Rye Har bour S ail ing Club, { RHSC} The Po int, Rye Harbour, E ast Sussex, TN31 7T U www.rhsc.org.uk Commodore Caroline Wylson carolinewylson@btinternet.com T 01797 223112 Vice- Commodore John Powell OBE jrj_powell@hotmail.com T 01424 882385 Newsletter March 2016 Rear Commodore Cruisers & Membership Secretary Richard Hopper TD richard@richardhopper.plus.com T 01797 222291 Rear Commodore Dinghies Simon Marsh simon@hi-flight.co.uk T 01233 758181 Social Secretary Glenda Wilson andrewandglenda@yahoo.co.uk T 01797 321395 Rear Commodore House Derek Phillips mjpanddjp@aol.com T 01797 224479 Honorary Secretary David Townsley davidtownsley1@hotmail.co.uk T 01424 882066 Honorary Treasurer Karen May karenmay457@btinternet.com T 01797 321263 Rescue Boat Coxswain David Tomkinson dejtomkinson@tiscali.co.uk T 01797 224363 Berthing Master John Denis johnfdennis@hotmail.com T 01424 812716 What s on in March Thursday 3 March Club Night Volunteer Supper. A Greek Cypriot Feast with chefs Michael and Maureen Georgiou19:00 for 19:30 Saturday 5 to Sunday 6 March RYA Suzuki Dinghy Show Alexandra Palace, North London. http://www.rya.org.uk/programmes/dinghy-show/pages/hub.aspx Wednesday 9 March IRC Regional Seminar at RTYC Ramsgate. For more information please contact Richard Hopper at richard@richardhopper.plus.com Wednesday 9 March from 10:00. HoRAC Meeting at RHSC. Saturday 19 March Club Night Fitting Out Supper with chefs David and Jen Tomkinson followed by a Quiz. Thursday 31 March Club Night Volunteer Supper with chef David Preston assisted by his daughter Ellie and friend Adrian. There has been confusion to date with the club house phone number. Please note the RHSC phone number is 01797 229477 Club bookings can now be made through Derek Phillips on 01797 224479 mjpanddjp@aol.com or John Dennis 01424 812716 johnfdennis@hotmail.com
Page 2 Newsletter Title Membership Subscription Renewals and CASC Subscription renewals will be sent out shortly by post this year. Included on this year s renewal form will be a question relating to club participation by members. This question must be answered. A notebook will be included for which we need to keep a record of our attendance at club activities. This is an evidence based exercise for HMRC and you will be told in the letter what constitutes club activities. If we are to maintain our CASC status it is essential that we keep these records in case evidence is required. Thank you Caroline Wylson Updated Safeguarding Policy Our thanks to Glenda Wilson for producing a comprehensive updated Safeguarding Policy. We have two designated safeguarding officers Glenda Wilson T 01797 321395 and John Powell OBE T 01424 882385. John and Glenda are the first point of contact for any concerns or allegations from vulnerable adults, children, carers or others. Push the Boat Out (PTBO) volunteers needed RHSC will PTBO again this year at the club on Saturday 21 st and Sunday 22 nd May 2016. We will be hosting anyone welcome free taster sails to give local people, families and friends the opportunity to try sailing as part of national RYA PTBO. We will need a number of volunteers to help on the run up to the event as well as on the day. Help will be needed before the event with publicity, distributing leaflets and putting up posters. Over the 2 days we need to register taster sailors as they arrive, co-ordinate the taster sail itinerary, rig and help launch the club boats. We need experienced dinghy sailors to give taster sails in club boats. The rescue boat will need to be ready with crew over both days as will the Carey Marsh. The galley will need to be manned from 10:00 serving hot drinks and food and food will need to be prepared and cooked for the BBQ at 13:00. Cruisers are you keen to give taster sails again this year? Please email Richard Hopper richard@richardhopper.plus.com Without volunteers we cannot hold this event. We are giving free taster sails to encourage a new generation of sailors to join our club with the hope of ensuring a sustainable future for generations to come. Let us know what you can do to help at the event by contacting John Powell at jrj_powell@hotmail.com
Page 3 CALIDRIS ALBA'S BALTIC CIRCUMNAVIGATION 2014 THE SKANDI EXPERIENCE Inga Chapman Club members Inga and John Chapman spent the summer of 2014 on their yacht Calidris Alba, a Rival 41, circumnavigating the Baltic Sea. They joined a rally organised by the Ocean Cruising Club (OCC) to take them from Kiel, Germany to Stockholm via St Petersburg Russia,. The following article describes final part of the anticlockwise voyage along the Baltic Coast visiting ten different countries and taking almost four months. Above is a map of the whole route and below an account of their post-rally cruise from Sweden to the Kiel Canal in Germany. The log of the voyage was awarded the Jack Doust Memorial Cup 2014.
