There’s lots that happened at the club over the last month, and more to look forward to. Please read on to catch up with the latest news.

Access Road Closure Friday 06-May-22

Don’t forget that BANES are doing some work to our access road this Friday and so the road from Walley Court Lane will be closed for access all day. Members needing to access the club grounds may park at Woodford Lodge during the day

2022/23 membership renewals

If you are intending to renew your membership for 2022/23 and not done so yet, please can you renew AND pay now. All our 2021/22 memberships expired at the end of March and if you haven’t renewed you don’t have a current membership.

A 2nd renewal email/reminder was sent out last week (27 April) to anyone who hasn’t yet renewed or responded. If you can’t find it please let the Membership Secretary know so she can help.

Not-Renewing? If you’ve decided not to renew this year please also let us know now, so we can take you off Dutyman and refund your gate key deposit. Please also arrange to remove any boats from the club boat park as soon as possible and by the end of May at the latest.

Any questions or would like help please contact the Membership Secretary (Rosie Bowers) on: membership@chewvalleysailing.org.uk

Recreational Trail – Opening 18-May-22 (and Impact)

I understand that the official opening of the CVRT is planned for Wednesday 18th May, although it is not yet totally clear if the section between the dam and Woodford Lodge will open at that stage also.

As you can’t fail to have noticed, the trail crossing of our access road is an area where great caution will be needed – we have been in discussion with Bristol Water and BANES over several months to highlight our concern about the safety of the crossing and a number of traffic calming measures are in place; please respect these and drive carefully.

The trail is likely to result in fairly heavy pedestrian and bike traffic; over recent weeks some early ‘explorer’s’ have already found their way off the trail and walked through the club grounds. Additional signage is planned that will hopefully deter this happening in the future.

There will also be a new middle gate (already in situ by the crossing) that Bristol Water hope will prevent public access to the lakeside SSSI and our club grounds. This will come into operation on the 18th May to coincide with the trail opening, and like the gate at the entrance off Walley Court Road, will open and close on our club padlock (or the combi lock for fisherman), and be used by both club members and by fishermen accessing their car park. The middle gate must be kept closed and locked when the club is not open for sailing, but should be opened by the duty team (or first arrival) on sailing days and left open during the day while the club is in operation. It must be closed and locked at the end of each sailing day.

Longer term, we have previously stated our ambition to improve our accessibility with the automation of all gates and are in discussion with Bristol Water about this shared aim. Unfortunately this is not a simple matter, the gates have multiple users (contractors and fishermen as well as club members) and at present there is no power available at the middle and outer gates. I will keep you informed as things progress.

Sailing Committee Update -Thursday Evening Improver Series

The eagle eyed will have spotted the first session of Thursday Improvers kicking off next week (12-May-22). These sessions allow you to sail in the evenings without the competitiveness of Wednesday night racing and are designed to allow the less experienced members get some informal support. This then leads in to the Start Racing and Fun Thursday sessions later in the summer (more to come in a later newsletter!).

Each week there will be 2 rescue helms rostered and there will usually be an experienced member on hand ashore to offer any assistance you may need in rigging, getting your boat afloat or for general sailing tips. Arrival time is 6pm so you should be afloat by 6.30. Enjoy!

NOTE: Slots for volunteers for rescue helms have recently opened up on Dutyman but are still to filled. Hopefully these will be rostered for coming weeks, but the first two sessions remain in doubt. Please keep your eyes on the club Facebook page and we will post a message on the preceding Wednesday to confirm the session is able to go ahead.

Anyone who wishes to have a relaxed evening on the water as one of the rescue helms please do stick your name down for any of the available slots!

Please get in contact if you have any questions at sailing@chewvalleysailing.org.uk

CLADS

CLADS are looking to expand their team of helpers again this year. From sailing to shore assistance they require help on each sailing day, and are looking for a mix of sailors and non sailors to help out. If you are interested in joining them to help then please email Steve Nash chairman@clads.co.uk

Cruising Section Update

Lunch on the Lake:

Our first event of the year took place on Saturday 09-Apr-22 in a gentle to moderate breeze (Beaufort scale).

The sun was out, although slightly chilly, it didn’t put off our newcomer “Labrum of Love”, a great looking Mirror Dinghy who’s crew handled the new experience extremely well.

