Pontoon Party - May 11
This year's party began at 1100 with a new feature - a visit from the RNLI to discuss boat safety. Two volunteers - Albert and Ian - gave up their morning to join us, and take us through a Boat Safety check, using Club Claret as an example. We went through anchors, nav lights, radar reflectors, and the need for briefings. We spent some time on lifejackets, and discovered that even jackets which look in good condition may in fact be suffering from corrosion. We discussed secondary forms of propulsion, First Aid Kits and men overboard. We pretended to let off flares. The main thrust of the talk was that skippers should think through how to deal with situations ahead of time, and brief their crews as necessary. While the individual topics were familiar to us, the talk was a useful wake-up call and reminder that Murphy's Law applies just as much at sea as on land, and can have fatal consequences.
After the talk there was much discussion, accompanied by the lighting of barbeques and the opening of bottles. Lunch was served amid the usual clouds of smoke, and continued well into the afternoon.
Our thanks to Albert and Ian from the RNLI, to Derek for providing the infrastructure and to Andrew and Peter for their salads.
by Clive Evans
Launch Party 2008 - March 29
Osterley Picnic Bench Rescue Team
Michael Cunnington of BCC fame was horrified to discover that a picnic table by the Grand Union - at which he had often supped - had been vandalised. He sprang at once into action, contacted the local volunteers, and offered to rebuild it: they of course were delighted and offered to pay for the materials.
Michael then contacted the BCC Commodore to seek the assistance of the Club, in particular with transporting the new bench up the canal by boat. He was given full support and the Commodore himself together with Peter Dignam set to on the project.
A hard days screwing on Monday saw the new bench pre-fabricated, ready for transport on Tuesday. Sadly Club Claret had a setback and was not available, so - in a scene reminiscent of the Victorian era - the diesel road engine replaced the working canal boat.
The component parts were carried to the site and with the most modest of adjustments, slipped into place and bolted down. Wednesday morning saw the final touches and the new picnic table is now ready for active duty. It is proposed to inaugurate the table with a wild celebration, and we shall of course pay homage on our way past on the London Ring trip.
Well done MJC for taking action where it would have been easy to shrug the shoulders and move on.
by Clive Evans, The Commodore
PLA Public Meeting - March 18
Clive and Andrew went to this meeting on the 18th of March and the notes are now available as a pdf file.
Coll Regs Refresher - March 9
Last Sunday morning saw 6 grown men and 2 grown women chugging up and down an imaginary river, flowing freely in the Residents' Clubroom. They blew their horns to each other as they manoeuvred round sharp bends and cut each other up under the bridge. We had much fun comparing the standard ColReg signals with the CEVNI signals, but it was as well that the water was not real.
We then clustered round Anthony's laptop as he took us through visual, and audible signals, such as might be seen from a minesweeper not under command, or a tug dragging a trawler off a sandbank.
Perhaps the shrewdest advice - from John Yates, who else? - was that if a vessel has more lights than you do, then take avoiding action. Cruising down to Limehouse holds no fears for us now.
Thanks to Anthony for organising.
by Clive Evans
Limehouse Cruise - February 18-19
Princess Burford was unable to join us due to the closure of Shepperton Lock, and Tahoma was crippled with engine problems, and Club Claret is still in dry dock, so it was Lazy II and Hebe III who freeflowed out onto a calm Thames for an enjoyable, if chilly, cruise to Limehouse on a bright, sunny day. After a pleasant afternoon, including a traditional visit to The Grapes Pub on Narrow Street, new ground was broken as we ventured to La Figa Italian Restaurant for dinner, which proved to be delicious despite not being a curry.
Keeping warm overnight was achieved by extensive exploitation of fossil fuels, together with additional lagging. On Tuesday morning, we had time to catch up with boatkeeping tasks and light shopping around Limehouse before we were joined by Commodore Clive, his son Ben and his friend, Luke, for a large, welcome breakfast at Verde, and a delightful, if chilly, cruise home. By way of a change, we ventured over to The Tap to round off this, the first downstream cruise of 2008.
Thanks to John for organising.
Flood Risk - January 20
I went to a talk last week hosted jointly by the Richmond Society and the River Thames Society on the subject of Flood Risk. Here are a few notes of the bits that stuck in my memory.
Clive Evans
New Years Cruise - January 5
The BCC Year began with a well-supported trip to Teddington: Jade, Hebe 3 and Artificer steamed out of Brentford and sped upstream, and with navigational flair that would have impressed Lord Nelson himself, rendezvoused with Lazy 2 precisely at the Anglers pub.
With typical Gallic flair, Bernard appeared with a couple of bottles of champagne to welcome the New Year, which helped to wash down our lunches. And thus refreshed we set off back to Brentford, in time for tea at the Brewery Tap.
A Happy New Year to one and all.
