Those Members who have visited the club recently will have noticed a number of activities underway and more are planned for the near future, for example:
Following the flood damage in November the boat house and oar store doors have been replaced (that’s the room below the race office) and the window in the oar store has been replaced.
A temporary repair to the main cold water feed pipe to the clubhouse is still in place in the back field. The underground pipe in the back field has become brittle and a number of leaks were identified following the recent freeze. As part of a major refurbishment of the hot water storage system in the clubhouse (including solar panels on the clubhouse roof (subject to planning approval)) we will be replacing the cold water feed pipe from the road through Dubwath to the clubhouse in its entirety.
You may have noticed that the flagpole has been taken down for repairs. Now that the structure has dried out and been assessed it’s obvious that it will need complete replacement. We’re looking to replace the existing structure with an alternative one and possibly in a different position. However, in the mean time, the existing structure will undergo a repair and will be re-erected temporarily.
The Bates is being fitted with dual batteries and a split charging system in the hope that the engine will start reliably this year. If the bilge pump works overtime again (and let’s hope we don’t have another wet summer!) it will hopefully only flatten one of the batteries.
We’re in the process of assessing suitable replacement grass cutting machinery for the new season that will hopefully be more robust than the previous machines (although to date no fully submersible equipment has been found!).
During last years floods many of the remaining boat tie-downs were damaged as a result of boats floating above them and pulling them out. It is hoped that we will replace all the tie-downs progressively throughout the coming season with those of a standard design so that grass cutting around them is easier.
Following the very generous donation by one of our Members to start our training boat fund the fund has grown in leaps and bounds and has reached over £9400.00 so far. To date we’ve purchased three GRP Mirrors and a race rigged Topper to boost the Club boat fleet. My sincere thanks go to those Members who started and to those who have subsequently added +to the fund and to EON plc and North West Projects Ltd for their generous donations.
We’re hoping to give the family room and bar area a coat of paint in the next few weeks.
If any of you are willing to give up a few hours of your time to help with the above projects please contact Nick Orton (House), Mark Somerville (Grounds) or myself and we’ll point you in the direction of the relevant tools etc. (please don’t leave it to the same few volunteers).
Our floating jetty has also suffered as a result of the frozen conditions and one of the floatation blocks is damaged. Unfortunately the company that made the original floats no longer exists so an alternative will have to be sourced. It will be necessary to lift the front section of the jetty out of the water to remove the remnants of the existing float and fit a new one – just another task to add to the list.
What I said at the annual dinner about the demise of our trusty David Brown tractor has proved to be unfounded and thanks to the sterling efforts of Ken and his team the tractor is running again despite being fully submerged in the floods and subjected to temperatures of -15 Degrees C shortly afterwards. It will, we hope, be on site again shortly.
And finally, the 2010 handbook and the latest bumper edition of Foxy Tales are at the printers and will be with you shortly. Many thanks to those of you who have contributed to the publications.
Best wishes for an enjoyable and successful sailing season in 2010
Dave Nicholson