April 2008 Newsletter

The promise of fair weather and moored up in Yarmouth, dressed overall, we are all looking forward to our sailing season and Yogaff is the perfect first Solent event, followed by a trip to Beaulieu in mid June.

Splicing Day
Splicing Day proved to be a great success. If you’ve read Marion Shirley’s excellent account in ‘Gaffers Log’ you’ll already know that February’s whipping and splicing day at Ian MacGillivray’s boatyard went off with a flourish. Marion deliberately didn’t let on to the other areas that those who attended had a lot of laughs as well as making some progress along the endless road to perfect deck seamanship. We wouldn’t want them envious, now, would we?
Ian, Tom and Mike, who took their lives in their hands to stand up front and shout the odds, all discovered that each had a different way of dealing with most of the tasks. The lively band of gaffers were very polite about this, and rather than throwing balls of tarry marline at the ‘experts’, they took the resultant efforts at diplomacy with proper ribaldry. As is always the case with genuine shipmates, a series of seamanlike compromises were reached and the dreaded ‘order, counter-order, disorder’ was avoided. As Tom remarked to Ian afterwards, ‘I don’t know about you, Mate, but I learned a lot today – and it wasn’t all about tying knots!’
The victuals and beer at The Junction served as a timely reminder that the first Thursday in each month is Gaffers’ Night in this redoubtable establishment. Be there. You never know who’ll show up, and if nobody else does, at least you’ll have the increasingly rare pleasure of taking refreshment in a themeless neighbourhood pub.

AGM
Our AGM took place on 23rd. February at our usual venue Warsash Sailing Club. We were delighted that Brian Hammett and his wife joined us for the occasion. The main business of the evening was speedily conducted by Tom Cunliffe, who has agreed to serve another 3 years as our president for which we are very grateful. The Committee was voted in again as stands are: