New Year, new bills đ
Membership fees (ÂŁ10 for over 16s) are now due. Three free trial rows then pay up! The forms may be downloaded from this website (see the menu bar above) and returned to the surgery with your cheque.
It was agreed at the AGM that additional fundraising (a ceilidh on 31 May for instance) will seed a ‘trip fund’ for regattas etc so that we can keep the basic membership rate as low as possible.
We’re searching for a place, undercover, to do some running repairs and mods on Selkie whilst the weather is preventing rowing. Can anyone help?
Classic Boat Magazine, which is usually several levels upmarket of where Skiffing probably lies, run a series of awards at the end of each year. This year some kind soul has nominated the St Ayles Skiff in the Spirit of Tradition â less than 40Ⲡcategory.
So Skiffies, you now have an opportunity to express your view of the outstanding little craft that Iain O and Alec J have conjured up for all to play with. Just visit the Classic Boat awards 2014 web page and register your vote, if all involved in Skiffiedom act in concert it should be a walkover ;-). You are looking for Category 4.
The January 2014 issue, which has just dropped through the letterbox, has a brief write up on p36 with a cracking snap from the Ullapool 2012 Regatta.
From the Scottish Coastal Rowing website:
30 Miles Round Argyllâs Slate Islands under Oar
Congratulations to Ewan Kennedy of the Isle of Seil Rowing Club for winning the 2013 Cruising Log Competition! The competition is open to all members of Scottish Coastal Rowing Association clubs.
Ewanâs log, published on his Scottish Boating Blog, describes a four day expedition in the Seil Skiff, Selkie. The adventure starts and finishes from Selkieâs base on the Isle of Seil, taking in visits to the Islands of Seil, Luing, Shuna and Insh. Sailing was experimented with, but most of the 30 miles of so of travel was conducted under oar, in company with a three other boats of diverse type. As well as a passage under the ‘Bridge over the Atlantic’, and through the exciting tidal waters of the Cuan Sound, the crew fit in a poignant visit to a beautiful bay in Seil Sound which is about to become part of an industrial scale fishfarm development.
The log will inspire others to plan carefully and look at ways in which the St Ayles Skiffs be used to explore our coastline.
Thank you to all the rowers and clubs who submitted entries. If you are planning an expedition for 2014 remember to record it for the benefit of others, and as a reminder for yourself of good times, and of course to submit as an entry to the 2014 Cruising Log Competition!
DRAFT AGENDA
Apologies
Convenorâs report
Treasurerâs report
Election of Officers and committee
Membership
Winter Maintenance of skiff and alterations
Procedure for booking rowing sessions
Regattas – Argyll and attendance at others
* Any other business
Date of next meeting
* Please intimate any other competent business through this website by 8 December
www.facebook.com/seilskiff
With the meteoric rise in the number of skiffs throughout Scotland, there is now more emphasis on regional matters in Scottish Coastal Rowing. Sue Fenton from Seil has been co-opted onto the SCRA committee as the Argyll representative.
The following is adapted from the SCRA website (thanks, Robbie!)
“The beautiful coastline of Argyll and the Inner Hebrides will be suitably enhanced next year by the presence of more St Ayles skiffs. Many will be familiar with Selkie (from the Isle of Seil) and Islayâs Lily Bheag who were both present at the Skiffie Worlds. Islay have launched their second skiff, Bluebell, and there is the possibility of further builds on the Island.
Isle of Mull are well ahead with the building of their first skiff at Tobermory, starting to apply paint only four weeks after picking up the kit, and are planning to start a second build. Oban Coastal Rowing Club has been formed with the intention of building a skiff in the biggest town in Argyll. Port Appin, a small village close to the north end of Lismore, between Oban and Fort William, will hopefully be building a skiff in the near future, and there have been expressions of interest from Campbeltown and Luing. Argyll has hundreds of miles of coastline perfect for community rowers.
Weather permitting, there will be a gathering of some of the Argyll skiffs at Otter Ferry this Sunday (17 November 2013). Otter Ferry, as the road signs notably declare, has no ferry so the skiffs from Mid-Argyll, Kilmelford and Seil will be rowing across Loch Fyne to the muster point. They will be be joined there by skiff Archie Smith from Kyles CRC and possibly one of the Royal West boats. The scenery is stunning and the company will be great!”
Seil is still looking for one or two more rowers/cox for the great adventure …
The Annual General Meeting of the Seil Coastal Rowing Club will take place on Monday 9 December in Seil Hall (small hall) at 2000 hours.
Agenda to follow. If anyone has any items that they would like to be discussed, please indicate below.
EVERYBODY WELCOME!
Four of us attended the meeting in Callander, not the best thing for the legs after our energetic day on the water. Full minutes will appear in due course on the SCRA website, so this is just a brief report with comments on matters that affect us on Seil.
The main thing that struck us in the Chairmanâs report was the huge expansion in skiffing with there now being 24 clubs affiliated to SCRA, nearly 60 skiffs in Scotland and another 40 or so planned or building. Of interest to us are Tobermory with one or maybe two and Oban with maybe one, (although we havenât heard anything from them for a while). Outside the meeting we heard that Luing are building, apparently following the successful charity row round the island.
Next year there could be a mid-Argyll regatta with eight or nine local skiffs plus visitors.
The Treasurer reported that SCRA is solvent, so the subscription stays at ÂŁ60 per club.
The Committee will be co-opting a couple of new members including one from Argyll â details to follow.
The main business was consideration of the measurement rules. New rules will prevent imaginative builders producing an unfair advantage, perhaps at the expense of safety. I wonât record all the detail here, but happily Selkie is well within all the new tolerances, so we donât need to alter her in any way.
Sensible amendments include allowing polypropylene for the keel rubbing strip, which we already have, also plastic or similar strips to reduce friction between oars and pins, which we should consider adding. They also clarify that our seat positions are legal, as is our rudder, although itâs not to the shape in the plans.
It was agreed that the expansion of the class means these must be more rigorously enforced and we were reminded that spoon and asymmetric oars are not allowed.
Metal oarlocks, footrests etc remain banned, showing that Scottish skiffing is building its own ethos that some may consider mildly eccentric.
Iâll write a further post with my views about what we should be doing this winter to improve our competitiveness, mainly addressing the oars and footrests.
Most important is to recruit some younger members, as half us rowing at Loch Venachar had bus passes. Here are some further images to let people know what theyâre missing.
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The freshwater sprints, the closing fixture in the Scottish Coastal Rowing Association calendar, were held on Loch Venacher in the Trossachs on 26 October. 15 skiffs took part; we weren’t last!
The Seil team of Ray, James, Jean, Mary, Sara, Louise, Ewan & Sue travelled through to take part in the Open Women, Novice Mixed and Open Mixed 500 metre sprints, with a buoy turn, and reached the final of the Novice Mixed. Selkie also took part in the long distance (2 km) race for new clubs, providing a very exciting finish with three clubs rowing neck-and-neck on the return from the turning mark. Watch out on You Tube for the exciting footage! We also provided the boat, and a crew member, for the Argyll composite team in the Inter-Regional sprint.
Many thanks to Ainsley Smith (Accountants) for sponsoring the club’s entry fee into the races, and to Ewan for towing Selkie across.
The races were hosted by the sailing club, and the rain held off until the prizegiving! Seil was not in the medal tables – but we had a good day’s rowing amongst some beautiful scenery. The programme concluded with the AGM, about which Ewan will post later.
