A Brief History of The Prevelly Penguins

Retired southwest schoolteacher / surfer Gary Gibbon lives in Margaret River with his wife Rosa and their labradors Milly & Toffee. 

Gary is a regular contributor to Surfing Down South. This is his story about the water loving Prevelly Penguins in Margaret River. 

A Brief History of The Prevelly Penguins

During the mid – 1990’s a loose, gathering of ocean loving people, began meeting regularly to swim in the Gnarabup lagoon; that pristine body of water that lies directly west of Mitchell Drive, Prevelly Park. It sits inside of a set of offshore reefs, of which the largest and best known are the Margaret River Bommie and Boat Ramps. Directly north it is bordered by the famous Surfers Point, whilst to the south, it is overlooked by Gnarabup Point. 

Foundation members included Pat Thompson, Bob O’Connor, Les Patterson, Paul Brown and Jim McLachlan. These friends all lived pretty much within earshot of one another in Prevelly Park. The name came about from a suggestion Jim made, during a discussion with Pat about possible group names. Prevelly married up nicely with penguins, which of course are occasionally seen in the vicinity. And so quite early on, the group became known as The Prevelly Penguins.

They were however soon approached by a young swimming instructor named Vanessa (Ness) Woodland, who politely asked original instigator Pat Thompson, whether she could begin swimming with this previously, strictly all male entourage. After a hurried discussion with the other blokes, she was given the all clear to become the Penguins’ first of many future female members.

Back in the 20th century, they mainly met to swim on weekends, though Ness and Les and occasionally one or two others began to swim during the week. Post – swim they would meet socially for tea or coffee outside Pat’s house, which lay near the corner of Mitchell Drive and Georgette Street, directly opposite to the Georgette Street carpark from which they would access the beach on the path across the sand dunes. Or for variety they would relax and get warm and dry in Bob’s house next door . Long term  members still taking an active part in penguin affairs that joined from this period are, Bryn Plant, Brian Elliot, Ken Wylie and Ray Stocker. Around the turn of the century legendary Olympian Shane Gould, swam for a time with The Penguins and was dealt the singular honour of being made patron of the body.

Pat Thompson was the first Emperor Penguin; the chief spokesperson. It needs to be noted that during his reign, entry to the Penguins was heavily vetted and subject to some significant rules. For starters, wet suits were banned. To be eligible for membership, it had to be agreed by the powers that be, that the prospective individual had indeed swum right through a full winter with the others providing witness testimony. When Pat abdicated his position after approximately a decade, Bob O’Connor took up the purple mantle of Emperor and the membership rules became a little more relaxed and user-friendly.

This pattern continued with only minor modifications for the next 6 – 7 years. There were membership changes of course. Foundation members gradually dropped off or left moving interstate. But the next big change in Penguin behaviour occurred because of a natural disaster.

In 2011 Bob’s place burnt down during the infamous Margaret River bush fires of that time. He didn’t rebuild. He was shortly on his way anyway to married life in Kiama N.S.W. So the Penguins such as they were, sought a new meeting place with a new Emperor, Jim McLachlan. The solution was found just across the road from the charred skeleton of Bob’s house. They decided to set up shop after swims in the little clearing off the car park, which precedes the path (now stairs) to the beach. To signify their squatters’ claims to this area, large penguin flippers mysteriously appeared on the nearby road; a directional beacon to any lost or prospective Penguins.  

And to this day, the implemented plan has remained constant. A Barista Penguin brings along a picnic table in the morning, as well as crates of mugs, tea, coffee, milo, sugar, honey and milk. Other penguins bring along urns full of boiling water. After swimming, the Penguins brew up in the car park, a pattern, which has changed little over the last decade, apart from some improved shire – provided infrastructure. 

A quick word about Penguin names. They were instituted at the behest of Ray Hinde, an early influential Penguin, who developed a system, whereby revered Penguin elders consult with one another over a period of time to consensually agree on an applicable handle, based on characteristics of the applicant’s personality.  On officially becoming a Penguin, the neophyte is also presented with their flock name. As examples, here are a few of my personal favourites: Ken (The Hulk) Wylie; (an evergreen 91 years of age). A couple of name plays; Jemma (Visa card) Shoppee and Greg (Mobster) Hood (who it must be noted, truly is fortunate to have a delightful wife named Robyn). Mark (Page Three) Murray, in who I have an abiding interest, since I think I was the first to alert those above my pay grade, to his extremely high media profile. And finally Comrade Jim McLachlan, who’s never one to hide his political beliefs. Whether you agree with them or not, we all love it when the Emperor climbs on to his soap – box to deliver a fiery speech to we underlings, who stifle our collective giggles, to listen respectfully with bated breath. 

It costs nothing to be a Penguin, though if one wishes to imbibe regularly of a morning, they give our treasurer Penguin, Lou – Anne (Toodaloo), $30-  when she comes collecting, at the beginning of every calendar year. They may also choose to join the Penguin Lotto Club at this time. We’re still looking forward to our big dance with that outfit. 

Penguins do like to celebrate special occasions. New Years Day, Australia Day, Easter, Anzac Day and Christmas Day receive notable attention. Besides the annual Christmas party, individual Penguin’s birthdays are held in extremely high regard. On such solemn occasions life members, Jim and Ness always rise to the occasion. The Emperor (or a designated faithful off-sider, such as Iron Man Al) will give a little speech, citing really important global happenings of that particular year, before arriving at the birth of the particular Penguin concerned. Ness will then present the celebrity with one of her customised home-made birthday cards, celebrating special traits and habits of that Penguin, pre-signed by other Penguins. All agree that they are a special collector’s item. The gathered flock then sings happy birthday, gives 3 cheers and sits down to feast on the cake, that the joyful Penguin is expected to have brought along with them. 