Page 4 Newsletter Title July 29 th to Aug 12th Swedish Skagard (thousands of Islands) At the end of July Stockholm was very hot and hectic with tourists, mostly cruise liner passengers, and I began to look forward to sailing away to the peaceful Swedish Skagard (thousands of islands) further south where it might be cooler and quieter. On July 30 th we left Stockholm via the Sodertjie Kanal, passing south under a lifting bridge and entering a lock. The canal is an interesting short cut to the Skagard, passing between blocks of flats with gardens and play-parks and swimming areas, all very clean and neat and tidy. It finished with another lifting road bridge where we had to wait for three hours for an opening because it was rush hour. At the final lock the difference in water level was negligible. By evening we were through the canal and ready to explore the islands. Over the next few days we meandered through the islands getting used to the wider channels and red and green marks, different to the Finnish system but no less important to remain in the marked channel. Islands were larger than we d seen previously, pine tree covered, with lovely summer cottages. Sometimes we anchored at a nature island (reserve), well sheltered and no habitation. These are the quiet places I like best where one can swim unobserved, with just waterfowl for company. White tailed eagles soar over-head and grey herons argue over the best place to fish. The Swedes were friendly and helpful, taking our lines when we came into a small marina or coming by in the evening to talk and share information on favourite anchorages in the Skagard. We were advised to visit the little island of Harstena where five yachts could anchor from the stern and bows to the steep rocky shore, so close one could go ashore over the bow. The proximity to neighbours gave further opportunities to chat. Harstena was once a busy fishing community. Now a summer destination with holiday cottages, it has a village shop (John bought ice-cream), a restaurant and a small smokery to preserve fish and sell mainly to visitors who come across from the mainland. One evening we crept very slowly into a peaceful uncharted anchorage, near Pastavallik. Smooth, flat, mostly shallow water extended around us on three sides and clear blue sky stretched from distant horizon to horizon. A few very nice houses perched on the low cliff amongst the trees, with gardens sloping to the shore. We settled down to enjoy the peaceful evening when a small boat appeared, Hej. Toby had launched his boat to come and see us, curious to know whom we were and where we d come from. The red ensign is often not recognized abroad despite the union flag in the corner. We chatted for a while and waved to his wife Anita on her balcony. He warned us of some unmarked rocks in the area but assured me it was safe to swim despite the jellyfish bobbing around and went home for his supper. Later he returned with a posy of sweetpeas, a jar of homemade jelly, a little bottle of schnapps and an invitation to breakfast the following morning. People's kindness to strangers never ceases to amaze me. At 0900 he was waiting to take us ashore and we spent a very pleasant two hours in the charming company of Anita and Toby, over a typical Swedish breakfast; boiled eggs, cheese, cold meats and delicious dark brown bread. The view from the window across the water was perfect with Calidris Alba at anchor, centre stage. What a wonderful start to the day.
Page 5 The view from Toby and Anita s home with Calidris centre stage. As we travelled south there were less islands to anchor amongst so we were grateful for the Gasthamn Book, a free guide to the many marinas big and small along the Swedish coast and used it to help plan the passages for the next few days. On August 8 th and 9 th the city of Kalmar was an interesting stopover, with its seventeenth century castle, loud pop festival and fairground, then we sailed on to attractive little Kristianopolu. I liked the latter very much with its picture book pretty cottages and gardens, and easy to understand grid system of narrow lanes dating back to times when it was a fort defended by the Danes against the Swedes. With a little church and immaculate churchyard in the centre of the village and a bride arriving for her wedding it s hard to imagine those more violent days. Our next stop was Arhu, a rather industrial looking small port where we went up a river for about 800m before tying to pontoon by the bank. The small marina was adequate, well sheltered, (strong winds were forecast overnight), had good facilities and lots of restaurants but the town was dominated by the Absolut Vodka factory. Shame they didn t give free samples on Sundays and John had rum and raisin ice cream instead.
