Are you Happy in your Yacht Club????

[penfold]

Tell me about it. SWMBO is rear commodore this year!

No need to take it seriously I just call her Mrs. Rear then I run away!

2nd in command is always called Commodore of Vice at our club; 3rd was referred to as the bottom inspector once, but he doesn't have much of a sense of humour.

I've been a committee member in the past when I had more spare time, and spent 6 years being in charge of maintaining/laying/retrieving the visitors moorings. It can be a thankless task but if it wasn't done the club would stop working, now I'm just a ordinary member I do try and help out if I've got time to spare.

 

[Daydream believer]

and spent 6 years being in charge of maintaining/laying/retrieving the visitors moorings. It can be a thankless task .

I am doing a similar thing
And don't the members give some grief ????????
I did it to become involved in the club & the local community
I also have to collect the fees & now I think I am the most hated bloke in the village

Our membership officer devotes all her free time to the job. but is she popular. I think not!!!
Why do a few isolated club members try so hard to avoid paying anything ??????
It really is a game of cat & mouse. Beats all the video games
Great feeling when you finally win & get the cash

 

[Resolution]

I am doing a similar thing
And don't the members give some grief ????????
I did it to become involved in the club & the local community
I also have to collect the fees & now I think I am the most hated bloke in the village

Our membership officer devotes all her free time to the job. but is she popular. I think not!!!
Why do a few isolated club members try so hard to avoid paying anything ??????
It really is a game of cat & mouse. Beats all the video games
Great feeling when you finally win & get the cash

That's why my club has moved steadily to Direct Debits. Saves so much unpleasant chasing work. Those who don't want to sign the DD form need a really good excuse (foreign bank account) or they lose their membership discounts.

 

[penfold]

That's why my club has moved steadily to Direct Debits. Saves so much unpleasant chasing work. Those who don't want to sign the DD form need a really good excuse (foreign bank account) or they lose their membership discounts.

I wish my club did that; it would save me having to hunt for my cheque book once a year.

 

[BabySharkDooDooDooDooDoo]

I wish my club did that; it would save me having to hunt for my cheque book once a year.

I thought it rather odd at the time when my club cancelled the DD facility for membership fees, etc about five years back.

 

[Leighb]

DD may seem like a good idea, however it can be a problem for club admin. Main problem is members who change their bank accounts without telling the club. This happens more often than you might think, result is a huge amount of time chasing a small number of members whose DDs bounce back.

Members can also cancel the DD possibly, but not always, because they wish to resign. Other problems can also arise, this is the reason our club abandoned them a few years back.

 

[glashen]

Some interesting, I am one of those with a title (rear commodore), I regard it as tradition but tend not to use it outside the sailing fraternity. My club is also a Sailing club but I think we can be guilty of reverse snobbery on that one.

Fascinating that clearly many of the issues that raise passions in my club are repeated elsewhere.

Personally joining my club was one of the best things that I have chosen to do but I don't think everyone else is likely to see it as I do.

 

[oldgit]

Clubs are there for those who wish to join and AFAIK are not compulsory.
What you get out of a club is normally directly in proportion to what you put in and some people end up unhappy because of this.

If clubs are not your thing fine,but suspect that the excuse of clubs being a bit stuffy is really not the true reason for many not being able to step outside of their comfort zone.
OG.Rear Commode.(Inshore)

 

[Seajet]

old git,

no it can happen, I'm very happy with the club I've been in since 1977, but another club I joined - and I made no bones about it being to get a deep water mooring, which is how they were advertising themselves - turned out to be diabolically snobby and unfriendly, so when the facilities turned out not to be as claimed I found it a relief to leave.

glashen,

I couldn't help smiling when you say you ' don't use your title outside the sailing fraternity ' - so it doesn't say ' Rear Commodore ' on your cheque book then ? Harsh !

 

[jac]

Clubs are there for those who wish to join and AFAIK are not compulsory.
What you get out of a club is normally directly in proportion to what you put in and some people end up unhappy because of this.

If clubs are not your thing fine,but suspect that the excuse of clubs being a bit stuffy is really not the true reason for many not being able to step outside of their comfort zone.
OG.Rear Commode.(Inshore)

Stuffy I think is probably a useful label used by many but not accurate.

From my perspective I'm considering joining but my issues are:
1) cost if I spend £££ on a club then I can't spend it on something else on the boat. If it saves me money it's a no brainer of course but as my boat can't take the ground a cheap club with drying moorings is no good. For social - here, owners association, in a friendly boatyard and I do sail to get awa y from it so what am I actually paying for. - that said, that would be the reason to join for me.
2) inconvenience. No clubs in walking distance of where we keep the boat so to get there is either a 10 min drive or 20 mins in water taxi. Again, it takes time out of sailing.
3) Age. I have young children and am mid 40's whilst there are some clubs that are welcoming to children and have child centred activities there are plenty that don't . I would probably call them stuffy but to the retired colonels who are attracted or who join they are pretty cutting edge - why some of them even allow women to be members in their own right.

