Square rigger Club Spring 2013
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Transcript of Square rigger Club Spring 2013
SQUARE RIGGER CLUBTS ROYALIST
Big BrotherMarine Traffic
TS RoyalistThe early days
Disasters and Drills
Plus:Crew Update • TS Roylist Replacement Bosun’s Locker • Boaty Days Out
Commodore’s Annual Report 2012This will be my third and final year as Commodore and my last Newsletter Report for The Square Rigger Club.
During the course of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee pageant, Royalist was moored by London’s Tower Bridge and I was fortunate to be able to go on board and present to each cadet a specially inscribed Bosun’s Call. These commemorative “whistles” were donated by the Club as lasting mementos of the occasion. I am sure that if the response from the cadets was anything to go by, then they will be much cherished for years to come.
This was a rare opportunity to spend half a day with the crew and cadets during their training. Many cadets thanked us individually for bursaries but one shy cadet in particular approached us (unprompted) and said “thank you for what you’ve done – if it wasn’t for you I wouldn’t be here this week.” There is nothing like being amongst the cadets during their voyage on board Royalist – the high point of the sea cadet experience – to underline the work that The Square Rigger Club does.
There have been two successful charters this year – I think possibly amongst the best ever judging by the post-charter reports – and the money raised. I went to Portsmouth to see off our Square Rigger Club crew on their way to Le Havre in September and a very enthusiastic bunch they looked too!
We successfully applied for matched funding from Barclays Bank this year, which helped to boost the profits raised by the charters. Under their scheme they agreed to match any money raised up to a maximum of £750 and we were grateful to have this additional sum.
Thanks to your involvement in charters and your donations we have been able to continue to provide the bursaries. As a charity we couldn’t have done it without your extraordinary support and as many families continue to rely on us I hope that we can continue to count on you all.
My good wishes to you all for a happy and healthy 2013.
Irene AgassCommodore
Square Rigger Club October 2012
Commodore’s Message . . . . . . . . . . . . 03Membership News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 04Operation 360 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 05TS Royalist Replacement . . . . . . . . 06-07Tales from the Bosun’s Locker . . . . . . 08Charter 2012 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 09General News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10
Big Brother is Watching . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11Cadets’ Corner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12-13Bursary Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14-15Disasters and Drills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16Boaty Days Out . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17The Early Days of TS Royalist . . . . . 18-19Membership Application Form . . . . . 22
Contents
02 03
Membership News
Acknowledgements
Once again a big thank you to Photolink Creative Group for producing this edition, especially Kevin O’Neill
for proof reading this newsletter. Thanks also to all the contributors for their pictures and articles.
INCOME: Total Income for the period £15,993
Income this year was up £5,500 mainly bolstered by charter income and donations.
Subcriptions remained steady albeit from fewer members subscribing in the year.
We have improved our bank interest at long last, although we are moving our deposits
over to Virgin Bank as they are offering a better return than our current bank, you just
have to keep shopping around these days.
EXPENSES: Total Expenses for the period £15,187
60% of our income went directly to bursaries this year, which is 5% higher than our
10 year average. Club expenses amounted to 31% this was 18% higher than average.
The steep hike in costs here were attributable to our 40th AGM anniversary in Gosport
2011 which was but the increase in donations more than paid for this exceptional cost.
Most of you will have received your AGM minutes by email, for those who do
not have an email address the minutes are enclosed. These show the accounts to
12th February and the minutes of the meeting, if in the future you would like these
emailing to you, please forward your email address to [email protected]
and I will set up your account on our database. This will save the club money, additional
paper and postage, you will also receive updates and information automatically.
John MacDonald
Financial Report 25th February 2011 to 24th February 2012
Gift Aid – Act now!
he club is always trying to
generate more funds and one
that is available through the
revenue is that of Gift Aid.
We currently have 178 members
who donate via GA and this generates
some £1800 to £2000 pa in tax claims
from the revenue.
The 178 members account for
about 71% of total membership.
We will never achieve 100%
as some people are non-tax
payers, but feel we could raise more
through this method. Remember,
it does not cost you a penny.
Even if you are not sure if you
have signed in the past, you can still
fill in the form and return it back to
me at the address below. I can then
check our database to ensure we are
claiming the correct entitlement.
For further information you can look
on the Government’s official website:
www .hmrc .gov .uk/charities/gift-aid .htm
Please address all completed forms to:
John MacDonald
Square Rigger Club
146 Manchester Road
Mossley
Lancashire OL5 9BG
ALL ABOARD! Do you know any potential new members? Turn to page 21!
04 05
Operation 360
By Richard Weston
he club needs more members
to keep the good work going
into the future. We currently
have 178 members. The income from
these subscriptions is essential to provide
the funding for bursaries to get young
people away on voyages.
