Newsletter August 2008 Editor: Kris Steyn   082 619 5511   krissteyn@gmail.com Last Months Meeting We met the crew of our Lipton Cup entry who introduced themselves with a brief resume. The TBA is proud to have such a fine line-up of competent sailors flying our Burgee. The Traditional Boat Association has entered the Lipton cup once again. They have sailed in this event for a few years now. The team which has sailed together for some time are all under the age of 17, except the skipper. Escape will be skippered by Rodney Tanner. Rodney has been sailing since he was six years old on Oppies at Z.V.Y.C. and has sailed Lipton seven times. This will be his second time as skipper. Rodney still sails dinghies, (Extra), but has a lot of experience on J27's and L26's. Thomas will be doing the trimming, Chris on the halyards, Henio will be at the mast, with Michael on foredeck and Alex backing up. These youngsters have a fair amount of experience even at this stage of there sailing career, all have keel boat experience and have competed in the following events; Table Bay week on L26's, Mykonos on J27's and last year achieved a 5th in Lipton sailing on Escape West Coast Packaging. All are proficient on dinghies having sailed Extra's, Oppies, Sonnet's and 420 in both nationals and provincial championships. The team will be managed by Jody Bennett and Paul Tanner of Gordon's Bay Yacht Club, ironically the yacht being sailed by the team once belonged to Paul and was known as "Forget Me Knot". Our Speaker of the evening ... ... was Bosun Josh Spencer, who was talking about The Tallship Phoenix - completely re-rigged Josh Spencer has a relaxed dry humour that, when combined with his incredible detailed knowledge and expertise , kept those of us that braved the cold winters evening chill completely enthralled. The details of the why's, how-to's and what-to-avoid's - which for most of us , was from a completely alien era, were simply explained and made to look totally logical and just "dead easy". This is not the place to go into the details - but Josh has left us with some stunning pictures and even some classic caricatures of himself fighting off the seagulls poop. We were blessed with a rare opportunity to share in the life and business of a professional tallships bosun. Shore Leave (Social Calendar) August Meeting :- 28th at 7pm at our usual spot - the Atlantic Underwater Club Mouille Point . N.B. We were planning to have the talk at the R.C.Y.C but the Lipton Cup schedule couldn't fit us in ! SO DONT GO TO THE RCYC. South African Lighthouses & other aids to navigation and the future thereof by James Collocott James Collocott joined the company in 1971 and currently holds the position of Manager, Lighthouse Services, a business unit of Transnet National Ports Authority. A short summary of his responsibilities are:- Accountable for all technical aspects regarding Aids to Navigation Capital planning and expenditure control Supporting neighbouring countries on technical matters International representation of TNPA: Lighthouse Services He is also the South African Councillor and elected Vice President of the International Association of Marine Aids to Navigation and Lighthouse Authorities (IALA) Please diarise the last week-end of September for a fun TBA week-end The Clarke Quiz KNOT, Jack's July teaser, elicited a varied response - none of which earned the prize (a bottle of wine). Essentially ; the knot is the only unit of measure that is speed only - all other measures represent distance and time ; the distance is based on the average of the distance between 2 lines of latitude equi-distant from the equator and the north (or south) pole , where the 2 lines are separated by one minute. (gee I hope I got that right - editor). That distance was re-evaluated in the 1970's - so before and after that date could be different. Now - that should get a flurry of responses ! Jack's August nautical word - will be a surprise Scuttlebutt WindJammers send a team off to the tallships race, see www.capewindjammers.com The tallship SAGRE sailed on Thursday morning ... and your editor arrived in the afternoon with a bunch of kids to "have-a-tour". He Missed The Boat - don't need Nobby to tell him how that phrase works. Fire Side Chat From the Crow's Nest (Editors' Bit) Thank you for all the input - I shall endeavour to keep you all happy (who said that?) The ideas will keep me with a bone in my teeth. So - as before , keep me informed please of all scuttlebutt, skinner, outright lies (suitably annotated) and particularly funny stories. One of the problems here is that some of us receive the newsletter through a minimalist internet provider - ie. Cellphone - and it takes quite a while - so I am investigating alternative ways to do this. Smalls (or - too good to throw away) I can't believe more stuff isn't out there waiting for an extended life... com'on guys ! FOR SALE - Full set of Foulies - From New Zealand , Line 7 , with built-in harness and luminous hood in the jacket, full trousers with braces, fleecy long-johns with braces, all to fit a 5'10" to 6' 3" person. Call Kris 082 619 5511 or krissteyn@gmail.com WANTED - Garmin 12v power cord for my GPS. Call Kris 082 619 5511 or krissteyn@gmail.com See you all at the next meeting ... TBA Committee Commodore Peter Theunissen 0826282102 peter23@telkomsa.net Rear Commodore Neil Lavin 0215593081 neil@dpmanagement.co.za Purser/Editor Kris Steyn 0826195511 krissteyn@gmail.com Scribe Gillian Shapley 0793994055 Website Pam Newby 0825646257 pam@dragonboat.org.za Previous Newsletter