Marakura Yacht Club

Te Anau

Photo by Graham Dainty

New Coaching Boat

Arrives On Thursday the 4th of June Marakura

took delivery of the new coaching boat

from Ewan Allan Honda Gore. The boat

was bought with a $5500 funding grant

from Meridian Energy. It was naturally

taken for a spin as soon as it was in-

flated and the motor hung on the tran-

som. It proved to be a very stable boat

and with the 10hp 4 stroke Honda motor

it was very quiet and moved around nice

and quick. The verdict is that this is go-

ing to be an awesome asset to the club

and to the learn to sail programme.

A huge thankyou of course has to go to

Meridian Energy by providing the funds

and to Ewan Allan Honda Gore for the

boat and motor which they heavily dis-

counted for us.

If you want to see a full article from Me-

ridian about their funding and the club

look here

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/CU0905/

S00256.htm

Life Membership Awarded

During the AGM held on the 14th of June, Gordon Ashton was presented with a life membership

to celebrate his dedication to the club over the last 21yrs.

In 1988 Gordon and Christine purchased a small single sail dinghy from the Steptoe auction but

soon found it wasn't to their taste. It was while out on a cruise on the Manuska that Gordon real-

ised that the bigger boats was where he wanted to be. So very soon after that on a tip from a friend

about a small trailer sailor for sale in Manapouri they purchased a 17ft Monarch.

Knowing nothing about rigging a boat he spent time with the likes of Les Gibbs and others out on

the water and on the beach learning all he could.

After 7 years the Monarch was sold for a brief

stint in a Nolex 22 before purchasing the Elder

that he currently sails.

After 21 years in the club there aren't many posi-

tions that Gordon hasn't held at some stage or

other. Club secretary 1990 to June 1995, Senior

club captain 1991 & 1992, Commodore 1995 to

1997, Returned to secretary position June 1997

and has held this position ever since. A total of 17

years as the club secretary. On top of all this he

has been the learn to sail coach and is the clubs

delegate to the southland yachting association.

The club owes both Gordon and Christine a debt

of gratitude for the 21 years of hard work that

they have done to ensure the club is both presented at it’s best and operates at it best.

Congratulations.

New boat for the lake.

Some sharp eyed individuals may have re-

cently spotted this boat coming into town. It

is owned by Stu Burnby who currently has

it parked up out back of his house while he

does some repairs to it. He has owned the

boat for around 9 years and the last four it

has been tied up in Riverton.

After the repairs are completed Stu plans to

launch it on the lake and make the most of

cruising the arms.

Cruising Lake Te Anau

Log into www.marakura.org and click on Cruising

Lake Te Anau link. In there you will find a good qual-

ity Google map of the Lake. Thanks to Gordon Ashton

I have been able to mark down a number of anchorage

points on the southern portion of the lake. Just click

on the anchor and it will bring up some details and

hints about that particular spot.

Photo by Graham Dainty