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Newsletter 30 May 2015 |
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Marina Update If you've not had the latest Marina Update emailed to you, then you need to check it out on-line. There are great aerial photos to ponder too. Click here
Yacht Club Parking Yes, parking is at a premium around the yacht club. There is little we can do to appease the situation except ask you to be aware of it, and allow extra time to park your car down Brick Bay Drive or at the Sandspit Carpark if you are here at busy times. Soon the trailer park will become a storage area for Hoppers’ plant and supplies and will therefore not be available for parking. At the moment Hoppers are allowing limited use of this area. In the evenings, it is unlikely that boats will be hauled up/down the ramp so parking on the concrete hard-stand can be used for parking. Just be mindful of boxing others' cars in or preventing reasonable access to the sheds or boats. We do appreciate your patience at this time and ask you to keep mindful that the long term gains of a much improved environment are worth a little pain in the short term.
We've had a good uptake of boats responding to our suggestion to take advantage of the current space in the yard that won't be available for much longer. Stays on the hardstand are to be for minimal periods only, to enable a maximum number of boats to be serviced from now until October. Enquiries to Haulout Manager Michael Blank on 425 5564 or 021 826 862.
At last, the big competition is underway! Who's going to catch the Big One? An early 6am start on Saturday 30th May to weigh-in by 5pm Sunday 31st May - Queens Birthday Weekend. Last minute Charlies can still enter by getting tickets from Hunting & Fishing Warkworth, Gamegear Warkworth, Matakana Marine, Snells Beach Dive & Fish, Mahurangi Marine Snells Beach and Top Catch Whangaparaoa. Please keep your tickets as they have prize giving dinner numbers on them. Any questions, contact WWGFC secretary Louise O'Sullivan on 09 425 7021 or refer www.wwgfc.co.nz for further details.
Centreboard Division Prize-giving on Sunday 21 June 2015, 4pm Essentially, the sailing season for the children is over until School Term 4, mid-October. The Learn to Sail classes and SYC Sunday Club Days are in recess until then.
To bring the SYC centreboard sailing season to an official close, we will be holding the prizegiving on Sunday 21 June at SYC, commencing at 4pm. All those who have participated in SYC centreboard sailing over the past 12 months are invited to come along, with family, to the prize-giving. Bring a plate to share for the meal which will commence approximately 5pm, and will be followed by the guest speaker at 6pm. A personal invitation will be going out, but if for any reason yours does not arrive (change of address/email etc), please forgive us and take this as your invite to come along. We are excited to have secured the services of a great speaker (possibly two!). Local sailor Grant Naulls has years of involvement with youth yachting and speaks with knowledge and deep enthusiasm about the fun of youth sailing (not necessarily racing). Garth hopes to be accompanied by a friend who helped him run his sailing school and who has for many years run 'Sailability', sailing for the disabled, in Auckland. These men will no doubt be doing their very best to encourage your children with their sailing, to keeping it up with and carrying it on. They are, after all, the young sailors of tomorrow. If you'd like to come along, please register your interest to glenysmilne@yahoo.co.nz. Cash Bar will be open from 4pm. As the SYC Sailing Division (big boats) is having a race that day, many of these sailors will come back to the SYC clubhouse for their after-race bbq, and will also be in attendance for the prize-giving and guest speakers. Revitalising the Centreboard Division - for all ages The Centreboard Division Committee is making use of this quieter period to focus on building a more structured programme of learning for all ages, from beginners (9yrs) to adult sailors, both new to sailing and seasoned. To this end, we have sourced a YNZ qualified coach who is willing to help us out in all areas where we believe we require input. But we will need the numbers to justify employing the talents of such a coach. The coach charges a very reasonable hourly rate so if we can get an idea of the groups needed, we can make some headway. These coaching clinics could start as early as June, weather permitting, on a weekly or fortnightly or even monthly basis. We need to know now how many children are considering signing up next season so we can put a programme in place. And you can't commit until you know on which days of the week the children might be sailing, what classes are being offered and what costs are entailed. To start the process, we first need to make contact with interested parties. If you have school-age children/grandchildren (9-18yrs) who are interested in being kept informed with our updates via direct email, letter or phone, please register your interest by emailing glenysmilne@yahoo.co.nz. Please advise (a) names of sailors (b) all contact details (c) preferred dates/hours of sailing (d) the level of sailing ability of you/your child and what you'd like to achieve. Adult sailors with an interest in taking up this sport or those wishing to fine-tune their sailing skills are also invited to get in touch. It's a case of "We don't know what we don't know". So this is a starting point. We need to gauge what the wider interest/need is so we can cater for it. We do appreciate your input and commitment, and look forward to hearing from you at your earliest possible convenience.
