SA Wooden Boat & Music Festival
A handful of Marathon Canoe Club members recently participated in the Goolwa Wooden Boat Festival.
Joining with members of various rowing clubs the paddlers completed a 1km course on the Sunday afternoon of the Festival followed by a 5.5km race on the Monday morning.
The Goolwa Rowing Club provided an excellent breakfast after the Monday morning paddle and the camaraderie between paddlers and rowers was great to witness.
Interestingly water levels at Goolwa are still deep enough for large craft to navigate. The Oscar W churned its way around a lengthy course and provided festival goers with a tour of the river. Likewise keeled sailing boats provided a spectacle as they sailed the 3km course into a strong breeze.
The SA Wooden Boat & Music Festival is a biannual event and it celebrated its 11th Festival this year. The Festival features wooden boats of all shapes & sizes, music performances, arts & maritime craft workshops and boat building, great entertainment, regional food & wine, three days of festivities for the whole family.
Goolwa has a rich history of the River trade and was once a thriving River Port with Paddlesteamers and fishing boats opening inland Australia. It is the gateway to the Coorong National Park with its pristine eco environment. Held biennially at the historic wharf of Goolwa, it celebrates one of the best Wooden Boat & Music Festivals in the southern hemisphere.
Along with the rowers our kayak team paddled past the Wooden Boat and Music Festival main wharf area on both the Sunday and Monday in exhibition style races. Water levels in the river were very, very low but there was still enough depth to get up a good head of speed.
In future years it would be good to see a larger contingent of recreational paddlers hit the water in wooden kayaks at Goolwa and support the community and its wonderful festival
