Newsletter September 2007 Editor: Gavin Cosgrove - Phone 465 0850, Fax 465 0851, cell: 072 930 7558 gcosgrove@newtech.co.za or tbacape@newtech.co.za www.tba.org.za At the Helm (Commodore's Report) Our well-attended AGM was held on Thursday 30th August at the AUC. A new committee and flag officers were elected with a few changes from the previous year. Barry Wolf, who has been a loyal and committed supporter of the TBA over many years, feels he needs a break from committee duties. Barry has however offered his services and is willing to assist with various projects as required. We would like to thank Barry for all his hard work to date and look forward to working with him in the future. Both Jeremy Flint and Colin Kidwell also indicated that they would not be available for re-election. We would like to thank them both for their contribution. I would like to take the opportunity of congratulating Colin on his magnificent presentation of the financials at the AGM, it is certainly the best we have ever had. Neil Lavin was elected as Rear Commodore and Gavin Cosgrove moves up to Vice Commodore to fill the position left vacant by Barry. Kris Steyn is welcomed as a new comer to the committee and it is hoped that he will add energy to our activities. Kris will be taking over from Colin as purser. A presentation of activities over the past year detailing highlights was delivered by the Commodore - yours truly - and is summarised below. Venue The committee felt that the AUC, as a venue for the present, was acceptable and would be continued until clarity was received around the future of site. Various options have been presented by the developers of the new 2010 stadium, but at this stage, nothing has been finalized. Newsletter and Speakers The monthly newsletter and speakers remain the backbone of the TBA. I would like to thank Gavin Cosgrove and all involved in ensuring that these two items were dealt with effectively. Some members have advised us that they do not receive the newsletter. Please ensure that we have your correct e-mail address. The newsletter is also posted on the TBA website. For those of you not "connected", make sure we have your postal details. Our target for this year is to have the newsletter distributed at the beginning of the third week of every month. Regattas The TBA was involved in 3 regattas during the year. They were the V&A regatta in collaboration with HBYC, the Classic and Wooden Boat regatta with the RCYC and the Lipton Cup where for the past three years TBA have had their own entry. By all accounts all three were a great success and we look forward to participation in these events again this year. A request has been received to once again host an event for dinghies. The committee will start planning and investigating options right away. Website Thanks to Tunney Kirk, who was more than ably assisted by Pam Newby in implementing a brand new TBA website with an entirely new look and feel. I personally think that the work done so far, given the extremely limited resources, is outstanding. That's a Bravo Zulu to both of you. We would also like to welcome Pam as a new member of the TBA. The website will become a communication tool of ever increasing importance and we have big plans for the future. The success of the site will largely depend on the contributions by our members. Let's start by submitting photographs of the boats belonging to members. Database Two databases are currently being worked on and will soon appear on our website. They are our membership list, which continually needs to be updated, as well as a database of all classic and traditional boats around the country. We are calling on all members to please get involved in the maintaining and expanding of these databases. If you have information which requires correcting of current information or a new contribution, advise either Tunney or Pam and they will ensure that the necessary is done. Projects Some years back the TBA took the initiative of intervening and saving Voortrekker 1 from a fate worse than death. It was mainly through the perseverance of the late Gordon Webb, that Voortrekker is once again a proud functioning sailing vessel and not a static display rotting away on the hard at the entrance to the Thesens Island development in Knysna. We are grateful to MSC for providing the funding to have this vessel, which is such an important icon in our sailing heritage, fully restored and re-commissioned as a trying vessel. There is a great photograph of the launching of Voortrekker SA1 in Simonstown on our website. Cape Maritime museum. An initiative has been started whereby we hope to be able to assist in once again establishing a maritime museum in Cape Town. Challenges for the coming year: To grow membership Ensure sustainability To become a more global entity, in particular in the African region To establish a ships register of classic and traditional boats in SA and Africa To have a lot more fun. Affiliation/Collaboration with other clubs and associations. I look forward to seeing you all on the 27th September when Pam Newby will be telling us all about dragon boat racing. Not to be missed! Peter Theunissen Commodore peter23@telkomsa.net Scuttlebutt (General Skinner) Your New Committee for 2007/8 Commodore Peter Theunissen 0826282102 peter23@telkomsa.net Vice Commodore Gavin Cosgrove 0729307558 gcosgrove@newtech.co.za Rear Commodore Neil Lavin 0215593081 neil@dpmanagement.co.za Purser Kris Steyn 0826195511 krissteyn@hotmail.com Scribe Gillian Shapley 0793994055 Website Liason Tunney Kirk 0722378203 tkirk@absamail.co.za The Lipton Cup & TBA - By Barry Wolf For the last four years we have entered the Lipton Cup with various degrees of success. In the first event we had a hot shot team and finished fifth overall. The next year we missed due to our team being poached by ZYC with the carrot of big sponsors etc. Last year we had the Press Gang sailing under our banner. This happy lot didn't contest the racing but had special permission to rotate their team to