Strange attitude of yacht club to potential new members

[JumbleDuck]

As well as 50 keelboats on the water
This year we held 12 open meetings 4 of which were the classes national championships...

Perhaps I should have stressed the words "sounds like" a little more in "sounds like one infested by old farts". This whole thread is about the impression clubs give through their communication, not what the clubs are actually like. Do your keelboat racers agree that it's time in the bar that matters, not time on the water? I'd be surprised if they do.

 

[Seajet]

Well he wasn't helpful to me! It was your PM that prompted us to try LSC. Apologies for not responding.

Jaguar 25,

if you're still interested I would happily have a chat with our mooring and berthing chap, he really is extremely helpful, I could get a realistic idea from him re winter storage and mooring availability I'm sure.

As I say it has always been club policy not to guarantee moorings, I fell foul of this myself once when an over zealous chap years ago said he couldn't promise, so I went into Emsworth Marina; the club was very surprised and ' questions were asked ', so to put it bluntly long standing members get a more realistic idea of their options now, and as mentioned I have never known anyone fail to get the mooring side ( Langstone or Chichester harbours ) they want !

The moorings chap now is very experienced as a sailor and with the hoist etc, but new to the actual job of planning lift in & out and dispositions ashore, so may be a bit reticent in case of letting people down, as we do have a record number of boats ashore this winter.

However to be quite honest he's the best I have ever dealt with, and I'm sure he would fit you in if humanly possible; maybe PM me if you'd like me to ask ?

Andy

 

[Daydream believer]

Perhaps I should have stressed the words "sounds like" a little more in "sounds like one infested by old farts". This whole thread is about the impression clubs give through their communication, not what the clubs are actually like. Do your keelboat racers agree that it's time in the bar that matters, not time on the water? I'd be surprised if they do.

Actually the few keel boaters that race do interact. It is not a case of "propping up the bar" it is a case of interacting with others & that is usually best done in the lounge. The awkward ones are the ones that just come & go without a word & do nothing for the club itself

 

[Jaguar 25]

if you're still interested I would happily have a chat with our mooring and berthing chap, he really is extremely helpful, I could get a realistic idea from him re winter storage and mooring availability I'm sure.

Thanks for the offer but we have now made arrangements with Thornham marina for winter storage and this includes free swinging mooring for 2015 (I think if we commit to 2015 winter storage).

The position that we were in was that, mostly due to prevarication after trying unsuccessfully to sell, we only decided to move the boat to the Chichester area a week last Saturday and need to have the boat out of Liverpool marina by this week. Therefore I had to get somewhere to put the boat quickly and winter storage was the prime requirement with the availability of a swinging mooring being secondary given that we would have 5 or 6 months to sort it out. Perhaps he should have just said 'no'. It would have made life simpler but to say that we had to join first and then he would see if there was space once he had moved the current members boats to the hard standing was no use to me but I couldn't get him to understand that.

 

[Jim@sea]

I had a slow (10knots) 23ft Cabin Cruiser and went to a North West Yacht Club with the intention of finding out more about the club and I enquired about joining. I was asked what type of boat I had and I replied "A motor cruiser" The reply was "we don't like motor boats here" so I left.
On the way out I noticed in their "Boat Park" a massive Power Boat. perhaps 35-40ft on a launching trailer, which could obviously only be launched with the clubs slipway tractor.
One law for one presumably.

 

[JumbleDuck]

The awkward ones are the ones that just come & go without a word & do nothing for the club itself

If they do nothing then of course I agree - ungrateful and rude. As long as they turn up to working parties I don't see why they need to socialise as well.

 

[Tintin]

if you're still interested I would happily have a chat with our mooring and berthing chap, he really is extremely helpful, I could get a realistic idea from him re winter storage and mooring availability I'm sure.

Thanks for the offer but we have now made arrangements with Thornham marina for winter storage and this includes free swinging mooring for 2015 (I think if we commit to 2015 winter storage).

The position that we were in was that, mostly due to prevarication after trying unsuccessfully to sell, we only decided to move the boat to the Chichester area a week last Saturday and need to have the boat out of Liverpool marina by this week. Therefore I had to get somewhere to put the boat quickly and winter storage was the prime requirement with the availability of a swinging mooring being secondary given that we would have 5 or 6 months to sort it out. Perhaps he should have just said 'no'. It would have made life simpler but to say that we had to join first and then he would see if there was space once he had moved the current members boats to the hard standing was no use to me but I couldn't get him to understand that.

An unpaid volunteer who applied his club rules is being castigated publicly because he didn't fit your timescale demands - unbelievable.

Some people think the world owes them and take, take, take.

 

[JumbleDuck]

An unpaid volunteer who applied his club rules is being castigated publicly because he didn't fit your timescale demands - unbelievable.

Some people think the world owes them and take, take, take.

What's eating you? The OP asked "Could I leave my boat here this winter?" and was told "It's a secret". He has every right to point out that that was not a terribly helpful answer, and I see nothing to justify your repeated personal abuse of him.

 

[bigwow]

if you're still interested I would happily have a chat with our mooring and berthing chap, he really is extremely helpful, I could get a realistic idea from him re winter storage and mooring availability I'm sure.

Thanks for the offer but we have now made arrangements with Thornham marina for winter storage and this includes free swinging mooring for 2015 (I think if we commit to 2015 winter storage).

The position that we were in was that, mostly due to prevarication after trying unsuccessfully to sell, we only decided to move the boat to the Chichester area a week last Saturday and need to have the boat out of Liverpool marina by this week. Therefore I had to get somewhere to put the boat quickly and winter storage was the prime requirement with the availability of a swinging mooring being secondary given that we would have 5 or 6 months to sort it out. Perhaps he should have just said 'no'. It would have made life simpler but to say that we had to join first and then he would see if there was space once he had moved the current members boats to the hard standing was no use to me but I couldn't get him to understand that.