Our club members are long-standing
and loyal, but our age profile means
that we have very few young members.
Without new members the club will
gradually fade away, which would be
a great pity for the club and particularly
for the cadets. We are at a stage where
legacy money and bequests are keeping
us afloat. To provide new energy and
vitality to see the club go on for another
forty years, supporting the replacement
sea cadet vessels means more members
is a key ingredient.
Deaths
adly, we’ve had 4 reported deaths this year.
Geoff Norman of Oswestry died June 2012.
Jeoff Smith from Loughborough died suddenly in July 2012.
Philip John Williams died 2011 Bristol area. Left £3,714.62 in
his will to the Club.
Frederica Hilda Lambert FRGS November 2011. Left £3,131.99
in her will to the club. Frederica’s bequest came out of the
blue and was wondering if any of our older members can
throw any light on her association with the club it would be
nice to find out a little more about this “adventurous woman”
some details we knew about her was cleaned from the internet.
This realistically means having a
membership of a minimum of 360, just
as the marks on a compass. To achieve
this number and ensure the club endures,
the Committee need your ideas on the
best way of recruiting. We of course
need help with recruitment and people
who can just telephone and say hello
to new members.
To get the message out into the
wider sailing and marine community is
very difficult and not without hurdles,
but we have to start somewhere. For
example leaving leaflets in chandleries
and marinas and setting out stalls at
boat jumbles and sailing events.
So if you have any ideas or could help
in any way, please contact the Committee.
We promise not to try and recruit you to
doing things you don’t have time for.
4th May 1915 – 18th November 2011 nee Dougal (previously
married to John Conrad Wheadon).
Peacefully died 18th November 2011, aged 96 years.
Loved mother of Susan, Heather, Ruth, John, Ken, Joanna
and Rachel.
Always remembered as an adventurous and extraordinary
woman.
Profession: Secretary, Hotel Manager,
Places lived: Croydon, Guernsey, Switzerland, Newent,
Hawkes Bay – New Zealand, London,
Wookey Hole, Weston-super-Mare.
T
S
T
06 07
TS RoyalistReplacement
replacement TS Royalist is even
more important now than in
1971, because many things have
changed within society. Schools are now
very risk adverse and existing activities
after school have been discouraged by
scaremongering about health and safety
and risk aversion where all risks are
eliminated to the point where nothing
can be done safely. Computer games
and television are a very big factor in any
child’s life. It is common for cadets to
tell you that they find TS Royalist ‘better
than a computer game’. The long march
with cadets to find a telephone box for
a ten pence phone call home at the
beginning of the week or parents without
a telephone and having to phone a
neighbour are distant memories. The
Facebook generation can keep in touch
across the world, from a mobile telephone.
Some things have not changed, a child’s
need for adventure, the skill of sailing a
vessel with a team and the leadership,
courage and fortitude required to be at
sea. Children crave this more than ever,
because teenagers are most unlikely to
be able to go to sea with a father
or grandfather in our modern world.
Children still need training and jobs
as they progress to adulthood, and the
evidence of aptitude to demonstrate to
employers that they have potential to be
a good trainee and they are worth
investing in. My proudest moments are
when ex-cadets come back to TS Royalist
to explain they are
merchant navy cadets or
passed out a Raleigh for
the Royal Navy or decided
to take some other path
as a result of their sailing
experience. And of course
the training of a new
generation of adults that
will go on to work in the
UK sail training fleet.
The design of any new
ship including sailing
vessels is now strictly
regulated by international
agreement; that are then
translated in to law of the
country to which a vessel
is flagged, including
habitability and health and safety.
Because the existing TS Royalist has
been so successful for so long, in the
forty year period, many things have
changed beyond recognition in that time.
For example the provisioning of a ship
does not rely on cans and dry storage,
because of refrigeration and scientific
advances in food storage and packaging.
Effective food storage saves costs in
the long-term, when the grocery bill is
nearly £1000 a week, stuffing cadets
with calories. Water makers can provide
almost unlimited fresh water on long
voyages. Pollution is now discouraged
under the MARPOL regulations, so
putting your sewage over the side is not
allowed on new large vessels.
The new ship will have to comply with
the following mandatory and statutory
regulations and many more beside:
• Class requirements of Lloyds 100A
technical requirements, these govern
the strength of the vessel and its
construction in steel, with minimum
requirements for fire, flooding,
buoyancy and strength.
• Marine and Coastguard Agency
requirements on the number of crew
the ship must have for its given
length and operation. For example to
have a Commanding Officer and a
Sailing Master to navigate the vessel
and an engineer on board to attend
the mechanical and electrical systems.
• Maritime Labour Convention that
governs the minimum size of cabins
and usable space, and facilities such
as wash hand basins and showers,
and also the number of people that
can be squeezed into one cabin.
