Cruising Association - membership vs non-membership

Angele

Angele

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I am a member of a yacht club, the RYA and my Owners' Association. (RNLI too, but that isn't relevant here).

I work in London and for years I have been aware of the Cruising Association, but just never looked into what they offer to decide whether it is something I might want to join.

Well, the Sailing School with whom I did a number of theory classes many years ago is hosting some Xmas drinks at the CA's Limehouse HQ tonight, so I'm going to see what it is like. I have spent a bit of time looking at the CA's website and there are a few things there that would interest me - some seminars/talks at Limehouse and some cruises in company. But, it looks like these are open to members and non-members alike (albeit, in the case of the seminar, at a small premium of £5 if you aren't a member).

So, to justify the CA membership fee - 1st year discounted (by virtue of my Owners' Association) to £90 if paid by d/d, thereafter £120 - I would need to go to a lot of their seminars, which seems unlikely. Out of interest, their membership fee is the same again as the aggregate cost of the membership fees of the three clubs/associations to which I already belong, as per my opening sentence.

So, even as someone based in London, I'm not sure it is actually worth me joining at that cost. It seems I can get what I want out of them by being a "non-member".

What am I missing?
 
Lots of Area groups, cruises and events, Honorary Local Representatives in Hundreds of ports both British Isles and Worldwide ,member discounts, excellent quarterly magazine.
Fantastic library that can be used by members anywhere to borrow books from, chart room with worldwide charts and pilot books for passage and cruise planning.
 
Aja said:
Like any club or association you get out of it what you put into it.
Click to expand...

But, so far my impression is that this is quite different to the other clubs I am a member of. Its membership is, I'm guessing, much more geographically spread than my yacht club. I won't just be able to pop along to the bar and meet everyone. Even the Dufour Owners' Association is more geographically defined than the CA in that the former is essentially a UK only organisation.

So, it is going to be much harder for me to "put into it" anything meaningful - and I seem to be able to do much of that without actually joining.
 
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I am on my first year of membership. The online resources are brilliant, I have stayed up late reading peoples' reports and log books of global cruises.

The library is superb, it's not open very often unfortunately.

I doubt I will benefit from the members' discounts as I don't buy things new in general. Perhaps for yacht insurance.

I have never contacted an HLR, but if you ran into trouble in a distant cruising zone with language or culture difficulties, the HLR would probably make the membership fee worth it with one or two phone calls to their local contacts!

Yes it's expensive.. unless you use it to the full. I may or may not renew next yr, we will see, cheers Jerry
 
I too am a member of similar organisations as you and wondered about the CA for years. I joined at the LBS earlier this year using the Westerly Owners discount to see what it was like.
In a nutshell I'd say that if you are just pottering about the coast then its not going to be worth it. If you are going to go further afield then yes it's worth a trial year. I went to see Bob Shepton about 4 weeks ago and went to CA House for the first time. Was very impressed with the library, all the pilot books and charts they have. They sold a lot of their historical library to Cambridge Uni which paid for the building of CA House. As a member you do have access to the library in Cambridge too. There is also a useful app called Captains Mate which has a write-up about every port world wide the CA members have visited. You can also stay at CA house although it is a bit basic. There are also Local Harbour Representatives world wide that you can call upon for assistance if you need it. Finally there are several members forums covering areas all over the world.
I'm going to renew this coming year but I think I will be monitoring my usage of the club's facillities to see if I'm getting value for my membership - which incidentally also includes my wife for the £120
Mike
 
jerrytug said:
I have never contacted an HLR, but if you ran into trouble in a distant cruising zone with language or culture difficulties, the HLR would probably make the membership fee worth it with one or two phone calls to their local contacts!
Click to expand...

What's an HLR? :confused:

Edit: Cancel that. Answered by Vegable (assuming HLRs and LHRs are interchangeable ;) ).
 
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I never took geography O level so I havent much of an idea where Hertfordshire is. I mention that because as an ex member of the CA, the big issue for me was being so far away. It would be a great facility if you worked in London and could easily get to docklands. From the west country its next to useless.

Good facilities, good club, lots of sctivities and even the food in my day was edible.
 
I think this topic is worth a forum search as it comes up relatively frequently. I joined for a year 7 years ago for a year. My conclusion was that I'd join again if I was cruising abroad but it's a waste of time (for me) in this country. I was living 10 mins walk from limehouse at the time and I didn't find the bar welcoming or competently staffed. I may have just been unfortunate but a lot of the time when I wanted to read a particular magazine article in a back issue of YM etc. that copy was missing from the library. The online resources were excellent and the magazine is also good. For me the main reason to join would be the resources to aid cruising abroad.
 
I'm the CA HLR (Honorary - i.e. voluntary - Local Representative) for Crete. The CA has HLRs in a huge number of ports and islands/areas worldwide, effectively they are a friend in every port who can offer planning advice and assistance on where to go and what to see as well as helping out if you have a problem. So for those venturing further afield (further than the UK that is) the CA's wealth of cruising and government regulations information is hard to beat. In the Med especially CA members have been there and done that and their knowledge and experience is available to all other members. The CA publishes pilot book updates each year, based on member experiences and reports, and the CAptain's Mate app (also available online) gives access to members cruising reports from all over the world.