Page 6 Newsletter Title Aug 13th th to Aug 26 th to Copenhagen and to Kiel On Friday the 15 th the weather was again unsettled, wind SW to W. Often the wind is lighter earlier in the day so we rose early to make the final push from Abbekas to Copenhagen. Once through the Falsterbo Canal that cuts across the SW corner of Sweden, we could see the Oresund Bridge in the distance, linking Denmark to Sweden. We moored in Langelinie Marina, close to the underwhelming Little Mermaid statue. From our boat we watched a constant stream of tour buses disgorge passengers from 0730 in the morning until dark. It s amazing what a starring role in a Disney movie can do for a gal s popularity. Three reasons kept us in Copenhagen for five days, we wanted to see the city, we needed a rest, and the weather forecast was appalling: strong winds from the SW and heavy, rainy squalls. The city is attractive and interesting, easy to walk to and with a good public transport system that includes ferries as well as buses. It is a city of canals and bridges, a mix of old and very new architecture and stunning views. Between the heavy showers we walked, bussed and ferried around the city. One of our favourite places was Nyhavn; recently gentrified sailors quarters with cafes, jazz clubs and tattoo parlours. The canal is filled with attractive old sailing ships, fitted with bowsprits, thick tarry ropes and wooden blocks. Visiting boats are welcome and if we had a really historic boat we d have been allowed to moor here too. Hans Christian Anderson lived and wrote his first stories in the area. Across the river in the Christianshavn district canals were full of modern visiting yachts and local live-aboards, allowing little space to manoeuvre. John was really glad I hadn t chosen to dock here as it was so crowded and without a bow thruster, which most yachts seem to have these days, docking would have been extremely difficult, and embarrassing. Tivoli Gardens, claiming to be the world s oldest amusement park, intrigued us. It s been on the same 20 acre site for 170 years and the city has grown around it. As well as the anticipated traditional roller coaster, merry-go-round and other rides there are free concerts, pantomime, theatre, ballet, puppet shows and more. The pretty gardens are illuminated as dusk falls. We expected tacky, and it was, but it s also a place where Danes can have simple, unsophisticated fun and we liked that. We had fun too, people watching. In the city we ate at some interesting places, among them the newly opened restaurant in the tower at Christiansborg Palace, (the Houses of Parliament that you may have seen in the Danish TV series Borgen ). The original mix of ingredients in attractive, tasty open face Danish sandwiches made a welcome change from the cheese and chutney on Calidris. From the top of the tower one can gaze across the city seeing the pattern of streets and canals, taking in the old red roofs, minimalist modern glass buildings and no skyscrapers. One evening we dined at trendy Kodbyens Fiskebar, in the meatpacking district, run by a former chef from Noma, and focusing on thoughtfully composed plates of modern Nordic seafood. Fabulous! I shall remember Copenhagen for the food, lovely to look at and such a treat to eat, and the fashions. John is more likely to remember the beautiful, long-legged young women, riding straight-backed on old fashioned looking sit-up-and-beg bikes along the dedicated cycles lanes in the city.
