Portavadie Marina Open Day 22nd August

Graeme Galbraith, Assistant Marina Manager at Portavadie writes to us as follows:

I’d like to take this opportunity to invite your members to an open day at Portavadie Marina on Sunday 22^nd August. The idea behind the open day is to promote our facilities to boat owners and crew who may not have had the chance to visit Portavadie Marina since opening three years ago. We are offering free overnight berthing on the Sunday and a complimentary breakfast for two people per boat on the Monday morning. There will also be hosted marina facility tours and a chance to see our new luxury apartments and shop.

To register your interest please contact info@portavadiemarina.com or call
01700 811075 quoting “open day registration”. We will require contact
details to reserve your place and are limited to 4 guests per boat. Please
book early as spaces are limited.

25 July 2010
Round Shuna Race

Sunday dawned rather damply with a F3/4 from the West. Six Serpent boats joined battle on the start line at 11.00am.
Almost immediately, Troikka disappeared over the horizon showing the rest of the fleet a clean pair of heels to take line honours. This despite Charles flying his cruising sails, clearly offset by having the Hannah's aboard as hotshot crew.

A tussle which developed between Seamus Lalor on Emma Louise and Stewart Toy on Out of the Blue involved much luffing and resolved in favour of the smaller boat. Stewart had the consolation of beating his long time rival Black Pepper which, together with Tango Too was serenely passed by Martyn Webster, Arup Ray and Tony Adgent on the elegant Shona, which went on to win the race.

Photos by Jane Hinshalwood

Results

Skipper	Boat	Corrected Time hh:mm:ss			Place
Martyn Webster	Shona	1	03	38	1	The Bon Secours Quaich
Chas Sutherland	Troikka	1	06	25	2	The Sorin Cup
Seamus Lalor	Emma Louise	1	06	58	3	The Datex-Ohmeda Trophy
Stewart Toy	Out of the Blue	1	08	13	4
Iain Sinclair	Black Pepper	1	10	21	5
Steve Pickles	Tango Too	1	12	26	6

24 July 2010
Summer Muster at Craobh

The annual Craobh barbecue was held on Saturday 24th July, a day which seemed unpromising with persistent West Coast rain and drizzle.

The marina staff made great efforts to prepare the boatshed for us, including erecting a shelter above the barbecue to keep the chefs dry. It had been discovered that the grill, which we have used for many years, had rusted, fallen apart and been binned during a spring clean. Undaunted, the Marina staff located an oil barrel which was swiftly cut in half and prepared for cooking duty.

As a Club, we are so fortunate in having the help and support of Jim Berry and his team and we are extremely grateful for the donations, both wine and financial, from Holt Leisure Parks.

The evening was a great success, and hugely enjoyed by 34 members and friends. Steve Pickles, ably assisted by Trevor, produced another tour de force in the catering department with sumptuous burgers, tasty sausages, kebabs and mouth-watering pineapple. Ample quantities of liquid refreshment helped everything go with a swing.

John Mackenzie's Ceilidh Band was again in attendance with Tony Adgent on accordian. A fine selection of music was played and danced to and a special delight for us all was to hear Fay Jennett singing Scots songs. Fay's international singing venues this summer are - Craobh boatshed, Berlin, Leipzig and New York! We wish her well.

Vice Commodore Catherine Toy thanked everyone who had contributed to the success of the evening and looked forward to hot competition in the Round Shuna Race.

Photos by Jane Hinshalwood and Iain Sinclair

Upcoming Event

Don't miss the Summer Muster on 24th July 2010
Barbecue and Ceilidh in the Boatshed at Craobh Haven
7 for 7.30 finishing about 11pm so that everyone is in tip top form for the..

Round Shuna Race on Sunday 25th July starting at 11am weather permitting. Race instructions will be handed out at the BBQ.

There will be a charge of £10 per head for the barbecue/ceilidh and a race entry fee of £15. Obviously there are cheaper ways to go for a sail round Shuna but not with the opportunity to win the Bon Secours Quaich, The Sorin Cup or the Datex-Ohmeda Trophy.

Please contact Steve Pickles by Wednesday 21st July if you intend coming so that appropriate catering arrangements can be made. Conatct Steve on 01555 666348 or 07981443462. If no answer leave a message
or email stephen.pickles(AT)btinternet.com

Also:
Photography Competition
Stephen Pickles, as winner of last year's competition (with his memorable photo of his own yacht solidly aground) has been asked to organise this year's competition. Unsurprisingly he has chosen the theme 'The Best Picture of A Serpent Boat Under Sail' (ie not aground) to be judged by members at the Annual Dinner. So get shooting and send your entries to Catherine.

Log Competition
There is also a competition for the best log. Entries have been sparse in recent years. There is a cup at stake so get your chainsaws out.

Burgees
If anyone needs a Serpent burgee they can be obtained direct from the Ensign Flag Co. www.ensignflags.com They are very prompt and helpful.

June Update

The Portavadie Cruise
on 19th June was a great success. A more detailed report may follow later but we had some excellent weather with a fine sailing breeze building for a brisk beat up Loch Fyne to Portavadie. There was a good attendance for the Pimms party held by the Toys on OOTB with some additional supercharging with de genuine Caribbean rum punch. Thereafter we repaired to the Portavadie restaurant for an excellent meal. There was general agreement that Portavadie is a potential future destination for the Club





New Arrivals

The club congratulates Roisin and Paul Harris on the arrival of their twins Arthur and Bridget. It remains to be seen how long it will be before all four are out sailing on Tanit.

Another arrival, also involving four legs and occuring the night of the Portavadie outing was the long awaited foal of Molly, belonging to Catherine Toy who naturally had to rush home without delay on the Sunday morning. Mother and daughter are shown below.



all photos by David Toy

Serpents at Brewin Dolphin Scottish Series

The Serpent Yacht Club had a good showing at the Scottish Series at Tarbert this year. Slipping quickly out of their nappy changing mode of the previous Opening Muster weekend Paul and Richard Harris went on to win the closely fought IRC Class2, in the process beating Roxy6, a new Corby design and their Clyde sister ship Bateleur 97. In IRC 3, the massed Serpents on board Troikka were more out for a good time but enjoyed some close and exciting sailing in the class which produced the overall winner.



The Troikka crew were well catered for on mother ship Out of the Blue (henceforth referred to as OOTBee) and the pic below shows chef Steve Pickles with an appreciative Anne, Seamus and Marcus. Stewart was probably doing the dishes at the time. Steve's exceptional galley skills are now well recognised and thus he is once more in charge of the barbecue at the Croabh Muster in July.

Opening Muster Weekend 2010

It was a glassy calm and windless Saturday for the Opening Muster. Paul Harris on Tanit set the course for Tarbert via Garroch Head, dropping the mooring once all starters were away and catching up by the time the rest had reached Toward. There were innumerable holes to pick through and a decision was taken to shorten the race at Garroch Head which Troikka reached first with Tanit close behind.
Troikka and Tanit were motoring well up Loch Fyne before any sign of Class 2 appeared round the corner but eventually everyone arrived in time to bask in the Tarbert sunshine although Guilty’s engine self -destructed with a bang on approach. The meal in the Anchor Hotel was well attended and to more or less the usual standard.

Next morning the Ladies were fired up for their race but off Tarbert there was absolutely no wind and so Seamus on Emma Louise, who had possession of a large water pistol started some water fights. Eventually, to general surprise, the race committee on Guilty sounded the horn and some fairly desperate drifting commenced. However the ladies were not to be deterred and eventually a fine sailing breeze filled in leading to an enjoyable sail to Ardlamont and an easy run to the finish at Kames.