• Child welfare and safeguarding rules,
regarding the separation of adults
and children and privacy of children
when changing or washing. It is
easy to remember that TS Royalist
was designed for boys, and girls were
part of a separate sister organisation.
This is without all the usual
considerations of space restrictions on
equipment, safety, reliability, availability
of equipment and spares.
Expectation is also a big driver of
changes in the design, is the expectation
of parents and authorities such as social
services, schools and media. Also
designers, builders and maintainers
expect a modern vessel to last a minimum
of thirty years. Clearly the experience of
maintaining the current TS Royalist has
played a big part in the development of
the new design.
Requirements for the ship start with
a series outline specifications that set the
basic parameters of the ship. This might
seem obvious, but they are required to
explain to potential designers and
builders what kind of vessel is required.
This is even more important because the
project will be procured as a design and
build. The completion will run in two
stages with a provisional design and
indicative cost, and then detailed
negotiations to ensure the correct design
and the right cost is achieved. Basic
requirements include:
• A sailing brig under twenty four
metres load line length with a single
displacement hull. This is a small two
masted vessel that can be crewed by
staff with commercially endorsed
yachting qualifications. The vessel
needs to be constructed of steel to
provide the strength required to
endure poor weather and give a
vessel that will have a long life and
can be easily repaired.
• The vessel must be capable of
operating in Northern European
waters from March to November,
including the ability to sail far offshore
on Tall Ships races. Of course this
governs the strength of construction,
but also determines the type of
ventilation within the vessel, the type
and quantity of food storage, and
storage for first aid equipment and
navigation and radio equipment.
• The number of young people is
unchanged at twenty four, but the
number of staff is increased from the
current nine to ten. The ship initially
started off life with ten staff, but
changes over the years squeezed
more adults into the wardroom, and
also reduced the number of staff. Two
of the staff will be accommodated
forward with the cadets to ensure
better provision in terms of the child
protection regulations. In the original
design of TS Royalist four adults were
in the forepeak, to the same purpose.
Also it is required that twelve adults
can be aboard as day visitors.
Some may scoff at the importance of
child protection regulations, but their
implementation is a legal requirement,
because a sail training vessel is both a
floating dormitory and school. Children
should be afforded the same protection
and welfare at sea, the same as if they are
at school or college. The child protection
rules apply to all children, to the age of
eighteen, also strict rules apply to young
people to the age of twenty five. The
Royal Navy, as to apply these rules in just
the same way and military training
colleges and establishments are subject
to Ofsted inspection and reporting in the
same way as schools. All youth charities
including the sea cadets have the
responsibilities. Child protection is not
just about the prevention sexual
exploitation. More commonly it is about
making sure that the cadets are not
bullied by other cadets or adults. That
they are not mistreated or neglected,
for example that they are fed properly,
that they receive sufficient drinking
water or juice, and they are kept warm or
protected from sun burn. The regulations
are of particular importance to vulnerable
children, such as those that are immature
or have learning difficulties and are less
able to help themselves; or communicate
the issues at hand.
ProcurementAll ship designs are a compromise,
you have to balance the physical size
and strength of the cadets with their
ability to pull on lines and set sail and
hand sails. The details of the replacement
ship have yet to be developed.
The design will be scrutinised as part of
a two stage tender process.
The two stage tender process works
by asking suitable contractors who have
pre-qualified in terms of financial security,
specialist experience, quality, health and
safety for example. To provide an initial
design and a cost as a tender. From this
foundation, negotiations will take place
with the competitors, to achieve the best
matrix of costs and quality. Once a
preferred tender is selected the detailed
design and approval can take place.
The detailed design will be measured
against the functional requirements. For
example operational needs like sailing
performance, the ability to sleep and the
impact of light and vibration, the privacy
of accommodation and the ability to
interview children in private. Regulatory
issues such as the size of the cabins and
eye space across the cadet mess. Safety
such as the provision of the controls for
bilge pumping at deck level or the water
proofing of electrical systems.
The functional requirements will also
include an analysis of the machinery
such as generators and main engines.
Everyone accepts that cheap or poor
quality equipment will entail premature
failure and replacement, or more
expensive repairs and maintenance. The
cost of spares and fuel consumption will
also be an important issue in reducing
the long-term running costs. The paint
system is very important, especially as
ships rust from the inside. This gives a
dilemma, because the paint system is so
important the old days of the hardy
amateur happily slapping paint on a ship
in refit will be over. Modern paint systems
require professional application and
maintenance by properly trained people.
Similar issues will exist across the ships
systems and the ability of the club to get
involved in the maintenance of the
vessels will diminish.
