BCC Christmas Dinner 2006 - The Report
More than 40 BCC Members and Friends gathered for a this seasonal evening. All seemed to be rather Jolly around midnight and there were no doubt that it had been a good evening. We will try to get a more detailed report available for you soon.
BCC Annual General Meeting - The Report
Treasurer’s report for 2005/6
The Treasurer’s report for the 12 months to 30th September 2006 showed a credit balance of £521.81 and a supply of burgees to sell to members. The report was accepted.
Election of Officers
Flag Officers and Committee Members for the calendar year, 2007, were elected as below, and with all voices in favor of all candidates.
Commodore: Clive Evans (Club Claret), Vice Commodore: John Scott (Lazy II), Rear Commodore: - Derek Jones (Hebe III), Secretary: Neil O’Dwyer, Treasurer: - Veronika Weisweiller (Catarina Clare)
Committee: Jan Ferber (Porgy & Bess), Marc Turner (The Duchess), Melanie Hill, Peter Dignam, Peter Radley-Collis (PVESAH)
Sunbury Regatta Fireworks - The Report
At 4 pm on Saturday 12th August, BCC members aboard “Club Claret”, “Hebe III”, “Lazy II”, and “Meanwhile” left Brentford Dock Marina and headed upriver to Sunbury Amateur Regatta.
We passed Richmond, Twickenham, Teddington, Kingston, Hampton Court, Thames Ditton and Hampton before being met at Sunbury Court Island by Jan and Leslie aboard “Porgy and Bess”. They led us to a position just below Sunbury Lock where we all anchored, rafted abreast, in the middle of the river.
Slowly the river filled up. Boats of all types, from dories to narrow-boats, all with crew in party mood, rafted in tiers in the middle of the river. On the tier behind us was Pat(ricia) Butler of Hampton Ferry, who came round in her dory distributing free beer to those on our raft that wanted it. The beer was called “Guilty Conscience” and was a very local brew from Guildford.
While we were waiting for the Illuminated Sailpast and fireworks, we drank our wine and ate our samosas - which everyone seemed to have brought for dinner - except Michael who produced Crostini for three aboard “Club Claret”.
At 9pm the Illuminated Sailpast, organised and crewed by members of the Middle Thames Yacht Club, commenced. Its theme is kept a secret, even from the Regatta Committee. This year, I think, it was the 1950s because several boats displayed a large number 50 and some had crews jitterbugging away. One boat was dressed to look like a sailing ketch with fishnet sails; another’s lights were an animation of a bottle pouring wine into a glass; one had what appeared to be an upside-down swan on it – and the AA did some illuminated advertising of itself on one boat.
At 9.30 pm there was a magnificent fireworks display that lasted for around 20 minutes.
Afterwards the boats returned to temporary overnight moorings on Sunbury Court Island.
On Sunday morning “Hebe III”, “Lazy II”, and “Meanwhile” set out to find the source of the River Thames (at Cricklade).
A big thanks to Jan and Leslie Ann for arranging it all.
Boats and Crew
Meanwhile - Chris
Porgy and Bess - Jan, Leslie Ann + two guests
Hebe III - Derek, Les
Lazy II - John S, “Chief Pretty Officer” Victoria, Neil, Sandra, Peter and Hanna
Club Claret - Clive, Michael and Paula
by Neil O’Dwyer
London Ring 2006 - The Report
Mid morning on Friday, in blazing sunshine, thirteen club members and friends left Brentford Dock marina in three boats and entered the Grand Union Canal at Thames Lock. We lunched at The Fox in Hanwell before going through Three Bridges (where the canal goes over the railway and the road goes over the canal) and worked our way up the Hanwell flight of six locks that raises the water level by 53ft in half a mile. Hard-working crew went ahead to prepare the locks for the boats.
At Bull’s Bridge junction we turned east into the Paddington Arm and on to Southall for dinner at the Shahee Tandoori, where the food was good (as usual) but the service was so slow: not that it mattered too much: appetites were also slow in the heat.