all comers from the press. The result was more press coverage for us and especially the event its self. What's more, the field has almost doubled this year with entries even beyond our boarders. There were twenty-nine boats entered with twenty-seven actually racing in the event. Our young team had a big job on their hands with many top names in the sailing world all vying for honors. To hone their skills against some of the top names in sailing and to finish in tenth place overall is a great achievement and all I can say to the lads is well done. Our thanks go to Ray Mathews for the loan of his boat for the event. Here is a brief outline of the daily races by the skipper Rodney Tanner. Day 1, Sunday at 10h00 we prepared the boat for the 12h00 start. We started well in fifth place only loosing three places on the last leg finishing eighth. Day 2. Cancelled due to windless conditions. Day 3. We started with the big guns who were having their own tussle forcing us down the field to finish fifteenth. Day 4. We started well in very light winds, at the bottom mark all hell broke loose with Bishops hitting us and making the boat spin out forcing us from tenth to twentieth place. We tried hard to reel in the leaders and ended up in fourteenth place. Day 5. We had two races. The first race we got hit again this time by TYC and finished thirteenth. Race 2. We started well ending up in eleventh place. Day 6. The final day greeted us with blistering winds of up to thirty knots and much more to our liking. Our start could have been better but we managed to pull to tenth position where we stayed to the end of the race. We sailed back to the club in good spirits and happy with our position only to learn of the tragic passing of our foredeck crewman Michael's Dad Patrick in the car park at RCYC. Patrick was always very supportive of Michael and sailing, He would always be there to lend a hand. May we convey our sincere condolences to Michael and his family. Regards Barry Wolf Engineering Services Cell: 083 2533395 / Fax: 021 9462407 The Clarke Quiz Figure this one out and lets hear your understanding at our next meeting on Thursday 27 September 2007   Free & Easy. Galvanic actions on new fasteners (From wooden boat forum)     Sent to us by Kris Steyn A friend found a loose garboard on his wooden trawler. It was suggested that the iron in the boat was dying and that he should refasten the hull. He did so with 4000 Silicone Bronze screws (adjacent the iron nails).........an act that brought almost universal objection from the boats previous owners. They were right. Even in fresh water, rusting of the iron heads is accelerating and he's fearful he might be starting to see some softening of the wood around a few of the screw heads (along the waterline). They have set up little galvanic cells with the dissimilar metals. I want to save this boat for another generation or two of boaters. He is thinking of pulling the Silicone Bronze (replacing with HD Galvanized?), repair / replace any damaged wood and restore the hull to the condition it was in after he worked on it 2004. Replied Your buddy has another option. I took a nail set on my Seattle-build iron nail fastened boat and went at it. I sunk all the nails a good 1/2". I then "Bunged" them with epoxy thickened with micro balloon. The idea was to Isolate the nails from seawater stopping galvanic action. Silicon bronze screws were used to refasten the hull into both the old frames, and full length laminated sisters. The labor to remove the old nails and frames was? obscene, and un-needed. The old frames were oak, and thus had iron sickness local to fasteners; but otherwise, do contribute structurally to the hull, although they are now only "supplemental" as the new frames take the primary loads (new floors also). Removing the nails usually means replanking and perhaps reframing as the nail has expanded and won't come out in one piece. Bright Spark   This month's Clever Trick Here's a handy way to store your electric drill - a "holster" that hangs on a pegboard rack. The holster is a scrap of "two-by" material with two openings cut in it. The drill chuck fits in a large hole & the power cord slips into a keyhole-shaped notch. By installing two L-hooks in the back edge, you can hang the holster securely on the pegboard. From the Crow's Nest (Editors' Bit) You are probably aware that the Cutty Sark caught fire in May this year. The fire damage was extensive but fortunately, half the ship had been removed for conservation reasons. The parts that were removed included the Masts, Coach House and most of the planking. I have been following the progress of the restoration and I've been amazed by the attitude of the Restorers and the British public to this major setback. There was never any question or debate, as to whether the restoration would continue, they simply jumped into action. The organisers put out a comprehensive statement on the day of the fire and asked the public for support. At the time of writing, they have raised 659,742.00 pounds made up of many small donations of around 20.00 pounds. This quote from Richard Doughty, CEO of the Cutty Sark Trust, demonstrates the fundamental understanding of the importance of Maritime Heritage, When the original fabric of the ship is lost, the touch of the craftsman is lost, history is lost. To lose the timbers and iron frame of the ship is to lose not just maritime heritage but part of our national heritage. We must save as much as we can and hopefully the fire has left us much to still conserve. Monthly Meeting & Talk at The Atlantic Underwater Club, Greenpoint, 27 September 2007 at 19h30 Dragon Boat Racing - a boating sport whose traditions are measured in millennia, not centuries! Slide show by Pam Newby, vice-president of the South African Dragon Boat Association. Please support the TBA by coming along. Visitors Welcome so bring a guest and enjoy fellowship with other Traditional Boat Enthusiasts. Previous newsletter

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