Club News

Club News. 

Please return trophies ready for engraving

Can all those people who won trophies last year please bring them down to the clubhouse over the next few weeks so I can get them engraved and ready for the Dinner Dance & Prizegiving.

Sailing (weather permitting) is over the weekends of the 7th/8th December and the 21st/22nd December, with the Festive Race being held on Sunday 22nd December.

Thanks
Chris Romans

Please maintain the area around your boats

Please maintain the hedge and ground around your boats, they are growing well at the moment and encroaching on the yards. It would be good to keep on top of it after all the good work in clearing them in the winter working parties.

Thanks, GC

New Web Cam!

Hi all,

We've got a new webcam, which has a much wider view, now you can see all of the bay! There isn't a link on the weather page yet, but it will be there soon. Here is a picture for you to enjoy.

There is also a timelapse of the days activities. This is created out of a fisheye view so it is a bit distorted near the edges. There are a couple of other view which you can see on this page.

Severn Bridge Race tips

The Severn Bridge race is a staggered start so plan your start time to be at the turning mark as the tide changes. Except it is not that easy!

 Event preparation

This race is the most exposed race we have in our calendar, so plan your sail before you leave the shore. Check the weather in the coming days as well as on the day itself. If the weather is good it is a great sail in waters we don’t usually sail in. Rain and wind can make the sail more difficult for all sailors. Ensure you are prepared regarding equipment and clothing. Protect yourself if the weather changes.

 It is advisable to take flares/VHF/mobile radio with you in case you need to make contact or issue a signal.

 Always be aware of other boats around you for safety, and so you can note the conditions they are sailing in. They might be better or worse in terms of wind and tide.

 It is often advisable to stick close to other boats, whilst keeping an eye out for others.

 The approach

To make the best of the incoming tide, position your boat in the fastest tidal flow with the best wind, approximately on a transit from Avonmouth Docks to the centre of the Severn Bridge. This is the deep water channel and where you want to be when sailing in the same direction of the tidal flow.

Keep an eye on the wind. Is it increasing, decreasing or remaining the same?

Be aware that you may not be able to sail a straight line to the mark and what may start off as one sailing angle may change considerably the closer you get to the mark.

Keep an eye on the time; a Fireball will take at least 50 minutes to reach the bridge in a Force 3.

 The ‘what if’s’ - Too late

If the tide changes before you reach the turning mark, you’re late but all is not lost – you will not be the only one! Position yourself towards the east (English) shore, working your way up this side and past where you would head out for the mark to gain relief from the tide. Don’t be too eager, stay in the slack tide for as much as possible.

 The ‘what if’s’ - Too early

If you get to the turning mark more than 20 minutes early then head for tide relief on the west (Welsh) shore – the relief area is larger, you will need it as you will be in it for longer.

If you get to the turning mark within 20 minutes head for tide relief on the east (English) shore as when the tide turns it will be easier to position yourself for the return leg.

 The return

When the tide floods then position your boat on the same transit from the bridge centre and Avonmouth Docks again staying in the deeper water channel.

When close to Avonmouth and Portbury Docks, be aware of shipping movements out of the Port.

 The Finish

Make sure the tide does not sweep you past the finish mark! There’s no easy way back if you do! Sail into the bay before mark 4 to give you the best chance of avoiding this calamity.

(From Jon Gill)

Club committee and support roles

Dear Members

We are looking forward to seeing many of you at the AGM at The Ship Inn on Monday 16th October at 7.30pm.

As usual at our AGM we will be looking for people to support with the many roles that are essential to the ongoing running of the club. Some of these require attendance at regular meetings, but many can help with one off tasks. 

In particular we are looking for volunteers for;

Commodore, Vice Commodore, Maintenance support, Arranging the Dinner Dance (urgent support needed!!), Instructors and General Committee members. 

If you are interested in finding out about any of these roles or are willing to help or want to join the committee, please get in touch with gc@pysc.org.uk, and one of us will respond asap. 

Club Training, all welcome

All are welcome at club training days, those wishing to learn more, those wishing to teach and those who justwant to go for a sail!.

