COMMENT Thank you for all the feedback on the article about the River Alt. Cyril Porter spent much of his time wandering around the Rifle Range when he was very young and has many interesting stories to tell. This is now the part of the river to which we have no access. There is a small booklet on sale in all the local libraries about the history and wildlife of the range, where they have a very active conservation group The booklet costs £2 and is published by the T.A.with Sefton Council and has several contributors.

The end of the sailing season means a resumption of social activities in the clubhouse. There was an enjoyable Rhythm and Blues night and on Saturday the 16th there will be a Hot Pot Supper. The next big event will be the Prize giving Dinner and then the Christmas Party and the year ends with the Annual General Meeting on the 19th December. However, in the climate of the "compensation culture" in which we live there will have to be some changes in the social use of the club as the insurance companies impose more and yet more restrictions which are already having an effect.

It appears that having the roof repaired on the clubhouse might have been a timely move. The weather forecast for the coming months is promising one of the coldest winters that we have had for some years. The northerly weather will bring spells of frost and snow, starting with the possibility of snow next week. This information comes from www.Metcheck.com; they were the first to predict that we would have a poor summer. Bill Woods likes the following as you can print the charts. http://www.meto.gov.uk/weather/charts/index.html

NOTES FROM THE GENERAL COMMITTEE MEETING

The committee met on the 12th of October. Apologies for absence were received from The Commodore, the Vice Commodore, Alan Roe and Bill Woods. The Rear Commodore chaired the meeting.

There was no Commodore's report and in the absence of the Vice Commodore, Simon Markland gave the Sailing Committee's report.
All the races are completed and all trophies have been returned for engraving and the Prize List is almost completed

Martin Dooley has applied for mooring S4 and this was recommended to, and agreed by, the committee. Martin's boat has been successfully recovered after being on the beach. John Heyworth has sent the Portsmouth Yardstick results to the RYA.

Arrangements were put in place for a wood gathering and bonfire building party for the 5th of November. This sparked off a long discussion about the insurance restrictions. We had already announced that there can be no fireworks or pyrotechnics in the vicinity of the club and it now transpires that the insurance for the club to hold a bonfire on that night will cost £252.. As there is little or no chance of raising that amount it appears that the Bonfire night will be cancelled and there will be a normal Friday club night, a notice will be on the board.

THE REAR COMMODORE reported that the brewery will be working in the bar in the next few days and it is possible that the new beer will be on sale at the Hot Pot supper on Saturday.

All rubbish will be cleared out of the Black Hut on Saturday morning.
Thanks were sent to John Heyworth for replacing the hinges on the Club's front door. Recent very heavy rain caused floods outside the front.

THE HON SECRETARY reported that he had sent a letter of thanks to Paul Wren for all the recent work that he had carried out in the clubhouse.

C Plant drew out the 200 club prizes. The winner of the first prize was George Williams. The second prize went to Charles Lloyd and the third prize was a roll over. This means that the third prize in the next draw will be £30.00. Have you got your number yet?

Mark arranged the following as promised.

THE HON TREASURER made the position clear with regard to the insurance matters of the club

THE SEA WALL
A review of the condition of the sea wall by Phil Wright.

In April 2002 I reported on the condition of the seawall and I have continued to monitor it.

It is clear that the wall, which is now four and a half years old is deteriorating much as was expected, but at what rate it is difficult to tell. The timber groynes have had some limited success in preventing potentially serious undermining of the structure at its base.

The fact that the movement has now become more evident shows that additional protective measures are still advised if we are to have a good chance of keeping the wall for a few more years. The winter gales may still cause more movement.

There is no news of the Sefton Coastal Study Research findings or recommendations for action, which was one of the hopes when the wall was repaired as a stopgap action in view of the dangerous state to which it had been reduced.

The addition of more steel gabion baskets, densely and compactly filled with masonry could reduce the wave damage by absorbing some of the force of the waves if placed at the toe of the wall. This is still a worthwhile option in my view. Gabion baskets of a suitable strength for sea wave action can be obtained for about £40 each.
P.G.Wright.

This report was passed around to the members of the committee and after discussion and deliberation it was agreed that the gabion baskets should be bought. Considering that we are entering worsening weather it was thought that there is little time to be lost. It will be a big task to fill the baskets. Please consider that: A LARGE WORKING PARTY WILL BE NEEDED.

THE AGM

Nomination forms and proposals or subjects for discussion should be in the hands of the Hon Secretary by the 31st October.

THE RNLI

Dave Flynn is selling tickets for a coffee morning next Wednesday 20th October. It will be held in Crosby. Dave would like some of our members to volunteer to provide him with home made cakes.
Can you help?