Until clubs have a compelling argument to entice people to spend potentially hundreds of pounds they will struggle to entice more members and grow as the retired colonels die off.

 

[penfold]

DD may seem like a good idea, however it can be a problem for club admin. Main problem is members who change their bank accounts without telling the club. This happens more often than you might think, result is a huge amount of time chasing a small number of members whose DDs bounce back.

Members can also cancel the DD possibly, but not always, because they wish to resign. Other problems can also arise, this is the reason our club abandoned them a few years back.

I can see it could cause headaches; perhaps giving the option to use a paypal subscription could be an alternative, as that stays the same even if your bank account moves.

 

[Seajet]

jac,

in your position I would not bother with a club if all it would mean is the social side.

The possible benefits to you I can think of might be for your children if there's a good junior section with suitable dinghies, safety boats and friends to make etc, and maybe contacts for you re boat kit, practical help with any problems or projects with your cruiser etc.

All that depends very much on what the club near you is like, but as I say if it's just a glorified country club I wouldn't bother either.

 

[glashen]

old git,

no it can happen, I'm very happy with the club I've been in since 1977, but another club I joined - and I made no bones about it being to get a deep water mooring, which is how they were advertising themselves - turned out to be diabolically snobby and unfriendly, so when the facilities turned out not to be as claimed I found it a relief to leave.

glashen,

I couldn't help smiling when you say you ' don't use your title outside the sailing fraternity ' - so it doesn't say ' Rear Commodore ' on your cheque book then ? Harsh !

No it doesn't (good idea though) but I was thinking more about speaking to contractors when I tend to say I'm in charge of house management. I have had the discussion about why I'm doing it and have been known to claim it is all about the title and the shiny uniform (irony icon)..

 

[Woodlouse]

DD may seem like a good idea, however it can be a problem for club admin. Main problem is members who change their bank accounts without telling the club. This happens more often than you might think, result is a huge amount of time chasing a small number of members whose DDs bounce back.

Members can also cancel the DD possibly, but not always, because they wish to resign. Other problems can also arise, this is the reason our club abandoned them a few years back.

I'd have thought the benefits outweigh the disadvantages. Since the number of DD's that bounce must always be smaller than the number of people you'd otherwise have to chase.

Both the clubs I belong to take their fees by DD, and my only problem with that is that I'm always caught by surprise when the bottom falls out of my bank account once a year.

 

[Romeo]

I was contemplating leaving the club that I have been a member of all my life, because I felt that it did not really do anything for me. It was all about dinghy racing.

However I saw that perhaps others felt the same, and the trick might be to actually do something about it. So I started organising an annual muster, promoted a longer distance informal race, and organised the burns supper. Made it a better club for me, and others enjoyed it too.

 

[Bosun Higgs]

I suppose I must be a clubby sort because I'm a member of three clubs. True one of them is only because they run a free courtesy boat out to the moorings and because it has a restaurant, showers and loos. One of the other two is a club / marina where the fees are half the local commercial marina and where I race in winter. Go to some of the social functions. The third is my real club where I am an ex commodore ex a few other offices too and where I know most people and they know me. In short the last one is a social club - the boat never goes anywhere near it.

Cliques? Yes of course there are. Thats people. Same thing at work. Politics? I dont really know what the OP means by this.

 

[stranded]

I voted 'thinking of leaving' but not because I am unhappy - from what little we have seen it is an extremely well run, friendly and efficient club. We just chose the wrong location. The club is near the marina where we keep the boat. That is a 1 hour 45 minute drive away. We struggle to find enough weekends to go sailing as it is so when we find the time and drive that far, we want to use the boat. Hence we have only done one 'club thing' since joining at the beginning of the year. Which makes it quite an expensive indulgence. (And anyway I wouldn't be at all surprised if they kick us out at the end of our 'probationary' year for non-participation).

Mark

 

[Cantata]

We are members of 2 clubs, indeed I am a Life Member of one, an honour bestowed on me earlier this year when someone pointed out that I'd been a member for 55 years! (Life Member at this one means free membership ).
Not a retired stuffy colonel in sight at either, nor have I encountered one since about 1970 when I squelched across the bar carpet of a club at Dawlish in wet shoes. And I thought his comment was reasonable, on reflection.
Worried about formal titles like Commodore, Rear Commodore etc? Why?? Just a tradition, it doesn't sprinkle any fairy dust on anybody and entitle them to become a pain. If they do, vote 'em out next time round.
You get as much out of a club as you put into it, IMHO. Clubs certainly have to pay attention to building membership at the younger end these days, and those that do, around here anyway, are flourishing. What is also happening round here is that old salts are doing 'Last of the Summer Wine' things like ganging together for a day cruise once a week, and having great fun in the process. We have made great friends through our involvement in clubs, wouldn't be without 'em.

 

[Sandy]

Starcross Fishing and Cruising club is a great place, friendly, welcoming with a down to earth atmosphere, along with good facilities and an excellent clubhouse and very cheap bar. I couldn't wish for a better club to be a member of.

I shall second that, a fantastic bunch of people always happy to help. And a very, very historic club house.