You can find the training days with this link

You don't have to be an instructor, maybe just someone who can show a newer member the ropes, you may even find a willing crew. Please come along  and help the club grow.

Merch!

The Galley is open...

Hi all,

Just to be really clear, if you want to help on the Galley and just serve tea, coffee and cakes, the there is no restriction on who can do that. Just follow the normal hygene rules, wash your hands and make sure things are clean, before you start.

When you are done tidy away and leave the galley as you found it. Lots of people will appreciate your efforts.

If you want help with the card machine or any other aspect of the galley drop me a line webmaster@pysc.org.uk.

Electronic version of the sailing programme

If you would like version of the sailing programme on your phone or tablet, it is published in ical format. This should be understandable by most devices.

You will need this URL.

https://www.pysc.org.uk/ical

If you have an Android device the instructions for adding to your phone are here. N.B. you need to do this on a computer as you can't do it on your phone.

Galley stock suggestions

If you have any suggestions for things you would like to see in the galley we would be pleased to hear them. We can't promise to stock obscure things but if there is a general consensus we'll try our best.

email webmaster@pysc.org.uk

Galley News, we need your help!

Hi all,

Last year we received an inspection from North Somerset Environmental Health about our arrangements for cooking food at the club. This was the first food safety inspection I had ever been involved with, and had no idea what to expect. The result of the inspection was a "Food Hygiene Rating" of  1 (major improvement required). This was basically down to the lack of a documented food safety system and no staff trained in food safety. Thus our food could have been safe and we could have been serving it correctly, we just didn't have the right paperwork.

I have been working with a friend of mine who is a chef and has helped me with a few pointers and now we have got a lovely food safety system courtesy of www.food.gov.uk. Unfortunately there is little distinction in the rules between a restaurant serving a lavish menu and us making a few bacon sandwiches. This means we have got a 100 page food safety system to follow to cook bacon sandwiches. Lots of it is very sensible advice to try to ensure we aren't making people ill. The food inspector put it rather starkly “something to show the judge if it goes to court”.

We are due an inspection in a few weeks and hopefully we will get a significantly higher rating.

If we are serving hot drinks and cakes, there is little change, and following the normal hygiene rules (wash hands etc) will suffice.

If we are serving reheated/cooked food (i.e. you put in the oven, grill or microwave), then this will mean a few changes to the way the galley is run.

1. A  person in the galley will need a Food and Hygiene Level 2 certificate.

2. We will need to follow our food safety system (This isn't that scary, only two or three pages will affect people day to day)

3. We will need to fill in the food diary to prove we are following the system.

4. We will need to test the food temperature before we serve it.

5. We will need to document the cleaning regime, and record what we do.

This will obviously be more work for anyone cooking food in the galley.

How can you help?

We need a few volunteers to take the food hygiene course (it is online and I managed to read all of the material and pass the exam in one night), the club will pay the cost of the course which is around £12. If you are interested drop me an email webmaster@pysc.org.uk.

Are you involved in the catering trade and could you help us prepare for the inspections? This would be most welcome.

We need to make sure the kitchen is super clean (and kept that way) there will be a working party soon to tidy up and ensure that we are ship shape and Bristol fashion! Please come along and help.

Please be patient and appreciative of the galley staff as they hand you a bacon roll, they will have worked extra hard to create it safely for you and it will have a nicely documented history.

Any feedback is most welcome.

--

Stephen Brooks

General Committee for 2023

Happy New Year to you all,

2023 is here and a restructured GC is already working towards a fun year of sailing and associated activities.  Following the AGM in October, here is how the new GC looks:

Commodore - Sarah Long

Vice Commodore - Stephen Brooks

Rear Commodore - Mike Chorlton

Treasurer - Tony March

Secretary - Rob Larder

Membership Sec - Jason Hadlow

Training Sec - Chris Haire

GC Member - Jonathan Cooper – Continuing to support in several areas

GC Member - Rob Dutson – Will be focusing on social activities.  Watch this space.

GC Member – Alex Barry - Will be focusing on encouraging new members

SSC represented by Chris Romans and/or Colin Jarvis

We all look forward to seeing you at the Dinner & Dance on 13^th Jan and/or down at the club for winter working parties from 15^th Jan.