THE OCCASIONAL ALPHABET

B = BRAVO = dash dot dot dot. This is a swallow tailed red code flag. The single letter indicates: I am taking in, discharging or carrying dangerous goods.

Bail out 1. To remove water from a boat. 2. To remove oneself from a boat when it appears the water is coming in faster than it is going out.

Bar Long, low lying navigational hazard, usually awash, found at river mouths and harbour entrances, where it is composed of sand or mud, and ashore, where it is made of mahogany or some other dark wood. Sailors can be found in large numbers around both.

Bearing 1. The direction your boat was heading in when it ran aground. 2. The moving part in the propeller shaft housing that burned out when you tried to free your boat, by revving the motor in reverse. 3. The seaman like poise you display as the entire crew of the lifeboat that responded to your distress call, wet their sailor suits laughing at you.

Binoculars Entertaining shipboard kaleidoscope which, when held up to the light reveals interesting patterns and designs caused by salt spray, thumbprints and scratches. Uncapped, its lenses may also be employed to collect small amounts of salt from seawater through evaporation.

Bottom. The land under the water. Its characteristics are indicated on nautical charts to assist some sailors in anchoring. Some common types of bottom which boatmen are likely to encounter are: ick, ycch, urg, crddy, ftd, rttn, nsty, awfl, hrrbl, dsgtng and unblvbl

Bulkhead Discomfort suffered by sailors who drink too much.

WHALE WATCHING AND OTHER WILDLIFE.

In May 2001 I was in the village of Dale in Milford Haven with my RIB on a trip to visit the islands off the coast of Pembrokeshire and to see the wildlife.
Reluctant to leave a new RIB on the pontoon below the sailing club on hearing that some boats had gone missing over the years, I and my pal Billy, who crews with Catch 32 decided to chain the boat on its trailer to the lamppost in the middle of the village.

Whilst doing so a young man who was staying at the same guesthouse as us engaged us in conversation. He was interested in the boat, saying that he had spent a fair bit of time on RIB's before working as a Wildlife Cameraman. We arranged to meet him and his girlfriend in the Pub later. After a few pints we found that we shared an interest in wildlife and particularly marine wildlife. The man's name was Tom Walmseley and he turned out to be an interesting character.

Having grown up in New Zealand he had returned to his native England to study Zoology at University and had then trained as a cameraman specializing in underwater photography. He was making a living making films of whales and dolphins for private clients who he also took on whale-watching expeditions, using a network of contacts that he had built up around the globe. He was particularly involved with an organization called The Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust who undertake research and conservation work which is coordinated from a centre on the Main Street of Tobermory in the Isle of Mull.

After a few pints I offered my services as a RIB for hire with coxswain for expenses only. The year later I ended up on Islay taking a research scientist and volunteers out on Loch Indaal to study the local population of Bottlenose Dolphins under the direction of a guy called Phil Johnston, who was at that time the coordinator for the HWDT Bottlenose Dolphin project. The HWDT paid all our expenses and as much as we could drink!

Since then I have visited many of the Islands of the Inner Hebrides on my RIB watching the wildlife and I have seen a number of Whales, Dolphins, Porpoises, a Basking Shark and lots of other wildlife. Earlier this year I met Tom on the Isle of Eigg and went out to join a whale-watching boat off the Point of Ardnamurchan watching Minke whales in The Sound of Coll.I returned to Eigg on the RIB leaving Tom to his filming and arranged to meet again soon.

This September the HWDT celebrated it's 10th Anniversary as an official organization and Val and I were invited, along with the RIB of course. At a meeting in the Aros Hall in Tobermory we heard people from all over the world speak on the subject of Whales and Dolphins, followed by a Ceilidh.

The next day all those invited, who included some well-known naturalists and politicians set out on three whale-watching boats up The Sound of Mull.One of these boats was The Silurian, an eighty-five foot yacht that had been specially built at the cost of 2 million pounds and had been used in the making of The Blue Planet BBC documentary. It is a boat well worth seeing, 2 heads, 2 showers, a galley to seat 8, 10 berths, and a cabin for research and film editing purposes. It has a specially built crow's nest and bowsprit for filming purposes.

Tom and his companion Mike Cunningham, who are now both BBC cameramen, photographed the proceedings from my RIB with me as coxswain. The next morning I saw Tom off to ex-girlfriend, now-wife, in Bristol, "Keep in touch," he said. "Where next?" he asked.
"Who knows?" I said "See you soon"
C Plant

Thank you to Charlie for this interesting and entertaining account He also put his RIB to good use here as rescue boat for the Altmouth Cup Race. Pat.

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