Commodore Bit

August is always a quiet month. Everybody is on holiday and we don't hold a Management Committee meeting in August for that same reason. However things still move on.

On the domestic front the bar refurbishment is now virtually complete and a new safe has been fitted. The old safe, which is in the clubroom, is available for members to use for their personal possessions while on the water. Several committee members have keys to this. The skylight above the galley sink has been removed and the roof made good. No more stained ceiling tiles with a bit of luck! Many thanks to Bryan and Richard for that.

Bryan has also been hard at work out on the patio. The old metal railings have been replaced with a new wooden balustrade and a new signal flag mast has appeared.

On the water the 'sunken' cruisers have been raised and removed by Tim Barfield.

On the social front I understand that the trip up to the Ceremony of the Keys at the Tower of London went well (see George's article). The visit to Paines Hill at Cobham was another success. Thanks to Diana Carpenter for organizing those events.

During the last quarter AQSC also hosted a SigneT Open within our own Regatta. This went very well and several of the visitors stayed on for the jazz night and barbecue. Many thanks to everybody who put in a tremendous amount of work to ensure the Regatta weekends success. More recently Bob and Janet's London fun night was well up to standard. It was as chaotic as ever and great fun.
My personal thanks to everybody who helped out on the 4 October work party at the club. We got a hell of a lot done and the club and its grounds are looking all the better for it.

Last week I attended an RYA meeting at Wraysbury SC to discuss falling recruitment into our sport. The RYA proposed a new approach to address this problem and after discussing it with the management committee I'll tell you all about it in the next newsletter.

As we ease toward the end of the season there are still a number of things to look forward to which are listed in Richard's 'Dates for your Diary' article. Two key items are the annual club dinner on 15 November, and the AGM, prize giving and end of season party on SUNDAY 7 December (NOTE change in day to SUNDAY). The AGM is especially important in that club flag officers and management committee need electing and I need feedback on anything that you feel needs improvement at Aquarius. I look forward to seeing you all at both these events.

Well that's about it. Racing continues until mid November so I'll hopefully see some of you on the water. For those of you that have finished, or never went out, think back to what happened last winter and ensure that your boats are properly laid up and picketed. We don't particularly enjoy wading about in freezing flood water trying to stop people's boats floating off downstream!

Mike (The Commodore) Baker