First Aid Course

Hi everyone 
We will be running a 1st Aid Course again this year over two evenings - Monday / Tuesday 20th / 21st February 6.30pm - 9.30pm. There are 8 places available - I will take one (as Chief Instructor it's advisable I do it) leaving 7 available.
Cost TBC - from memory it was £70 pp last year split 50/50 between attendees and club.
Please let me know if you would like to attend. If demand is high we can run a second course.
Thanks.

Christopher Haire

Info@chrishaire.co.uk

Social Events Survey

Hi all. 

Following the fantastic success of the club dinner dance we’d like to arrange more social events for this year. To help understand what kind of things members would be interested in, we’ve put together a quick Surveymonkey:
 https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/9JVWP2X
It should only take a few minutes to complete and will really help us understand what kind of events you’d like to take part in this year and are therefore worth arranging.  There’s no real deadline for the survey as we’ll probably only start planning events come February. Also, and for info, it is anonymous.

Kind regards, Rob

Winter working parties start 10am Sunday 15th Jan

Our annual winter working party sessions will be starting from 10a.m. on Sunday 15^th Jan.

For those new to the club, these sessions are when we make the biggest effort to spruce up the clubhouse, clear the compounds of weeds, lift and revitalise the racing marks, do maintenance work on the club boats, etc, etc.  The Sunday sessions will carry on through to the start of the season, as required.

• Please come down to assist, dressed appropriately and with suitable garden clearing equipment if you have useful tools.
• Can’t do every Sunday?  No problem, please come and help when you can.
• Want to do your bit to keep the club running, but can’t do Sundays?  Take ownership of an item off the “Things to do” list and come down when you can (Stay safe if you are working on your own).
• Noticed a job that needs doing?  Please write it on the list at the club or notify via gc@pysc.org.uk

Trophies - please return any trophies you may have

Please can you bring any trophies that you have to the Clubhouse the next time you go sailing or come down to the Club so that I can collect them and get them engraved ready for the Prizegiving and Dinner Dance.

Thanks

Chris Romans

Photos from 2022

Each year at the Prizegiving and Dinner Dance we have a slideshow of photos showing people sailing, club events etc. for the past year.

If you have any photos from last year that I can include in the slideshow can you send them to me at:

ssc-chair@pysc.org.uk

Regards

Chris Romans

2022 Notice of AGM

NOTICE OF 2022 ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

MONDAY 17 OCTOBER 2022 AT 19:45 hrs

You are invited to attend this year’s PYSC AGM to be held at The Ship pub (310 Down Rd, Portishead, Bristol BS20 8JT) – we will be upstairs.

For those who prefer, the option to attend virtually on Zoom will also be available - ID and Password will be sent out by email prior to the meeting, however, please attend in person if you are able to do so as the meeting will run more smoothly, and we can minimise the bandwidth required on the zoom call.

All members will shortly receiving an email containing:

- Agenda

- 2021 AGM Minutes

- 2021-22 Accounts

- SSC Report

- Safety Boat Report

You should have recieved the above documents via email. Please contact webmaster@pysc.org.uk if you haven't.

Gallery

We do have a photo gallery, if you have any photos you would like to contribute please forward them to me

Cruise details 13/8

CRUISE on 13/8

Hi all,

There is a cruise on Saturday, and I thought I would provide some information to people who haven't been on one before.

A cruise consists of a leisurely sail down stream (towards Clevedon) on a out going tide a few hours before low tide. We will beach the boats on the sandbanks roughly opposite Clevedon for a while the tide turns, on return we will then cross the channel to Clevedon and sail back up the coast to the Club.

It is a nice social activity and gives you a chance to see some different areas of the estuary you may not have been to before. We will be out for most of the afternoon. The conditions may change to it is worth bringing some extra clothes to put on if you get colder.

We will try and accomodate anyone from the club who would like to come on the cruise and flexibility is appreciated on who goes in which boat.

