Commodore’s Notes

FACE MASKS
Face masks with our logo will arrive in a week. They are great quality and are $8 each.
You can purchase them from CAFE KAOS during opening hours.
All profits will go to local charities.
Postage for those out of town can be arranged. Email keith.miller@live.com.au for more details.
We will notify you on our Facebook page when they arrive.

COMMODORES NOTES
Well we closed, we opened, we closed, we opened and now we are closed until further notice. Hopefully everyone will do the right thing and we can reopen sooner rather than later and our lives can get back to normal.
It’s all hard to believe. I still wake up some mornings and think it’s all a bad dream.
We have been very lucky down here in our beautiful little bubble to have escaped any COVID-19 cases so fingers crossed that continues.
Hutch and his staff managed to open and run the club under difficult circumstances for a few weeks and they did a great job.
Most nights we reached our limited capacity and didn’t have to turn too many away.
We had a very dry but cold July so our 3 outside heaters were working overtime keeping everyone out on our deck and marquee warm and our tiny little indoor heater did the same inside. Jason has closed his Coffee Cart for August and will return for the September school holidays.

UPCOMING EVENTS
Depending on the stage 3 restrictions we have our next WINTER CUP FISHING COMPETITION sponsored by Surf Coast Gardening and Mowing planned for Sunday 13th September.
As usual the weigh in will start at midday with the cut off at 12.30pm.
A free mixed grill for all competitors and members will follow the presentations at around 1pm.
Come and have a crack, especially the juniors.

RECENT EVENTS
Unfortunately we were forced to cancel our August Winter Cup Fishing Competition.
There had been indirect contact with a positive COVID case who had visited Lorne by one of our members. Fortunately all the tests were negative but we didn’t have this information until after the comp date and decided to play it safe and cancel the comp.
Naturally Murphy’s Law ensued, the weather was perfect, blue skies, no wind or swell and our last competition junior champ Jack Hunter fished off the pier and caught 3 beautiful big King George Whiting.

FIRST TIME FISHER PERSONS

Since I’ve been on the committee I’ve taken out over 130 different people fishing in my boat.
I get asked regularly why I do it and sometimes get strange looks when I tell them that I get a bigger thrill watching and helping people who don’t get the chance to go out fishing very often than catching fish myself. Recently I’ve taken out a few first timers who have never been in a boat or even caught a fish. A couple of weeks ago I took out two young ladies who after catching their first ever fish both went on to catch over 20 fish each.
The looks on their faces was priceless. Most locals and a lot of our members will know Shiva Adhlkari who has been managing Cafe Kaos for the last couple of years.
Shiva is from Nepal and had never caught a fish so we took him out for his first ever venture out into Bass Strait. He was a natural pulling in the first snapper for the day and going onto catch lots of different fish species. He had a sensational day.
We sent him home with a big bag full of fillets which I thought would have lasted him for a couple of weeks. Two days later I was speaking to his wife Sumi who works in the Deli at FoodWorks and I was amazed when she told me that they had already eaten the lot.

ALBATROSSES
Of the three most common Albatrosses we find in our little part of Bass Strait the Indian Yellow Nosed Albatross is easily the least seen. We have had one close to my boat several times recently but I have no way of knowing if it’s the same bird or not.
The ones we see here most likely breed on Crozet and the Prince Edward Islands out in the middle of the Indian Ocean way off the coast of South Africa so they are a very long way from home. They start breeding at the age of 8 and only lay one egg. They are slightly smaller than our other Albatrosses but still have a wingspan of 2 metres. Like most sea birds they have a salt gland on the top of their beak that desalinates their body
They are listed as an endangered species because of long lining and introduced diseases.

FISHING REPORT
We had a sensational run of unseasonably good weather in July which allowed us all to get out fishing heaps. The winter flathead bite has continued which has been great because the snapper have been a bit hit and miss so if they aren’t on the go you can always come home with a nice feed of good sized flathead.
Last week we had a great day on the snapper and caught 20 with the majority being over the 40cm mark. The next day we went back to the same spot on the same tide and couldn’t lose our bait. That’s why it’s called fishing and not catching although I’ve got one mate who likes to constantly tell me and everyone else who will listen to him that, “He doesn’t go fishing, he goes catching”. I won’t mention his name but he’s member of the month.
There’s been a few big gummy sharks around the old 5 foot mark being landed and the big Nannygai are still about in reasonably good numbers.
Jackass Morwong or Teraki are still abundant and there’s been a few King George Whiting being caught. The pier is still fishing well with plenty of Salmon, Mullet, Trevally, Calamari, Snapper and whiting being caught.

