Captain’s Briefing 30 June 2025

Summer Social Event

• As so many people were going to be away for 19th July, the Board have decided to move this event to 4th October. So I have wiped everyone from the sheet so that we can start to fill it again.
• Long way off I know but please sign up if you are able.
• I am hoping to get a special guest to attend if possible though no guarantees.

Admin Notes

• Now that the roof of the quad shed is metal it can get hot inside the shed and it already is hot inside the new boathouse.
• FROM NOW ON, all hatches on club quads, doubles and singles will be left open to allow for possible expansion and contraction of the boats skins. Please do this after every outing
• I have noticed that some of our newer members or which we have a few, are not aware of all of the club rules, general guidelines and small jobs that everyone in the club should follow/help with. So we will re-issue the notice for club members that comes with the welcome pack to All members as a reminder of what is expected of all members. It is quite long but full of really useful info. So please do read it.
• We have set-up S20,21 & 22 (the bantam blades) as special Super short blades, even shorter than they were. So please use these if you want to. Thanks to Justin for sorting this.
• Safety on the River
  • The dredger has moved again and is now very near Frostbites on that side of the river.
  • So ALL members please be extra vigilant when going out and turn a lot to check ahead of you. It will keep moving around and is very wide.
  • And as we are now approaching the summer hols there is a lot more traffic on the river. Huge cruisers going to fast, stand-up paddle boards, kayaks etc. We are the ones that face the wrong way so it is down to us to take extra care and turn around even more than usual. This is especially true on the corners of which we have many.
  • And the river is quite dirty at the moment. So try not to ingest any river water and if you get a cut, clean it thoroughly. Believe me, you do not want Weils disease or an infection on a cut.
• The water at the club is NOT drinkable. Small amounts won’t hurt, but do not drink it regularly.
• So there are some big 5 litre water carriers at the club which are drinking water.
• These are just refilled by members at home with tap water. So if you see an empty one, please take it home, refill it and bring it back.
• At the moment we have a lot of geese & ducks “resting” on the pontoon. Sadly thy have not discovered the joys of using the bushes for their abulitions so tend to poo on the pontoon. EVERYONE can clear this. We do not have any special pontoon cleaning fairies to do the work. So if you see it is dirty, get a bucket and brush and give it a clean. See above re dirty river…….
• Please remember to put your name in the outings book and then tick it off on return as quite a few people have forgotten recently. This is very important, or you may find yourself in the club without a ferry.

Super Saturday

• Another great session this weekend. 25 members were down and enjoyed a hot and blustery session.
• Afterwards David presented the award to Lawl Taylor for being the fastest man taking part. See attached photo.
• He also presented the Fastest Newcomer medal to Rich Whitefoot (though Fran collected it).
• Note that due to various regattas the next one is 30th August.

Quad shed

• Fantastic work from the team means that the quad shed is now fully functional again and even has new doors (see attached photos) though they are now painted black.
• Note that at the back, the right had side will now be tools etc and the left will be boat parts, shoes etc.
• Everyone is free to use whatever they need but please return any tools to where you found them (once we have tidied it all away!!)

Racing

• St Neots regatta on 26th July. So sign up ASAP if you want to join it.
• And Sudbury on 2nd August. This is a really great small regatta where we always have a lot of fun. So come along if you can.