The curious case of RHYC and the pirate flag.

MoodySabre

MoodySabre

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A few weeks ago I was on the Orwell with grandchildren on board. In a not unknown 'tradition' a large pirate flag flew from the spreaders.

We berthed at RHYC and were requested to lower our flag. When I enquired as to why I was told "The club has associations with Swallows and Amazons, and that's the Swallows and Amazon flag". I said that I thought the skull and crossbones predated Arthur Ransome to which the response was something about the Knights Templar.

There is nothing on the RHYC website about this "association". Anybody know about this?

Anyway the food was excellent and very reasonable. The clubhouse is in a superb position. On a warm sunny Saturday in August there was only a handful of people eating there. Strange.
 
Strictly speaking the white skull and crossbones on black is the Amazons' (Nancy and Peggy) flag. The Swallows' (Walker children) is a black swallow on white. In Swallows and Amazons the two burgees are shown crossed over each other with "Swallows and Amazons for ever" inscribed below. In Secret Water the two burgees are shown crossed, contained in a circle, encircled by an eel, with "The Secret Archipelago Expedition" inscribed around the top.

We were in Wells last week and skull and crossbones flags was being sold up and down the High Street for the upcoming Pirates weekend...lots of boats there were flying it... I can't quite see how RHYC can be proprietorial about this flag...
 
I'm curious as to what associations they claim with Swallows and Amazons? Don't recall the club being mentioned in any of the books or in relation to Ransom himself
 
Phoenix of Hamble said:
I agree... but it doesn't make any difference if it did IMHO... its just a bit 'blazer and brass buttons' if you ask me.
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Must say it's posh looking place! And the lawn was crowded with people as we walked down the footpath from Wolverstone to Pin Mill all looking very smart and posh too. Given that we were in our normal state of scruffiness I can't say as I felt the least tempted to enter the premises!
 
It's a great job they've made of the clubhouse, really smart. But if they'd asked me to take the pirate flag down I'd have politely declined, in any case old Arthur was may great-uncle once removed so I'm family.
 
Lazy Kipper said:
It's a great job they've made of the clubhouse, really smart. But if they'd asked me to take the pirate flag down I'd have politely declined, in any case old Arthur was may great-uncle once removed so I'm family.
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Is it not a case of their club their rules?

I'm not suggesting a kids pirate flag upsets the more level headed among us but I do recall a letter in YM about UK based yachtsman flying the skull and crossbones.

Apparently it upsets people kidnapped by the Somalians, an unidentified RHYC grumpy bugger and some YM readers!
 
As a member (one of the scruffy ones) can I add two points to this:
1. I cannot think of any reason to ask you to take your flag down and i probably would have refused. I can think of a few people that might have been the person who asked you to do so and I am happy to investigate if you wish. I am also not aware of any real link with Arthur R although the association do use the clubhouse occasionally with or without Nancy Blackett.
2. The club is busy / empty at slightly unpredictable times depending on a mixture of events / weather. Generally Sunday is busier than Saturday.

We have been members for a while. The club is an interesting mix of scruffy and smart, people that want a restaurant with a view and people that want to potter in sailing dinghies. Overall they do a decent job of balancing all of the divergent constituents.... most of the time.

Finally - there are few places I would rather be (on shore) than on the lawn on a warm afternoon. I hope you all feel that the place is welcoming enough to come an enjoy it too... we could certainly do with your custom!
 
Charlotte Anne said:
As a member (one of the scruffy ones) can I add two points to this:
1. I cannot think of any reason to ask you to take your flag down and i probably would have refused. I can think of a few people that might have been the person who asked you to do so and I am happy to investigate if you wish. I am also not aware of any real link with Arthur R although the association do use the clubhouse occasionally with or without Nancy Blackett.
2. The club is busy / empty at slightly unpredictable times depending on a mixture of events / weather. Generally Sunday is busier than Saturday.

We have been members for a while. The club is an interesting mix of scruffy and smart, people that want a restaurant with a view and people that want to potter in sailing dinghies. Overall they do a decent job of balancing all of the divergent constituents.... most of the time.

Finally - there are few places I would rather be (on shore) than on the lawn on a warm afternoon. I hope you all feel that the place is welcoming enough to come an enjoy it too... we could certainly do with your custom!
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To elucidate - Jeff the berthing master said "The club may ask you to take your flag down".
I mentioned this to a forumite RHYC member who was on the pontoon at the time and he said "I'm not surprised"

Anyway the pan-fried halibut with new potatoes and veg for £7.95 was a bargain. And the staff were very friendly. And it's cheaper than next door. And the crabbing off the slipway was a great success. I'll come there again.
 
lol, thats one of the funniest post that I have read on here.

The RHYC has no affiliation with Swallows and Amazons other than the Nancy Blackett trust was using the Club that weekend for their annual 'bash'. The Nancy Blackett, Peter Duck and others Ransom vessels being in attendance. No member of the RHYC would suggest you removed your flag and I would guess that this was done by one of the older members of the Nancy Blackett trust.

You will appreciate that the RHYC can not be responsible for comments made by other visiting yachtsmen.

However to state that the RHYC is ' just a bit much blazer and brass buttons' is quite hilarious and I wonder which planet or yacht club the poster belongs to. The RHYC comes in for a bit of stick on here so for the edification of those who believe this rubbish let me give you a flavour of the 'blazer and brass buttons' of the clubs officers.

