August 2001 Here I am once again with what's hot and what's not. There is a lot of coming and going this month as one would expect in a sailing club. Members are cruising or taking holidays ashore some racing has taken place and as I hear it some fishing. Some time ago I heard an endless debate between members concerning the joys of leaving and homecoming. Is it better to depart or to arrive? The way I see it I doubt that it would be possible to get complete agreement even in one boat, unless it was sailed single handed of course. Today we are halfway through August. The weather seems to be a matter of extremes, wet, dry, hot and cold. There are still a few races to sail before the end of the season. There is a new date for the RNLI Race cancelled due to the afore-mentioned extremes. There are still prizes to be won. That reminds me to ask all trophy holders to return the cups to the clubhouse, to me or to John as soon as possible. The General Committee Meeting was held last night and in the absence of the Flag Officers the chair was efficiently taken by Stan Warren, the Hon Membership Secretary, who survived, the ordeal without a scratch. There were no reports from the Commodore and the Vice Commodore who are on holiday. The Rear Commodore is also away but he left a report to be read out by David Warren. The Rear Commodore reported from the house committee as follows. "The meeting mainly focussed on the ongoing or outstanding maintenance and improvement works. When completed the bar will have shutters all round and improved bar tops and fittings. We hope to also buy a bar fridge which will help to improve our bar service. This part of the work is dependent on some preliminary work, which we are now moving forward. A new water heater has been bought and will be fitted soon. This will provide hot water not only to the bar but to the toilets and probably the galley as well. Much electrical work is also required as an awful lot of the wiring tracks above the bar and must be moved. It is difficult to estimate when the work will be completed as we mainly rely on the unpaid help of a core of our members to get things done. We will of course try to ensure that disruption is kept to a minimum. Work on the committee room at the back of the Club is moving forward. The old dividing wall has been removed. There are some old club records, which will be carefully preserved, but also an awful lot of junk. Would members with anything stored/dumped within the room please remove it within the next week or so. Otherwise it is likely to be dumped. The Club fire will be refurbished in good time for the autumn. Our bar is still open on Wednesday evenings from 1830 until 2300. We are reasonably well attended and our takings are sufficient for us to continue. Lisa, Gordon Mason's daughter has been helping behind the bar recently. She is working unpaid in order to learn the job. I have been pleased to note that everyone has shown appreciation for Lisa's efforts." The Chairman said that he was glad to see the progress that is being made. David Warren added that it is difficult to keep sustained effort on the work at the moment. There is a lot to clear out and a great deal of work to be done on the bar. Can you help? If so please don't wait to be asked just speak to David. The Hon. Secretary. Mark told the meeting about the correspondence that he has sent and received. Any that is relevant to club members will be put on the notice board. The AGM of the RYA will be held in October in London. Copies of the River Alt and Crossens LEAP Area Action Plan Summary Report 2000/2001 have been received from the Environment Agency. There are copies for your perusal in the library. Stan told Mark that there was a meeting of Sefton Sports Council. They have produced a handbook of clubs in the area and contact will be made through Stan Warren. Mark said that he gets quite a number of emails asking what training facilities there are at the club. A discussion concluded that we don't have suitable water or facilities for a training scheme. We are simply a Sailing Club. The Hon Treasurer gave the good news that the club funds are in good order and there are no red bits on the statements. A stock-take of the bar supplies is about due. The Hon Membership Secretary. Stan introduced a prospective new house member to the committee. He is Michael K. Barron a retired Nursing Officer. Some people will already have met him on his visits to the club. Michael has no sailing experience but would like to have a go. After the committee had spoken to him there was a vote and he was unanimously accepted. and he will be informed by letter. Welcome to the club Michael. The Hon.Sailing Secretary. Geoff has put details of a Waypoint Navigation Course on the board for anybody interested. There are details also of a dinghy race for ladies on 8th September at West Ches. Sailing Club. He has received a letter of thanks from the RNLI for the donation sent as a result of the RNLI day. The RNLI Race will now take place on the 9th September. The date unfortunately clashes with the Cheese and wine party but it is the best date available. There will be a shortened course and due to the social event. the bar will be open early. There was a good turn out for the Gallon of Ale Race. Ten boats took part. The result was, 1st Tao. 2nd Django and 3rd Candida. Geoff mentioned the difficulty of finding enough space in the laying up yard. Mooring N30 was recommended for use by C.Loughran and this was agreed after a vote by the general committee. The Yard and Berthing Master The committee learned that there were three applications for space in the laying up yard and space available for only one boat. In the yard twenty boats were not launched and three people have two boats. By law 8 says that they can be removed. This would relieve the immediate problem. The committee instructed the Y.B.M to send a strong letter on their behalf to the offending boat owners. Please read by-law 8 and act. Starting next January The Yard and Berthing Master will keep records of which boats do not launch. The Club Development Officer. This was Carl's report. "During my time as commodore I encouraged the membership to explore ways by which we might build a Web Site similar to those built by West Lancs and Liverpool Yacht Clubs. During 1999 I brought the Committee's attention to an offer I had received from a work colleague in London to build and manage a web site at an annual cost of £200. The Committee at that time did not take up the offer. Thanks to Mark Meadows we did however, establish the email address bsclub@rya-online.net at no cost to the club. I am pleased to announce that one of our members, Simon Markland, has taken the time to investigate and instigate a Web Site on behalf of the club at www.blundellsandssailingclub.8m.com The site is still under construction and can be accessed at any time by any of our members world wide at no cost to the club. The face page opens with a picture of the club burgee which must be clicked to open up the Home Page. As nothing comes without cost, there is also an advertisement bar at the top of each page, which covers the cost of the web site. The Home Page contains the words "Welcome to Blundellsands Sailing Club" and a magnificent picture of a ketch under full sail. To the left hand side there is a list of further pages covering News, Race Results, Commodore, Members, Social Events, Fleet, Club History, GPS Settings and Home Page. Currently the Commodore's page has excerpts from my last AGM report and a portrait of Peter. The Club History has also been entered with information I have supplied. It's a start and the idea is to expand the services of the club by way of information to the membership and prospective members. It should be welcomed, especially by our Out-port Membership, who will be able to input and receive, regular up dates on our activities. Ed. I will repeat this in the next newsletter, which will go to all classes of membership. Please make a note of the forthcoming events Cheese and Wine Lunch 9th September and The Auction of redundant kit etc and sailing orientated articles 27th October. A chance to get rid of unwanted gear.