These articles are now up to the 1993-94 season and at the Annual AGM of CRSC saw Chris Lowe elected to take on the role of Commodore, with Ron Burwood as President, Sandra Donovan continuing as Secretary and David Loring as Treasurer.

As I opened the first Up the River for that season, the issue of August,1993, I noticed that our new Editor, Bob Lindsay, was a bit whimsical and had changed the headings for a few of the regular articles. For some years our previous Editor, Sandra Donovan had used “From the Secretary’s Desk”, “From the President” or “Your President Ponders” and “Canteen” and Bob, with his sense of humour had changed these headings to “the secretary’s scribings”, “ the president’s pen” and  “canteen capers” all in lower case letters. An obvious case of a new broom etc!!

In my report I asked that the members read through the new Year Book very carefully as a number of changes to our rules had been made by our committee. In particular attention was drawn to the responsibilities of the Duty Class which had been altered and also the rule about sailing amongst the moored boats which we needed to re-word at the request of the Maritime Services Board.

In our secretary’s “scribings” page Sandra welcomed our new Editor, Bob, who volunteered to relieve her of the job as Editor. She commented that the first issue she produced in August, 1980 was only 20 pages and at the change-over after 13 years and 66 issues later it was now up to 36 to 40 pages each issue. As I have mentioned years ago in my articles this magazine started off as a single page newsletter in 1965. These days we get up to 64 pages in an issue with many photos that were not there in the past and it has developed into a wonderful magazine for an amateur Club.

Sandra in her report made a couple of points which I have always agreed with and I think it would be great to repeat her final paragraph here as I feel it is still most relevant and I am sure that many will agree with her thoughts from 1993.

“Many people have contributed to Up the River in my years as editor. It is these contributions that make the magazine interesting to us all and will amuse future members as they read of our good times and disasters. Thank you to all those who have helped to make Up the River what it is today. It has been a labour of love for me but, unfortunately business commitments have forced me to relinquish the job. Keep the contributions coming in. Remember, we are recording the history of CRSC as it happens.”

Sandra’s words from just on 30 years ago as still very relevant and unfortunately in recent years our members’ articles have not been very forthcoming and I strongly ask that you, our members, put your thoughts down in an article and pass it on to Nicole to include in our wonderful magazine. These articles can be about what has happened to you on the water, thoughts about sailing and any other relevant CRSC incident. They will give members down the track an idea of what it was like at CRSC during your time here.

This August 1993 edition of UTR included the report that the outgoing President, John Quinlan, presented at the AGM and it covered many things. He made mention that the Club had purchased a second rescue boat, new communications equipment and a replacement refrigerator. He also mentioned the major storm from December, 1992 which was covered in our last May 2022 Presentation Day issue of Up the River both in an article by Sandra as well as in my “From the Archives” article. He also wrote the Club also purchased a new motor for one of the rescue boats replacing the one lost in that storm and fortunately this was covered by our insurance.

The Class reports in this issue written prior to the start of the season covered many things that should be looked at prior to the first Saturday of sailing. Bern Leslie, Cat Class Captain, probably covered the most with a comprehensive list of 12 things to check on around one’s boat to keep it safe for racing.

Also in our last Presentation issue of our magazine, May 2022, there was an article about the Weidermann family at CRSC with advice that Herbert passed away in April 2022. It also mentioned that he was Cadet Class Captain and in the August 1993 issue of Up the River his article in that capacity contained some thoughts which I feel are worth repeating here for our newer sailors, both trainees and those moving up the ladder a little, He wrote:

“To those young sailors who have completed their basic training, but have then gone into crewing positions in some of the larger boats, I can only say that you will not learn nearly as much about sailing out there as you will if you skipper your own boat and learn to get the best out of it. At first it may seem a bit frightening to be out there on your own, but you will soon get over that. Then you can really enjoy yourself.

In a race situation, if you are out there trying to work out how to make your boat go to windward and you are surrounded by other boats that are moving faster than you, don’t get discouraged and head back to shore. Look and observe how others do it. See how their sail is set, how their boom is sheeted on, how close to the wind they are sailing. That’s how you learn! Others can do it and so can you! Be a ‘copycat’ until you can do as well as they. Then start leading from the front! That’s when the fun starts.

‘Nothing succeeds like success’ is an old saying. But success requires practice and the results of last season’s competition have certainly shown that up. Those young sailors who sailed regularly, even though they didn’t always come first, or even finished their race, but who were out there doing the best they could each week, were the ones most likely to walk away with the prizes and trophies on Presentation Day.

So, come and have a ‘go’! “

These words of Herbert’s from just on 30 years ago are still very relevant today and I am sure that he would have been proud to see them included here after all this time.