After the meal, some slept at Southall on their boats; while others went home and returned the next morning for breakfast at MacDonalds.
On Saturday, in bright sunshine, we passed Horsenden Hill, crossed the North Circular Road on the aqueduct, passed Kensal Green Cemetery, photographed the gondoliers punting the tourists in Little Venice, went through the blackness of the 250-yd long Maida Hill tunnel into Regents Park, passed London Zoo (but didn't see any animals) and on to Camden Lock for lunch, where it started to rain. It turns out that you can get almost anything pierced or tattooed in Camden Lock, but you can't get a sausage sandwich for love nor money!
The rest of the day was spent dropping back down to sea level through thirteen locks. At St Pancras lock we met some of the members of St Pancras Cruising Club (with whom we may do the Bow Backwaters). Hawk-eyed Derek spotted an unlit narrow boat in the pitch-black Islington tunnel and we waited for it to exit before traversing its three quarters of a mile length. Once back in daylight there was an emergency pub stop, the rain ceased and we continued dropping down to Victoria Park, Mile End Park, Queen Mary College and ultimately to sea level at Limehouse Basin. We were glad to arrive - it was a long day.
We were joined there by John and Victoria who had come down the Thames in Lazy Dog II but were unable to enter the basin and had to tie to a buoy in midstream. We dined at the excellent Tai Pan Chinese restaurant where you can eat as much as you like (cooked to order) for £14.50 - sadly you have to pay for your drinks.
On Sunday we brunched at The Delicatessen, left Limehouse Basin at noon and rode on the incoming tide past Tower Bridge, the Houses of Parliament, the London Eye, MI6 headquarters, Battersea Park, Chelsea Harbour, to Brentford Dock marina at 2.30 pm, where we had a drink in the Waterside Café-Bar
We covered 44 miles and went through 25 canal locks (12 rising and 13 falling) plus Limehouse river lock and Brentford Dock marina lock twice. We nearly lost Veronika at one lock, Derek decided to do the Islington tunnel with no lights, but the Commodore did not fall in. Everyone had a good time, and I'll bet we do it again next year.
Boats and Crew
Club Claret - Clive (skipper), Anna-Mette, [Anna-Mette’s sister], [Anna-Mette’s sister’s friend] Paul and Neil.
Hebe 3 - Derek (skipper), Les, Peter and Hanna.
Meanwhile - Chris (skipper), Veronica and Terry.
Lazy II - John and Victoria.
by Neil O’Dwyer
Comments
“ I want to thank the Commodore, Clive and the skipper, Chris, and all the members of the flotilla, Skippers and all the crews, for the welcome and the hospitality that they showed me on the London Ring 2006. Thank you one and all. ”
Terry Loring
Greenwich & the Thames Barrier - The Report
Saturday 17th June.
The lock-keeper-for-the-day, Anthony Warren, let “Sea Dog”, “Hebe 3” and “Club Claret” into the Thames. In brilliant sunshine the flotilla set off for Greenwich Pier and arrived there about noon.
Club Claret continued downstream to the Thames Barrier going out through one span and returning through another and then back to Greenwich.
At Greenwich, some ate As-Much-Curry-As-You-Can-Eat for £4.99, others ate excellent beef pies at the Pie and Eel Shop for less, others enjoyed the excellent whitebait of the Trafalgar pub - and the intellectuals explored the Art Market.
On the way back, a passenger vessel sounded its intention to turn to starboard (- - - - .) and then turned to port in front of Sea Dog....
The flotilla was met at Chiswick Pier by Charles aboard “Hurrah!” and further up-river Hebe 3’s crew felt the needed to practice tying up at a Strand-on-the-Green pub.
Just after 7 pm the first of the boats, Sea Dog, re-entered the marina on free-flow, supervised by Anthony Warren. Just afterwards an unusual military looking long boat, flying the Swiss flag and marked “U 321”, entered the marina....(see photos)
The voyagers were Anna-Mette, Clive, Jan, Derek, Les, Leslie Ann, John McK, John Y, Neil, Paul, Harry, Jag and then Charles and Bo on the way home.
by Neil O’Dwyer
Social Evening Tuesday June 6th - The Report
An excellent gathering in the Waterside Cafe on Tuesday evening - attracted by the prospect of a Dignam curry. A dozen souls had pre-ordered their suppers, and another gaggle appeared on the night - perhaps the best turnout yet.