A
By Richard Weston
From the Bosun’s LockerA summary of 2012
08 09
Diamond Jubilee Pageant, and again she
looked absolutely wonderful, not that
we’re biased or anything! When the
pageant was over, the crew hosted a
‘street party’ onboard for the cadets, and
they really got into the spirit of it, making
it a fantastic evening! In between cadet
training weeks during the summer
months, TS Royalist ventured to France,
stopping off for the Brest Festival, an
event where many tall ships from around
the globe gathered around the time of
the tall ships races for a giant festival.
I think the highlight of my year had
to be our impromptu meeting with STS
Lord Nelson in the Solent on the
departure day of her ‘round the world’
voyage. Both ships sailed together from
Calshot Spit to Gurnard Ledge, where
Royalist Saluted, before parting ways
with Lord Nelson and continuing to
Cowes. The ship looked magnificent
sailing dressed overall, and even had
the chance to give Colin Mudie three
cheers as he sailed past, a spectator for
this wonderful event!
Another winter is now upon us, work
has already started on stripping down
the mess deck for her hull inspection,
I suppose I better start moving before
the coxswain destores me for the winter!
Fair winds! Keep supporting!
Bosun – PO(SCC) Alex Coakley
become rather familiar, and it’s
definitely not been far from the truth –
working onboard ship presents new
challenges day-to-day, whether at sea
or over refit. This year the ships team
have also refurbished all the upper deck
woodwork including the ship’s wheel,
which looks fantastic!
Moving on to some of the major
events in the ships calendar this year,
the closest to home was the Royalist
Regatta, hosted in May, for which
TS Royalist was of course in prime
position, dressed overall in the Solent!
The ship also participated in the avenue
of sail on the Thames for the Queen’s
hat an incredible year! Over the
course of 2012 TS Royalist has
taken part in several particularly
special occasions, such as The Queen’s
Diamond Jubilee pageant on the River
Thames, The Brest Festival in France and
bidding the Lord Nelson ‘bon voyage’
on her round the world tour, along with
several other sail training ships in the
Solent. She has also had the privilege to
have approximately 500 cadets sail
onboard over the season, meaning she
has now taken more than 31,000 young
people to sea over the past 41 years!
Well done TS Royalist!
The winter refit period (December ‘11
to March ‘12) was a challenge for the
Sailing Master and I. We had decided
that the yards needed to be struck down
over the winter for a full refurbishment.
It took us a good three months work,
repainting the aluminium spars, replacing
their fittings, foot ropes and so on...
But rest assured, we did manage to put
it all back together! At the end of
February it took us less than a fortnight
to repeice the jigsaw puzzle, with the
whole team working together to rerig
and reinstall the yards.
Over the past two years that I’ve
worked aboard the flagship, the phrase
‘the Bosun’s work is never done!’ has
GOSPORT TO GOSPORT
Friday 17th – Monday 20th May 2013
Prices: £205 (members) £230 (non-members)
FALMOUTH TO FALMOUTH
Saturday 7th – Friday 13th September 2013
Prices: £495 (members) £520 (non-members)
For more information, contact Ed BirdCharter Secretary of the Square Rigger ClubEmail: [email protected]
Tel: 07962 698648
www.squareriggerclub.org.uk
The price of the charters is inclusive of all meals and accommodation.
W
Greetings fellow Square Riggers!
By Alex Coakley
eeping track of TS Royalist
from your front room or office
is very easy if you have a
computer linked to the internet, you
do not need any specialist equipment
or training to use the AIS system.
Automatic Identification Systems were
made compulsory in 2004 by the
International Marine Organisation for all
vessels over 299 gross tonnes.
TS Royalist and the power vessels
Jack Petchey and John Jerwood have
AIS fitted, so it is possible to monitor
their movements using a computer.
Several websites have similar facilities,
but the one I use is Marine Traffic, type
www.marinetraffic.com into your search
engine. You have to register, and to do
this you first need an email address.
Getting an email address is a free service
and the Marine Traffic registration is also
completely free of charge. The website
will send you an alert by email every time
one of the ships in your fleet departs or
arrives at a port. You can also have alert
messages sent as a text to your mobile
telephone. This does cost 15 euros per
100 texts, you buy in advance. Cheaper,
if you have a smart phone is purchasing
an application (app) for around £5 that
enables you to receive the same
information, free of charge once you
have purchased the application.
Once registered and signed on to
your Marine Traffic account you can then
add vessels to your fleet. Go to the
Services tab, and click on My Fleet,
Notifications, My Data, this will take you
to another page, at the top will be
My Fleet, this page will be blank, choose
add a new record. On the line searching
for a ship, the boxes are not very clear,
so make it easy and click on the question
mark. This will bring up a search box.
