I got out for the first sail of 2021 today. The wind was all over the place, one minute we would be hiking out and easing sail for dear life, next it would be almost dead calm. There were two Mirrors and three Sabres, a nice little flotilla.
As I was sloshing through the revolting seaweed swamp in front of the AYC clubhouse to launch, I spotted an Argonaut shell, embedded in the muck. It is the third I have found in my lifetime, and the second I have found in the Bay. It is amazing that such a fragile object can have traveled so far intact, probably from somewhere in Bass Strait, through the Heads, dodging stink boats and jet skis, all the way to wash up there where I would happen upon it.
It reminded me of the childrens radio program we used to listen to, back in the fifties, the Argonauts Club. It was all announcers with plummy bbc accents and hearty songs that were largely meaningless to my young brain - "Argonauts Row Row Row!", but I can remember wanting that badge desparately. Somehow it never happened. I hope finding the shell is a good omen for adventuring to yet uncharted shores.
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