At 8pm, the gong was sounded and we fell upon the beautifully presented bowl of chicken curry, with rice, papadums and all sorts of garnishes. Conversation lapsed for a while as we tucked in, but soon resumed on the subjects of recent outings and forthcoming trips. All in all a jolly evening: many thanks to Peter for his culinary contribution. He was speculating about a Chinese theme for the next, which will be on July 4th. Perhaps it should be American??
by Clive Evans
BCC Pontoon Party Sunday 21st May - The Report
Our unbroken run of sun-drenched pontoon Parties was bound to come to an end someday, and Sunday the 21st May was the day it did.
However and notwithstanding this, as ever a splendid time was had by all, and, if anything, the rain actually produced quite a lot of good cheer and camaraderie as we all congratulated each other on braving the weather to be there no matter what and there was surprisingly good turnout - well done to everyone who did!
Quite a few people brought along salad dishes - as well as meat to barbecue of course. Star turn has to be Mark and Angie's vast array of fresh pineapple complete with a pineapple head in the centre. There seemed to be an endless supply of booze appearing from various ice-cooled dustbins and French bread and cutlery were also available. Both the dogs from “Aran” were present and seemed to process the vast amount of left-over BBQ bones with a frightening mechanical efficiency that belied their good nature. Strangely enough, they seemed to live with each other quite happily all day while there was plenty of spare ribs to argue about, and only fell out much later in the day over seemingly nothing at all - chief victim of this violent eruption being one Mr Bill Murphy who was toppled over backwards as a result of the two dogs actually becoming airborne due to the ferocity of their attack upon one another.
The attendant crowd held it's breath as the ill-fated Mr Murphy went base over apex backwards leaving only two flailing legs sticking out from his upturned chair to give us all a clue that the fall had not been quite as nasty as it might have been - on his resuming an upright position, we all felt relived enough to burst out laughing loud and long to show how sensitive we all were to his plight.
When interviewed afterwards, Mr Murphy put his lack of injuries down to his Royal Marine training and the skilful “paratrooper roll” manoeuvre he had instinctively executed. Witnesses however expressed some skepticism about this and there were rumblings to the effect that a surfeit of Fosters lager may have had a more beneficent numbing effect than the aforementioned roll, which had indeed not been spotted by most observers...
Eventually, when the sun came out and there was no point in being outside anymore, like true BCC members, we all retired to the bar to get out of the sun and watch the action replay video of the previous evening's festivities celebrating Melanie's birthday. Twice. Very popular with those who were in it, and not quite so popular with those who weren't. 'You had to be there', as the saying goes.
by Peter Dignam
Social Evening Tuesday 4th April - The Report
The Waterside Café provided us with a tasty meal of lasagna (cooked by Cere), green salad and garlic bread for £6.
Committee members Clive, John Scott and Peter Dignam ate theirs at 7.30 pm (before the committee meeting) and a further nine of us ate just after 8.00pm. Others just came for a drink and to socialise.
Four new members were signed up.
by Neil O’Dwyer
Introduction To Crewing Sun April 02 - The Report
A deal of work had gone into this session, which covered many aspects of boating appropriate to both captains and crews. We discussed what briefing a skipper should give his crew, and what questions a crew member night reasonably ask. We boarded Sea Dog and Hebe 3 to compare them from an operational point of view: where the danger points were, what crew was needed, how you might get back on board if you fell off. Derek closed by demonstrating a few simple truths about mooring lines - even half a turn around a cleat makes all the difference when trying to control a boat. We collected our handouts - one for skippers, one for crews - and set off for home as wiser seafaring folk.
