stuartwqsc

 

Following our Commodore’s message of the 6th June there have been further developments with the issue of speeding craft on our stretch of the River Tamar and indeed throughout Plymouth Sound.

Many of you will have seen press and TV articles recently reporting anti-social and illegal behaviour of jet skiers throughout the South West.

Following representations through the appropriate channels, Plymouth QHM acknowledge that the issue has been getting out of hand and have resolved to take immediate action. As a result on several occasions recently the MOD Police ribs have been tasked to incidents involving speeding jet skis – including two incidents that took place yesterday at Weir Quay.

In order to speed up the MOD Police response we have been asked to report all incidents directly to them on 01752 553384. Please consider storing this number on your mobile phone to help speed up the process.

In addition, photos and videos should be sent to Loiuse Trickey at louise.trickey@mod.gov.uk

Please only film and report if it is safe to do so and always avoid any confrontation with the crews.

Port Control can also be called when afloat on VHF Channel 14 using either of the call-signs “Longroom” or “Flag”.

There is a report form on the QHM Plymouth web site which is particularly useful for incidents involving Personal Watercraft (jet skis): https://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/qhm/plymouth/report-an-incident

Your submission is automatically included in the day’s activity log and subsequently reviewed by QHM senior officers.

It would also be helpful to copy your complaints to our local councillors, Steve Hipsey (steve.gzad.hipsey@gmail.com) or Robin Musgrave (robmus@btinternet.com)

Dan Stroud returned in late May from a marathon voyage in his Rustler 31, Aisling, after a 2 year, 9 month circumnavigation.

Dan set out in September 2017 from Weir Quay Boatyard. He sailed to Spain, Portugal, the Canaries, the Gambia, crossed the Atlantic to Brazil, then Uruguay, Argentina to Ushuaia, through the  Beagle Channel up the west coast of  Chile, across the Pacific to French Polynesia, on to Hawaii, Solomon Islands and Port Moresby on PNG, then across the Indian Ocean to Richards Bay in South Africa, then to Simonstown round the Cape of Good Hope to Cape Town. Up to St.Helena then back across the Atlantic to Bequia in the Grenadines. He left the Caribbean in early April stopping in Horta in the Azores, but was not allowed ashore as restrictions due to Covid-19 started to have an impact. From there, he sailed to Plymouth and arrived there in late May. The Sailing Club celebrated his return with a socially-distanced welcome party!

Earlier this year Dan was awarded the Jester Medal from the Ocean Cruising Club (OCC). Their citation for Dan read:

The OCC Jester Award goes to Dan Stroud who is sailing around the world in a 31ft Rustler. This award, named after Blondie Hasler’s iconic Folkboat Jester, recognises a noteworthy singlehanded voyage or series of voyages made in a small vessel. Our panel of judges were extremely impressed by Dan’s singlehanded, low tech cruise from the UK to South Africa. He started a circumnavigation in the spirit of challenge and adventure, but his reasons have changed during his time underway. By the time he reached the North Pacific via Ushuaia and the Marquesas, he was feeling he’d had enough. But the logical option was to continue westward – so now he is completing the circumnavigation to return home. He keeps everything simple and low key, with just the basic necessities on board, few electronics or gadgets, and no fridge or shower.

Described as ‘an inveterate traveller and adventurer‘ a full account of how Dan got involved in sailing, his subsequent adventures and how he followed his dream, is available at the following link:

, https://news.oceancruisingclub.org/home/index/991

We have just published our events programme for the sailing season ahead. 

You can download your copy of the programme from our website at;  https://wqsc.org/events/  where you will also find a link to a Google Calendar that carries details of each event.

Here is a small selection of some upcoming events and some of the highlights of the annual programme;

• Dinghy sailors registration and re-rig  Sunday 15th March
• Winter Talk  Monday 16th March
• Spring Working Party Sat 21st March (or fall-back date of 28th if poor weather)
• First dinghy evening sail Friday 3rd March
• Steve Hipsey’s Mega Quiz Monday 6th April
• Tamar Bridge Race Sunday 3rd May
• Get Afloat Day (in partnership with TTGC) Sunday 17th May
• Midsummer BBQ, Cellar Bay, River Yealm 20th & 21st June
• Bere Ferrers Watersports Saturday 4th July
• WQSC Regatta Saturday 18th & Sunday 19th July
• End of Season Cruise to the River Yealm Sat 26th & Sunday 27th September
• WQSC AGM Monday 9th November
• Annual Dinner & Prize Giving Sat 21st November

Don’t forget, this is only a selection of the events we have scheduled this year. The Events page of our website has the full programme.

Whilst you are visiting our website, why not join the growing list of subscribers to our website and be the first to be notified of new posts on the site? A simple subscription box can be found on the right hand side of the events page, or the foot of every other website page.

Other Website Updates

We have also added some important documents to the Member’s Page . These are;

• Boat Shed Entry Procedure
• Boat Park Code of Conduct
• WQSC Safeguarding & Welfare Policy (draft policy awaiting committee approval)

If you haven’t already renewed your membership for the 2020/21 season, you will shortly be receiving an automated renewal reminder from our MemberMojo system.