Sadly, because of inclement weather, the second race of the SYC Hawks Nest Vineyard Winter Series which was due to take place last Saturday (9th) was cancelled. The next race will take place at 1100 hours off Algies Bay on Sunday 7th June. Thereafter, the races will take place on Sun 21 June, Sun 5 July, Sun 19 July Sun 9 August. The division encourages all boaties to join the fun, you don't have to sail every race, but you will need to register with convenor Jeremy Noakes. For further information, email Jeremy on hawksnestorchard@xtra.co.nz.
We learned this morning that one of our revered past members, Everett Lance (Snow) Bedford has passed away, peacefully, at Warkworth hospital on Wed 27 May, aged 90 years. Snow was a popular character who spent a great deal of time around the yacht club. He was a member for over 20 years and owned the launch Naughty Lady. More recently he was seen on his mobility scooter getting around Warkworth. A private cremation has been held. As mentioned in direct email two weeks ago, SYC members David Evans and Grant Corlett both died tragically in a car accident in Christchurch on Sunday 10th May. The men, both aged 50, had children, and were well respected members of our community, as was evident in the large combined funeral held on 19th May. On behalf of all members, our condolences have been passed on to both families.
As a condition of our license, all non- members must be signed into the Visitors book on the bar counter please. Please be aware that there are no longer any meals offered at the club, not on a Thursday, nor on a Friday. We will not be looking to serve meals until well after the New Year due to the activity of the marina project construction around the clubrooms.  Kawau Boating ClubPlease be advised that KBC will be closed for the winter season from Monday 8 June until the weekend of 9-10 October. They have just had a new delivery of diesel so anybody wanting fuel needs to fill up before 8 June. Call the clubhouse land-line (09) 422 8845, their mobile 021 084 20890 or email clubhouse@kawauboatingclub.nz Please note that the Kawau Boating club opens at 10am but is closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
Calling all those with creative abilities! With the steady progressing of the marina it means that its time to focus on how the area around 'the entrance' will look. This is very exciting as for too long it's looked a shambles and even without the marina development, a revamp was well-overdue. We invite both amateurs and those with true creative flair to submit what ideas, drawings, designs they think may be worthy of inclusion, and these ideas can be built upon. So now's the chance to enhance the area. Not just the entrance but the various areas within the carpark, around the planting areas etc. You'll need to get hold of a detailed plan from which to work and these are available from Elspeth at the marina office. Contact the Marina Office on 425 0099 between the hours of 1pm-4pm Monday to Friday.
The Sandspit Residents and Ratepayers Assn (SRRA) has initiated a Sandspit Harbour Management Plan. A group of representatives from various local interest groups (ie SYC, Sandspit Campground, Coastguard, Kawau/Sandspit/Rainbows End ratepayers, the ferry operators, commercial and recreational fishermen etc), have formed the Sandspit Harbour Study Project Advisory Group (PAG). Several action areas have been identified, with water quality being the first priority to tackle. Rather than re-create the wheel, the PAG is inviting anyone who may have data or records from past investigations to present a copy to the study group. This information may include previous water sample results, mangrove or shellfish counts, historic photos to indicate how the harbour looked in the past (both good and bad examples) etc. If you have any information that you think might be appropriate, kindly contact Chairman Bruce Fleming on 425 8717 or 021 623 330 or email him on brucefleming@xtra.co.nz. All offers of potential material appreciated.
Joy Boniface, joint SYC custodian with husband Alan, was recently invested with her Queens Service Medal for many years of community service, from the Governor General, Lt Gen The Rt Hon Sir Jerry Mateparae. This was followed by dinner with Sir Mateparae and other dignatories at Government House. Alan and Joy are associated with and work tirelessly with many groups, including SYC, and for us have been doing the housework within the club rooms and tractor shed, cleaning the bathroom facilities and tending to our gardens and garden boxes for the past 17 years - as (unpaid) volunteers. Alan received his own QSM in 2009 so between them, they have contributed a significant amount to the welfare, and for the betterment of many communities. To give an inkling of just some of the jobs Joy has done, I've extricated a small sample from her impressive resume:
We think it proper and fitting that Alan and Joy get mentioned here today, and we applaud them both on attaining their respective QSMs!!
Phil Van der mespel aboard his yacht Waimanu, recently encountered a pod of Orca whilst in the Kawau Bay area. Check out his excellent U-Tube video showing the close-up encounter. Here they show just how friendly and fun-loving they really are. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQ_l8V50giw (Thanks for sharing Phil!)
All the boats are now in Lisbon, Portugal. They stay there until June 7 when they head for Lorient, France. Then it's the last leg to the finish at Gothenberg Sweden, where their expected arrival will be 22-23 June. The sailors left Alicante, Spain on 11 October 2014. Imagine how enormously excited they and their families will be, to at last return to 'normal life' after 8 months of this gruelling ocean race! Keep up with the play at www.Volvooceanrace.com. Kind regards Glenys Milne Publicity Officer
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