Cake is very important to Penguins’ diet, especially after a hard morning’s swimming. Extra kudos are liberally handed out to those individuals who frequently bring along extra treats on non-birthdays. Reputations have been built around their exploits, some of which are becoming legendary. Kirsty (Miss Maud) Dalbock is known far and wide for her baking skills. Richard (Salmon) Rowe is unsurpassed in his talent at blending chocolate into various tasty comfort foods. Ken (Loopy) Peters 2 or 3 times a year will bring down his portable BBQ from home and whip up a batch of his patented breakfast rolls for the hungry flock.   

       

The Penguins in 2021 have grown to be a collective force approaching 50 members. Our oldest swimmer unsurprisingly is Ken (The Hulk) Wylie @ a sprightly 91, who usually gets down to the beach a couple of times per week, where he’s been recording sea water temperatures for the entire length of his membership. Our youngest is Salli (Duck Diver) Howden, Ness’s daughter, who has been swimming with The Penguins since she was 10. She’s now 15. Most of us live in the Margaret River environs. However, some come from further afield like Cowaramup, Metricup, Forest Grove and even Perth (on the weekends of course). Ray Stocker, who last year, completed a solo Rottnest crossing is even further away in Hopetoun, whilst Kylie Bee is residing in Coffin Bay South Australia. But the most distant Penguins dwell far from our sunny shores.  The very highly regarded Brian (The Dealer) Elliot and Mrs Dealer (Hetty) find themselves living in Seattle, Washington State, USA. Another very long – term member is Anthony (Buffa) Briggs, who has settled in Bristol, England. Pre – pandemic times, we also have welcomed regular overseas visitors such as Carol Thomas, Trish (Pure Blonde) Yates’s sister visiting us from the UK at least a couple of times per year. But with the benefit of our special group status on Facebook, they all manage to keep abreast of Penguin news.

 Penguins are a social lot, inclusive of swimmers of all abilities. There are never any formal carnivals as such. However most summers in particular will see some of our stronger swimmers training up for special events such as the afore-mentioned Rottnest Crossing (single or team structure), The Port to Pub (usually a duo or team), The Busselton Jetty Swim, The Gracetown Bay Swim, The January Gnarabup Swim or any number of open water events. Two Penguins, Laura (Nutbush) Wenman and Tony (Smiler) Yates, besides being very good swimmers themselves, frequently volunteer to assist disabled swimmers complete courses at events such as the Busselton Jetty Swim.

Speaking of volunteering, Penguins annually assist with beach-cleaning in the Margaret River region under the auspices of our environmental officer, Peter (Buns) Baker. In October each year a platoon of Penguins under his stewardship, meet to clean up beach areas under the Tangaroa Blue initiative. At certain times of the year Peter will also organise the collection and distribution of brush across the dunes around Penguin Beach, both to increase dune stabilisation and encourage native plant growth in the sands. 

We are no longer the only ocean swimming group in the Margaret River region. The Sea Slugs and Swimming Women also ply these waters over recent years, but they leave from the relative “comfort” of the change rooms and showers adjacent to the White Elephant Cafe. They generally swim south to north return, whilst the Penguins as a rule swim north to south return. The Penguins tend to feel they are a little more hard core than the other parties. They don’t have cover against the threat of winter showers (apart from the dependable dry sack), don’t worry about change rooms, tend to generally swim a little earlier than the others and survive without (the admittedly very tasty) cafe coffee. They are also very adept at swiftly changing into dry clothes, without “surprising” the many passers-by, using the seaside walkway, running between Gnarabup and The Point. To tell the truth there is a certain degree of cross – pollination happening between the various bands of swimmers. And in fact just before Christmas, everyone gets together to have the annual Rae Martin memorial swim along the bay, which remembers a very fondly regarded Penguin who passed away too early in life, some years back.

Did you know that dogs and penguins get on very well? A quick word about Penguin dogs. They are always very welcome and enjoy coming to the beach, even though occasional games of Russian roulette are played with the local rangers, bent on enforcing council by laws of dogs being kept on leads. They come in all shapes, sizes and breeds. Some of our noble canine friends past and present are: Occy, Banjo, Ziggy, Tilly, Toto, Mako, LB, Gabby, Inji, Meeka, Milly, Toffee, Nelson, Roger, Chappy, Pablo, Max, Junior & Leo. *Jinx is technically not a Penguin dog, but loves pit-stopping with the Penguins, on her way home with her master John Andrews, a very keen morning swimmer.

So there you have a brief, potted history of the Prevelly Penguins, the first of the Cape to Cape ocean swimming groups. If you’re an interested ocean swimmer from anywhere, you’ll always be welcome to drop in and meet us at the Georgette Street Beach car park. We swim 365 days per year starting from somewhere between 6am and 7am depending on the time of the year; summers obviously being earlier than winters. We always have extra mugs on hand and plenty of hot water in the urns. 

Special thanks to Gary Gibbon, Vanessa Woodland, Jim McLachlan, Laura & Matt Wenman and Peter Gleed.

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 Queensland to WA road trip story & photos by Gary Gibbon published 12 June 2019.

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