Back to basics: The latest from the Editor

We recently survived three days aboard our 1976-model Mariner Pacer 760, four-year-old and 14-week baby in tow, with just the oddbump and bruise.

All we had were a portable 12V fridge, and blow-up lounge thatdoubled as our tender. Oh, and a boatload of imagination. Despite the modesty,much family fun was had. The occasional visit by the ice-cream boat got usthrough the day. Nights were spent cuddled up under the doona while swinging ona mooring.

There’s something to be said for getting back to basics, but aclever little boat like the Pacer also makes a statement about how farboat-design hasn’t come. Its builder Bill Barry-Cotter is releasing a newMustang 32 at Sanctuary Cove Boat Show that aims to recapture the entry-levelmarket. We just tested that boat and an in-depth assessment appears in our next

Trade-a-boat on sale May 18. Much of the engineering in our fully restoredPacer 760 dubbed Ralfy V has been carried across to the new Mustang 32. It’squite some boat.

EASTER ROCKS
Whoever reckoned pleasure boating was on the skids didn’tconsider the huge Easter turnout. Where we were moored, around the HawkesburyRiver, it soon became apparent that everyone with a boat was enjoying a finalfling. There were raft-ups everywhere, kid captains learning to drive tenders,beach cricket games, barbies and plenty of naval gazing during the typicalEaster rains.
Ironically, as we bobbed about with our last quarter of a tank ofwater, torrential rain poured on our decks. What we needed was a boat whosedecks redirected the rainwater to a tank to flush our heads and sate the washingmachine and dishwasher. Seems no-one builds boats with a view to catchingrainwater. Waste not, why not?

GARBAGE ARGY BARGY

While in Refuge Bay, Cowan Creek, off the Hawkesbury overEaster, a chic inflatable tender of about five metres in length emerged asternwith its snappily attired crew looking puzzled.
“Do you know where the garbagebarge is?” they inquired. I was sorry to tell them National Parks and NSWMaritime removed the barge a year or so ago due, they reckoned, to a few badapples dumping household rubbish on it. I pointed them in the direction ofPatonga, after which they were last seen heading at high speed.
The name on thetender was Ilonka. That’s Frank Lowy’s superyacht, which was moored around thebend. You’d think Lowy could handle his own garbage disposal or, better still,fund the return of the barge for fellow boaters like us with kids in nappies.How about it, Frank?

SANCTUARY COVE SCUTTLEBUTT

New boat numbers are definitely down at Sanctuary CoveInternational Boat Show opening May 19, there's still plenty to warrant a wingingnorth. Yet there are those in this industry who like a bad news story above allelse. One rumour doing the rounds is that the show’s organisers are pulling thepin and this will be the last Sanctuary Cove Boat Show as we know it.
A mediaspokesperson for show organisers, Mulpha Sanctuary Cove, said that’s never beenon the agenda or up for discussion and in 2013 the show will be celebrating 25years. We know Sanctuary Cove will continue, as it’s a great launch platform.But at the same time, we hear a number of major players in the marine industryare starting up a new Gold Coast boat show or expo. It’ll be more of anend-of-year clearance special that’s affordable for showgoers and exhibitors,perfect for those who can’t attend Sanctuary Cove, but an adjust to it ratherthan a replacement. Watch this space.

91-YEAR-OLD NEW-BOAT OWNER

We got it from the horse’s mouth that a 91-year-oldMelbourne man recently took delivery of a new Riviera cruiser. We’re sure he isthe oldest new-boat owner in Australia. His only stipulation upon placing theorder was: “Let’s not delay delivery too long. I might not be around.”
The newpowerboat captain was selling his Beneteau yacht for a Riviera 36 Sport Yacht.“The thing that got him into it the powerboat were the pod drives. With thejoystick, the boat is just so easy to dock... My dad’s got one, too, and he’s72. The older generation find it easier,” explained Stuart Jackson from thenamesake dealership.

TWO-FINGER SALUTE

A keen boater and reader now kicking around in a 20-foot tubafter many years behind the wheel of bigger cruisers says boaters have becomedownright rude. Whereas he used to be afforded right of way, he’s nowfrequently forced to the sides of tight channels and chased by big cruiserowners flexing their muscle.
Have pleasure boaters become too arrogant? Has thetwo-finger salute replaced the chummy wave? Have you suffered from a salt andbattery? Let this editor know via david.lockwood@traderclassifieds.com.au and we’ll endeavour to compile an overdue story about boating etiquette.