Newsletter February 2007 Web site:

Transcription

1 Hampstead and Yalding Cruising Club Newsletter February 2007 Web site: Commodores Column G day Folks As the newly elected Commodore, my first task is to thank Gary, our retiring Commodore, for all his hard work and dedication over the last few years. He is certainly going to be a hard act to follow. I would also like to thank the retiring committee members for all the hard work and input that they have made while serving on the committee. A special mention to Dave Chapman who cannot at this time progress to Vice Commodore owing to other commitments, hopefully he may be able to get back to that post in the future. I have served as both Rear and Vice Commodores and look forward to the challenge ahead of me. I am very approachable and hope with the assistance of Bob Harvey (Vice) and Gary Tucker (Rear) to take the HYCC into another season along with my dedicated and long suffering wife, Jean. Hopefully in a couple of month s time the new season will be getting under way. Let s hope that this year the weather will be kind to all of us on the river. Please feel free to contact me at any time and I would welcome your ideas and suggestions. I look forward to meeting up with old members and hopefully some of you newer members will also get in touch especially at our events. Your New Commodore Jim Clarke Editorial A new season is approaching, do not forget to get your boats ready as if you would! However, as it is quite likely that the Boat Safety Scheme could be introduced this year, now might be the time to make sure your boat is up to scratch. The reason I say this is because the Act, which will introduce the scheme, appears to be in the final stages of an enquiry. Although there is bound to be some leeway given when the scheme is introduced, there are only so many examiners and, once the scheme is introduced, they are likely to be rushed off their feet. In any event, the scheme has been modified since its original conception and some of what were considered by many to be nit picking items have been removed or reconsidered. Why not get in before the rush! The bonus is at least you will know that your vessel is safe and sound. Please don t forget to send your contributions direct to me (Bob Harvey) at 39, Rochester Drive, Westcliff on Sea, Essex SS0 0NJ, me at robert.c.harvey@blueyonder.co.uk or if you do not have , telephone me on Articles not printed will be go in the next issue unless time dependent.. EULOGY Terence Brian Hansley I first met Terry in the early seventies, initially through boating when he invited my diving partner Peter Cullern and myself to bring our old Dunkirk boat round from the Thames to

2 participate in The Admiral of the River Cruise on the River Medway, this was the start of our 35 year friendship. What started as purely a weekend trip ended with Terry finding me moorings at the exclusive Jim Breden s Marina (now Little Venice) and there I remained for some twenty years. Terry was a keen boater, having started with sailing boats in the sixties and progressing to floating gin palaces. He was a founder member of the Hampstead and Yalding Cruising Club and along with Peter Larkin was responsible in helping make the HYCC one of the most successful clubs on the Medway. He was always willing to help at the club, whether building new pontoons or refurbishing the club hut which some of you may remember stood in the car park at Jim Breden s for many years. He rose through the ranks at the HYCC from being on the committee to Vice Commodore and finally Commodore, a post he held for five years. Terry was always keen on the Mayoral events and was instrumental in helping me get the Mayor of Maidstone Cruise of Survey re instated when Ken Tierney gave up as the organiser. He was also one of the first to support the Tonbridge Cruise and was proof that anybody can take part in this event. Having just purchased a 38ft Broom, and on being told that this boat was far too big to take part in this new mayoral event that this time would go up the river to Tonbridge, as he wouldn t be able to go under some of the bridges on the Medway. This proved to be a challenge for Terry as he was getting used to being the Mayors Barge on these prestigious occasions, he therefore consequently rebuilt the fly bridge to enable the windscreen and side panels to fold flat and built a drop down support for the radar, such was his skill as a carpenter; and yes he did get under every bridge and he remained as the Mayors Barge. He was well skilled in navigation and took his boat across the channel on numerous occasions to France and Holland and always ably assisted by his first mate and wife Phyllis. Terry was well known and respected on the river and, during the time I knew him, became the Chairman and later Vice President of the Medway River Users Association, he was also the Bosun of the Rochester Cruising Club. In 1976 when Peter Cullern and myself were two of the founding members of the Orpington branch of the British Sub Aqua Club, Terry decided he would like to learn to dive. He proved to be a very precise and exact pupil and often told the instructors the best way to go about training, and on one occasion on a training drill in the middle of winter in Devon, it was my misfortune to get severe muscle cramp in both legs as I had been instructing for some hours and it was extremely cold. Terry seeing my predicament immediately came over, dumped my very expensive weight belt and towed me to the shore. A fact he constantly reminded everybody at the diving club whenever possible on how he had to rescue the instructor and maybe he would make a good training officer. Yes, you guessed it, he did become a training officer. In fact he helped Peter and myself train a young diver Tim Lawrence, who later became a top naval diver and member of the British bobsleigh team. Tim, you may recall is the son of Ken and Sandra Lawrence, (Ken was a former Commodore of HYCC). We dived all over Europe and Terry often had a way of getting noticed, on one occasion in Lanzarote, which was as yet an undeveloped dive location, we had to get changed on the jetty. Terry would turn up with all his dive gear in a very old tatty brown suitcase, not for him these new fangled dive bags, and sporting what could only be described as Eric Morecombe style khaki shorts, this naturally attracted the curiosity of other divers, one young German diver in particular who spent the rest of the week helping Terry into his wet suit and he in turn helping this young diver into their suit before diving together. A nice gesture for International diving relations...maybe, but perhaps it did help because she was 24 and very well endowed! After the death of my diving partner who was lost at sea in 1980, (The Peter Cullern Memorial Trophy) I suggested to Terry I wasn t going to dive so much in the future and was going to take up flying. A friend of ours at the diving club who was a qualified pilot introduced us to King Air flying Club at Biggin Hill. We spent many hours learning to fly, another sport in which Terry excelled and it was only illness that prevented him from taking his PPL. He always refused to fly with me however, I never did find out the reason why, honestly I only ever had four forced landings. Terry was also a very keen motorcyclist and owned many machines which always had to be the latest model. He loved Harley Davidson s and his last machine was a Harley he had converted

