1:56 AM Wed 21 Oct 2009 GMT
It was a day when Australia's recreational boating industry and its yachting community stood as one, a day when thousands packed Sydney's St.Mary's Cathedral to bid the fondest of farewells to Andrew 'Shorty' Short.
'Shorty', as he was known far and wide, tragically died, together with friend and crew mate Sally 'Sal' Gordon, when his 45.0-metre maxi yacht ran aground on rocks off Port Kembla two weeks ago.
Sally Gordon was farewelled earlier on the NSW Central Coast, her adopted home town, while plans were made to farewell 'Shorty' in his adopted home town, 'the harbour city.'
It was under glorious spring sunshine that mourners began gathering 45 minutes prior to the service and as expected, the cavernous cathedral was packed to proverbial rafters.
One newspaper report stated that 'more than 1000 mourners were in the cathedral; well, I was informed that the church seated 1800 and money would not have purchased a vacant seat.
It was classic 'standing room only', meaning there was probably upwards of 2000 inside the cathedral when the service began at 10.30am, with Monsignor Vince Reddan and the Reverend George Capsis, OAM, conducting the proceedings.
Perhaps the service's most moving moment came when Scots College Pipers escorted the casket into the cathedral, with Pall Bearers Garry Vaughan, Peter Geddes, Jonathon Magin, Peter Britt, Michael Stuart, Matthew Pierce and Liam O'Halloran in attendance.
Following Entrance Rites and hymns, Kylie Short, accompanied by the Short children, Ryan, Nicholas, Sam, Mitchell and Maddison, together with Andrew's mother, Joan, carried out the Placing of the Symbols.
Each of the children, together with Kylie, delivered moving eulogies, with Kylie, showing tremendous strength of character, supporting the children as they spoke.
Despite her seemingly cast-iron constitution, she was unable to hold back the tears when time came for her own time at the microphone.
'I was blessed to be your wife, grateful to have held your hand, to have loved you throughout the years, I can hardly bare the thought of facing the future without you,' she told the service.
Elder brother Matthew Short, added a touch of humour to the proceedings when he said that 48-year-old Andrew Short was in reality 96-years-old.
'Why not, he fitted 96-years of life into his 48-years by living twice as hard as anyone else,' Matthew declared.
Following the impressive service, it was the Short family, which acted as Pall Bearers to escort the casket, decorated with white roses (and at times with the flag of the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia) to the hearse for its journey to the Northern Suburbs Crematorium.
It was typical of the family that mourners were asked to make a donation to the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia's Youth Sailing Academy in lieu of floral tributes.
As funeral services go, it was a powerful 'send off' for 'Shorty'.
Perhaps a testament to his worth can be seen in this simple fact; a full board meeting of the Boating Industry Association of NSW was scheduled for the day of the funeral.
At 1000hrs, the meeting was suspended and the entire board, led by president Doug Olding and general manager Roy Privett headed into the city to attend the funeral and pay their respects to a long time and revered member of the association.
The facilities of Andrew Short Marine Services, comprising marinas and retail operations on both sides of Sydney Harbour, were closed for business for the occasion of the funeral service.
I hope 'Shorty' was not aware of that.
Sail on, mate, see you somewhere over the horizon.
by Bob Wonders
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Troughton Island, WA
