PRESENTS A MOVIE/ BYO PIZZA NIGHT IN AID OF THE ROYAL CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL ON FRIDAY 25 JULY 5.00 P.M. MOVIE STARTS AT 6.00 P.M. DONATION OF $2.00 PER HEAD COMEDY MOVIE THE OUT OF TOWNERS (101 MINS) IS OUR FEATURE The Out-of-Towners is a 1970 comedy film written by Neil Simon, directed by Arthur Hiller, and starring Jack Lemmon and Sandy Dennis. It was released by Paramount Pictures on May 28, 1970. The plot revolves around Gwen and George Kellerman, whose company has invited him to interview for a possible job promotion in New York City. From the moment they depart their home town of Twin Oaks, Ohio, the couple suffers nearly every indignity out-of-towners possibly could experience:  BYO drinks, pizza to share - jaffas etc. if required.

Full moon over the Island

Kay Mooney captured a special night in July: Thought I would share this luminescent sight with you.  It was Full Moon the other night and I rushed out into the freezing (well prity chilly) night when John called to come and see the rising moon.  I grabbed his camera to take these shots of the luminescent sight before rushing back to the warm fire..

Landcare: highlighting a 'plant of the month' that is growing on our island

August workshops at the Abbey

The Abbey is holding four (4) Workshops in August 2014 and we would be appreciative if you could please advertise them on the Raymond Island Website.

 

Gardening story time

Special Gardening

Story Time

Proudly hosted by the

Friends of the Paynesville Library

Please join us for a special gardening Story Time session which will include planting seeds in our new garden beds.

Date : Tuesday 22^nd July 2014

Time: 11.00am

Venue: Paynesville Library

There will be a free sausage sizzle lunch for all in attendance

Please register your interest for catering purposes

RINet: linking our community

From the webmaster...

One of the rewards of being web-connected is helping to bring different members of our community together. I recently received an email from a young woman who lives in rural Queensland. She was looking for a couple who live on the island and thought I might be able to pass on her details - she is arranging a surprise party for her parents. We knew who she was looking for and now she will have very unexpected guests to really make a hit for her special celebration.

A similar pleasure came when we received the following feedback on 8 July:

Name : Roelf AukemaComments : Hi fellow Gippsland Lakers,

I was forwarded the article by Andrew McGregor about his boating experiences in Holland by Brendon and Maria Sims. I am in Norway at the moment, but have just returned from Holland and as luck would have it, Sneek, the Town that Andrew and Terry were visiting.

I too am in the process of purchasing a dutch barge in Lauwersoog, in the north of Holland, and have read the article with interest. Maybe there will evolve a Raymond Island/ Paynesville expatriate club in Holland one day!

You may not be aware that I ran the Enterprise cruise boat and that I had the R.I. get-together one year onboard. With most of our friends on Raymond Island, we almost qualify as honorary inhabitants.

Please pass my email on to Andrew and Terry and if you want to put it to press, then it is Ok by me. All the best to everyone and you will see me in Paynesville some time after the 16th July.

Regards
Roelf and Juliette Aukema

Winter warmer...

 

From the webmaster...

What a cold winter we're having! We passed the winter solstice on 21 June - the day when the sun reaches its furthest north position in the sky and starts moving back towards the south. At last, the days are starting to get longer.

Jack Pearce sent through this short YouTube clip, and while we won't usually include unrelated advertising, this is a very special exception and makes a good heartwarmer for our mid-year. We hope you enjoy it!

The Unsung Hero (TVC Thai Life Insurance)

Ferry fees increase: ABC reports

Here is a summary of the recent ABC news coverage of the East Gippsland Shire's proposal to increase ferry fees, and the decision to accept a revised budget.

14th June online news article
Raymond Island ferry fee hike plan sparks anger among residents
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-06-14/-raymond-island-residents-anger-over-f
erry-fee-hike/5518456

27th June 7.30 report (State edition) video footage
Ferry battle in Gippsland
Abc has put the 7:30 ferry segment up on the web, a keepsake I reckon.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-06-27/ferry-fee-battle-in-gippsland/5556492

29th June online news article / video footage
Raymond Island residents defeat Council plan to hike ferry fees
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-06-29/raymond-island-residents-defeat-counci
l-plan-to-hike-ferry-char/5557848

Get involved in the Lakes

In the past two years, approximately $7 million in funding has been allocated on the recommendations of the Gippsland Lakes Ministerial Advisory Committee to projects for environmental improvement, research, agency support, coordination and education. Visit our 'On the Lakes' page to read the GLAMAC 2014 Snapshot

Get involved in the Gippsland Lakes!

Gippsland Lakes E-Engagement is the trial of a new approach to community consultation.

This new on-line forum coincides with the commencement of a series of important projects to update planning and management of the Gippsland Lakes.

• Share your views about the future management of the Gippsland Lakes: 
• On-line involvement through surveys, forums and discussions 
• Access to information as soon as it is available 
• Hearing other people’s views 
• Having your say on important matters for the Gippsland Lakes. 

Simply register with your e-mail address and a few details and you’re ready to get involved.
It’s crowd-sourcing for knowledge and opinions about the Gippsland Lakes.
To participate, go to: http://glee.gippslandlakes.net.au/

The Gippsland Lakes are precious.  
Together we can protect them for the future.

