Mike's Watch A Report from Commodore Mike Strong

First I would like to thank the Sailing and Social Committees for hosting a great prize giving function, The Club yacht place mats were a superb idea along with the competition of naming all the yachts on them. Thank you to all the members who attended to ensure the night was a great success. I understand everyone will get a chance to see these place mats on Friday nights and there may a chance to purchase your own set too. Amazing how many boats are within out Club ranks, so it really does help for the Club burgee to be flying from your yardarms when out on the water. If you do see a Club burgee flying on another boat just get in the dinghy and go over to say hi!

Looking back over the last two years I feel that we as a Club have made a huge number of achievements that we can all be proud of. In summary, these are the repair of the eastern slipway, lowering of the eastern slipway trolleys, repairs to the western slipway, lowering of the western slipway trolleys, installation of washdown silt traps, the provision of better access for the forklift around the yard, design and consultation in relation to the building renovations, acquisition of new fridge and freezers, outstanding sailing programs, outstanding social events like the kids’ Christmas parties, Club picnics, special dinners at the Club and the provision of outstanding meals on Friday nights! All of this has been possible through a large amount of effort by Club members. I would especially like to thank all the members on the various committees and the members who provide their time so freely in order to get the job done.

It is getting close to the time of the year where we as a Club hold our AGM, this year the AGM is being held on Tuesday 15th July starting at 1930hrs – this gives everyone plenty of time to write a note on the calendar and turn up on the night. It will also be your chance to get rid of me as your Commodore and vote in a new Commodore, so I am expecting to see a huge turn out. It will be a good opportunity to catch up with a few Club members you have not seen for a while.

We all know that Devonport Yacht Club has a huge amount going for it including the location of our Club rooms! There are not many places on the North Shore where you can sit and have a meal looking out over the harbour or have a quiet refreshment on a Sunday afternoon on a sunny deck watching ships coming down the harbour or where you can have a haulage facility or a great bunch of members where you can also chat away the time of day. It is up to each member to ensure that our Club remains a good friendly Club; this can only be done by each member supporting the committees and doing their bit. Like any Club it does require a core group of members voted onto the various committees to ensure the smooth operation of all Club activities, both on and off the water. The AGM is your opportunity to step up and do your part. If you are keen to join a committee or take on a formal role, it would be good to discuss that role with a Flag Officer prior to the AGM.

You will find the Notice of AGM and Nomination for Flag Officer form at these links.

So please do continue to support your Club and its committees in anyway you can, even if this is turning up on Friday evenings to sample Gay’s wonderful meals. I look forward to seeing you all at the AGM in July.

Cheers
Mike

 

The Vice Report A Report from David Stone

Winter feels like it has really arrived and sailing is not such an attractive prospect right now. I got a long weekend away with a mate during early April. It was at the tail end of that period of wonderful settled weather so we motored all the way to Te Koume. That did not last and we were blown home a day early when the NE set in with a bang on the Sunday. Still it was nice to get away for a couple of days.

Haulage is now in full swing and we need to be mindful of the activity on the section as boats are slipped and side hauled into position This is a potentially hazardous activity so members need to be careful when accessing the section or the clubhouse while these activities are going on. While the provision of sufficient crew to side haul each boat is the responsibility of the skipper, additional assistance is always appreciated so if you have the time and don’t mind a bit of physical labour, go and lend a hand around high tide. It’s a great way to get to know other members. A strong pair of gloves is a worthwhile investment.

Work is progressing on the fund braising propositions to go to the AGM. We still need more volunteers to help with the fundraising so all contributions gratefully received. Talking of the AGM, it is time to start thinking if you are able to put your hand up for a stint on the General Committee. We are always looking for people who are prepared to assist with the running of the Club. By and large it is not an overly onerous commitment. At the least it involves attending one Committee meeting each month plus possibly taking on responsibility for a particular portfolio. We are looking for people to be responsible for publicity (the monthly magazine) in particular (unless this has already been sorted and no one has told me). Even if you don’t want to take on one of this particular role, there are always places available on the General Committee or on the Social or Sailing Committees. If you are interested please let one of the flags know.

Think about the Committee and if you want to make a contribution to the Club. Remember that we are purely a volunteer organisation and without the willing support of members the Club would not exist.

Happy sailing to those of you still out there and happy haulage to those of you who are hauling.

David Stone
Vice Commodore

Sailing Master A Report from Bill Jaques

Well the only DYC sailing this month was around the clubhouse from table to bar and back again – and for the privileged few to the prize table. A pleasant evening on Saturday 24th with an excellent meal beautifully presented to Gay’s usual high standard. Just a slight down-side - 8 empty places due to illness. Our sympathies to those who could not make it.

Thanks to our eminent person for the evening - John Duder who presided very nicely over the prizegiving. He has a long and wide involvement in sailing particularly in various classic vessels and spoke both of his family’s long association with the Club and his thoughts on the need to occasionally brave less than clement elements to hone our sailing skills.

Congratulations to the series winners who were also the major trophy winners (goes to show the benefits of good attendance!):

Azure with the Shorthanded series (again!) +2 other trophies and 5 places
Lambretta, Cruising Series A Division + 4 other trophies and 4 places
Memories, Cruising Series B Division + 5 other trophies and 4 places

And congratulations to everyone who sailed - however often – I hope you all had fun – which is what it is really about. And I hope you all come back next year and bring new boats with you.