Type in TS Royalist, hopefully the search
will find the vessel, click on the line for
the vessel you require, some searches will
bring up more than one vessel with the
same name. This way you can slowly
build your fleet. You must put TS, just
Royalist comes up as a blank.
The fun part is that once you have
chosen a vessel for your fleet the web
site will send you an automatic email
every time the ship departs or arrives at
a port. You can also go on the website
and see the last reported position of
the vessel. Reported positions are usually
reliable, when a ship is within 40-60 miles
of the coast around the UK. Because the
AIS system is based on short range VHF
channels 87 and 88, information from
Big Brother is Watchingwww.marinetraffic.com
the vessels global positioning system
is transmitted to shore. Once beyond
the range of VHF, AIS will not work unless
the ship has some other method of
reporting their position.
Clicking on another page will give
you a map with the position of the
vessel. A bonus is that you can see the
vessels around TS Royalist as she makes
progress on a voyage. The colour of the
routes, is a code describing the type of
vessel, red for tankers, green for cargo
vessels and purple for yachts including
TS Royalist. You can tell she is underway,
because of the ship symbol, when she
is stationary, alongside or at anchor the
symbol becomes a square. Information
includes the speed and course of all
vessels when underway. The site has
many photographs posted by shipping
fans, so you can see TS Royalist and
also look at pictures of the vessels close
to her. Interestingly you can also get
the real-time weather information for
the area around the vessel, for example
wind strength and direction. If you are
unfamiliar with the port she is bound for,
on the same website you can look up the
port information. A very useful tool
when trying to join TS Royalist in Brest,
a very large dockyard and you want to
know what she is alongside. The same
page gives the traffic within the port
such as vessels departing or joining
Southampton on a particular day.
So get clicking, unfortunately none of
the sea cadet offshore vessels will be
operational, before March 2013, but the
site is still a lot of fun.
10 11
K
A
lways a delicate subject to broach but can be an
effective way of donating no matter how small the
bequest is.
Make a bequest to the Square Rigger Club in your will.
It can include money, land, property or stocks and shares.
The wording in your will should read:
“I give and bequeath, free of all duty and taxes, to the Square
Rigger Club for the general purposes of the Charity, the sum
of £ ….....…… , and I declare that the receipt of the
Treasurer or other proper officer for the time being
of the said Charity shall be a sufficient discharge
of the same.”
Remember us in your will
Ae are still finalising a date and location for the Annual General Meeting September 2013.
As soon as we have a confirmed date, I will send an email or letter to you to mark in your diary. We look forward to seeing you then.
Regards
John MacdonaldHonorary Treasurer
Crew Update 2012
ngie, as Captain continues to
deliver a fantastic experience to
both cadets and adults and
has now completed three seasons as
Captain. She has managed to combine
being away at sea with buying and
refurbishing a house in Brixham. Also she
is still a very active member of the
Brixham Lifeboat crew, when she is home.
Her Dad who fishes from Brixham was
able to lend the ship an enormous help,
when an anchor cable had to be let go
after a hydraulic pump failed unexpectedly.
Dad; went out and recovered the cable
and anchor with his fishing boat and
returned it to the ship and then drove
over to the suppliers to fetch a
replacement pump.
The strangest thing I have done with
Angie as Captain was lying alongside the
fish pier at St Peter’s Port, Guernsey, with
a full size Viking longship outside of us on
the way back from the Brest Festival.
Roy has now completed three
seasons as Sailing Master and continues
to enjoy developing the training
programme. My abiding memory of the
season will be Roy as relief Captain
inbound for St Helier, Jersey and in the
main channel in the dark on a night
entry with a car ferry waiting for us to
clear the channel. The port engine cuts
out just when we need it to turn in to
the harbour and would not restart. Using
one engine and the sea boat he turns
the ship and lays the ship perfectly
alongside the pontoon. The ferry was not
delayed, and the engine was soon fixed.
The shaft brake temporarily replaced by
a small crowbar to get us home.
Although everyone all needed a strong
cup of tea afterwards to recover.
Alex is working very well, still
bouncing around the rigging as Bosun.
To make sure he qualified in the eccentric
category, he went skydiving to raise
money for the club. Alex is well on the
way to completing a foundation degree
in youth work, through the Open
University. He is also helping to recruit
young people to the club, and has
reviewed the membership of the club.
Martin is still cook and we all enjoy his
meals, recently he has been used as
relief on the power vessels. We helped to
bring back 24 cadets from Cherbourg
to Poole by fastcat ferry in July, and his
wife and daughter arranged transport
from the ferry to the railway station.
Martin is also still District Officer for the
Poole area and works very hard for the
benefit of the cadets. Sadly Martin has
been tempted away from TS Royalist to
work full time on the John Jerwood.