Some things to note:-

* We are weather dependant, if the wind is too strong or it is going to rain constantly I will have to unfortunately cancel. This is suppose to be a pleasure. :)

* Bring some extra clothes with you incase the weather changes

* We will be on the sand banks for about 90 minutes as the tide changes you may want to bring some entertainment. (I'm going to bring a portable BBQ and some sausages), we normally bring a cricket bat and a ball or two as well.

* You will definitely need a drink or two it can get very hot out there with no place hide!

* Bring suncream and or a hat to shelter from the sun!

* We will have to leave promptly at 13:00, so please make sure you are at the club in plenty of time. There will be a briefing at 12:15 to finalise details give details of the route. Please aim to arrive at the club at 12:00.

* We will have to sail as a group so please try and stay together on the water. If you are a long way in front please circle around and rejoin at the rear. This helps us to keep together and lets everyone sail at a comfortable speed.

* Bring a waterproof bag to put everything in.

* There is some limited storage on the safety boats, so as long as we don't bring too much with us you can sail without "extras" on your boat. Space cannot be guranteed through.

Any question please drop me an email on steve@pysc.org.uk

Yes, you might be feeling a bit of Deja vu here. I've just repurposed this article from the previously cancelled one.

RYA Chasing Tokyo

Discover the hidden story of the most succesful Olympic sailing team as they head to one of the most uncertain Olympic Games in history.

For the first time, the British Sailing Team is baring all in a 90-minute feature documentary, Chasing Tokyo. Available now to watch for free on the Olympic Channel or RYA website.

More details here

Pictures Pictures Pictures!

Hi all,

A local photographer has made some pictures available to us and I've put them in the gallery. He is more than happy for people to take copies of them for their own personal use.

Just to give you a taste of what is available here are few of my favorites.

The whole gallery is available here

Weather Station Update

Hi all,

The Denny Island weather station is producing data. It is currently undergoing tests on my balcony.

The initial version of the website is here.

I know the graphs etc aren't great at the moment, reliability and accuracy of the instruments is what I am concentrating on at the moment.

If you would like the data provided is a particular way, draw me a picture of what you would like and I'll add it to the todo list. Better still if you can code and you know what PHP, Javascript and git are come and have a chat, maybe you can create a page that displays the data in your perfect format!

Any feedback is welcome.

--

Stephen Brooks

Shirehampton BBQ on 23/7

Hi all,

On the 23/7 it is the Shirehampton BBQ, we set off for a leisurely sail to Shirehampton Sailing Club on the River Avon. There the members of the Shirehampton Sailing club will be there to welcome us ashore and provide food and drink (remember to bring some waterproof money). Once high tide has passed we sail back to PYSC on the out going tide.

It is a nice day out, and very socialble activity. It is a good way to meet other people in the sailing club who you don't normally sail with. We will try and ensure that everyone who wants to come gets a seat in a boat, so if you are sailing in your own boat, or in one of the club ones flexibility is appreciated.

There are a couple of caveats:-

* We are very weather dependant if the forecast doesn't look favourable we won't be going.

* If the wind is from the South West the the journey back is worse that the way there. Nothing too bad, but there will be waves!

* On the way back to the club don't overshoot the slipway, the tide will be going out and you might not get back against the tide. There will be safety boat cover, but with a large area to cover you might have a while to wait.

If you don't fancy sailing but still want to be social, it is actually a very nice (mostly) off road cycle to Shirehampton, you will be welcome there by whatever means you travel.

If all of the above has sparked you interest, please send me an email so I can gauge numbers. (If you don't respond and still want to come no worries, but Shirehampton would like to know how many burgers to buy!)

Any question please ask

Stephen Brooks

steve@pysc.org.uk

Club Programmes

Hi all,

The club handbook is available for collection from the club. Please come and collect yourself a handy guide to the year's sailing.

If for any reason you would like programme delivered, please send me (webmaster@pysc.org.uk) an email, and I'll arrange delivery

--

Stephen Brooks

Great opportunity!

As you know, we are a mutual help organistation.  The more we all contribute, the more we can go sailing.

The is GC is looking for more input from some new faces with an injection of new energy and ideas.  Perhaps you have been on the committee previously and would like to contribute again?  Either way, we would love to hear from you.

GC 

Happy New Year

Buoy Recovery