Members of the Shell Cove Sailing Club. Photos: Supplied.
Nestled in the sheltered waters of Shellharbour Marina, a group of sailing enthusiasts have found a home for their passion, creating a close-knit community that celebrates the joy of being on the open sea.
The Shell Cove Sailing Club, formed just 18 months ago, has quickly grown to 60 members, drawn to the club’s relaxed, social approach to sailing in what is renowned as a world-class marina.
For foundation member Ken Barnard, the opening of the marina three years ago coincided with the start of his own interest in sailing.
“I’m very new. I only started sailing three years ago,” Ken said.
“One of the reasons why I moved from Sydney to here was to be close to a new marina that was being built so I could participate, get a yacht and start sailing.”
It was talking to fellow founding members Julia Harrison, Scott Leslie and Peter Barrett that sparked the idea to form a club 18 months ago.
“I saw a lot of yachts coming in and yachts and boats standing still in the marina, and decided to create a club,” he said.
“I registered the incorporation of the association in May 2023 and the first real outing was July 2023.
“We’re there for three reasons – to have fun, to socialise and to sail.”
Since then, the club has quickly grown to have 16 yachts and about 60 active crew members.
“Some of the people have done Sydney to Hobart, and some of the guys have basically been around the world a few times, so we have some really experienced sailors,” he said.
“You’ll find some of the larger vessels don’t normally go out too often. They’re really guys who would be going from here to Queensland or Tasmania.”
He said for other members, the goal was taking part in regular social cruises, including regular Thursday evening sails called the Twilight Series in summer and the Sunset Series in winter, along with a monthly Weekend Series sail that often culminated in a barbecue or pizza.
One of its latest weekend sails saw the vessels donning large inflatable Santas and reindeer as they set off from the marina to celebrate Christmas.
“When you bring 16 yacht owners together, you share a lot of experience, skills and knowledge,” he said.
“Quite a few of the yachties were ex-shipwrights, some were ex-Navy guys who worked on larger boats, so there’s a big variety of skills.”
He said the sailing route sometimes changed to keep it interesting for members, but the goal was never to race but instead enjoy social sailing.
“There’s no handicap. If you want to take a shortcut, you take a shortcut. If you want to start your motor and use your motor, you can do that,” he said.
Ken said they purposely aimed to get everyone back into the marina at the same time.
He said in that way it was different to many other clubs, with the emphasis being on a simple community-based club focused on social sailing and celebrating the lifestyle.
“Everyone who comes has most probably previously owned a company or run large organisations and they don’t really want to be involved in something that is ruled and has structures in place,” he said.
“We operate under very much a laissez-faire structure. It’s down-to-earth, with an emphasis on freedom, creativity and self-direction, as opposed to a highly organised, formal and rule-driven club structure.
“We try to be paperless, moneyless and effortless. It’s for everyone to get out what they want and to give whatever they want.”
With many moving to the area because of what it had it offer, Ken described the marina as world-class, meeting global standards and rivalling the best mooring facilities in Australia.
“Shellharbour Marina is something that the Illawarra really needed. South of Port Hacking, there’s nothing else like it,” he said.
He said Shellharbour City Council had created a waterfront development that not only offered a marina, but a lifestyle for club members and residents.
“It is remarkable,” he said.
“A lot of people would leave their yachts here and then go back overseas for two or three months because it’s a safe environment; it’s a very good marina, and it’s very well priced for people to leave yachts and boats.”
He said it also attracted an array of sea life, which the seafarers played a part in preserving.
“The Shellharbour Marine Services manages the marina, they’re privately owned, and they really are very strict on what you can and can’t do in the marina,” he said.
“For example, you can’t clean the boats. You can’t wash underneath.
“They have been certified by Australian standards to be a very clean water marina and were awarded gold star achievements for keeping it so neat.”
He said the other advantage was it being close to Bass Point.
“Bass Point protects the harbour from the southerly, so even during the course of winter we can enjoy sailing out in the bay because Bass Point protects us,” he said.
“And some of our best sailing is through winter.”
He said it was also a good stopover point being halfway between Jervis Bay and Port Hacking, near Cronulla.
“Going south sailing is very difficult, because there aren’t many places to actually hide compared to going north, so it’s become very popular for exactly that reason,” he said.
He said the club would continue to evolve, with three areas it was looking to work on.
“One, we are working as a club for Illawarra boat owners to enjoy Shellharbour Marina and enhance that area,” he said.
“Two, is to help create opportunities for new people who want to go sailing, join boats and be crew on the boats.
“The third thing is we appreciate what Shellharbour Council has done for us, so we’re trying to add value for them, because the more people we encourage to take on sailing, the more the marina is used.”
Learn more about the Shell Cove Sailing Club through the Facebook group.
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