Our 2019 Whitsundays Sailing Season Launch

At the launch of our 2019 Sailing Season, the team at Portland Roads - Sailing the Whitsundays were humbled by the attendance, involvement and blessings from Local Members and Descendants of our Local Indigenous Community and Descendants of Australia's First Fleet.

We celebrated our launch with a harmonious link to our stories of the past.
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Ngaro, Juru and Gia descendants hand in hand with First Fleet descendants of 1788.

What a way to celebrate the opening of our 2019 Sailing Season.
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Auntie Sue, a traditional owner, Juru elder & descendant of Gia & Ngaro peoples honoured us with ‘Welcome to Country’.  At the end of the Welcome Auntie Sue called for a minutes silence to quietly reflect on those that have come before us in a history scattered with both good and bad stories.

It was such a powerful moment to reflect on our past and shared stories......

Auntie Sue finished by granting us permission to sail in the waters of the Ngaro peoples, and we accepted this right of passage with respect and gratitude. 

Adrena Pryor, also a Juru traditional owner & descendant of both Gia and Ngaro presented each of our passionate boat owners with a plaque. Hugs, smiles and tears were shared and the plaques now take pride of place on our vessels.

 ​​We were also honoured to host Felicity Chapman at our local gathering. Felicity is first and foremost a Wiradjuri Woman, who has called this Ngaro region home for the past 19 years. Felicity is a key contact for us at the Proserpine Indigenous Reference Group. 
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And to add even more intrigue to our celebrations, Felicity is also a direct descendant of the First Fleet.
In all we had 5 direct descendants of the First Fleet with us to help celebrate another year sailing Ngaro Waters and Sailing the Whitsundays with the team at Portland Roads. 

Due to flood waters cutting roads to the region, we missed the opportunity to celebrate with Auntie Agnes Boyd-Smith a Gia & Ngaro Elder & Traditional Owner along with Fiona Thorogood a Torres Strait Islander from Badu Island - We thank them both for their desire to attend and help us celebrate.

We now invite all of our guests to Sail the Whitsundays - Sail the traditional waters of Ngaro - The home of Australia's first true seafarers.

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