The management is in the hands of flag officers. It is these officers that set the tone and standard of the club. One is a local Suffolk boy complete with accent. One is Dutch, one is a Kiwi, one is a council house boy from the Midlands and the other is an ex school dentist.

Like many sailors who devote their own time to sailing club/yacht club management they do so out of love for the sailing and the comradeship that a club provides. Its not posh, its not snooty but is has a dedicated team that rebuilt a beautiful club in a fantastic setting. Not only for club members but for any yachtsman who is passing, whether by vessel or on foot.

Forget your preconceived ideas and come and have a drink. You are all very welcome.
 
Sinbad1951 said:
lol, thats one of the funniest post that I have read on here.

The RHYC has no affiliation with Swallows and Amazons other than the Nancy Blackett trust was using the Club that weekend for their annual 'bash'. The Nancy Blackett, Peter Duck and others Ransom vessels being in attendance. No member of the RHYC would suggest you removed your flag and I would guess that this was done by one of the older members of the Nancy Blackett trust.
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See my last post. It was the 9th August - I didn't notice anything else going on.

I agree that it is a good place to stop.
 
Sinbad1951 said:
lol, thats one of the funniest post that I have read on here.

The RHYC has no affiliation with Swallows and Amazons other than the Nancy Blackett trust was using the Club that weekend for their annual 'bash'. The Nancy Blackett, Peter Duck and others Ransom vessels being in attendance. No member of the RHYC would suggest you removed your flag and I would guess that this was done by one of the older members of the Nancy Blackett trust.

You will appreciate that the RHYC can not be responsible for comments made by other visiting yachtsmen.

However to state that the RHYC is ' just a bit much blazer and brass buttons' is quite hilarious and I wonder which planet or yacht club the poster belongs to. The RHYC comes in for a bit of stick on here so for the edification of those who believe this rubbish let me give you a flavour of the 'blazer and brass buttons' of the clubs officers.

The management is in the hands of flag officers. It is these officers that set the tone and standard of the club. One is a local Suffolk boy complete with accent. One is Dutch, one is a Kiwi, one is a council house boy from the Midlands and the other is an ex school dentist.

Like many sailors who devote their own time to sailing club/yacht club management they do so out of love for the sailing and the comradeship that a club provides. Its not posh, its not snooty but is has a dedicated team that rebuilt a beautiful club in a fantastic setting. Not only for club members but for any yachtsman who is passing, whether by vessel or on foot.

Forget your preconceived ideas and come and have a drink. You are all very welcome.
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Sorry for inhabiting the wrong planet.

My one and only visit a few years back left me feeling rather less than welcome... and earlier this year, another friend of mine, a fellow berth holder at Shotley, was treated so rudely by an old duffer on the pontoon when trying to tie up, it was amazing... followed by being told that sitting on the grass was 'for members only'!!!

However, I applaud any effort to make a club work... having been involved in them myself, I know just how much hard work is involved...
 
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Wrong marina I would guess as the RHYC has never ever supplied fuel, other than the liquid kind to assist thirsty sailors.
 
Reading the various threads containing the RHYC I decided to pay a visit to see for myself.

It was a Saturday lunchtime, we had stopped off in Woolverstone for a night and thought we'd go and grab a drink. First impressions was it was very quiet compared to MYC, the building was very impressive and the lawn a lovely location to spend a few hours gazing out over the river.

The comments here from the enthusiastic members are encouraging but I suspect like all (?) yacht clubs there does always seem to be a few members lacking in social skill that delight in telling people they are breaking some rule or another.

We've met a couple of grumblers at MYC, as new members I was quite shocked the first time 'lord snooty' expressed displeasure at the sight of my van in the car park, my lack of social standing and the slipping membership criteria.

I've heard these same chaps talking about falling membership.....'Why are we trying to attract new members, just put the fees up,'.

The one good thing this minority of miserable old gits that seem to frequent yacht clubs do provide, is a great example of how I don't want to behave when I'm older!
 
We've dropped in there a couple of times and really liked it, everyone seemed very welcoming and friendly and it's a lovely place. Having spent many years involved in the running of a voluntary sailing club you meet all sorts and there's inevitably a grumpy old git or two who like to demonstrate how important they are to the whole organisation. Come to think of it I was probably one of them. Anyway, can't imagine any of the people we met from RHYC wanting a pirate flag removed, it seemed to be very welcoming of families and kids based on our experience - in fact we considered joining many years ago. Bit of an aberration Roger, still at least it's something to keep the Forumites in conversation :)
 
xyachtdave said:
The comments here from the enthusiastic members are encouraging but I suspect like all (?) yacht clubs there does always seem to be a few members lacking in social skill that delight in telling people they are breaking some rule or another.
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I think that's the nub of the matter. It's not just yacht clubs, it's all clubs. In fact it's not just clubs, the world is full of ignorant/rude people who think they can invent rules to suit themselves (I've experienced quite a few of these just out walking the dog - "Your dog has to be on a lead here, it's the law" etc.). The trick is not to let them stop your enjoyment of things & places, enjoy the nice people & ignore the rude ones. Sometimes easier said than done.
 
What if you actually are a pirate and youre continuing on the fables youve took on as beliefs to continue your quest accross the sea.. If you state its your flag also im sure they cant sue you for copywrite..lol Arrrgh
 
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