In our secretary’s column it was interesting to read her words that that the next big event would  be our Marathon Race on Rod Walker Day on November 27^th 1993 as she goes on to say that it had been many years since our Club had run a Marathon event and it was being re-introduced by popular demand. Back then the race was down to Cockatoo Island and back with the slower classes turning around somewhere in between. This re-introduction was a great success. In most years since we have held this special race, although these days only the Cat, NS14 and Tasar classes go round Cockatoo Island. The Spirals and “A” Division sail around nearby Spectacle Island whilst other classes round a buoy just to the east of Gladesville Bridge. However there is an alternative course for the Cats, Spiral, Ns14s and Tasars which has them sailing up to a mark in Hen and Chicken Bay and not going under the Gladesville Bridge. In his Spiral Class Captain’s report Chris Loring commented “After a good breeze for the whole of the work to Cockatoo Island we sailed around the two smaller islands near Cockatoo and headed back for the long run to the Bridge mark, After only ten or fifteen minutes the breeze died away to a rather poor 5 or 6 knots. All of the fleet drifted back to the Bridge, around Brays and through the finish. I am sure that many of you, like myself, were very glad to be able to stretch our legs after taking 2 hours and 35 minutes for the winner to cross the line.”

Like some others I can recall sailing my Heron up around Cockatoo Island and even though it was a long race it was a very memorable event.

As usual Class reports were included in this issue except for the Cat Class although there was a page dedicated to this class. I think our new Editor, Bob Lindsay, used his sense of humour to fill this page which read:

News Flash!

Gary Ormes in secret training for the year 2000 Olympics.

Gary what happened as I do not recall you sailing in the Sydney Olympics???? Oh what things you can find in our old issues!!!!

On to our December, 1993 issue which had a front page where our Editor wrote that our race on 4^th December, 1993 was the one year anniversary of our great storm as mentioned earlier. On this anniversary day the start of our race was delayed for an hour by our starter, Ted “Now Hear This” Kendrick, as there were a number of electrical storms circulating the area with winds gusting to 15 knots or more. I will quote here the comments written by our Editor “it adds to the Club’s reputation as a caring, helpful and friendly fraternity when our starter, Ted Kendrick, suggested that boats already making their way to the starting line, return to shore. Sensitivity for safety at all times is something which we should all be grateful and while it was a great reach out to the starting line, it was equally rewarding to stand thigh-deep in water for about 45 minutes talking to other members we don’t usually have time to. Great Clubs don’t just happen – everyone works at it. Ours is a great Club.”

Again, words from the past which are still relevant today!

In my President’s Report I commented that the rocks in the launching area appear to be immovable as they are protected by law and that I would be having an on-site meeting with our representative of the Waterways User’s Group about the matter. I advised our member s to take care around the launch area. Naturally nothing came of this meeting and our problems continued for many years until just a few years ago when we were able to get the groyne erected but as you will know we are still having some problems but to a much lesser degree.

About this time, we started on planning for a celebration of our Club’s 50^th anniversary coming up in 1995. The Committee was asking for ideas as to how we could celebrate this when the time arrived. However at this early stage a book was being compiled on the first 50 years about the history of our CRSC and as already under way.

I also commented on the third heat of our Club Championship held on November 20th as it was a wet and miserable day. As it was an interesting (???) day I will quote what I wrote back then:-“It had been raining heavily during the morning and when a few brave or foolhardy sailors arrived as the Club it was still pouring. There was a dreadful lack of interest in sailing with no one wanting to be the first to start to rig. Eventually a small fleet for a championship heat was launched and the race got under way albeit somewhat later than normal. The course was number 4 (SSE) and the work with the tide running against the wind was somewhat heavy going, particularly the chop on the water.

There were many capsizes, much broken gear and a large number of retirements. For those who stayed on the water there were plenty of good rides and even the Herons managed to plane. The rain continued on and off during the race and for those few who finished there was a sense of achievement accompanied with a good deal of fatigue ….. but not really a Club Championship type race as it was a survival exercise.”

From time to time over the years some of our members have written articles for publication in “Up the River” about the history of various places along our stretch of the Parramatta River and in the past, I have repeated some of them. In the issue I am currently covering, December 1993, there is such an article written by Ron Bolton who many of you will recall as a Spiral sailor and then in one of our rescue boats in recent years. I think it is worthwhile repeating here so it follows.

“AROUND OUR RIVER".

Next time you’re in a drifter and pondering where to tack to get some sort of a breeze, take a look around the foreshores and contemplate what went on in the days gone by on our beautiful Parramatta River. Our River has a wonderful history going back to early settlement when the River was used as a major link with the Parramatta settlement. River pirates would plunder, rob and murder people and bury them close by to where we rig our boats. (Some would say that the pirate tradition continues today among some of our fellow skippers, but that’s a different story- now back to this one!)

Our River has had a chequered history over the past 200 years (now 230 years) and has many majestic buildings adorning its shore but come with me as we look opposite the Club House and see a bay with two arms – Majors Bay and Yaralla Bay, separated by a peninsula on which stands, in beautiful grounds, the mansion named Yaralla. One of a group of three large hospitals adjacent to one another, on 306 acres of land that was formerly the estate of Thomas Walker, philanthropist, who died in 1886, and of his daughter and heiress, Eadith Walker, who died in 1937.

Born at Leith, Scotland, in 1804, Thomas Walker immigrated to Australia at the age of 18, to join a firm of mer`chants in which his uncle was the senior partner. That business prospered and eventually Thomas Walker became one of its principals. He accumulated a fortune and was, for many years President of the Bank of New South Wales.

One of his investments was to purchase the large block of waterfront land at Concord, partly from the estate of Thomas Nicholls, in 1840. There the mansion Yaralla was built in the 1860s. It was, and still is, one of the finest buildings on the shores of the Parramatta River. Yaralla was frequently the setting for dinner parties and balls attended by the most select of Sydney’s society. Thomas Walker did not consider that the enjoyment of wealth depended on a display of it. He made frequent donations, anonymously, to charitable institutions, and also appointed agents to distribute his generous gifts to poor and deserving families, widows and orphans.

He died in September 1886 at the age of 82 leaving his mansion and most of his fortune to his daughter Eadith. His will also established a trust fund of 100,000 pounds to build and maintain a convalescent home to be known as the Thomas Walker Convalescent Hospital. It was found that a further fifty thousand pounds would be needed to complete the building and this money was donated by Thomas Walker’s sister Joanna Walker, his daughter Eadith and adopted daughter Anne Mansfield.

The building was duly erected in the grounds which had been part of the Yaralla Estate and in its first 20 years received 18,000 non-paying convalescing patients in need of rest, fresh air and peaceful surroundings. The hospital running costs were met by interest on part of Thomas Walker’s endowment.

In 1917, during the Great War, Eadith Walker (now 52) made part of the grounds of Yaralla available as a ‘camp’ for returned soldiers suffering from pulmonary tuberculosis, and also made large gifts to the Red Cross and Comforts Funds. On part of the grounds of Yaralla in 1918, the Federal Government established a hospital for the returned soldiers which, in the name of Concord Repatriation Hospital, became the biggest military general hospital in Australia.

There are three distinct infirmaries within the spacious grounds along the Parramatta River, occupying the two peninsulas between the three bays – Major’s Bay, Yaralla Bay and Bray’s Bay – all part of the previous 306 acres of Thomas Walker land.

The hospital itself is a symmetrical building with an ornate, three storey tower over its entrance. The central area was the administrative section and contained – as well as an extensive vestibule – an office, boardroom, library and dispensary. To the rear of these rooms was a hall large enough to seat 200 people.

On each side of the complex were pavilions, or wards – the men’s to the right and the women’s to the left. Most patients arrived by steamer form Sydney stepping off onto the private wharf, which was demolished when I was a boy. You then entered a beautiful boathouse which consisted of waiting store, lounge and smoking room (for male visitors).

The tower you see at the front is a dutch water tower and is in contrast to the main building’s tower. If you take time out to have a look at Thomas Walkers one day you will be amazed at the elaborate sandstone carving and careful attention to detail and finishing. Italian stonemasons were specifically brought to Australia to work on the building.

Not long ago I watched a film called ‘Flirting’ which was shot on location at Thomas Walkers and some of the interior including a the recreation hall was featured in all its glory. Next time you sail past Thomas Walkers you night take a close look and imagine what it would have been like in its heyday.”

I know that over the years we have had other articles about Thomas Walker and Yaralla but this one of Ron’s is very different to the others. Thanks again to Ron Bolton who wrote this story of history on our area almost 30 years ago. The amount 100,000 pounds that Thomas left in his will for the home was a huge amount and I have been trying to work out what this would worth today. Very hard to track this down but the amount appears to be the equivalent of somewhere around fourteen million dollars - he was a very generous man.

It is good to read these old stories written by our members of that era. So I ask all members again to sit down and write an article for Up The River and pass it on to Nicole to include in an issue. In 30 years hence this will give someone down the line something to pass on to the members of that future time in a similar article as my “From the Archive” ones however it will not be me as I will not be around then!

So all for now unto next issue.

Good Sailing!!!!

Ron Burwood