Mike has now retired from the ship,
but not the Sea Cadets. He now manages
engineering support to all the sea cadet
offshore vessels and is regretfully office
based. In the early part of the season he
did some relief weeks to enable Kenny to
join as the new engineer. Kenny comes
from a sail training background, but has
proved very good at teaching the
evolution of stretcher evacuation because
of his experience in mountain rescue.
I got to know Kenny very well, in June
when moored in London in advance of
the Jubilee Celebrations. A pipe suddenly
became disconnected flooding the bilges
with Thames water, just as the Prince of
Wales came by on the Royal Barge. The
team spent a very busy hour pumping
bilges and plugging the leak with a
wooden bung, we did not sink of course
but it was a good team building exercise.
Aimee has been a watch officer this
year, a very good relief cook and able to
communicate in teenager she has been a
sterling part of the crew. With no previous
experience of sail training she has now
decided on a full time career in sail
training, now her year as watch officer
year has ended. She is off to Gordonstoun
School in Scotland, with ambitions to go
sailing in the Arctic next season.
Peter has now left the ship and
swanned off to join an Oyster yacht on a
round the world trip, the entire team was
green with envy over the stop offs in
Cape Town and Australia. Seduced by the
comfort and luxury of sailing with adults
in the warm is understandable, but his
skill with the cadets and cheerful
approach to life will be sadly missed on
board TS Royalist. Peter’s replacement as
coxswain is David; who started the season
as a relief cook, transferred to watch
officer and is settling in to the post of
coxswain very well. His merchant navy
experience on large commercial ships has
been of huge benefit to the ship.
My own fond memories of the ship
include the Remembrance Day Parade at
the submarine museum, with cadets and
the retired submariners of the Royal
British Legion.
John Bradnock has now been retired
five years. He holidays on the Isles of
Scilly, Alderney, and the canals of the
Midlands by hotel barge. He is in good
health, after a few running repairs to the
rigging. His local church would be lost
without his work as a server on a Sunday.
AGM 2013
W
By Richard Weston
By Richard Weston
Cadets’Corner
12 13
Bursary Report 2012
Distribution of bursaries by vessel
The yachts are usually operated as one boat for girls and
one for boys. This is reflected in the bursary applications, being
almost equal between boys and girls.
There is no evidence that the female cadets have a
greater financial need than the boys for bursaries. Boys and
girls have an equal opportunity to apply for Offshore Courses,
and they are considered equally for bursary applications.
Each application form is considered on its merits, no account
is taken of units claiming special consideration for their best
cadet for example or a cadet that would like to join the
Royal Navy. All a cadets has to have is enthusiasm and a
real desire to sail on the offshore vessels. TS Royalist did
not participate in a Tall Ships race this year so no special
funding was required.
Bursaries have a very special resonance for children
with learning difficulties, dyslexia, autism, hyperactivity and
other similar problems. It not only gives the cadet a
brilliant opportunity. It also gives the family a break from being
a parent to a frequently difficult child. No matter how well loved
a child; offspring with behaviour problems can be very
frustrating. Being able to send them away, to an environment
where they will learn in a very structured and disciplined
environment can be a huge help to Mum and Dad. This respite
is beyond value or cost, especially to be able to give
attention to other brothers and sisters living in the shadow
of these difficulties.
Looking Ahead
TS Royalist will be going to the Rouen Festival, but not
racing in a Tall Ships. It is estimated that the funding
requirement and number of bursaries will be approximately
the same in the 2013 season. The SRC bursaries continue
to make an essential difference to cadets wishing to sail on the
Offshore fleet. Without this funding, their families or sea cadet
units would not be able to send them away.
he bursary applications for the 2012 season are at an
end. The season has been very busy and all the
applications have had to demonstrate the financial
need of the cadets before they obtained approval for a bursary.
• Total number of bursaries for 2012 – 150
• Total estimated value of bursaries – £10,897
• Average bursary £68 .10
This does not include the bursary to Mark from the
Peterhead Unit for best cadet on the Tall Ships Race 2011. This
is an additional £1000 donated to the club especially for this
purpose. Mark; chose to sail on the Jubilee Sailing Trust brig,
Tenacious from Southampton to Dublin. The voyage
commenced on 10th October and ended on the 20th October.
He signed on to the Young Leaders Development programme
while on the ship.
Bursaries by vessels – number of cadets
TS Royalist and the yachts 110 bursaries, or 69%.
Power vessels 40 bursaries or 31%.
Bursaries by vessels – value of bursaries
TS Royalist and yachts £7,987 or 74% of value of bursaries.
Power vessels £2,910 or 26% of value.
Average value of bursaries
VESSEL VALUE
Yachts £81.85
Jerwood £58.10
Pechey £58.28
TS Royalist £69.60
Many cadets already have funding that comes from
other grants and bursaries. This is called match funding,
they have some funding and they require a top up. So the SRC
funds are an essential part of the match funding process.