MEMBER OF THE MONTH

Chris Nisbet was born in Melbourne a very very long time ago and grew up in Mt Waverley before it was discovered by the early explorers. He went to the Holy Redeemer Catholic Primary School from prep to grade 4 then on to De La Salle in Malvern. It was a very long trip each day having to use Bus, Train and Tram. He remembers the older boys who were prefects taking his school cap off him and throwing it out the window of the train and tram on more than one occasion.
 
Chris was a talented athlete, representing the school in swimming and football.
His father was a VFL footballer, Coach, Chairman of Selectors for 25 years and Vice President of St Kilda including their one and only premiership win in 1966. You don’t have to guess who Chris barracks for.
At the age of 17 he was selected to play for the St Kilda Under 19’s and progressed to the Reserves where he played for 3 years. After that he was recruited by Oakley in the V.F.A. where I hear he developed quite a reputation as a highly respected and very tough player.
(Some say a dirty mongrel but I’m sure that’s not right).
He played in 2 grand finals with Oakley and then finished his career at Berwick where he played in 4 grand finals winning 2.
He then entered the family Commercial Refrigeration Business which expanded greatly over the next 44 years. During those years he squirrelled away enough money to get into property development and built several commercial buildings and many residential homes and units in prestigious inner Melbourne suburbs.
He met Ruth at Separation Creek and their first date was at the Rookery Nook Hotel in Wye River. They were married in 1974 and have 3 children; Luke, Monica and Eliza.
They have 7 grand kids.
His first memories of Lorne go back to the 1950’s where he used to visit his Aunt and Uncle, Gloria and Rusty Norton. Ruth’s family had a holiday home in Separation Creek and a farm at Cape Patten, when these were sold they bought a holiday house in Lorne and have had properties here ever since. After moving to Lorne permanently they began planning LIVEWIRE PARK. It took Chris and his son Luke 5 1/2 years to plan, develop and build it.
They also had the support and help of many friends in the wonderful little community we have here in Lorne.
LIVEWIRE PARK is now really showing signs of being a hugely successful attraction for Lorne and the Great Ocean Road. It employs lots of residents and also helps all the accommodation places in town with their occupancy.
Chris has been a keen fishermen all his life, earlier on in Port Phillip Bay with his father, then later on lots of trips to the Murray and Darling Rivers and also the Kimberleys.
Now it’s fishing here in his own boat or out with me, as I mentioned before Chris claims he doesn’t go fishing, he goes catching.
He and Ruth have travelled extensively all around the world but like most of us they have come to realise that we are living in the best place anywhere in the world.
He is a valued member of our committee and also a major sponsor and member of the Lorne Dolphins and us at the LAAC. Chris and Luke have become very popular and well respected members of our community and the town has become a better place because of them.
Personally I’ve had the privilege of getting to know the whole family and regard them all as great friends.

TREASURE’S REPORT
Once again on the financial front there is very little to update since last month’s report and we are continuing to minimise costs and the government stimulus are continuing to be received.
We were open during July and through to 5th August. Once again, we have closed in compliance with the Victorian Government implementing Stage 3 restrictions. During the weeks we were open, bar takings have averaged around $2,000 per week.
With Jobkeeper being received, the financial result for July will be close to breakeven.
Financial projections for 2021 and future years will be prepared when there is more certainty as to how we can operate. Restrictions are expected to be in place for many more months.
Once again, I confirm we remain in a strong financial position, but it is unlikely we will see the same levels of surpluses for 2020/21 as we have seen in the past few years.
We are close to finalising the financial accounts for the year-ended 30th June 2020 and over the next couple of months will consider how to hold our AGM.

David Worth, Secretary & Treasure, LAAC

POINT GREY UPDATE
There is very little to report since last month. We know that one objection has been lodged with VCAT in respect to the proposed issue of the Point Grey Planning Permit by the SCS. At this stage we have no details and expect GORCC, as the applicant, will get details in the next week when the statutory time frames elapse. We have had one planning meeting with GORCC and have set an agenda as to how best to work together. Once the details of the Objection are known, GORCC and us will be in a better position to establish timelines and a project management plan. 
Each month as things progress, we will provide updates and how we will transition to working with the new authority (GORCPA) that replaces GORCC in December this year.

Cheers,

Keith Miller, Commodore

Thanks to our sponsors:

KEANE CONTRACTING BRICK/BLOCK and SCAFFOLDING – Gary Keane
SURFCOAST GARDENING – Kerry Webster & Rob Dalziel