Newsletter January 2008 Editor: Kris Steyn     krissteyn@gmail.com At the Helm (Commodres Report January 2008) Happy New Year to all TBA members and may 2008 be the best one to date. I hope you are all well rested and raring to go. It seems like only last week that we had our year end function, but it is already six weeks ago. Thank you to Gavin, Gillian, Mike and all your assistants for ensuring yet another fun event enjoyed by all who could make it. I suppose if I was to follow latest trends in SA at the moment I should be saying something about the imminent collapse of Escom. However, I believe enough has been said on the subject so I will refrain. I will just share with you a quite strange phenomenon experienced just the other evening. In the City Bowl We experienced our first black out as a result of load shedding, which seems to have been plaguing the entire country for some time now. The strange part is that the power was off for the now accepted 2 hours in the late evening, as Cape Town was doing its bit to save the country from melt down, I was then up again at 0100 and noticed that Table Mountain was lit up in all its glory. Now that must be a shining example (please excuse the pun) on behalf of the local authorities on how to conserve power! Our next big event on the TBA calendar is a regatta to be held in Hout Bay toward the end of October. I suggest all boat owners start preparing their vessels. We would like to attract as many boats from other clubs and different parts of the country as possible, so please spread the word. Our first meeting for the year is on Thursday 31st of January. I will unfortunately not be there as I am off to West Africa again for a couple of weeks, but hope there will be a good turnout of members. Kris Steyn, our purser, has reported that there are still quite a few membership fees outstanding for 2008, could those members who have not yet paid please let Kris have your R120.00 as soon as convenient. All the best and good messing about. Peter Theunissen Shore Leave We have three exiting events this year and we will be calling on members to give a hand. Classic Boat Race- RCYC We are inviting all Classic Boat owners to participate. Racing will be on Saturday 3 May 2008 at the Royal Cape Yacht Club. Join us on Friday night for cocktails and briefing. Saturday night prize giving and Party. More information will follow. TBA Annual Rally and Blessing of the Portuguese Fishing fleet. We are planning a huge bash in October in Hout Bay. A joint function is planned with the TBA and the Portuguese Fishing community. We will have demonstrations from the NSRI, SA Navy, Model Boat Society and the rest. Lipton Cup Challenge The Lipton Cup will celebrate its Centenary this year and the TBA is going to win the trophy. We are currently selecting a crew and L26 for our entry. If you would like to be part of this winning team and would like to participate in making this challenge work, please call either Gavin Cosgrove on 072 930 7558 or Barry Wolf on 083 253 3395. The Clarke Quiz Scope This part of our General Meeting last Thursday created much debate. Jack Clarke tried to convince us that this term had something to do with the length of "Scope" used when anchoring. However, the general consensus was that "SCOPE" is the magazine that sailors read while on anchor watch. Bright work This month's Clever Trick - Building a Bending Jig Sooner or later you'll be confronted with the necessity to bend a curve into a heavy piece of wood. Toe rails, margin boards, window trim, and other items that must fit the curvature of your boat can be easily bent to shape if you use some basic principles and tools. The first item that's needed is a jig to work on. It should be built to with stand the extreme forces that will be applied to the piece you'll be bending. Don't under estimate the torture that the jig will have to endure, especially as the dimensional nature and density of the lumber increases. The jig is used in conjunction with wood that has been steamed, or otherwise softened and made suitable for bending. From the Crow's Nest (Editors' Bit) In various discussions that I've had with our members, we all agree that we need to re-introduce fun events to the TBA. This started with the Christmas bash last year and it was great to see old and young enjoying themselves. Good food, good music and fantastic company. We need to build on this success and keep the momentum going. Partying is not the only ingredient for fun. We have a tremendous opportunity coming up with the Classic Boat "Race" in May. Fun can be had by entering your boat or by getting a ride on someone else's boat. Fun can also be had by getting involved in the organising team or participating in the "Bridge" work. I urge everyone to give us a call and find a bit to do. We've heard it said, "You get out what you put in". Please make time to participate. I leave you with this Irish saying: There are good ships, and there are wood ships, The ships that sail the sea. But the best ships are friendships, And may they always be. Scuttlebutt We had a great Christmas party at the club, most were well behaved and others, well..... Mike Miles supplied the fires and kindly trucked in piles of firewood that will last us through winter. On occasion, our Trustees had to have stern words with some of the rebel rousers. Kevin Du Preez, as always, gave his all with a fantastic repertoire of '70s classics. The kids were well entertained on a giant Jumping Castle which barely fitted in the hall. Even though the braai was at about 21h00, the Sun still shone brightly for some. Gillian and Vanessa decorated the table in a combo Christmas / Nautical theme and served fantastic salads and bits for our enjoyment. And the beauties danced TBA Committee 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 Pam Newby 0825646257 pam@dragonboat.org.za Previous Newsletter