Regatta

It was delayed one day due to rain on Wednesday morning, but the 88th Annual Anglican Church Regatta stepped it up on Thursday.

Congratulations to Lumina Resort, our next door neighbours and very good friends. Not only did they do a stellar job of hosting the Regatta, but they are currently celebrating their 90th season as one of the premier destinations on the Lake of Bays.  Great to see Tec out there paddling, along with the next generation in both canoes and swim races!

Their dining room is open to the public, too -- with advance reservations, and a lot of people aren't aware of that. Chef Sean does an incredible buffet every Sunday, and great meals all week long.

Heather Manuel, the fearless leader of the Anglican Charge in Lake of Bays, somehow manages to be almost everywhere at once, and still keep smiling!

A large, meal-plan resort, Lumina is easily able to absorb the additional crowd of people along their sand beach for the regatta races.  Competitors from the other area resorts -- Bondi, Foxwood, Port Cunnington and Nor'Loch, as well as local residents and cottagers, all enjoyed a day of brilliant sunshine and calm waters -- a good thing if you are trying to learn how to paddle a canoe in the Crab Race (where you face the stern, and paddle towards the stern, with the rest of the canoe sitting high behind you like the tail of a dog.

26 canoes came out for some of the bigger races, and there were lots of young contestants in the 11 and under races too, so it was fun for all.  A great silent auction and plenty of door prizes also added to the fun of the day. Not to mention the Bake Sale...  The crowd was a little smaller this summer:  perhaps the power outage that left Port Cunnington and Bondi in the dark, with staff needed at the resort to cope with that, had something to do with that.  Still, there were lots of folks along the shore, and lots of cheering.

These community regattas are a great way to spend an afternoon. Lumina won the overall high point trophies this year, and well deserved that was.  Thanks to Karen from Nor'Loch, who oversaw the scoring; Rob from Foxwood, who stood in the sun all day to judge, and to all the rest of the volunteers who worked so hard on this event.

Me? They just handed me the microphone, to talk about the history of the Lake, tell some bad jokes, and get the racers out to the start lines.  That's the easy part.  It's the work behind the scenes that makes the day.