3 to a trike at a considerable cost, all this to enable Phyllis and himself to enjoy biking together. He was a member of a motorcycle club in Bromley and enjoyed many runs out with the club. Three years ago Terry and Phyllis made the decision to move to Co. Wexford in Ireland and although Terry enjoyed the beauty and isolation of this beautiful spot, there is no doubt that Phyllis missed the Grandchildren. For this reason in 2006 they decided to sell the house and return to the mainland. The house had been sold when Terry had his stroke. I last spoke to him on Christmas Day, he was feeling so much better, feeling had returned to his left side and he was beginning to speak without slurring and he was looking forward to coming back to England... Terry sadly took a turn for the worse that night and suffered a heart attack from which he died. I guess he will be making his presence felt in that exclusive yacht club above as much as he did on earth. Terry was an honest man who didn t suffer fools gladly. He always said what he felt and you always knew where you stood with him. A man with a heart of gold, who will be sadly missed by us all. Bob Tuthill AN APOLOGY TO MEMBERS For those who turned up at the AGM of the HYCC, the Committee have asked me to give you their apologies for your rumbling tummies. Owing to an administrative blunder, we did not provide the usual food at the AGM, but this will be rectified next year, where food will be provided. To those of you who did not attend, we now realize that we may have put off a number of you, as the early start may well have meant that you could not eat and get to the AGM in time. We do hope to see more of you next year, when we can all enjoy some food together as well as conduct the AGM business of the club. HYCC AGM and Winter Get Together Philip and I thought it would be nice to attend the club's AGM and Winter Get Together to meet up with 'old ' friends. Being now based on the Thames, we are not able to come to events, but enjoy keeping in touch via the Newsletters. On arriving at the Nettlestead Village Hall we were greeted with a glass of wine and to our delight, people we knew. Members gradually arrived and eventually Gary called us all to order and started the AGM. After agreeing the previous year's minutes, Gary gave his report which was followed by Margaret presenting and explaining very fully the Club s Accounts, which were duly approved and accepted. Bryan was proposed as President for the year and elected. Bryan, as President, then took the chair for the election of this year's flag officers and committee members, which are as follows: Commodore. Jim Clarke (Calico), Vice Commodore, Bob Harvey (Brushwood II) and Gary Tucker as Rear Commodore. Committee Officers; Mo Clayton (Najade) as Hon. Secretary, Margaret Harvey (Brushwood II) as Hon Treasurer and Jean Clark (Calico) as Membership Secretary. Other Committee Members are David Blair (Cobra), Geoff Miller (Waterford) and Ronnie Pullen (Aquarius). It appears that there are now two vacancies on the Committee, so if anybody out there is interested, I'm sure your new committee would be delighted to hear from you. Jim, now our new Commodore, then took over. It was different from other years, as we then had the presentation of Trophies and Cups which had been won last year. The formal part of the evening now over, we were then able to chat amongst ourselves as well as doing Maureen's quiz which was won by Shirley Bray. A good evening from our point of view, but it was a shame more members didn't attend. Maybe we'll see them next year.