All trophy winners also received a DYC burgee with their boat name embroidered in gold and the series winners a fairly generous chandlery voucher – probably enough to buy a shackle pin! And there were plaques for all “place getters”. Those who weren’t able to make it will receive theirs by the next passing fast camel.

Then there were the discretionary trophies allocated by our wise Commodore. The Stirrer’s Paddle – as past Commodore Peter Strathdee very nicely put it – to one without whom we would be up the creek without a paddle – to Ian Ward

The Endeavour Trophy for perseverance – mainly in sailing but in this case quietly around the Club too – to Neomai and Maurice Alderwick.

And then the Cannonball for “acts of bad seamanship or stupidity”. The less said the better. Fortunately precedent shows the boat name on the “trophy” so posterity will maybe remember poor old Corner Bar Cruiser and forget who the skipper was!

Tokens of our appreciation were given to the finish boats – an embroidered burgee plus flowers for their long suffering ladies – and similar presentos were delivered to the starting team none of whom were present. Where would we be without them all?

And then flowers to recognise the little team to whom the whole Club owes a debt of gratitude – Gay, Kirsty and Michelle plus chockies for Gay’s team. Not a sailing thing but the prizegiving seemed to present an opportunity to acknowledge their year long contribution.

During the evening everyone admired the place mats – a montage of boat pictures kindly put together by Chris Leech. There were six versions of it and as a wrap-up to the evening Chris conducted a little competition between tables to identify the boats on their mats. Much enthusiasm and debate and not a little cheating. Two tables a full house so the result was decided by a toss of a coin – to award the little prize to – guess who – Chris’s table fronted by his son Daniel!! He assures us there is nothing suspicious!
Finally – but certainly not least - thanks also to the Social Committee for their excellent work setting up of the room, which looked splendid and was a continuation of their generous efforts supporting the sailing throughout the season.

B J

 

From Works

99% of all jobs were achieved during the Working Bee on 8th May by midday, with those who carried on in the afternoon finishing off all that was necessary. Well done to all.

The social committee who assisted inside and out provided an outstanding morning tea – very tasty indeed. Lunch was soup and toasted sandwiches, almost all had second helping of soup, very healthy.

Many thanks to all

Charlie

 

Stories from the Past from Chris Leech

After an enjoyable and memorable Prize Giving on Saturday the 24th May it was great to receive many favourable comments on the place mats featuring a range of boats that are either on the DYC Boat Register, or competed in a DYC race within the previous 3 years, and I have a photograph on record. The identification competition was a great success with the winner being Daniel Leech, who was the only entrant to correctly identify all the boats, and hence the outright winner, albeit on the night a coin toss was held as a result of a marking error by me. Apologies here to Daniel, and I am sure Kelly will enjoy the chocolates. Also big thanks to the Sailing, Social Committees for setting the scene, and Gay and her team for the wonderful meal.

I have some more images available from those on the big screen, and one from Royce and Adrienne Cox of Magic Formula. Please keep those photos coming as I will create more and more variants of the place mats for future years, and enhance the Boat Register.

Over the coming months I will include some old naval sayings, which will intrigue all and offer an explanation as to their origin. (Reproduced with kind permission of the RNZN Museum.)

“Damn the torpedoes, Full speed ahead!”
Admiral David Glasgow Farragut (1801-1870). Aboard Hartford, Farragut entered Mobile Bay, Alabama, 5 August 1864, in two columns, with armored monitors leading and a fleet of wooden ships following. When the lead monitor Tecumseh was demolished by a mine, the wooden ship Brooklyn stopped, and the line drifted in confusion toward Fort Morgan. As disaster seemed imminent, Farragut gave the orders embodied by these famous words. He swung his own ship clear and headed across the mines, which failed to explode. The fleet followed and anchored above the forts, which, now isolated, surrendered one by one. The torpedoes to which Farragut and his contemporaries referred would today be described as tethered mines.

“Hunky-Dory” the term meaning everything is O.K. was coined from a street named “Honki-Dori” in Yokohama, Japan. Since the inhabitants of this street catered to the pleasures of sailors, it is easy to understand why the street’s name became synonymous for anything that is enjoyable or at least satisfactory. And, the logical follow-on is “Okey-dokey.”

CR Leech ED*
Past Commodore

 

Camera Clips

The Trophies	Memories Winnings
Greg on the Rum Collection	Prizegiving Dinner
Val	Matthew Foster with friend Zara outside the Auckand Town Hall after graduating as a Batchelor of Pharmacy [B Pharm]

 

Notice Board

The Commodore
Devonport Yacht Club

It is with much regret that I inform you of the passing of my Uncle, JOSEPH GAUNT who was a life member of your club.

Uncle Joe passed away peacefully on April 28th. He was 88 years of age. He is survived by his wife, Edna. Unfortunately Edna suffers from Alzheimer disease and is now in care in a rest home close to where I live. She is in quite sound physical health but has considerable memory loss.

Uncle Joe has been in my care since moving to Australia in 1999. He will be sadly missed.

Yours sincerely,

Paule Hopkins.

 

Book Review

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Fast-paced, expertly written and often hilariously funny, The Whale Warriors is a gripping adventure story set on the high seas.
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