This year, some upgrades to the ‘Mojo software have allowed us to integrate the payments for annual mooring charges, boat storage charges and training fees into the final online calculation of the fees due. We are currently in the process of switching our online payment option to the Stripe card payment system and this should be available online from 9th March 2020. We already have the Stripe account in place and are currently validating the payment process. Online card authorisation is our preferred method of payment as your fees will be reconciled  against your MemberMojo requests automatically, greatly reducing the considerable workload required of our Treasurer.

If you do prefer to pay by BACS or by cheque, please remember to provide a clear reference to your membership application – ideally your surname and your membership number.

You can go directly to the ‘Mojo system using this link; https://membermojo.co.uk/weirquaysailingclub – You can sign in using the password that you selected for this site, or by using the “Sign In Without Password” option which sends a link direct to your email account.

A simple overview of the membership renewal form on ‘Mojo can be found at the top of the Join us! page of the club website; https://wqsc.org/join-us/. You may find it useful to download this before starting the renewal process.

Detailed information concerning the various options within the form will display as you complete the form. If you do have any questions or comments concerning the membership form, please contact me at stuart.wqsc@gmail.com

As before most of your details will already populate the fields in the membership form, but it is always a good idea to check that we still hold the correct contact details for you and your family.

From mid-March we will send out this year’s tide tables (courtesy of Weir Quay Boatyard), dinghy and tender boatyard stickers (the 2020 sticker is illustrated above), and a printed copy of our annual events programme, as soon as we have received your renewal.

With best wishes of the sailing season ahead

Stuart McCullough
WQSC Membership and Website Officer

Bere Alston Bowling Club – Monday 16^th March at 19:30 [bar open from 19:00]

ALL WELCOME    £1 payable at the door
Food available too!  Cadets will be selling savoury and sweet food this evening to raise money for their next trip (on Johann Lucretia). 

Our Cadets will recount their adventures on the Tall Ship, the Brixham Trawler Leader.  They enjoyed a fantastic sailing experience on this unique boat – she is one of the largest class of sailing trawler and is rigged now just as she was when she fished under sail, over 100 years ago!
This evening will be a fascinating summary of their experiences, lessons learned and the impact it had on our cadets.  

This was the start of the Cadets’ adventure:
https://wqsc.org/2019/04/10/weir-quay-cadets-set-sail-on-leader/

Unfortunately, we have had to postpone the other talk scheduled for this evening, the presentation by HM Coastguard.

This extract from their recent email explains;
” Due to the outbreak of COVID19 (Corona Virus). All Coastguards have just been notified of an embargo on outside visits and meetings until further notice. This is deemed necessary in order to reduce the risk of Coastguard Rescue Officers coming into contact with the virus thus compromising their ability to respond to operational taskings and consequently, that of the team to respond to coastal emergencies as they must do being a statutory emergency service.

I emphasise that the team remains fully operational and ready to respond to emergencies and incidents on the coast 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year despite the embargo.”

Although we are obviously disappointed that the Coastguard have had to postpone their talk, there was real concern on the part of the Cadets that they had too much to fit into the 40 minutes that had been planned for them! So we can now look forward to an extended and entertaining review of last year’s adventure.

After a short pause in the work being undertaken in the Boat Club, we can now improve the area to the rear of the interior. We will all benefit from further loos, changing areas and showers, making our Club even more useful to all members of the sailing club and gig club.

We have ordered the cladding for the WCs and changing room in the boat house. This will ensure that the walls are protected, but will also smarten up the whole back area.

John and Sue Lea have stepped up to take the lead to get the cladding installed along with other willing volunteers. If you are interested in helping, please do not hesitate to get in touch with John Lea (lea.john@rocketmail.com or 07843 380465).

We aim to get started some time after Thursday 27 February; evenings or day working are all possible.

Let’s start the next stage of the development of this great facility!

Update!

The fund-raising coffee morning at the Edgecumbe Hotel on Saturday morning was a great success and raised an impressive £235!

It was organised by Beth West, who is one of the cadets going on the sail training trip aboard Johanna Lucretia in April.

She was assisted by fellow cadet, Richard Platts and members of her own family.

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The Cadets are planning a Coffee Morning at the Edgcumbe Hotel, Bere Alston on Saturday, 29th February 2020, 9:30am – 12am.

The Cadets are fundraising for the Weir Quay Sailing Club Tall Ship trip in April.

Please join them, enjoy coffee and cake, and support their next great adventure!

As part of their fund-raising towards the cost of their sailing trip on Johanna Lucretia in April this year,  some of our cadets organised a cake stall at the Bere Ferrers Saturday Shop on 1^st February.

Cadets Rosie and Daisy Duncan, Izzy Hatton and Lucas Hopkins served on the stall and did a wonderful job of both selling their cakes and telling people at the shop about their exciting trip.

Their cake stall raised an amazing total of £85.

Also appearing at the shop were the Bere Ferrers shanty group, The Tavy Tars, who entertained the shop goers with two of their songs and then generously donated to the cadets with a cheque for £300.