December 2005

May I take this opportunity to wish all members and their families a very Happy Christmas and a good New Year with Good Sailing!

There was a short General Committee last night. The rearranged Annual General Meeting will take place on the 8 th January 2006.

The following are extracts from the meeting. Apologies for absence were received from Dave Flynn and from Mark Meadows.

THE COMMODORE opened the meeting by expressing condolences to Mark Meadows and family. Sadly Mark's father died yesterday.

The Commodore visited Hoylake Sailing Club for their Annual Dinner. Dave said that they have a wonderful clubhouse and the evening was very good.

The Christmas Party is organised. There will be a buffet with carvery. All tickets are now sold.

Please don't forget to buy your tickets for the Big Christmas Draw.

VICE COMMODORE There was no sailing meeting this month.

REAR COMMODORE was unable to attend. It was reported that the heating is off, waiting for a new fan exhaust, which should be in this week. It is hoped that the change will be made from propane soon. Pope Bros will dig this week to make a hole for the pipe. It is hoped that pipe and cable will be laid at the same time so that we will be nearer connection.

The work on the Black Hut has been carried out.

HON. SECRETARY will provide the music for the Christmas Party. Two invitations had been received for the Commodore to attend functions at Dee Sailing Club and West Lancs in January and February. The invitations to our Fitting Out Dinner will be sent out next week.

HON TREASURER was not present but it was reported that all the loans had been paid back. And that David Griffiths will stand in for Dave Flynn at the AGM. Dave Flynn is in Australia.

HON MEMBERSHIP SECRETARY Two new House Committee Members were voted in unanimously. They were David T Bamber and Nielan M Symmondson. Welcome to the Club.

SOCIAL EVENTS New Year's Eve at the Clubhouse will be the usual affair, always enjoyable. Please bring a plate of food.

The Fitting Out Dinner will be held on the 4 th February. The caterers will be the ones who did the Prize giving Dinner. The menu will be posted on the board soon.

JOHN HEYWORTH

It is sad to report that John died very suddenly on the 13 th of November. The funeral took place on the 18 th November at Southport Crematorium. John joined BSC in 1970 when he was building his Eventide, Tao. Since then he has enjoyed and been enthusiastic in his membership, his racing and cruising and has many friends in the club. He was also one of a small group of club members who fish; he was a regular visitor to the rivers Ribble and Hodder usually in the company of David Warren who gave a moving tribute to John at his funeral.

John is survived by his wife Pat and his daughters Anne and Helen who have been overwhelmed by the kindness and thoughtfulness of The Commodore and all BSC members. A very sincere thank you, for your cards and letters, we have been very touched by them and also by all the help that you have given at this trying time. In addition thanks to you all for the very generous donations sent to the RNLI. I'm not sure of the total but it will be in the region of £700. A great tribute to John!

Pat.

John Heyworth.

Over the last few weeks John has been variously described to me as a good man, a kindly man, a modest man, and of course he was all of these things, but for me the word which best describes him is Gentleman. I use this word in the old fashioned sense of it. John was invariably polite, courteous in his manner, nothing was ever too much trouble for him, and he was always ready to give advice and practical assistance in any way he could, he was also a very good listener. Importantly in all the years of our friendship I can't recall him ever making a disparaging remark about anybody.

John was certainly the most erudite and talented man that I have ever met and he had the most amazing ability to absorb information and was a fund of knowledge about almost everything under the sun. John was not old fashioned in himself although he epitomised the virtues inherent in the expression. Indeed he embraced the modern world and its technology eagerly and made the most of it where ever and when ever he could.

In his hobbies John was a formidable enthusiast, and in my opinion was one of the most skilful sailors in our club, as his many trophies attest to. His cruising logs are a joy to read and are for me works of art in their own right.

Equally in his role as a fly fisherman he was an artist and seldom had a blank day usually managing to come home with a trout or two for his tea.

Our club has lost one its most popular and hardworking members and he will be sorely missed, the River Alt will be a lonelier place without the sight of John at the helm of Tao.

Margaret and I have lost a much-loved friend.

Pat has lost her beloved John, Helen and Anne their wonderful and irreplaceable Dad, and to them we all extend our sincerest and heartfelt condolences.

Bob Chamberlain.

An occasional alphabet

M for Mike. A blue flag with a white diagonal cross. Morse dash dash. My vessel is stopped and making no way through the water.

MANILLA

 A cordage made in the Philippines that does not require to be tarred. It has been said that some BSC members ought to be tarred and feathered.

