Sleaford Mere is a shallow saline lake situated 20 kilometers south west of Port Lincoln. It is classified as a conservation park and delineates the western boundary of the Lincoln National Park, in fact it goes close to severing the Park from the rest of the Lower Eyre Peninsula. The mere is almost three nautical miles long, has a narrow restriction in the middle and a deeply indented eastern lobe just south of the restriction.

As a rowing venue Sleaford Mere is a cracker! It’s not really open water rowing as there is never any “sea” to deal with but it can be windy, particularly with the wind in the south east. There are some challenges though – mostly encountered before the rowing begins – it’s the silty bottom! The best place to launch is from and old wooden slat ramp at the south western end – the mere was once a venue for speed boat racing and skiing and the ramp still exists from those days fifty years past. The bottom around the ramp is reasonably firm but beware alighting anywhere else as the silt is like quick sand and one can break through the harder crust and be legless within seconds! It’s only a couple of meters deep in the middle but for the most part free of snags. Closer to the shore there are some snags to be wary of and the water is a bit turbid so it is better to stand off when rounding points.

A nice row that I’ve done a couple of times is into the eastern indentation and up to the foot of the sand dunes. It can be a hard pull into the wind for about two miles and then a scoot back to the ramp with following wind.  The scenery is quite unique – crusty lime-stony shores with low shrubby native vegetation and then towering sand dunes toward the ocean!