Marine services in Carrum

Sailing club

Ask the members and they will tell you, tongue only partly in cheek, that their club is "truly the best kept secret on the bay". Carrum Sailing and Motor Boat Club sits on the sandy south-eastern shoreline of Port Phillip, just below the mouth of the Patterson River, and it makes no apology for being three clubs in one: a home for sailors, motor boaters and paddlers alike, representing, in its own words, boating enthusiasts "whether they be powered by wind, motor or paddle". That breadth gives the place a relaxed, uncliquey atmosphere rare in bay clubs. The sailing side is deliberately low-pressure — the club itself describes its racing as "always friendly and casual" — and Sunday afternoons in season end not with protest hearings but with drinks and conversation at the Galley, the club's cafe, which opens seven days a week through summer. The fleet tells the same story: Lasers, Sabres and Pacers form the backbone, with the occasional NS14 and Ultimate 18 turning up to keep things interesting. Nineteen life members are listed on the club's honour roll, among them Ian and Kathryn Blencowe, Ray Cole, Doug and Heather Kentish and Peter and Jan Pitcher — names that speak to decades of