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THE PENNANT

THE NEWSLETTER OF NEWPORT USKMOUTH SAILING CLUB

A Welsh Pennant is available. Mae Pennant Cymraeg ar gael

November 2001

The Regatta, Recovery and the Annual Dinner have come and gone. Once again we can look back on a season in which the Club has succeeded in its declared object --- to promote boating, seamanship and the sport of sailing. We can now look forward to the Christmas Season and a busy programme of boat maintenance, training and social events.

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The Annual Laying Up Dinner.

Ninety six members and guests attended and enjoyed the event. The Commodore, in her much interrupted address, thanked all who had worked to prepare the event. A well deserved mention went to Adrian Booth, who had worked enthusiastically to ensure every one knew of the change of date and to encourage a good turn out.

A lot of thought had gone into selecting recipients for the Club awards and the choices were well received by all present.

A special award has been donated by Ray and Carol Fradd to be known as the Doug Doust Presidential Cup. It is to be awarded to the perpetrator of the incident which would have most earned Doug’s approval. The first winner is Christine Looker for her success in sucking diesel through the fuel lines of Tilly Whim V.

(See the September Pennant)

John Vowles proved once again to be an efficient, entertaining Toastmaster and raconteur with tales of his exploits with Malcolm Rogers.

 

The Club Awards were made as follows:

 

Seamanship Trophy Bob Looker

Presidential Cup Christine Looker

Novice Helm John Parker

Best Crew Idris Lewis

Enterprise Cup Ray Ford

Basil Mountjoy Oliver Roberts

Shield

Knickertwister Cup Ray Brown

Special award Reg Colwell

This is in recognition of Reg’s work over several years in maintaining and manning PUFFIN

Special Award Simon Watkins

In recognition of Simon’s work in organising the Quizzes, Boat Jumble, NUSC Rounders.

Yachtsman of the Year Adrian Booth

The Yachtsman of the Year award was made by popular acclaim, for an as yet unknown boating misdemeanour.

Wanted ---Volunteers

Jim McCarthy and Ivor Preece, after years of stalwart service as Treasurer and Secretary, (They would say that wouldn’t they!) have decided to stand down from their posts at the AGM in February. There are many advantages to occupying these posts:

 

• It looks good on your CV

   

• You will enjoy the respect of all thinking Club Members

   

• It enables you to carry out your work hours in the warm and dry

   

• You get first chance at the sample pens, diaries, penknives, keyring torches and sailing calendars which ordinary members never see.

   

It is with great reluctance that the two Officers are giving up these sinecures but a sense of fairplay obliges them to give other members a chance. Please let any of the Flag Officers know that you are interested so that a short list can be drawn up.

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Recovery and Compound

Once again all the boats are safely gathered in apart from Whimbrel and Lady Jane who are either going to do a bit of ice breaking or explore the upper reaches of the Afon Llwyd. It is now such a well established procedure that we tend to take for granted the safe recovery of all the boats and their storage in a roomy compound but we owe thanks to Jim Warrington, his team and all members who assisted to make the operation run smoothly.

There was some damage to Doug McLeod’s boat but our record of boat handling is very good and in Doug’s words, ‘Sula will sail again’

Members will have noticed the ground improvements and extension to the useable area of the compound. The work has involved tree root removal and consolidating the sub soil to allow the crane access to a larger area.

Some members have expressed concern that our storage and compound facilities might prove an attraction as boat storage for other Bristol Channel Clubs. Our rules and practice are that only members of NUSC can keep boats at the Club, the only exceptions in the past have been people who having bought a boat from a member have prepared the boat before removing it from the Club.

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Compound Security

Peter Hood, in consultation with the Police has prepared a report on security of the Club. This will shortly be discussed and action taken but one idea seems so easy to implement that its worth publicising now.

Most boats require a ladder to access them. If you secure your ladder where it can not be used to climb aboard when the boat is unattended casual villains may be deterred. If you find this difficult, at least secure the ladder to your own boat so that it can not be removed to raid someone else’s boat.

News of Members

Welcome to Dirk and Ellie Doorduyn who have recently joined the Club. Dirk has interesting tales to tell of the Dutch Marines and sailing at Lagos, West Africa.

 

Graham and Helen Cox are now the proud owner of Genevieve. Jane and Robert Lynbeck must be looking forward to next season as the new owners of Te Aroa.

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News from Cardiff Bay

The CYC Newsletter makes for interesting reading. The Club is faced with one battle after another in their efforts to develop the Club. The Harbour Authorities now propose to charge £15 per metre per boat per year for navigation dues and another £10 per metre per year for rights to moor. Thus an 8 metre boat will attract a charge of £200 a year + VAT before Club Membership, cost and maintenance of moorings , pontoons and slipways are taken into account. There are discounts for some years but it appears the screw is starting to be turned.

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RYA Training

The RYA Training Courses are running again with 8 on the Yachmaster and 16 on the Day Skipper. A Digital Radio course is due to start. Ring Ron Donovan on 780906 if you would like to join the next radio or diesel maintenance courses.