The CA is much, much more than a London based social club and library, it is the sum total of all its member's knowledge and experience. That said, it has a big social aspect too, and again not just in CA House in London. Members look for the CA burgee in anchorages and ports worldwide and can be sure of a welcome aboard when they make themselves known. And no, there isn't a secret handshake. ;)

It's not for everyone of course, horses for courses, but trying us for a year is the only way to know. My happy and fulfilling experience as a member might not match your needs or expectations any more than someone who tells you it's a waste of money. Suck us and see! :)
 
These responses have been really useful guys, especially the view from the inside from Tony Cross.

Ahead of tonight's drinks there, I think I have concluded that now is not the right time for me to join.

I sail the English Channel - central part mostly - and I know these waters fairly well. I don't yet have the time to sail further afield. (I hope I will in years to come). It doesn't sound like access to the CA's library is going to give a huge amount of value added when I can get all the (basic) info I need from my copy of Reeds plus the pilot books aboard Angele.

I have been very successful this year finding crew for free - I've just counted up that I have had 11 new people on Angele this year, 1 from here, 3 from the "crew available" listing of a yacht club close to my berth (of which I am also a non-member) and the rest from Sailing Networks - so I have no need of the CA's (member only) crewing facility at the mo.

If I have a problem with the boat away from my home port then I should be able to track down the required help using only English or French (which I speak reasonably well), so these HLRs are not essential for the sailing I do.

I don't need to fly another burgee to get people popping over to say "hi". I have my "tipsy mouse" burgee which seems to attract you lot well enough. :)

Perhaps in 10 years things will be different and I may then find it useful to join. Until then, I'll try it as a non-member. :encouragement:
 
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Angele said:
These responses have been really useful guys, especially the view from the inside from Tony Cross.

Ahead of tonight's drinks there, I think I have concluded that now is not the right time for me to join.

I sail the English Channel - central part mostly - and I know these waters fairly well. I don't yet have the time to sail further afield. (I hope I will in years to come). It doesn't sound like access to the CA's library is going to give a huge amount of value added when I can get all the (basic) info I need from my copy of Reeds plus the pilot books aboard Angele.

I have been very successful this year finding crew for free - I've just counted up that I have had 11 new people on Angele this year, 1 from here, 3 from the "crew available" listing of a yacht club close to my berth (of which I am also a non-member) and the rest from Sailing Networks - so I have no need of the CA's (member only) crewing facility at the mo.

If I have a problem with the boat away from my home port then I should be able to track down the required help using only English or French (which I speak reasonably well), so these HLRs are not essential for the sailing I do.

I don't need to fly another burgee to get people popping over to say "hi". I have my "tipsy mouse" burgee which seems to attract you lot well enough. :)

Perhaps in 10 years things will be different and I may then find it useful to join. Until then, I'll try it as a non-member. :encouragement:
Click to expand...

No problem, we'll still speak to you! :)
 
jerrytug said:
The library is superb, it's not open very often unfortunately.
Click to expand...

As to the value of the library: I'll have to take your word for it.
When I was a member I traveled into London on 3 occasions with the specific purpose of visiting the CA library - it was closed each and every time.
Twice, when I had called the day before to make sure it would be open.

Needless to say, I did not renew my membership.
Shame really.
 
I think it would be helpful if you were to contact the CA and tell them your thoughts. I am a member and I live on a boat in Limehouse and I am the volunteer who opens the library out of hours. I probably would not be a member if I didn't live on top of CA House (although I would definitely join if I were off cruising). We go to most of the seminars and lectures and have met a lot of interesting people - though as you say, all of this is available to non-members too. I do know that the committee is actively seeking ideas on how to make the CA more attractive to members. I'm pretty certain they would welcome feedback. They are in the middle of collating a survey of members on this very topic.
 
I am one of those who are dithering on this matter. I have belonged to the RYA since before the time of Noah, but they seem to spend so much of my money supporting dinghy competition, to which I have no objection, but also such things as jet-skiing, to which I do object, or at least feel that I have nothing in common with. Part of my reason for belonging has been for the support they can give to our sport, but in recent years I think the CA is a more appropriate organisation for me.

My early encounters with the CA were not particularly encouraging, since the only boats I ever saw with their ensign seemed to be small Macwesters up muddy Essex creeks. That was probably because that was also where we spent our time, but nowadays, the chance to get the latest lowdown in the Baltic is something I might value.
 
Having done the research we found the OCC a better fit for our cruising plans and we have met some amazing Port Officers and OCC members on our travels, as well as CA and other cruising association members!

We felt that the CA was more European focused, which didn't really align with our plans. We also looked at the SSCA but overall, for the passages we planned, places we wanted to go, and trips we wanted to do, the OCC, after qualifying, was a better match for us.
 
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