Welcome to the spring edition of the Newsletter, it seems the weather is going to be a factor in this years boating calendar. There has been more flooding and due to the inclement weather forecast for the Easter weekend regrettably the social and BBQ had to be cancelled, it was thought no-one would want to be standing around on the riverbank shivering in the SNOW, even if we could get to our boats, although a few hardy souls still braved the weather and stayed all over Easter.
As we were away for both the Pre-season lunch and the Chalet bar clean up, Janette has been kind enough to write a review of both.
CHALET BAR CLEAN –UP 15TH MARCH
Saturday 15th March dawned and emerged into a lovely Spring Day with a temperature of 14 degrees – great for sorting out the Chalet Bar ready for the first outdoor event of the season a social and BBQ on 22nd March – Easter Saturday.
The recent floods had subsided and left a tide-mark up to about l8” inside the clubhouse as well as lots of mud, now dried in on the carpet tiles and very wet boxes and other objects.
The work party consisted of members of the committee and other volunteers.
The first job was to remove everything from the hut, after that, most of the contents had to be washed, dried and repacked in fresh boxes. Ben Purvis did a great job washing all the glasses; apparently he was bored at home, but did not know what was in store for him at the Marina! It also became apparent that a vacuum cleaner over the carpet tiles was not going to be successful and so it was decided to hire an industrial cleaner which was used in conjunction with a pressure washer and achieved a good result. However, there were a number of people with aching backs on Sunday morning. There were a number of items that were spoilt including the small fridge, which had to be dumped.
You will be interested to know that we have a number of expert window and carpet cleaners on the committee!! Also Jackie Simms is very good at washing curtains!
Colin was extremely useful, he took the doors off and made them fit again and work commenced on sanding and varnishing the three tables that had stayed outside the hut all winter.
Naturally we all retired to the hotel for refreshment at lunchtime, so that we could return to work full of vigour. However, this was short lived as it started to rain and everything had to be put back in a hurry. Fingers crossed everything will have dried out for the 22nd.
Our thanks go to all those who helped, we all worked very hard but nonetheless enjoyable.
PRE-SEASON LUNCH 16TH MARCH
Sunday dawned a really horrible day, wet and windy, everywhere saturated from the really heavy torrential rain that had occurred during Saturday night. On arrival at the Marina, we found the river was in full flood once more, with a fast flow, waves and white horses. There was a lot of debris floating past including a large barrel. Most members had passed fields flooded on their journey to the Pike, which indicated the amount of rain that had fallen in a short time. There were some brave canoeists about, who thought they were on the rapids, but they were engaged in a dangerous past time and should not have put themselves or others at risk.
We met in the bar at noon for drinks and a chat, as most people had not seen each other since the laying up supper, although some of course had met on the Winter Trip.
Much to our surprise Luigi and staff at the Pike had rallied round and let us use the restaurant instead of the breakfast room. This was very nice, five tables all set out to accommodate 50 people. The week had commenced with 56 attending but the usual winter illness had crept in and we had some last minute cancellations. We were however very pleased to see Derek Bunyan (rear Commodore) and Tricia who joined us after his recent spell in hospital again.
Everyone agreed the food was excellent and we were then able to relax while Derek
did us the honour of calling the raffle numbers for the numerous prizes that had been so kindly donated. Also, we had a club jacket for auction and this was modelled by Colin. The money, £l5 for this went to club funds. The total of the raffle was £12l. and our thanks go to Lia for the excellent job of selling the tickets and to Julie for collecting tips for the Pike staff.
John thanked everyone for attending and reminded about the events to ‘kick off’ the season.
COMMODORES WELCOME 26th APRIL
The Commodores welcome was a great success with over 80 people attending, even the weather was in our favour, it was a glorious sunny day and there were lots of willing hands to help put up the marquees.
Members were greeted with a welcome drink and then proceeded to get to know each other, we had quite a few new members to the club, which was a lovely informal way of getting to know them, hopefully they will join us on some of the excursions we have planned this year.
Our Commodore John thanked everyone for attending and after outlining some of the forthcoming events declared that the food was ready and everyone tucked into the excellent buffet which was prepared by Dianne and Liz Mead.
Steve Mead assisted by George Purvis was DJ for the evening and soon members were bopping away with a stint of Karaoke to follow, which again turned up some surprises notably Ann Warner, who has an amazing voice and received the biggest cheer of the night.
We held the raffle and bonus ball and also a Roll a Pound at the Bottle in aid of the RNLI, members were very generous and our Commodore John whose pound was actually closest donated the £20 prize to the RNLI as well, making a grand total of £67.