Postcard from Holland

From: Andrew Macgregor 
Sent: Monday, 16 June 2014 5:57 AM
Subject: FW: More on Dutch canal cruising

Hi friends,

We are now at Sneek after three peaceful days and one noisy night at Joure. Yesterday was the annual Vroam day and about 200 old cars arrived in town, parking out the main street. Nearly all were 50s,60s and 1970s with very few vintage vehicles. Fiat 500s were very well represented, with about 20-30 impeccably presented baby Fiats in attendance (our first family car was a Fiat 500 station wagon, so we have a soft spot for them). Today we cruised to Sneek, where our canal adventures all started five years ago. The Sneekerhaven manager, Frank, says he remembers us from then - he has certainly made us welcome with the Australian flag flying from the marina flagpole on our arrival.

Best wishes to you all, Andrew and Terry.

---

From: Andrew Macgregor
Subject: More on Dutch canal cruising
Date: Fri, 13 Jun 2014 21:48:58 +0000

Cruising Europe -a reality check -looking after our forty year old steel boat

After the last couple of weeks of work following our return to Heerenveen this year, I thought a few comments on the annual process might be in order.

             People have often asked us if we make HOUTRIB available for rental. Here is why we don't – it would be just too hard for a casual user.

            Prior to our return, we had arranged to rent a heated shed at the Club for a week. The shed is warmed to 15deg C so paint will dry and epoxy will go off. It rains at least one day in two in May, and it is very difficult to do any work outside under such conditions. Also, because of the high density of boats, there is no yard space outside available to do dirty work, such as angle grinding or spray painting which might damage other boats. The shed is equipped with ladder and mobile scaffolding, and excellent lighting – and costs Euro20/day.

            When we arrived, HOUTRIB was waiting for us in the shed, on the cradle in which she had sat in the yard for the previous 21 months. As you might imagine, there was a lot of work ahead of us just to clean her up before we started work. The care we had taken to keep her adequately ventilated and dry had paid off – there was a lot of dust and grime, but very little mould.

            Our first step always  is to remove the winter cover – an old truck tarpaulin, cut down by us to fit. We riveted new eyelets to suit around its periphery, with tools brought from Australia -we could not discover where to buy them in Holland.. The cover is removed from a timber frame which we then dismantle into a boat sized package which we carry around with us for the season. Cleaning and folding the tarp always takes about half a day. Dutch motorkruisers usually have a tent over the cockpit, with lots of zips and plastic windows, and the tarp is primarily to protect  the tent though winter.

            Our work program always includes patching of deep scratches with epoxy filler, scraping below the water line and two coats of “anti-fouling”. We are in freshwater for only three months a year and the paint used is a variant on tar, supplemented with powdered bronze for the second coat. Traditional tar, per se, can no longer be used for environmental reasons, but the Tenco Schwartz is a pretty close approximation. The magnesium anodes last for many years, and we have only replaced them once – when we bought the boat.

            The standard of finish below the waterline would shock the purist, but the speed limit in the smaller canals is generally 6 km/hr and we are in no hurry. The thicker the protective coating is, the better. Modern Dutch steel cruisers are having the two pack tar epoxy treatment, but we cannot justify this for HOUTRIB.

            There are always scrapes on the hull topsides -the bulk of the hull is finished in two pack brushable polyurethane and we patch with epoxy filler, sand locally, then touch up with two pack. Finding the right materials is often difficult and the correct two pack took us, as strangers, several years to locate. The traditional antifoul we use is not available everywhere, and we keep an eye out on our travels for chances to buy supplies. We only have bikes for getting around when we are not on the boat, so our range is limited. We are fortunate that the Havenmaster (Club Manager) keeps a limited range of some essentials and will order in others (like batteries) on our behalf, and that the local shipwright is very helpful. However, even oil and diesel filters have proved hard to obtain at times.

            The steel rails and rubbing strakes also always need attention and we have trouble keeping up with them. They have many years of white paint on them and, in the time we have available,we scratch away as much rust as possible from trouble spots, treat with inhibitor, prime, undercoat and apply a finishing coat of white enamel. One year we will set aside three days to do this properly, but there are priorities.

            This year, the priority upgrade was the removal of the port aluminium 2m cabin window frame, angle grinding the perimeter to remove rust, then treating with inhibitor, primer, undercoat and finishing coat. The window is bedded down on butyl tape and we still do not know where to buy it in Holland -we were given some by the Havenmaster. This job was finished in the water, as we ran out of time in the shed. The angle grinding was finished, but the window was reinstalled a few days later – when it stopped raining. We were living on the boat by then, with garbags taped carefully over the window, leaving airspace for the paint to dry. I will add that, when angle grinding, as all our possessions were on the boat, it took some art to create a sealed niche with tarps, hooks and tapes so the job could be done without filling the boat with rust particles.

             Accommodation while working on the boat has been a problem in past years, with a 7 km bike ride each way, usually in the rain, from the nearest B&B having been the routine – then finding an evening meal -you can't live on the boat when its in the shed. This year we solved the problem with the help of the Havenmaster – we now rent an vacant hireboat in the club marina for our week of work.

            There are the numerous small jobs associated with commissioning, greasing bearings, checking oil and coolant levels, replacing torch batteries, buying new WaterAlmanacs (up to date copies are compulsory in the Netherlands)  etc etc.

            Then, at the end of the season, the process is reversed, washing and drying all the bedding, in draining all water systems which do not have anti-freeze, changing the oil, making sure the diesel tank is topped up and fuel treated with inhibitor, then, after she is lifted out and water-blasted, re-building the frame (the joints are numbered) and tying down the tarp, after the bikes have been   stored on board. This process  takes about three days.

Now are you sure you really want to rent her for a fortnight?
Andrew and Terry MacGregor