We had one drifter ( anchor rode too short ) but their revised rode on a second attempt created a perfectly secure anchoring.

Once lunch was consumed we all enjoyed a beautiful Spring afternoon on the water in perfect sailing conditions.

Our next event will be on 21-May-22.

Thank you for all the support this has received and it is now firmly placed on the club calendar.

So next time someone says to you “Let’s do lunch’, you say “On the Lake?” 🙂

Dinghy Cruising:

Following a period of consultation with Bristol Water we have agreed our proposal of holding an overnight camp on the water (moored up alongside our pontoon).

This one-off event is designed to allow the testing of boom tents and sleeping set-ups onboard our cruising dinghies before relying on them for real on coastal, river or estuary passages.

Spaces on the camp are limited and there are strict conditions that must be adhered to – it is therefore essential that if you wish to participate you book with Simon beforehand (s1m0njc@icloud.com) Once a space is allocated details of the event and how it will be run will be issued to you. Good preparation is key, so express your interest sooner rather than later.

Assuming the weather is kind to us the proposed dates will be Friday night of 17-Jun-22 into Sat 18th OR in July – Friday 8th into Sat 9th OR Fri 29th into Sat 30th.
There will be no sailing between the Friday nights and 10am the following mornings, we will just be afloat and moored to the Southern pontoon.
If the weather is unsuitable on any of the above dates then we will look at later dates to hold the event.

Simon.

Call for Instructors

RYA Adult Beginners Combined Level 1 And 2 Course

To all SIs, DIs and AIs: Please let me know if you are willing and able to help deliver the club’s RYA Combined Level 1 and 2 course to be held over the weekends:

21/22-May-22
28/29-May-22
04/05-Jun-22 (as Reserve days, either/both day(s) may or may not be needed, depending on weather & progress. I’m aware this is the Jubilee BH weekend)

We are lucky now to have 4 club Quests available for our training courses, so I am looking to have 1xSI and 4xDIs/AIs planned in for each of those 6 days to give our students the best experience possible.

If you can do the whole course, fantastic. If you can manage one weekend, great. Even one day can sometimes make all the difference. Training fees are payable to all instructors.

Hoping to hear from you!

Dave Orme CVLSC Principal training.cvlsc@gmail.com

Lake and cake

The first Lake and Cake of the year sadly did not involve any sailing due to high winds!

However this did not stop us having a great afternoon. We did a Trek and Treats instead with 8 ladies going for a lovely walk in the beautiful countryside around the lake returning for tea and (mostly) home made cakes in the bar! We were joined by a few more ladies and an impromptu second hand kit sale took place during tea and resulted in some great kit swapping!

It was so nice to meet up with old friends and to meet some new members and we are all looking forward to the next Lake and Cake on Saturday 21-May-22 (which will be led by Hilary) when hopefully the group will be able to go sailing!

First Aid Course

Another RYA first aid course is planned for Saturday 09-Jul-22. This is essential for all aspiring instructors but good for everyone. You get a days training from a RYA first aid instructor, the RYA first aid manual and a certificate valid for 3 years all for £25. By the time you read this it should be on webcollect any problems contact jeffstratford@btinternet.com

Help needed please

In preparation for the family regatta the Police group in conjunction with Hugh Whatley are again organising a nettle bashing working party to Denny Island on Wednesday 29-Jun-22 at 10am, please join us if you can, the more the merrier, wear long trousers and wellingtons and bring any strimmers , scythes or nettle bashing implements you have, hopefully it will only take a couple of hours

On the road

There’s some great results starting to build up now with members showing their skill at home and further afield. Well done to everyone flying the Chew flag :

Finally, It’s time for another caption competition.

Entries please to me by 25-May-22.

My starter to set the bar low is shown below

WHEN I GROW UP I WANT TO BE JUST LIKE YOU!

Andy Jones
Commodore

Undeterred by strong winds the lake and cakers built their appetites with a healthy walk.

You just can’t have too much cake!!

An idylic cruising anchorage, although not on Chew!

And another!

A close start at the recent masters inland Championship

10, 9, 8, …….

Duty supremo Tom and Julie showing good upwind style