Thank you to everyone who attended and made it another memorable night, also thanks to everyone who helped with the Marquees and setting up of tables and chairs, remember to keep a lookout on the website for the photos which will be posted in the near future you may spot yourself.
VHF RADIO COURSE
A number of members have expressed an interest in taking a VHF radio course.
I am endeavouring to find out the cost of this years course but as a rough guide last year it was £90 including the cost of the £22 licence fee, so I would not imagine this years has gone up that much.
If anyone is interested in taking the course please contact me:-
Linda Skelton on 01462 637592 or email linda.skelton2@ntlworld.com
NEW MEMBERS
We welcome the following new members to the club:-
Andrew and Jane Humphrey Mantaray
Bernard and Christine Webber Water Lily
Bradley, Georgina, Lauren and Ryan Jones Little Dorrit
John and Dorothy Goodhew Optical Illusion
Martin Harman and Deborah Church Sandrick
FORTHCOMING EVENTS
Open Weekend CMBC May 3-5th
Cruise to Upware with dinghy trip May 24-26th
Commodores Cocktail Party June 6th
PEBC Regatta June 7-8th
Below is an outline of both the Burwell and Regatta events, we need to know numbers for both of these so if you would like to attend please complete the booking forms attached and return them to John Coulson
BURWELL TRIP (24-26th MAY BANK HOLIDAY)
The cruise to the moorings at the Five Miles from Anywhere pub at Upware takes place on 24th May although some members are intending to travel to Upware on Friday 23rd.
We are having a meal (optional), in the pub on Saturday evening the cost is £12.00 for two courses, there is also an optional breakfast in the pub on Sunday morning, (lovely, saves cooking it yourself) for £6.35, if you would like to attend the meal, the breakfast or both, please indicate your choices by filling in the enclosed booking form and sending your cheque made payable to PEBC to John Coulson by the 17th May.
On Sunday we launch the dinghies and after leaving the lock, we cruise down past Wicken Fen and into Burwell Lode, after about an hour we reach the Pub where lunch can be purchased, either from the Barbecue or the Sunday lunch menu. For those who do not possess a dinghy there may be space in other dinghies or perhaps we may even be able to provide one, also a motor cruiser may be making the trip down to Burwell, so feel free to come. We cruise back in the afternoon and spend the evening relaxing on our boats or in the pub, making our way back to the Pike on Bank Holiday Monday.
REGATTA (6th – 8th JUNE)
The Regatta is held at the Pike and Eel on the weekend of 6-8th June.
It is the main event on our calendar and always proves to be a most enjoyable weekend. The theme for this years Regatta is ‘World War Two’, so start thinking about your fancy dress costume now.
Friday evening is the Commodores Cocktail Party in the Chalet bar, where arrival drink and finger buffet food will be provided. John will be sending out the invitations nearer the time. The ‘Pike’ will be manning the bar for the whole weekend and members are reminded that on this occasion only drink purchased from the bar to be consumed in the Chalet Bar and Marquees.
Saturday there will be games, boat-handling competition (weather permitting) illuminated boat competition and in the evening a hog roast with entertainment, which is £10 per head, £5 for children under 16 and £5 for anyone wishing to attend the entertainment only. This is also when we dress up in the hope of winning the fancy dress competition.
On Sunday there is an optional full English breakfast with tea or coffee being served in the Hotel. A boat jumble and tombola with more games commence after this and Andy will light the barbecue at lunchtime for you to cook your own food. There will also be the procession of the fleet dressed in all their bunting, rounding off the afternoon with the prize giving.
It really is a fun packed weekend, so why not come along and join in.
We need to know numbers in advance, so if you wish to attend let us know by filling in the slip on the bottom of the Booking form and return it to John, so we can reserve tickets, which will be ready for payment in the Marquee on the Saturday morning of the regatta along with the programme and raffle. Donations for this would be gratefully received. Could you also let us know if you require a mooring for the weekend?
PEBC WEBSITE
Have you checked out the Pike and Eel boat club website lately? Steve Mead has done a fantastic job re-vamping it, with new gallery pictures, see if you can spot yourselves, a blog and you can even raise funds for the club by doing a spot of web shopping, why not have a look at www.pike-eelboatclub.co.uk
PLEASE NOTE Upware Boat Club Regatta will be held on 28th-29th June at Littleport.
The 2008 Pike & Eel regatta takes place on the 7-8 June. This years theme is World War Two. Saturday night is the night for everyone to put on their world war two fancy dress. Over the course of Saturday and Sunday there are many events organised to take part in, both old and new. These include Dog handling competition, Fender Throwing, Quiz, Dinghy Racing, Beat the Goalie and much more. Saturday night also sees the Hog Roast with entertainment.
