| DCA SOUTH COAST WINTER SOCIAL MEETING Held on 14 February 2009 at The Crown Hotel, High St, Emsworth |
| Thirteen members attended this event. The number was disappointingly low this year – perhaps this was something to do with it also being St Valentine’s Day? However, the enthusiasm from those who did come more than made-up for the low numbers. I started the meeting with a slide show of photos I had taken at rallies over the year. Then David Jones gave us an interesting illustrated talk about his cruise with his daughter Wendy to the Summer Isles in Scotland. Doug Forster, our Librarian, gave us a preview of the new database shortly to be made available to members, making it a simple matter to find and read articles on a particular subject. Alan Barker has done a wonderful job in scanning everything, including re-drawing maps and diagrams where necessary to make them clear. Doug says this is now nearly complete, right up to the latest Bulletin and will be available on CD for purchase by members. Then it was demonstration time. I always encourage members to show us their inventions and discoveries made during the year, and this year everyone had something to contribute. Alan Glanville had an interesting collection, both of things he had made and useful purchases: 1. Admiralty 'Tough' Charts of the Solent, printed on plastic and ring-bound into book form. These are specifically developed for open boats where the charts are totally exposed to the weather. 2. I particularly liked Alan’s home-made “rowing mirror” which slips into the gunwhale and allows the rower to see in front of the boat, significantly reducing the number of times he has to stop rowing to look over his shoulder. It was made from a piece of plastic conduit and a Halford's cycle handlebar mirror. I have one of those mirrors on my bike. Must rig another one like this for my Cormorant! 3. A masthead anchor light. This is a high visibility lifejacket light which has been wired and taped to conduit. The mizzen halyard goes through the conduit and enables the light to stand proud of the mizzen mast top. 4. Two long lengths of conduit to convert the 'A' shaped tent into a 'covered wagon' shape and greatly increase the sitting room inside when required. Took an hour to construct and takes 10 minutes to erect. 5. A mini interior tent light the size of a walnut with a very bright light driven by a watch battery. I think Alan said he found this in Milletts. Most impressive. 6. The McMurdo EPIRB. A very compact emergency alarm which sends a signal to satellites when activated, which then alerts rescue services to its position. A second terresteral SATNAV signal guides the lifeboat right onto the transmitter. An amazing increase to safety in an emergency. These are expensive, selling at around £400. Alan paid less than that for his, but thinks he might have been under-charged. Cliff Martin brought along a new windshield for his Coleman gas cooker made out of a tin mixing bowl with the bottom sawn out. This completely surrounds his gas ring, which sits on the ground, and he tells us it works brilliantly. He also showed us a home-made anti-drip sheet, a long, narrow strip of waterproof material with tying-points designed to be tied round mast and boom to prevent water on the mast from continuing along the boom and into the boat. Alastair Law provided samples of Beef Jerky, made by marinating slices of beef in a spicey sauce and then drying for about 5-8 hours in an oven at a temperature of 60ºC. He tells us it keeps indefinitely and is useful to nibble while cruising. It has to be marinated first to give it flavour, as otherwise it is unpalatable. Len’s contribution was the used flares which he and other members had set-off on Bonfire Night, and already described in Bulletin No. 201. David Sumner showed us some waterproof navigation notes / eyeball chart plotters produced by Imray, which are compact and easy to read. We finished the evening with a lively discussion on a variety of topics which included the virtues and pitfalls of various types of anchor, dragging boats on rollers, compasses with and without lights, navigation, anchoring techniques, etc. Several of us had been sailing earlier in the day and Chris Partridge showed us digital photos he'd taken taken while out with them in his rowing skiff, bringing the photographic record right up-to-date. These can now be viewed on dinghysolent. Thanks to all who came for making it such a brilliant evening, much enjoyed by everyone. Liz Baker |