On the afternoon of Friday, the 20th of May, a small but motivated team of eleven Masters rowers from Balmain Rowing Club led by Bob Greves, ventured to the majestic Milson Island on the Hawksbury River. Formerly a mental asylum, the Island once again played host to an interesting bunch of people for the weekend!
Saturday saw a Women’s quad and Men’s four hit the water from the Mooney Mooney boat ramp, setting course for the Island. Four sessions in total were conducted including both crews circumnavigating the Island and a mixed crew twilight race which ended in a dead heat!
As the evening set in, the group enjoyed a BBQ feast and a few light refreshments! Being a full moon it seemed fitting to take Bob’s magical mystery tour of the Old Asylum! The old building which is now derelict, is an interesting but eerie place to explore. After a few screams… the group returned to the camp fire for marshmallows and red wine, before retiring for the night.
The group woke up to thick fog on the Sunday morning but it cleared quickly in time for the first session and the day soon delivered perfect rowing conditions, sunny yet cool and water like glass! Three very productive sessions were conducted prior to loading the boat trailer and heading home.
Milson Island provided a great venue for the club, with very comfortable self-contained units. In between sessions the group enjoyed the fantastic facilities which included a fully enclosed gymnasium, swimming pool, and bushwalking. The water over the weekend was very good to perfect, and we were always able to find some flat water for Bernie to torture the crews through various types of roll-ups and square-blade work!
Many thanks must go to the Bob Greves for organizing the weekend, Joe for driving the boat trailer, Bernie for coaching, and everyone for making the camp very enjoyable and productive!