Page 7 Inga at Christianborg Palace, Copenhagen On leaving Copenhagen we headed 30NM south towards Rodvig. With the wind from the SSW we only managed only 50 minutes with the sails up, no engine, and the boat speed was 7-8 knots. If only it could be like that all the time. The sea state was fairly comfortable and John decided we should continue past Rodvig and anchor up for the night 20 miles further on. He found a charming, sheltered anchorage, off the eastern shore of Stege Bukt, surrounded by buoys marking eel traps. A fisherman, guardian of the traps, came by in the morning as we left at 0630 to make sure we didn t foul his nets. Luckily we didn t, he looked like a Viking!! On the 22 nd Aug our course took us along a well marked, narrow, twisting channel where the depth was barely greater than Calidris s draft. Great care was needed to make sure we didn t go aground. We passed under three bridges with heights between 20m and 30m. When passing under and looking up the impression is always that there will not be enough height and we hold our breath until Calidris is through. Once through the bridges, up went the sails for three whole hours, that must be a recent record, but once we turned south the wind was on the bow again and with current against us and even with the engine on, speed dropped to 3 knots at times. On approaching Spjodsbjorg on the island of Langland black clouds built up ahead, winds increased to 30/35 knots and the rain was so heavy that visibility reduced to zero for a time. A ferry, also going to Spjodsbjorg, suddenly loomed large behind us. Once the squall had passed we went into the marina and tied up in a box mooring; bows to the quay with stern lines attached to posts, usually not much wider than Calidris breadth. When it s windy this operation can be tricky and a friend of ours calls them divorce boxes. I m sure you can guess
Page 8 Newsletter Title why! Another 54 NM passage was over and we planned to make the next day a lay-day. The next morning I lay in my bunk, listening to German yacht after German yacht leaving the marina. They were all heading toward Kiel and beyond. What did the locals know that we didn t know?? By 0715 we were the only boat left so we decided to leave too, a 49 NM passage mainly into the wind, but the future forecast was even worse. The engine ran all day, squalls passed through with accompanying towering clouds, stronger winds and heavy rain. John hand-helmed Calidris just off the wind knowing I don t like to hear her grinding and juddering into the wind, under engine. We arrived in Stickenhorne Marina, Kiel at 1830 having completed a circumnavigation of the Baltic Sea. We d made it!! It felt like an achievement, we'd travelled more than 2000 miles and seen a lot of sights and were ready for a rest. We had intended to return to England, as the days got shorter and the weather cooler. The next morning we reconsidered our options and luckily we both came to the same conclusion. The thought of leaving Calidris in Germany for the winter and return next year, perhaps to sail slowly through a small area of the Baltic next summer, with the wind, instead of against it, was very appealing. We found a boatyard, just off the Kiel Canal, that specializes in winter storage of yachts and arranged to rent a space in an unheated shed, with the mast down, from September to the end of June. Calidris being hauled for winter storage
Page 9 John removes the anemometer from the masthead. Footnote: In summer 2015 and we sailed Calidris back to the UK via the Mast-up route through the Dutch canals. Now she is safely docked in Sovereign Marina, Eastbourne. New Changing Rooms Update Eighteen months ago after taking advice from the RYA we ventured to begin a project that would lead us to receive funding from Sport England of 75,000.00 to develop club facilities. In order to make the club with its excellent sailing location more inclusive to the wider community and to ensure a sustainable future for the club, we put plans in place to build a new toilet and shower block including a disability toilet and shower. This allows us more scope to get children involved in sailing along with many more activities as well as setting up and running Rye Sailability, who will provide facilities for people with disabilities to get sailing. The old boat shed having been dismantled and
Page 10 Newsletter Title cleared away by Derek Phillips with his team of helpers has left the site ready for the new extension. Tenders have been received from three of the six contractors who were invited to do so. All of these quotes have come in above our estimate which leaves us with a larger cash shortfall than expected. Following a special meeting of the Management Committee our architect has been asked for a revision of the specification so we can retender and we are exploring other ways, in which we can further reduce the costs. This includes the possibility of zero rated VAT, which would cut out the VAT charge; seeking additional grants to supplement the 75K awarded to us by Sport England and the possibility of agreeing a building contract that allows some of the work to be undertaken by our club members who have offered their help. At our AGM in December, it was explained that we may all have to contribute voluntary donations in order to assist in financing this essential project. We are optimistic that the present difficulties will be overcome, but expect that there will still be a shortfall that can only be met by all of us looking to help with a financial contribution so as to secure a future for the club for many more generations to come The picture will become clearer over the next few weeks and we will have a further update on this in next month s RHSC Newsletter. Member donates Smart TV to RHSC Our thanks go to the generosity of a member, who wishes to remain anonymous, for the donation to RHSC of a Panasonic 42 Smart TV. The Smart TV will help the club with interactive coaching session; giving talks and demonstrations and will give access to great RYA videos giving a wealth of knowledge on all things to do with sailing. For examples see the following links; https://www.youtube.com/channel/uchy5dw4s_x8xonoxyelqlxq https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=envambbyyzg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfkvccz5lna https://www.facebook.com/sailingaddicts RYA First Aid Course places still available A First Aid Course will be run at the clubhouse by Norma Russell, the Royal Temple Yacht Club s First Aid Instructor, on Saturday 9 th April 2016 from 09:30 at a cost of 50. All the certificates issued by us have now expired. If you wish to attend please send Richard Hopper a cheque made payable to RHSC or make a bank transfer. The number attending the course is limited to 12. So it is first come first served. Richard Hopper www.rhsc.org.uk