Oh well at least you have made a space for yet another narrow boat in Liverpool marina.:encouragement:

 

[Tintin]

What's eating you? The OP asked "Could I leave my boat here this winter?" and was told "It's a secret". He has every right to point out that that was not a terribly helpful answer, and I see nothing to justify your repeated personal abuse of him.

Jumble - you take every opportunity on any thread to have a pop at me - sorry I do not share your views (thank god) - please stop telling me I may not have an opinion. Now will you pls go do one.

 

[JumbleDuck]

Jumble - you take every opportunity on any thread to have a pop at me - sorry I do not share your views (thank god) - please stop telling me I may not have an opinion. Now will you pls go do one.

I can't think of anywhere else we have disagreed. You are, of course, entitled to your opinion just as I am entitled to my opinion that your opinion (are you following me?) is bizarrely antagonistic to the OP. I'm not quite sure what the "one" you want me to do is, but if it's a load of washing, I'm on it.

Hugs, JD.

 

[l'escargot]

The later comment: "...we had to join first and then he would see if there was space once he had moved the current members boats to the hard standing..." puts a bit of a different perspective on events to your first quote: "well you have to apply to join first and, if accepted and you become a member, then we can see if there is a space available." doesn't it?

One sounds to me like someone juggling a difficult job who will see if he can accommodate a new member, the other sounds like someone who isn't hopeful of being able to accommodate you. I wonder which it was?

 

[Seajet]

As I have explained more than once, the club doesn't like to promise just in case they can't deliver, though I have never known that happen; as I have also explained repeatedly, if the OP had gone through me as a response to my PM he wouldn't have had this spurious worry.

LSC tries very hard to fit everyone in and accomodate new members, and I have explained the circumstances; if the OP feels like contacting me - which would have been a good idea in the first place in response to my PM as I could have met, introduced him & found the score, he would not have had any worries and this thread would never have existed !

 

[Jaguar 25]

As I have explained more than once, the club doesn't like to promise just in case they can't deliver, though I have never known that happen; as I have also explained repeatedly, if the OP had gone through me as a response to my PM he wouldn't have had this spurious worry.

LSC tries very hard to fit everyone in and accomodate new members, and I have explained the circumstances; if the OP feels like contacting me - which would have been a good idea in the first place in response to my PM as I could have met, introduced him & found the score, he would not have had any worries and this thread would never have existed !

Sorry Seajet but you actually said in your PM that you were pretty sure that there were moorings available. What I urgently needed was winter storage and this could not be made available to me in the time that I needed. I understand perfectly the berthing officer's position but I could not wait and needed to go elsewhere. For him to keep saying that I needed to join the club first and then see if it could be accommodated several weeks after I needed the space was no use to me with a boat that needed a home. So unfortunately, he was unable to understand my position!

And finally, LSC looks to be a really good club with good facilities and a perfect location.....

 

[Seajet]

Would have been available I'm sure if you'd asked me or given our berthing chap a chance.

However good luck wherever you've ended up, we might, probably unknowingly, bump into each other one day !
Andy

 

[Sailfree]

I had a slow (10knots) 23ft Cabin Cruiser and went to a North West Yacht Club with the intention of finding out more about the club and I enquired about joining. I was asked what type of boat I had and I replied "A motor cruiser" The reply was "we don't like motor boats here" so I left.
On the way out I noticed in their "Boat Park" a massive Power Boat. perhaps 35-40ft on a launching trailer, which could obviously only be launched with the clubs slipway tractor.
One law for one presumably.

Many YC are primarily for sailing - mine is - but they will allow long standing members a berth for motor boats if old age limits their dexterity and they need to change from sail to motor.

 

[Seajet]

Many YC are primarily for sailing - mine is - but they will allow long standing members a berth for motor boats if old age limits their dexterity and they need to change from sail to motor.

This was the case at my club, my friend and colleague Charlie Solley - veteran of the Murmansk Convoys, Chief Inspector on the Harrier World Sales Tour among other things and the first person ever to take me sailing - suffered diminishing health, so bought a twin screw motor boat; the club was happy to accomodate it, but knowing Charlie it was a last effort to stay afloat, and he died without using the boat much if at all.

 

[onesea]

The awkward ones are the ones that just come & go without a word & do nothing for the club itself

Guilty as charged, I do try and volunteer for the odd bit but they always want you to give availability weeks in advance and I just cannot do that.

I will only drink in the bar if I have some one who is retired (atleast 20 years older than me) with me so I fit in.

I cannot do regular so cannot get racing crew and the idea of sailing some where to have lunch with the same OAP's in the bar does not appeal... I do have a couple of people I know there and do sometimes get dragged in for a drink. Yet like all the friends I have taken there I do not willingly return...

 

[Sailfree]

As for cruising in company - yeugh. Can't imagine anything I'd like less. Absolutely fine if other people like it, of course.

May be a major difference in sailing attitudes between those like you who presumably sail in relatively empty waters and others that have to share the very crowded Solent.

My YC arranges a number of summer cruises where they designate the next port and people make their way there - bit like flotilla holidays. The evening gatherings around one boat with a drink I find very enjoyable.

I find all forms of Sailing (inc racing) enjoyable and that also includes the social side.

 

[JumbleDuck]

May be a major difference in sailing attitudes between those like you who presumably sail in relatively empty waters and others that have to share the very crowded Solent.

Nah, it's just me being an antisocial bugger. Or, to put a (desperate) positive spin on it, sailing to get away from it all.