Speakers we heard from in 2015
January 21st. 2015 – Banyan Night – This is traditionally the opportunity for several members to present a night of tall tales and true, supported by videos and other presentations.
February 18th. 2015 – Bob Miller, The CEO of the Australian Maritime and Fisheries Academy at Port Adelaide gave an account of their latest developments.
March 18th. 2015 – Brent Blanks (Member) Spoke on his sailing adventures in the Indonesian Islands – Lombok to the Spice Islands and the North West coast of Papua. His talks were entitled ‘In the Wake of Wallace’ and ‘Indonesia Beyond Bali’
April 15th. 2015 – Dr. Gillian Dooley from Flinders University talked on her research into Capt. Matthew Flinders. His life and times. Supported by member Ken Messenger.
May 20th. 2015 – Alex McGregor spoke on books and charts for boating and seafaring. He operates a company called Cartographics on Unley Rd.. To refresh your knowledge of this interesting talk click on the following link. http://cartographics.com.au/
June 17th Ladies Night – Carolyn Spooner spoke on the rich heritage of the Paul Maguire Maritime Library. Ian Small introduced Carolyn. In memory of her husband, Mrs F. M. Maguire donated to the Libraries Board of South Australia a considerable sum of money to establish a Trust Fund for the development of a special Maritime Library. This was established in 1979 and contains publications from all over the world relating to the sea and shipping.
July 15th Dinner Meeting – Dr. Dick Turpin (Member) Talked on the history and workings of Harrisons’ clocks, and their importance to accurate navigation.
Aug 19th Dinner Meeting – Ken Wood (Member) Gave an interesting talk on the construction and deployment of Liberty Ships, (how they changed the war), Doxford engines and his home town of Sunderland.
Sept 16th Dinner Meeting –(Member) Dr. John Couper- Smartt gave us some idea of how unhealthy Lord Nelson was, due partly to the times he lived in and the sanitary standards of the day, which made him a very unhealthy hero. Oct. 21st Dinner Meeting – Due to illness, John Strang was unable to attend the Trafalgar night dinner so Peter Christopher stepped in and brought his talk forward from next month discussing the latest progress and future plans of the Clipper Ship ‘City of Adelaide’.
November 18th. Dinner Meeting – Trevor Manoel (Member) gave a great talk on his recent trip from Hobart to Sydney on a Maple Leaf 42′ yacht, and how he again met one of his old shipmates by chance from 25 years ago.
Dec 4th Ladies Night — Doug Kneebone conducted his quirky quiz, a nautical auction took place, plus there was a presentation by our Baxter & Grimshaw Essay winner – Erika Miegel from Ocean View College.