With this in mind, Scottish Coastal Rowing Association is pleased to be able to announce that the SportScotland National Centre, Cumbrae is offering a special deal on the RYA online Essential Navigation and Seamanship Course.  Members of SCRA clubs can enrol on the course at the discounted rate of £55 per head.  The Course is delivered ONLINE, with the trainee working from home at their own pace.

Essential Navigation and Seamanship is an RYA certificated course.  The Centre will provide course materials by post for members to work on, as well as access to the online materials, tutorials and test and the service of a tutor at the centre who can be contacted to assist the candidate with any aspect of the course.  An explanation of the course can be found on the RYA site: http://www.ryainteractive.org/course/view.php?id=491  . A certificate is issued on successful completion of the course.

The course content includes charts and publications,  safety,  buoyage, tidal awareness, visual and electronic navigation, pilotage, rules of the road,   anchoring,  weather forecasts and passage planning.

A code is required for the discounted price, and will be circulated to secretaries of SCRA member clubs.  Once they have the code, candidates should contact  the National Centre Cumbrae at cumbraecentre@sportscotland.org.uk or 01475530757.

They will be given a ‘key’ to access the on line RYA programme and a centre contact who will act as their tutor when required.

SCRA would welcome feedback from members and hope that rowers benefit from this opportunity.

Full results here:  http://www.scottish-rowing.org.uk/applets/11SIRC_Results.pdf

This year we suspect that some groups will be using their skiffs or other rowing boats for exploring the Scottish coastline beyond their home waters.  To encourage groups to share their experiences of this and to allow us all to learn from each other SCRA is pleased to announce the SCRA Cruising Log competition.

We would like members of SCRA clubs who go on expeditions and adventures to record them in a cruising log and forward that on to us. Ideally we would like to log to be uploaded so that we can post a link to it from our website.  Logs should have some pictures or video as well as a written description of the voyage, giving details of launch and recovery sites, stop overs, and descriptions of the tidal streams and conditions.  We hope that others coming after can learn constructively so please do admit to your mistakes as well as saying what went well, and please also include an appendix with some thoughts on safety issues that you feel others would benefit from.  The competition is not just for expeditions in St Ayles skiffs.  We would love to hear about expeditions in any boats powered primarily by oars.

Closing date for entries will be 31 October 2012, but we would be delighted if you could send entries sooner than that to inspire others.  All expeditions must have taken place in the 12 months preceding the closing date.

We would be delighted to hear from anyone who would like to sponsor the competition or donate a trophy.  The competition will be judged on how entertaining and informative the log is, rather than just how long or arduous the cruise is, so don’t be shy about recording your thoughts on a weekend jaunt.

All entries and enquiries to secretary@scottishcoastalrowing.org please.

If you feel you could do with brushing up your navigation and seamanship, watch out for details of the course being run by the National Centre at Cumbrae in Essential Navigation and Seamanship.  A big discount is going to be available to SCRA members,  details of which will be posted shortly.  It goes without saying that the crews taking part in this competition must take responsibility for their own safety, and ensure that their craft is seaworthy, appropriately equipped for the contemplated voyage, and that the planned voyage is within the competency of the crew.

For inspiration read “Three Men in a Boat” by Jerome K Jerome, ”Ice Bears and Kotic” by Peter Webb or perhaps RowPorty’s log of their row down the Tay:

http://rowporty.org.uk/rowporty-tackles-the-tay-56703&urlHash=-3.3170272613363314E146

From Scotland, the Monarch’s Lord Lieutenants have been asked to identify craft to represent their counties and some of those Lord Lieutenants have looked to members of Scottish Coastal Rowing Association to do the honours.

Berwickshire will be represented by one of the County’s St Ayles skiffs, with a crew hopefully made up of members from both Eyemouth and St Abbs.  Ross is to be represented by a crew from Ullapool rowing club in Ulla.  Stornoway Rowing Club are going to be representing the Western Isles, with their crew to include local youngsters being recognised for their sporting success.  All three of these SCRA member clubs have a fair amount of training, fundraising and organising to do, and we wish them luck with that.

The Moray Gig leaving Portsoy Old Harbour

In addition Aberdeen Boat Club have had their application to take part in the Pageant accepted.  The Club intend to use a St Ayles skiff for the event.   The Moray Gig is also going to be taking part, representing the County of Moray.  http://www.moraygig.com/  At 38′ this sailing and rowing gig, rowed by 10 rowers with a total crew of 13,  will dwarf the St Ayles skiffs.  She was built in Findhorn where she was launched in 2001, and where she is still based.

The Glasgow Humane Society will also have a rowing boat, “George” taking part in the event and the Sheltand Isles will be sending down Dim Riv, a half size replica of a viking long boat.

More information on the pageant on their website:   http://www.thamesdiamondjubileepageant.org/

upturnkeep turning

 

lower gentlyclap

 

 

Project leader Niall McGinnis tells us  “It all went well with nobody being squashed! We used the opportunity to invite a whole host of local people and to promote the newly formed club, “Carrick Coastal Rowing Project”.

