Dear {contact.nick_name}
Welcome to the fifth ‘South Coast Newsletter’. 2011 has started very energetically for our fast cruisers whose January rally overflowed with participants. The next is on 26-27 February and will be to Gins Farm, the lovely RSYC venue on the Beaulieu River – more details on the Fast Cruise page here. This is the time of year when boat owner members are bracing themselves for the task of completing winter maintenance (not least the dreaded anti-fouling). It’s easy to forget that safety equipment needs servicing too – liferafts are easy to remember but what about lifejackets, EPIRBS and not least VHF radios and checking for out of date flares. In these increasingly litigious times any skipper neglecting to ensure that all the safety equipment aboard is checked/serviced could find their insurers unwilling to pay out – not a position in which any of us wish to find ourselves. Our Training courses are a key to developing knowledge and skill and the range of Day Skipper and Yachtmaster courses has now started with many planned one day courses covering specific areas – a one day diesel course takes place on February 10th – details here. On the subject of insurance my family found ourselves uncovered by the overall medical travel policy we have when staying on Isis in a foreign port! We were fine in an hotel and covered on the journey, but not when in port! You may like to check your own policies – we changed our overall insurers! Like DIY’ers we all acquire new and ‘better’ gadgets – mine this winter have been a dessicator dehumidifier (which works better at lower temperatures) and a remarkably cheap underwater video camera. I will let you know how they perform. Please report on anything you have found to be really useful (no matter how small) and I will include the details in my next bulletin (iain.muspratt@littleshipclub.co.uk). Our first rally of the main season is our Easter Rally which Tim Bizzey has kindly organised. It takes in Bembridge on Good Friday, then Marchwood for dinner on Saturday and ends at Yarmouth on Easter Monday – full details on the rally here. Difficult to believe but Summer is not that far away and the Commodore’s week long Normandy rally starts on Saturday 25 June in Fécamp ending on Friday 1 July in St Vaast via Honfleur and Deauville. There is also a four day ‘getting there’ cruise – details here. For those wanting to venture further, there is the South Brittany and Morbihan Cruise brought by the team that brought you Ireland last year – full details here. Even further afield is the Desolation Sound rally north of Vancouver in the autumn – a fantastic opportunity to venture into some of the most spectacular sailing scenery anywhere in the world – full details here. These are just two of the rallies planned for this year – there are many more from Easter onwards, including the opportunity of sailing on Lloyds Yacht Clubs’ ‘Lutine’. The outline programme is available on the link here but do monitor this page on the website for full details as they become available. Our lecture programme is in its third week this Tuesday (today) and I am looking forward to hearing about life on what is probably England’s best known seaside landmark after the White Cliffs of Dover – the Needles lighthouse - which is one most of us will have passed (and been pleased to see) on many occasions. Lectures continue throughout February (details here) and a very important date for your diary is our AGM on Tuesday 8 March at 18.30. Please do come and hear for yourselves the proposals for building upon what we have achieved to date in ensuring a vibrant and exciting future for LSC. One huge step forward has been our new website – I make no apology for including so many links in these newsletters but please do use the website and all its features to keep up to date on the range of activities the Club undertakes. I look forward to seeing most (hopefully all) of you during this season. Please do not hesitate to contact me or our South Coast Fleet Captains (Tim Bizzey and Barrie Martin) if you have any query relating to the Club. Good sailing!
Iain Muspratt
Vice Commodore – South Coast
iain.muspratt@littleshipclub.co.uk
If you're having trouble logging into the site read this document. (No login required). If you don't have a password for the site put ' {contact.email} ' into the box on the page here and press the 'email new password' button.
This mail sent to {contact.email} as a member of {mailing.group} subscription list.
You may unsubscribe below. | 
