RIVER
RAMBLE 2000
STARTS SATURDAY 8th. APRIL
‘CRUISING INTO THE NEW MILLENIUM’
Australia’s largest inland fleet of boats will soon be sailing on a 10
day 238 mile ‘Ramble’ along the Murray River from Goolwa to
Waikerie.
On Saturday 8th.April
66 boats will set sail from Goolwa for Wellington at the entrance of the
river to start the Ramble 2000 voyage to Waikerie where the ETA for the
170 boat fleet is 1600hrs on the 17th April.
This is the sixth River Ramble, the first being in 1986, and the fourth
to be organized by the River Murray Boat Owners Assoc. (RMBOA). Whilst
there are some ‘first voyagers’, many
have completed the trip before, some as many as five times.
As the fleet progresses upstream it will be joined by more boats until
when it sails from Mannum there will be an official sail past of 170
boats crewed by more then 500 sailors of widely differing age and
experienced which only matched by the wide variety of boats. There are
new boats, ones more than 100 years old, river cruisers, houseboats,
trailer-sailers and open ‘tinnys’ and large and small boats of many
other types and levels of luxury and comfort or lack thereof.
Each night the fleet will stop at a riverside town where dinner
and breakfast will be provided by a local service organization. After
entertainment, professional and amatuer, many yarns will be exchanged
over the customary glasses of port.
The President of the RMBOA, Walter Schollar said “This is
“ramble’, not a race to the next town. We only sail about 25 miles a
day which gives crews time to enjoy the river views, meet old and make
new friends and perhaps get a feeling for the history of the Murray
River, so important to South Australia’s past and future”.
Check out the pictures
