Blog

Those of you who made the Christmas Dinner will have heard me thanking a couple of committee members for their efforts for the club before they step down in the next few weeks. I would like to repeat this thanks here (possibly more eloquently :p) for the benefit of those who were unable to join us that night.

Graham Webb

Graham has been a skipper with the club since October last year and Theory Training Officer since March. During this time he had run some incredibly successful trips: navigating whirlpools off Ireland in fog, braved the East coast in January and served Christmas dinner to a crew this December. Responsible for the theory course we have just had one of the most successful courses ever with ~35 out of 40 candidates receiving certificates at the end. Would like to wish Graham all the best in his new job and hopefully we will continue to see you sailing Kestrel in the near future :)

Colin Palmer

Colin, as was pointed out by Tom, is the club's longest serving purser and at the time he stood down had been on the committee longer than any other officer. The role of purser is one of the unsung roles of the club: the scale of the role is large and it is fairly unrelenting. To give an idea of scale, from his first update of the accounts (in Feb 2011) to Colin's last (or most recent :p), there were over 13000 transactions processed. An impressive effort. Colin is now travelling in Nepal for 6 months but hopefully we will see him back on Kestrel in time for some Baltic cruising.

Chris Hawkesford

I am sure you are all aware of the huge lengths Chris went to last year to help the club expand its training programme, improve the state of Kestrel and make the purchase of Puffin a success. At the dinner, I articulated this simply and uncharacteristically concisely as "We couldn't have done it without Chris" and that pretty much sums it up. Nights spent on an unheated Puffin with foam cushions which are "too thin" are not something many would relish but last year Chris suffered both without complaint. Chris continues to help the club immensely through his expertise in boat maintenance and through the Training Programme, but I want to thank Chris for going the extra mile for the club last year.

Paul Fox

Last but not least, I want to thank Paul who served as the club's Commodore in 2012-2013. The role of Commodore is never boring; during Paul's tenure the club expanded its fleet to include Puffin, took Kestrel to Morocco (never again!!) and formed as a separate club. A busy year, Paul oversaw it all, dedicating immense amounts of time and efforts to the club. Paul has also skippered Kestrel on the East Coast and joined the crew for the epic Ocean Delivery at the start of Summer 2012. As is tradition his parting gift from the club was a tankard (full of course!) and due to great concern from the committee, it was decided to give Paul a Crystal Ball, after repeatedly hearing his was broken. Hope this one works :P and hopefully we will continue to see Paul sailing, teaching and giving advice to future committees.

It is not just those who are leaving the committee who should be thanked. Thanks to all those who help the club do what it does: Committee, Skippers and Members. Finally, have a great 2014!!