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Sailing Is Still Possible - But Only Just! (RoyB)
As members will no doubt have realised by now, we face severe restriction of our activities for the foreseeable future. Access to lakes everywhere is virtually impossible without risking a £5000 fine. Mr. Blair's claim that the countryside remains open is OK as long as you stick to tarmac. We simply do not know when normal service will be resumed.
There is a little daylight in all this gloom, however. Members may have read in today's press (31st March) that the public slipway at Ferry Nab on Windermere is now open. In addition there is at least one water sports centre that is operating normally, where the public can launch their own boats. This is Pugney's Country Park, near Wakefield, W. Yorks. As it almost lies in suburbia it's not affected. I sail there occasionally. It's about a half by a quarter mile in size, frequented by wind surfers, novice canoeists and the odd dinghy sailor. It can get quite busy on a warm summer's day. Parking is free, launching £5 per day, drinks machine but no cafe, changing room, showers. There's a second adjoining lake, which is a nature reserve. I fully intend to be there on Sunday, 22nd April at about 11 a.m., and would be delighted to see anyone else from the OCSG who fancies a bit of a sail and chat. If you want more details, give me a ring/leave a message/email.
I imagine that other such facilities exist around the country. It's not ideal, but the more we can keep in contact, the better for the OCSG. Carol and DennisD tell me that a further possibility in the South West is the North Devon Yacht Club at Instow, which lies on a very tidal estuary. It has clubroom, showers, car park, probably secure boat parking and plenty of B&B's in the area, but is very weather dependent. If members are interested, ring Dennis - a reasonable group would be required. One or two members have mentioned the possibility of the Menai Straits (where small meets have been held over the past 3 years). PeteH tells me that access is now very restricted, but that one or two public slipways may be OK.
That's all the info I have at the moment. Do keep GOSSIP informed of any other plans/possibilities so that we don't drift apart and fall off the edge of the world!
Bowing To The Inevitable - Going Metric! (JohnB)
Everything is going metric - they are even talking of doing away with the pint! Almost certainly, within the next few years, sail areas will be in square metres too.
For OCSG canoe sailors it will not hurt quite so much as you might think. In fact our maximum racing sail area of 44 sq. ft. is 4.0876 sq. m., a bastard number if ever there was one, and 4 sq. m. is 42.932 sq. ft. Almost certainly the great majority of our boats will be below 43 sq. ft. so such a change would have little effect on our racing fleet. However, with this in mind, if I were ordering a new sail today I think I would ask for 4 sq. m. - just to be on the safe side and ahead of the game for once! And 4 sq. m. is easier to say and write than 44 sq. ft.
Book Review - A Family Canoe Trip (DennisD)
In August 1891 the American Canoe Association held a meet at Willsbrough Point on Lake Champlain. As was usual for the ACA, the meet was a thoroughly well organised affair with three hundred enthusiasts gathering to enjoy the races, some gentle pottering, lots of social chat, and the delights of camping in style. The camping grounds - there were separate areas designated as the "bachelors' camp" and "Squaw Point" where the ladies and their husbands, if accompanied, pitched tent - must have been quite a sight, with colourful club flags fluttering and real camp fires alight.
For Florence Snedeker it was the first taste of canoeists en masse and so enchanted was she that by the following year she had written and published a little book about the six week canoeing vacation of which the ACA meet was the highlight. Florence tells how she, her husband and young son loaded their decked Rob Roy derived canoe 'Gernegross' and twelve canvas bags of camping gear on to a canal boat at the start of their trip. The canal boat, one of forty in the "tow" shepherded by two tugs, took them as far as Troy, where paddling and sailing could safely commence. The first chapter of Florence's book paints a vivid picture of the life of the bargees and their families ferrying goods along the busy commercial waterways of New York State.
After the first chapter the Snedeker family take to the water in 'Gernegross' and as both camera and sketching materials were in their gear, Florence's account is illustrated with some three dozen scenes of the sights they enjoyed along the way. In contrast with many other published accounts of canoe trips from that era, in which illustrations tend to be tantalisingly deficient in actual canoes, the Snedekers' camera recorded several clear shots of their boat and others at the meet. The sketches appear, by comparison with the photographs, to be accurate and show several canoes, some fully rigged for sailing. The only real gripe about the illustrations is that because the book is so small, just 4ins. x 5.5ins., even full-page plates require quite close examination. Slightly less than half the book describes the ACA meet but from this it is evident that a wide range of on-water and shore-based activities made up the programme. The Trophy Race had sixteen entrants plus a big crowd of cheering spectators. Much time was spent in "dreadfully earnest consultation" about
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