APRIL 2006

EDITORS NOTES Hello again. This will be a short newsletter due to Friday being the first day of the Easter holiday. It will however give some messages to sailing members and also notice of forthcoming social events of interest to all members. The notes are from last night's General Committee Meeting.

It is good to see boats going into the water now, The Commodore will launch today (Wednesday) in time for the holiday. Best wishes to all for a very happy Easter.

Apologies were received from The Vice Commodore and The Yard and Berth Master.

The Commodore commented on the success of the working party, reasonably well attended, plenty of work done and reasonable food produced under difficult circumstances.

Dave enjoyed the Race Night as did most of those who were there, it was good fun and will be repeated at some time next year. He hopes that the Fish and Chip night will be equally successful on the 6 th May.

The Vice Commodore was unable to attend the meeting but Phil Wright stood in for her. Phil told the meeting about the work done on the slip by Popes prior to the working party.

The work was carried out on the day stated, 23 rd March. There are photographs on the board showing the extent of the work. All the aims were achieved but some difficulties were encountered.

When the jetty was uncovered the excavators were slipping in the mud. It is estimated that in all they moved about 50 to 70 tons of the stuff.

To enable the widening of the slipway the level had to be raised requiring more concrete than had been estimated. Four cubic metres of concrete (about 10 tons) were laid. A special mix was used for tidal zones and quick drying. The working party later put stops at the bottom of the slipway. All was well done and to date there is no visible mud coming through the slipway. The General Committee approved the extra cost of the work. In all the cost was £2438.00.

During the working party extremely soft mud was encountered during perching. This has given rise to the following two notices.

MUD WARNING

WHEN WORKING ON MOORINGS PLEASE DO NOT WORK ALONE. THE MUD IS VERY SOFT AND COULD PROVE TO BE DANGEROUS.

RIVER ALT-PILOTAGE GUIDANCE NOTE

During the club working party on Saturday 25 th March 2006, perches were replaced and the positions of some were altered to reflect the changes in the River Alt over recent years.

In the South reach of the Alt, before the last marked beach outfall and beyond the last occupied mooring, S17 "Ahab", the deep-water channel has gradually moved seawards away from the beach or landward side. This has left two landward side perches some distance from the deep-water channel.

Three NEW perches have been placed at this location to indicate the current route of the deep-water channel. The two redundant perches could not be removed or cut off because of deep mud.

Until these perches are removed, please take care and note that there are two duplicate perches at this location.

Other perches that have been replaced or re-located are in the correct positions.

Phil Wright
Club Captain
12 April 2006

Tuesday, 4 April 06 The Sailing Committee Meeting .

Present : Carole Fielding, Peter Williams, Phil Wright, Dave Ward, Martin Dooley, Ian Cowell, Graham Cumming, Simon Markland.

Apologies : Kieron Riley, John Newton, Andy Lee-McGurk,

Peter Williams and Ted McGregor showed John Newton the basics of winch maintenance. The procedure for winch operation was considered and thought to be too complex if to encompass all sizes and types of boats individually. Peter Williams will prepare a winch maintenance check-list. CF has ordered new strops from Tiere's .

12 Members have registered their interest in the RYA VHF/SRC course, SM will liase with Hoylake regarding suitable dates.

The RYA have only been able to provide one date for the OOD training, Saturday, 20 May. This clashes with a previously arranged private function. SM will see if both can be accommodated.

Phil Wright gave a report on recent work;

• A detailed report on the work completed on the launch slip.
• There are a number of smaller jobs still outstanding from the working party.
• 2 perches are to be removed by means of floating buoys.
• Mud has slipped and covered some of the new sheeting on the launch slip, it maybe beneficial to keep on top of its removal.
• Floating marker buoys may replace perches in certain "unsafe" places.
• Very soft mud was found in various parts of the river while the perching was being carried out. A recommendation to members working on their moorings to never work un-accompanied will be submitted to the newsletter.

Applications for moorings were received and have been granted as follows:

•  S14 - David Blackburn
•  N20 - Cyril Porter

Ideas suggested by the commodore in last month's newsletter regarding this committee's work to encouraging racing were discussed. Starts with the OD on-shore was thought to be impractical and would not work in practice. While a dedicated committee boat would be welcome questions with regards to who would be responsible for maintenance and the cost would need to be addressed before the idea could be developed further.

Martin Dooley is working on charts of the racing area.