All cadets or their families have to provide the first £50 of the
£250 voyage fee as a deposit. The deposit is necessary to
prevent abuse of the system. The sea cadet unit or the family
may simply not be able to pay the remaining £200. The family
will have a low income for example. Just as likely is; several
brothers and sisters who want to go away on offshore courses
in the same season and this is unaffordable. The cost of the
course also includes rail tickets and other travel expenses to
and from the vessels for each cadet. In the 2012 season no
cadet was refused funding. Nine cadets applied for funding and
then decided they did not need the money. This was primarily
because they could not go on the voyage, for example hospital
treatment. One or two had more funding than they required
from all bursary providers. Applications are usually made by
email, to a dedicated bursary email account for the SRC.
This email address is on the Offshore Poster so cadets and
adults in a unit can apply directly to the Club. Sometimes
the Offshore Office will refer a bursary application.
Distribution of bursaries between boys and girls
More boys than girls apply for voyages on all the vessels, so
the number of bursary applications reflects this.
14 15
T
By Richard Weston
Disasters and Drills
Boaty Days Out
16 17
uth is a very careless member
of the crew, she is the rescue
dummy and is always falling
off the topsail yards and tumbling down
the mess deck ladder. Practice and drills
are a fundamental part of the safety
systems on the ship. It is useless to have
a safe system in place if it is not used
or practiced. Some drills, such as putting
on life jackets at the beginning of a
voyage are mandatory.
This Ruth she has been found lying on
the mess deck. The red inflatable
stretcher has been slid underneath her.
Kenny the ships engineer is explaining
the need to keep the body straight in the
stretcher and line up the straps before
securing them. Ruth is not light, she
weighs 60kg (132Ib), and represents a
typical cadet. The stretcher is effectively
a large plastic bag filled with polystyrene
balls. Sucking the air out with a special
pump, makes the bag become rigid and
wraps around the casualty.
don’t know about you, but I
enjoy days out doing “boaty”
things, time spent wandering
around places such as The Maritime
Museum in Greenwich, Chatham Docks
or Portsmouth Harbour. I enjoy sailing,
on TS Royalist of course, but also on
yachts new and traditional, so perhaps
some day-sailing or a trip on a canal?
How about a trip to a classic rally with
a good pub-lunch?
I would like to organise a series of
outings for like-minded people, with a
view to raise funds for our charity and to
increase interest in membership.
To keep costs to an absolute minimum
I would like to use email only. If you’re
interested in receiving details in the
future, please send me an email with
“Boaty Days” in the subject box, let me
know the region you live in and any ideas
you might have for “BOATY DAYS OUT”.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Ed Bird – Charter Secretary
Please note that any email addresses
sent in response to this will only be
used by me in connection with planning
future events and will not be passed to
any third party.
R I
The briefing is complete and the
person at the head takes command. With
the stretcher secured and the casualty
comfortable, Ruth is elevated. Ready to
be passed along the Burma Road.
This is the interesting part of the drill
no room to lie the casualty flat or space
for the rescue crew. Teamwork is essential
in a very confined space. Looking after
each other and keeping Ruth safe and
comfortable. Squeezing down the Burma
Road is a very demanding challenge, if
you have never done it before.
Finally Ruth is out in the fresh air,
and feeling better for being laid flat
again. With lots of help she is laid on
the emergency box, ready for a
helicopter evacuation.
The look of concentration etched on
the faces of the cadets, explains
everything. The teamwork and planning
required transferring Ruth from the mess
deck to the cockpit is something these
cadets can be very proud of.
WNew Members
elcome to our New Members
since our last news letter.
Martin Clarke Dorset
Brian Condon Kent
Jane Hughes Canada
Stephen Millisom Hampshire
Carolyn Mills Essex
Angela Morris Devon
Edward Paterson Lincolnshire
Andrew Rycroft Dorset
Rosemary Skeffington Surrey
Robert Smith Surrey
Sam Smith Wiltshire
James Sumberg Essex
John Ward Devon
Nicholas White Staffordshire
Roy Young Devon
By Richard Weston
n 1971, as a Petty officer,
SCC, RNR, rigging the new
TS Royalist from bare poles –
no rigging at all – at Groves & Gutteridge,
Isle of Wight – I could never have
imagined that the day would arrive when
she would be replaced. However, forty
two years on, we have arrived!
At the age of twelve years, I joined
the Wembley SCC with Keith Moon of
later fame as the drummer of The Who.
Keith played the bugle and I played the
drums in the SCC band.