“Getting the boat ready for the day was touch and go, with extra hours needed to reach the deadline, but it was worthwhile with the ceremony receiving a great turnout with lots of positive remarks.”

Pictured are the 6^th years, Hollie Lucas, Connor Riggans, Robbie McCreath, Dale Hamilton, Daniel Roulston and Blair Jardine ,project leader Niall McGinnis, technician Brian Auld, and  two senior volunteers that help out for two hours a week John McGinnis and Alec Kelly.

Boatie Blest will be holding their new year family races on January 3rd 2012, with the start of racing expected at around 9am.  As last year the races will probably held within Port Seton Harbour, giving excellent spectator views. 

Last year Boatie Blest’s  families races attraced 8 teams:   ”archies offspring”, “murphys”, “bergs” “Aitkens/Atkins” “Brashes” “Doney Family Fearons” “souness and Friends” and “mariettas Misfits”  racing round the circuit track in the harbour in a head to head knockout.   Archies Offsprings were victorious on the day and have since been awarded the “Jackie Robertson Quaich” . It will be raced for again this year.

There will also be the usual high quality tea and coffee cakes for which  Boatie Blest is famous.

The lack of a boat however is not going to put this intrepid new community club off from being on the water on New Year’s day…..  or rather in the water.  Club members and supporters are called upon to don their cossies, trunks, swimmers or mankinis and go for a Loony Dook   at 3.30 on New Years Day.  Actually fancy dress is also the order of the day, so we can look forward to seeing the photos after the new year. 

Meet at the Slipway Car Park, the Beach, Ardersier.  The dookers will be raising funds to try to ensure that next year they can be kept away from the cold water by the hull of  a St Ayles skiff.

Follow Ardersier Boat Club on Facebook for any updates.  Good luck intrepid swimmers.  Sponsorship forms, which include safety information (eg wear sensible shoes with your fancy dress) from ardersierboatclub@yahoo.co.uk

http://www.facebook.com/?ref=logo#!/pages/Ardersier-Boat-Club/110027325770684

After the New Year the next meeting of the Ardersier Boat Club will be January 19th, 2012.

Ta dahhhh.  It’s Queensferry Rowing Club’s swish building emporium beside Scotmid supermarket on the Loan in South Queensferry.  Here are members of the building team under Mike McDowall (third from left) working on the sister ship to “Ferry Lass”. Visitors welcome.

Yes Queensferry are building their second skiff, thanks to a community grant award from Almond Neighbourhood Partnership of £1000, fundraising and other kind donations. Perhaps some of the clubs in Edinburgh want to try to tap their local neighbourhood partnership for some funds. 

Queensferry Rowing Club secretary Denise Havard tells us  “the second boat build is keeping us busy as well as our winter programme of talks ranging from knots, to rowing technique, safety to tides and charts and of course a few social gatherings in between. 

“Happy Christmas to all of our coastal rowing friends and if your are about in Queensferry on the 1 January for the Loony Dook look out for the “Ferry Lass” and our very own Tony Hamblin who is going to brave the waters to raise funds for the club!

“Nadolig Llawen”   as they say in Wales.”

Crivens the water will be cold as we say in Scotland.  Watch this space for more news of intended new year capers from other skiffies.

We have been looking recently at the venues that communities have been able to secure to build their boats.  The venue that Alex Finnegan, co-founder and director of Puppetship  CIC  takes some beating.   Alex has been building small boats with youth groups in Northumberland for some time. It is no great surprise that he was enthusiastic about the Scottish Coastal Rowing Project, and wanted to become involved. There was however one small problem: he was not sure if a completed St Ayles skiff could be extracted through the 41″  (1035mm) wide doors (three of them in a row) that stood between his boat building space in St Michaels Church, Byker, and the open sea.

The first thoughts were theoretical. Chris O’Kannaird, the first skiff built, had fitted through a similar sized door when she visited the Scottish Parliament in January 2010. However that was a single door, and it was not known if the series of doors, combined with the beautiful rising sheer of the St Ayles would be a problem.

Alec Jordan of Jordan Boats, does of course have a CAD model of the St Ayles on his computer. He did what anyone would expect him to do in the circumstances, and with the measurements given to him of the church, designed a CAD model of the church. Bringing the two models together on the computer, he found he was able to post the boat through the virtual letterbox. He confidently predicted that it would fit.

Just to be sure before building started…… SCRA put Alex in touch with Phil Walton and the Gosforth Community rowers, who were happy to use their skiff Grace for a trial. The pictures above tell the story: it IS possible to fit a St Ayles Skiff through a Church doorway.

So it looks like Gosforth will have company/competition for Grace on Tyneside – and thanks to Alex Finnegan and Puppetship some more young folk in Newcastle will have a fantastic opportunity to share in the boat building experience that has given so many so much.

The Community Science Team

 

The Community Science Team delivers a range of community-based events, workshops and meetings to enthuse and excite people about science. They will work closely with local residents and community groups to support and encourage them to develop science-based projects to address key issues in their local community.

Newcastle Science City was set up by Newcastle University, Newcastle City Council and One North East to help the region realise the full economic potential of its science-based industries. The project benefits from European Regional Development Funding (ERDF).