"Skipper" Racing

Brisbane Courier, 14 November 1899

This is the earliest competitive sailing report found so far that has Albert's name in it. Note that the "Elva" has passed from Uncle Bill to Albert, and "Evelyn" has been sold to Mr Chapman.

Skipper and Uncle Bill have an adventure, November 1897

I have been slowly dredging through the old newspapers on-line in an attempt to find out when the "Drew Boys" began competitive sailing at Sandgate. It is unfortunate that search keywords like "A Drew" bring up far too many irrelevant items.

It would seem that the mid-1890s might be a good approximation, not long after organised sailing activities began in Bramble Bay. The following is the earliest reference found so far. By 14 November 1899, there are reports of "Skipper" (Albert) competitively sailing "Elva".

Brisbane Courier, 22 November 1897.

Better News

Things have been a bit rough with the chemotherapy, but last Monday I had a re-staging CT Scan before my fifth treatment. It was very encouraging, so it has been decided that the sixth treatment, on 3 December, will be the last for now. On that day, we'll plan the next steps, which start with testing for remission - CT scan, PET scan, and bone marrow biopsy. If all is good, then we'll probably move on to stem cell harvesting and beyond.

So, keep your fingers and toes crossed.