4 Hope we may see some visiting Club boats on the Thames next year. We keep a lookout during the summer for the Club Flag. Brenda Wheeler Katherine C Navigation Course I am repeating Bob Tuthill s offer to run a Navigation course, as although some members have taken him up on the offer, there are not quite enough to run one, without a few more interested members joining in. If you are new to boating, this course is for you. The basic navigation course would be run this winter on a Sunday at Beckenham, there would have to be a nominal charge to cover the electrics and refreshments. (Please let me have your details if you are interested and I will pass them to Bob. Ed.). Future Events 28 th April Spring Dance Theme is Myth & Magic at Nettlestead Hall with Disco and Fish and Chip Supper. 5 th May Possible Cruise (details later). 19 th 20 th May Land clean up and Meet the Commodore from 3p.m. 26 th 28 th May Cruise to Tonbridge and then small craft on to the Leigh Barrier. 16 th 17 th June BBQ on the land & Team Quiz night. Please bring own food & drink. June Mayor of Tonbridge Cruise ( exact date TBA). 30 th June Sports day with Darts races etc and evening BBQ and Karaoke at Wateringbury. 1 st July Boat Auction flog your surplus gear & benefit yourself and the club 15 th July Fishing contest off your boat. July Mayor of Maidstone Cruise ( exact date TBA). 21 st 22 nd July Childrens Day on Saturday& Fun on the moorings on Sunday. 25 th 27 th August Bank Holiday Cruise to Strood. 22 nd September Fireworks Weekend and Dressed up Dinghy competition 7 th October Car Treasure Hunt. 8 th December Nettlestead Hall Christmas event. VISITS TO STROOD YACHT CLUB Please note that if you intend to visit Strood Yacht Club, with whom HYCC have mooring arrangements, that you must always confirm with the Mooring Master that spaces are available before leaving. Contact the Mooring Master Ken Tovey on If you intend to book in for events at Strood Yacht Club, then you must ring either Ken & Sandra Lawrence on or mobile , or Dick & Margie on or mobile SPRING DANCE 28 th April 2007 at Nettlestead Hall, Wateringbury. I would like..adult tickets (at 12) and..children s tickets at ( 6). NAME.. Address..

5 Please send your applications to: Jean Clarke 28, Eastwell Close, Paddock Wood, Tonbridge, Kent TN12 6UH (Opinions expressed in this Newsletter are not necessarily those of the Management Committee) DOES SPELLING MATTER? Research at Cambridge University shows the power of the human mind: Olny srmat poelpe can raed this, I cdnuolt blveiee taht Icloud aulacity uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pwoer of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabirgde Uinervtisy it deosn t mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Amzanig huh?, yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt! Welcome to the following new members LAND COMMITTEE Your committee recently discussed revetment work (repair to the bank to the uninitiated) and decided that it would be prudent to ask the membership if anyone would like to be part of a sub committee dedicated to managing the repairs and ongoing maintenance to the banks on the club land, which we rent. Perhaps some of you who do not feel comfortable with being members of our main committee might like to use their expertise in this matter. If you are interested, please phone/e mail me with your name and telephone number, as the committee would like some assistance from members with skills in this type of work. This does not mean you will be expected to dig holes or bang in posts etc., it is your knowledge that we are seeking. Bob Harvey (Newsletter Editor)