MARINES

A corps of sea soldiers - the most elite and magnificent of all are Her Majesty's Royal Marines. Many members will remember the late, larger than life, Arthur Bullen who was  "Once a Marine and Always a Marine".

MAROON

To put sailors ashore on some desolate place, under the pretence that they have committed some terrible crime. This detestable act will sometimes be worked on BSC members at the West Hoyle Bank - however they will be allowed back on board when they have eaten and drunk their fill ashore. Somewhat different to the original meaning.

MARRY

 To join two ropes together.  Some BSC members have practiced a lot of marrying it is understood.   

MASTER

The captain of a merchant vessel who holds a master's or extra-masters certificate.

We have had a number of such magnificoes in BSC over the years. Some gentlemen members will feel a bond with Frank Bates who was a master until he was 18 years old - but never went to sea!

MATE

Literally the masters assistant. There will be numerous on a merchant vessel. Whilst cruising, BSC members can be heard in a ritual called mating. It is generally a very short episode lasting rather less than the time taken to boil an egg (and this only if mature and well practiced, otherwise it will be much quicker) and is followed by heavy snoring which is interpreted by the BSC male as showing complete personal satisfaction with his efforts. Come, come chaps - buck up. 

MESS

 Where the ships company dine by rank. Officers in the Royal navy dine in the Wardroom. Officers in the Merchant Navy dine in the Saloon. Gentlemen of the BSC leave the table at the end of the Fitting Out dinner in the condition known as a Mess. Cedric Loughran is legendary for his mess.

MESSENGER

 A small rope or line bent on to a larger hawser to sart the hawser on a cable drum. In BSC the messenger is often Eric Wilkinson who will enter the yard and say to the hard working throng. "I'm off to the Hightown, it's been open for 56 seconds now!" This kind of messenger is also a useful time check for those knowledgeable about opening hours of public houses.

METACENTRE

 On a heeled vessel the perpendicular described upwards from the centre of buoyancy towards the median line of the vessel. The point of intersection is the metacentre. For stability and stiffness the centre of gravity should be well below the metacentre. The closer the metacentre to the C Of G - the more tender the vessel. John Myerscough advises that he relies upon his phenomenal stiffness to be competitive with the youngsters in heavy weather conditions.

MILE

 6080 feet or 1852 metres or 1.151 statute miles. Also one minute of arc at the equator.

BSC members will be prepared to walk the last mile through the fires of hell AND over broken glass, barefoot, for their Commodore. They will also feel privileged to have had the honour of so doing.

MISS STAYS

 A vessel is said to miss stays when she fails to get through the wind whilst going about and ends up hung in irons. In the BSC Ladies race, such conversational comments may be heard as " I miss my stays on a day like this. How about you Doris?" 

Thanks to Cedric Loughran for this lot. M must be more-ish, he says there are more to come.! 

MANY THANKS

Cedric Loughran sends his grateful thanks for all those who helped him with various sailing activities and helping him to complete his trailer whilst he was "hors de combat" with his arm in a cast.

CONGRATULATIONS

Many congratulations to Oliver Loughran who has passed his Admiralty Interview Board at HMS Sultan. Oliver wishes to go into the Warfare branch, which will involve learning yet more about navigation (it just shows where the RYA Day Skipper might lead). He hopes to improve on his fathers efforts and not run aground so much.  He is really looking forward to Britannia Royal Naval College when he is given his starting date.

AGM A PLEA

Please, in future, can we have the AGM in December? It's traditional date is in the run up to Christmas in early to mid December which has suited our club for many years. November or January definitely doesn't feel right.  CL.

The following were sent in by one of our members who hopes that they will raise a smile .

Commenting on a complaint from a Mr Arthur Purdey about a large gas
bill, a spokesman for North West Gas said, "We agree it was rather High
for the time of year. It is possible that Mr Purdey has been charged for
the gas used up during the explosion that destroyed his house." (The
Daily Telegraph)

Irish police are being handicapped in a search for a stolen van,
because they cannot issue a description. It's a Special Branch vehicle
and they don't want the public to know what it looks like. (The
Guardian)

A young girl who was blown out to sea on a set of inflatable teeth,
was rescued by a man on an inflatable lobster. A coast guard spokesman
commented, "This sort of thing is all too common". (The Times)

At the height of the gale, the harbour-master radioed a coastguard
and asked him to estimate the wind speed. He replied "Sorry, but I don't
have a gauge, but if it's any help, the wind had just blown my Land
Rover Off the cliff". (Aberdeen Evening Express)