An agenda and format for the Racing presentation meeting will be drawn up.

The next meeting will be 2nd May in the clubhouse.

The General Committee approved the applications for the above moorings. S14 and N20

It was noticed that the yard fence has been damaged. There is need for a concrete post on the main gates and also a small one for the other gate. Yard users are asked to please take care of the hedge; the gaps will be filled in soon. Please do not drag anything through or across the hedge nor put diesel or other stuff where it can kill the small bushes .

The members who were unable to attend the working party are asked to please give some time to removing some of the sand and bricks from the bottom of the dinghy park, there is a build up from the bottom of the ramp to the jetty on the beach. It is very difficult to drag dinghies over the bricks.

The Rear Commodore
House & Grounds Commmittee Report - Tuesday, 11 th April 2006 .

Clubhouse .

Bar General.

Monthly Bar Report - The annual bar takings monthly report up to the week commencing 3 rd April 2006 were circulated to the General Committee Members.

Wine list - An additional selection of quality wines are to be made available for purchasing from the bar. These wines will cost slightly more than the existing range of wines available.

Bar prices - Due to the recent budget and the general increase in costs to the club there will be a review carried out of the bar prices.

Cooler - One of the existing coolers behind the bar has developed a fault with its electric motor, which has necessitated in it being turned off on safety grounds. Costings are currently being obtained on possible repairs/replacement.

Spring Working Party .

As a result of the working party repairs have been carried out to the club road and the drainage system at the front of the clubhouse.

Many thanks to all those members who turned up on the day and assisted with the above tasks.

Projects.

Porch/Foyer - Work is ongoing within this area. The floor has now been levelled and all water pipes and electric cabling covered up.

A transfer for the main porch window and a sign for the clubhouse consisting of the club burgee and name have been ordered and we are currently waiting upon delivery.

Central metal support beam ceiling area - Arrangements are in place to complete the encasement of this area in wood panelling after the Easter period.

200 Club.

Prize winners of the March draw :

1 st Prize of £30.00 - Number 135, Mr George Williams
2 nd Prize of £20.00 - Number 69, Mr Trevor Mayers
3 rd Prize of £15.00 - Blank cork drawn

(Prize money of £15.00 will be carried over to the April draw)

The draw was kindly carried out by Mrs P. Williams on Friday, 31 st March.

Date of next scheduled draw : Friday, 28 th April 2006

Mark has done a great deal of work investigating the cost and type of a new range type cooker. He put all his findings to the General committee along with photographs. The cooker he recommended was approved by the committee so hopefully soon we will have one fitted and working. What will we do with it ?! Ed

The Hon Secretary has dealt with all correspondence and has put anything of interest on the board including the photographs of the work done on the slip.

The Hon Treasurer has paid all outstanding bills but Dave says there are still a number of subs unpaid.

The Hon Membership Secretary The Committee were asked to vote for the membership of four new members. Steve and Hilary Quinn of Thornbeck Ave Hightown as House members and Bob Burnett and Raymond Belcher of Southport as Full Members. They own a 16ft bilge keel Seasafe Boat. A ballot was taken and the vote was unanimous. Welcome to all of them.

Archives and Centenary. Dave Warren suggested that we should build up a good collection of archives. There has been such a big effort involved in tracing past information by Joe Coady and those people contributing to the Centenary Book that it would indicate the need for a dedicated filing system. The committee agreed that a filing cabinet would be purchased for this use.

David also suggested that we should in some way mark the Centenary Year as a club. He suggested that we could have new gates or clearing up the boundary fences, but the fence is already on the list of the House Committee for work to be done. Do you have any ideas for a project that would suit this purpose?

SOCIAL EVENTS

FISH AND CHIPS WITH STORMING NORMAN. SAT 6 th MAY

BLUEGRASS AND SCOUSE WITH THE BRITANNIA BLUEGRASS GROUP IN AID OF THE RNLI THURS 18 TH MAY

RNLI DAY AND RACE WITH ALL THE USUAL STALLS
HELP NEEDED AND WELCOMED. 25 TH JUNE.
(PLEASE SPEAK TO DAVE FLYNN OR PAT HEYWORTH)

THE COMMODORE'S CRUISE SUN 23RDJULY

HOG ROAST FOR HIGHTOWN PARISH COUNCIL AND BSC.
SAT 15 TH JULY
(MORE DETAILS LATER)