Its a pity there weren't more people on parade - it was a genuinely useful session which ought to be attended by every skipper and every would-be crewman. Thanks to John and Derek for running the session, and to Anthony for drafting the material.
by Clive Evans
The Boat race Sun April 02 - The Report
A small but cheerful band met up near Chiswick Pier, where a band played, hogs were roasted, and beer flowed freely. The weather turned out nice - several times - and eventually settled into a breezy but sunny afternoon. At the appointed hour, the crews came past with the right one at the front! Some of us set off to celebrate, only to discover that the beer had flowed so freely already that it had now dried up.
Thanks to Veronika for organising this - a big improvement on watching the telly.
by Clive Evans
Knots training - Sun March 26
We had an excellent morning session on Sunday: its a pity that more of our crew members didn't join in. Perhaps they suffered from the arrival of Summer Time.
John took us through the four knots that cover most situations: better to know four knots well than forty knots vaguely. The reef knot was consigned to Christmas parcels, which came as a bit of a blow to some old scouts. And even some of our horny handed skippers fumbled a bit with the bowline. Having mastered (or knot) the bowline, the clove hitch, the round turn and two half hitches, and the sheet bend, we moved on to splicing, which reminded me of plaiting girls' hair in the playground. Aaah, those were the days. And finally, to whipping - you get to choose between sailors' whipping, sail makers' whipping and common whipping, which for some of us was plenty. John has his own variant - Scott whipping? - which we all found most satisfactory.
As the weather improves, you can expect to see us all practicing our newfound skills in the Marina. Please call the emergency Services as necessary. Thank you, John.
by Clive Evans
Limehouse Cruise - Sat/Sun March 11/12
Two boats and five persons turned out on Saturday, others being deterred by the forecast of snow perhaps.
We set off ahead of the tide in order to avoid the Head of the River race, and we charged past the Harbourmaster's launch in the nick of time. A pleasant if somewhat bumpy ride took us safely into Limehouse, where we tangoed briefly in the lock before taking up our berths in the Marina.
The traditional restorative in the CA bar put us in good spirits, as did a brief encounter with Jim Hodder, who was teaching a course on Diesel Engines there. As it turned out two new arrivals at Brentford Dock were among his students - Jeremy and Tracey - and they joined us for drinks in the Ship followed by - guess what? - an Indian curry, which was well up to standard. After the curry, Neil and Sandra slipped away into the night while the rest of us strolled back to the boats.
The morning dawned bright and clear and cold: we assembled for breakfast in our favourite deli, fuelling ourselves for the trip home. Neil reappeared with a grin on his face, and Veronika joined us, courtesy of the DLR. Back in the lock, Jeremy and Tracey pitched up on Maroubra (a little cove in New Zealand, since you ask) and we all set off for Brentford together.
By the time we reached Chelsea Pier, Maroubra was long gone but there waiting for us was Charles with Lotus Leaf, full of family and friends. So we all locked back in at 14.00 or thereabouts and adjourned to the Waterside, equipped again with proper beer, which we tackled head-on.
Overall, a complicated and eventful journey which worked with total precision, and without a single flake of the promised snow.
by Clive Evans
Spring Launch Party - The report
Some 35 souls turned out for the Spring Launch party at the Waterside cafe, where Mel had prepared not only platters of fine foodstuffs, but also a barrel of proper beer from Suffolk. Those present made significant inroads into both, on the grounds that they were perishable. Conviviality increased as the evening wore on, until we were so convivial we could hardly stand.
Earlier in the day, Anthony Warren took about a dozen captains and others through the Collision Regulations, designed to keep us safe from harm on the treacherous waters of the Thames. With his famous dexterity at the keyboard, he guided us through the basics of signaling, positioning and panicking, and then presented us with a set of everyday scenarios such as overtaking supertankers in fjords. Finally, we were all encouraged to navigate from one end of the room to the other, making the appropriate sound signals as we went - I am happy to report that most skippers completed their journey successfully, after which we needed refreshment, as usual.
The whole day bodes well for a new season of outings to the far reaches of London's waterways - starting next week with John Scott's trip to Limehouse.
The Brentford Cruising Club is in good heart, and ready for anything.
by Clive Evans
