Little Dragon greets visiting Dragon Boats

Three dragon boats  as well as over 100 kayaks took part in the inaugural Westpac Chopper Paddle from Harwood to Iluka. Little Dragon enjoyed having dragon company for a few hours.

The Rainbow Region Dragon Boat from Lennox Head

c

Lee Fenton (right), one of the original 4 "Sheila's"

Lee was one of the original  4 "Sheila's" who launched Little Dragon exactly 10 years ago. We are all still good mates and see each other most days ocean swimming in Byron Bay. Nicky is still a regular crew but Lee is too busy dragon boating. 

April 2008  the 4 "Sheila's" launched Little Dragon - Nicky Greenlaw, Cathy Jones, Lee Fenton and myself Pam

A great day sail but that ... jib furler

It is down memory lane today. This is what I wrote in my blog back in November 2009  "... John Woods, the BRSC training officer, who has been unfailingly supportive of me, despite my steep, and at times eventful, learning curve since the day nearly 2 years ago that the "4 Shielas" launched Little Dragon."

November 2009 John Woods

Almost 10 years on John and poodle Ted are still being supportive. We all went for a great day sail from Harwood almost to Iluka and back. This year it has been pretty hard to find a window of good weather - but this time we did well, a fresh southerly suited us well.

I am (yet again) glad that John was aboard. That .... jib furler let us down again. For no obvious reason the jib just refused to furl at all when we were about to head into the ramp. So John, who is far more agile than I am these days, was able to clamber onto the foredeck. I released the jib halyard and he bundled the jib up and tied it securely. Job done. 10 years and that ... jib furler is still a problem even after I replaced the original with a much more pricey one from the USA.