Tell me about the Cruising Association - worthwhile?

[skyflyer]

I belong to a local YC but dont live nearby (4+ hours drive) and thus cannot avail myself of the very extensive winter program of talks and activities. In the summer I never seem to be able to coincide my time on our boat with cruising events run by the club and I don't race. The clubhouse does not offer food and although it has a bar I find we rarely use it.

It struck me that I might be better off joining the Cruising Association (maybe as well as, rather than instead of) as presumably there would be a branch nearby (even in central England) which I could make use of in winter and so on.

I just wondered if any forumites are members (in which case you would probably speak highly of the CA) or were members in the past but no longer (in which case you might speak less highly of it) or would recommend an alternative.

Generally we are Ok for crew so my raison-detre is not crewseekers although I would quite like to crew for someone else to extend my experience.

All sensible advice and suggestions welcome.

Thanks in anticipation

 

[ChrisE]

Well, we were members for about 15 years and jogged along quite comfortably with it. When we lived closer to London we used to go to the lectures and used the extensive library for trip planning. When we moved away we used to stop in the cabins which are very handy for London.

After a while tho' we felt that we had outgrown the place, in that the lectures and contents of the newsletters didn't interest us any more, so we left.

 

[John Barry]

Why not go along to one of the local meetings / lectures (http://www.cruising.org.uk/events/253) to see what you think and talk to the local section - lectures are normally open to non members.
And if you're after crewing opportunities the first London crewing service meeting is Thursday 7/2 at Limehouse.

My view (you may have guessed) is that it's worth it, for the library and cruise planning facilities alone. But then I've been a member for quite a while.

 

[tidclacy]

Thought about joining but it is a bit of a slog to get to Limehouse and after reading a couple of their recent magazines thought better of it.

 

[laika]

A few years back when I didn't have a boat, the CA was on my walk home from work. I joined to meet people, both to crew with and just to socialise with. I was disappointed. I was rather underwhelmed with the way the bar was stocked and run and didn't find it at all welcoming. No proper beer, nothing vegetarian on the menu, and most of the time difficulty locating the person serving. On the few occasions I went I failed to engage anyone in conversations: elderly couples would be at tables and not tarry long at the bar to speak to the solitary young stranger. All a bit uncomfortable and other than the crewing evening I don't think I saw anyone there other than the bar and library staff under 65. The crewing evening I attended was also not so successful for me: a handful of people looking for either mid-week day sailing companions (which work precluded) or located in parts of Essex which required a car to get to (which my lack of car precluded). Any interesting lectures cost extra on top of the not insubstantial membership. When I tried to use the library for old issues of sailing magazines (when researching buying a boat), the issue I was trying to find would be missing about half the time.

A lot of things may well have changed since then. Certainly the lectures look more interesting than they used to. Perhaps the locals are more friendly towards people of their own generation.

On the upside the online technical resources are great. Lots of members have contributed a lot of knowledge from many cruising grounds. The technical committee seemed to be doing an excellent job in both lobbying and clarifying regulations and the magazine was good. Some of the members including Jim Baerselman who posts here and who gave a fine talk at the boat show have provided excellent and extensive documentation which in many cases is better than commercial pilot books.

As a UK sailor I wouldn't join the CA. If I was cruising abroad, the online resources and local harbour reps would make it a far more attractive proposition. Only my opinion, and based on info which is 5 years out of date.

 

[RAI]

I keep up my subscription. The CA has improved it's online presence a lot and its cruising information is useful. I meet a fair number of other members while cruising, which is good for a beer and chat. Some marinas and chandlers give discount to CA members, so some years I get my subscription back in discounts.

 

[Kurrawong_Kid]

Skyflyer I notice you are based in Worcester. You are 2 days too late! The West Midlands Section had its New Year "Nosh" on last Wednesday night in Worcester! The Section meets at 2 locations, sometimes at the Severn Motor Yacht Club in Worcester, by kind permission of the Commodore, or jointly with the Midlands Coastal Cruising Club at Ashwood Marina near Kingswinford, Dudley.
I'll try to PM you a programme tomorrow. K_k

 

[LadyInBed]

I will tell you in May
If the 'crewing service' finds me a crew to go down to Galicia, then it's great.
If not, then 'taint

 

[stav]

Used to belong when I could get to limehouse. But now I live away I have joined to try and find crew but it just seems very difficult being stuck on the rock and my memebership lapsed a couple of years ago. I think the lectures look good, just a shame they do not stream them online so far flung memeberscould watch, I would join again if that happened, also an online library, via kindle?

 

[jimbaerselman]

Join Cruising Associaton?

If you're thinking of cruising further afield, especially if you're either buying or fitting out a boat so you can spend more time afloat, joining is good value, irrespective of where you live. That's because there has been a major shift towards on-line information exchange between members, using the web site, email nets for instant questions and answers, and Apps for ipad and Android which show maps with pilot book updates and corrections - pinned to locations.

So you don't get flooded with information you don't want, the email nets/forums are split into a number of sea areas (Med, Baltic, Biscay, Channel, North Sea - and more being added). Ask a question by email (good layup spot? local discount berths? local engineers?) and you'll get 5 or 6 replies within a few hours from people who've been there and done it recently. The person who asked the Q gets the replies, and others can see the whole story if they wish by going to the forum. Neat system to keep the email traffic down.

Seminars are run for each sea area before season, covering stuff such as preparing boats for the climate, mooring situations, recent regulations, anchoring restrictions - whatever is relevant. OK, the seminars are London Based, but the talks are all covered by handouts, which are posted on the Cruise Info pages of the web site for each region. What you miss if you can't attend is the face to face dialogue, the chart and pilot book swaps, and Agnieska's rather fine buffet lunches!

All that for the cost of a beer a week. And if you're really mean and do your homework, some of the marina and equipment discounts can more than repay your fees.

It's a big information exchange really, with quality info (Vyv Cox on mechanics, Frank Singleton for weather, I've got the boring bit about rules, regulations and VAT stuff, while local reps and editors on site keep their areas up to date). More polite than some forums, and far more targeted to the individual area you want to cruise.

The Association is doing something right at the moment. Membership up from some 3,500 or so to 4,300 over the last 3 or 4 years, and no increase in fees for UK members. Not bad.

 

[charles_reed]

The cost of the Cruising Association is small.
IMHO, treating it like a local clubhouse is missing the main benefits of the Association, which now has a very effective internet presence, a number of local representatives around a variety of places in Europe as well as the UK.
You'll get back from the organisation what you're prepared to put in, information more pertinent, if not more exhaustive than you'll get from the ybw.website, plenty of social as well as sailing opportunities and, if you care to use them, discounts from a number of organisations, which will easily cover the membership if you're abroad.
For a liveaboard cruiser a better bet than any local club.

Is it worth it? only if you use it!!

 

[skyflyer]

Thank you all for your contributions; I,m no nearer London than my boat but I see there are regional branches. Gotta be worth a punt - dont have to rejoin next year if it doesnt work out!!