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Arrowsmith’s Bristol Channel Tide Tables

£2.20 ------------saving 95p

REGATTA 2001

Favourable winds, for a change, allowed the races to start on both days from the Club line. An early tide meant a 9.15 start so the turn out of ten on Saturday and only seven on Sunday was perhaps due to that. Only 0.03 seconds separated 2^nd and 3^rd places in the Sunday race.

 

 

DATES FOR YOUR DIARIES

November 24 th. 7.30 p.m. Cruising the Med. With Ray and Carol Fradd

See the Cruising section for a taster

December 15 th 7.30 p.m. Uskmouth Traditional Christmas Carol Service

Please bring some mince pies or sausage rolls.

December 16 th 3.00 p.m. Christmas Party for Children up to age 11. Get your

names on the notice board as soon as possible.

New Year’s Eve See Club notice board for details

January 16 th 7.30 p.m. ANNUAL MOORING MEETING You must attend or send written instructions or you could lose your mooring. N.B. This meeting is being held earlier this year to allow more time for mooring inspection.

Annual General Meeting February 27^th Notice of any business January 30th

 

Next Newsletter will be published early January nusc 11/01

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THE PENNANT

 

CRUISING SUPPLEMENT

November 2001

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Clockwise around Sardinia

It was 0600 as we quietly dropped away from our berth in Mahon, (Minorca). As we motored gently out of this beautiful natural harbour the water was free of ripples and dawn was just breaking. The forecast was for northerly 3-4 which would give us a close reach to Alghero on Sardinia’s west coast. Of course the wind didn’t materialise so we had to be content with motor sailing the 200 miles,albeit in glorious sunshine. The uneventful journey was broken with the occasional company of dolphins and our first whale, which had probably come down from the breeding area off the west coast of Corsica.

 

As we approached Alghero the next morning we both became aware of a strong smell. One of the battery cells had collapsed and the acid was boiling. After disconnecting the faulty battery we sailed into the walled city of Alghero. Our new neighbour was an Italian and after explaining our problem to him he cycled straight to the chandlers, negotiated a price and had them deliver the new batteries to the boat. (Is this Italy’s answer to Dave Jerwood) This was to be typical of the friendliness that we received all over Sardinia.

 

After a few days exploring this lovely city we stocked up on the essential supplies, (you have to avoid dehydration!) and sailed to a sheltered anchorage for a few days of R and R.

 

We had decided to sail around Sardinia so we set off up the West Coast, initially accompanied by tourist boats visiting the incredible grottos in this area. As we approached Cape Falcone we had to pass through the Fornelli Passage to avoid the extra 40 miles around Isla Asinari. (This is a penal colony and anchoring is forbidden). The passage can only be attempted in daylight and in settled conditions as the depth goes down to 12 ft and over a force 4-5 the swell reduces this dramatically. Following the leading marks we safely negotiated the passage and sailed into a turquoise sea – a popular anchorage for lunch and swimming. We spent the night at anchor in the outer harbour of Stintino ( free of charge), a small picturesque village with good supplies. We filled up with diesel from the quay as the next few legs would be long and obtaining diesel would not be easy if we lost the wind.

 

The next leg took us to Castelsardo, a whitewashed village set high on the cliffs. With a substantial onshore swell we decided on a night in the new marina. The forecast next day promised us a force 8 for our destination, the Bonifacio Straits; infamous for its frequent high winds. With the winds still light and aft of the beam we decided to push on, hoping we would be through the straits before the gale materialised. As we approached the entrance the wind was increasing steadily and we finally entered the port of St. Theresa de Gallura, with its long fiord like entrance, running before a force 7. We spent two nights in this lovely harbour waiting for the gale to blow through. This is the departure point for the passenger ferry to Corsica so there were many nationalities viewing Storm Chaser with the ensign and Welsh dragon flying.

 

We were particularly looking forward to the next stage of our journey which was the Maddalena Archipelago. The islands offer shelter in all conditions with numerous safe anchorages. It was here that Admiral Nelson wanted to establish a British Naval Base but he was overruled by the Admiralty. Today there’s a NATO base instead! One of the islands was owned by Garibaldi, a famous Italian soldier who helped bring unity and independence to Italy (end of history lesson).

We settled into an anchorage for the night on the island of Stefano and decided it was so gorgeous we could stay for a few days -until 10 a.m. the next day when huge power boats began using the passage between the islands as a race circuit. Our opinion of these craft dropped even lower when as we were sailing, we were swamped by the bow wave of a motor yacht who was using us as target practice while travelling at about 30 knots. However you couldn’t fail to be impressed by the spectacular backdrop of islands and mountains.

The next stage of our journey was to be an area well documented in guide books, known as the Costa Smeralda it is the summer destination of the rich and famous. But that’s another story !!

 

Ray & Carol Fradd

Storm Chaser,

August 2001

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Carol and Ray are giving a talk about sailing in the Med on Saturday 24^th November at 7.30 p.m.