I learned to sail at the Welsh Harp
Hendon, sailing GP 14s, Dipping Lug
Naval Whalers and I also spent much time
on the Blackwater river, Essex where I
sailed Thames barges and fishing smacks
among other boats. In those days, HMS
President, a First world war flower class
cruiser moored on the River Thames, was
the RNR London HQ and she had various
small naval boats in attendance. It was
there I learnt to row naval cutters and
whalers against the strong tidal current
of the river.
When it was decided to build
TS Royalist, Bruce Ashwood and Alfie
Smith and myself amongst thirteen
others, trained aboard the German offic-
er training ship The Gorch Fock, a 2000
ton barque – square rigged on the fore
and the main and fore n’aft on the miz-
zen. We sailed from Keel to Tunis. When
first ascending the main top yard and
told to step on the foot rope, my heart
The early days of TS Royalist and anecdotes of square rig sailing
18 19
the Square Rigger Club possesses
an unedited copy. During this time
Captain Wheeler made me Bosun. Just
after that, the wind backed 180 degrees
and we had to follow it as one has to
do in a square rigger, otherwise we
would have been caught aback, which
is dangerous for square riggers.
Rigging Royalist was an exciting
and challenging time, particularly the
first shakedown voyage to Alderney,
Channel Islands. There were only four
riggers aboard who knew about
operating a square rigged ship and
particularly a brig. These first few months
were exhausting. During this first voyage
we were constantly on watch to ensure
the smooth operation of the ship because
TS Royalist’s first Captain, John Wheeler,
Ex Queens Harbour Master Portsmouth
and other professional crew, though
experienced yachtsmen, had little
practical experience of handling a square
rigger, particularly a brig. During the
voyage I was appointed TS Royalist’s
first coxswain and was commissioned
Sub Lt SCC RNR while at sea.
Teaching the crew the manoevres
for going about and wearing, and
teaching the pin and fife rail layout,
setting sails, particularly topsails and
topgallants and stowing them, became
a time consuming task, confusing most
novices aboard.
was in my mouth and I thought, “Shall
I just let go now and get it over with?”
I was terrified. During the subse-
quent voyage, I was impressed when
watching the hardened crew running
along the yards. I wondered if I would
ever be able to do that. The main lower
top yard weighed about two tons and
it took forty men to hoist it. We slept in
hammocks slung in three tiers on chains.
Each of the eight watches comprised of
about forty men per mess deck. It was
hell trying to lash up and stow – get
dressed and fall in on the waste in about
a 5ft space. In the end, I
didn’t bother. I would just
lie in my hammock and
wait until the other thirty
men were on deck and I
took my time.
One morning, when
the rest of the mess
were on deck, the
duty PO saw me in my
hammock. When he
realised I was part
of the English contingent he, to my
surprise, let me stay there. It was
a tough voyage, designed to make or
break and men were
falling like flies. One
night, when manning
the six man wheel, the
Captain, a former U-boat
skipper, came over to me
and asked me if I knew
where we were. He was
surprised when I didn’t
know. Laughing, he said,
‘We’re on the battleground of Trafalgar’.
When subsequently rigging
TS Royalist from bare poles, we had
to bring her yards and rigging from
Portsmouth on the SCC HLD (harbour
defence launch). For posterity I took
Super 8 film of the rigging of her and
One day when in mid channel, my
tiredness really kicked in. I, being the
deck officer during the morning watch,
noted that the lights of the Decca
Navigator red, green and blue were
dimming. I thought it was the ris-
ing dawn causing the problem. I then
realised the ship’s batteries were flat and
we were lost. I thought Captain Wheeler
would keelhaul me. I gingerly knocked on
his cabin door. A gruff voice answered
“What!”. I replied, “Skipper, we are lost”.
Luckily, Wheeler was able to attain our
position because he had a sextant.
When coming alongside in Alderney,
the whole town, led by the Mayor in all
his finery, had turned out to greet us.
We were exciting news. The trouble was
that the outgoing thirty foot tide made it
difficult to moor the ship. At that time, we
knew little about ‘Cockbilling The Yards’,
using the lifts to depress the yards to
either port or starboard bringing them
with the beam of the ship – facilitating
mooring alongside in a high tideway.
Therefore, the captain decided to turn
the ship and stay out of harbour, much
to the disappointment of the town folk.
On one of the other early trips to
Cherbourg with Captain Wheeler, when
anchoring in the outer harbour, we
managed to drop the hook on a
French nuclear submarine which had not
been buoyed. We realised this when a
couple of Frenchman came running up
the sea wall, waving arms and shouting
their heads off. You can imagine us trying
to un-snag the anchor!
Another memorable occasion was
when taking dignitaries, including the
First Sea Lord, on a trip around the
Solent. Unfortunately, when returning
on a falling tide we went outside the
channel buoys. Needless to say, this
resulted in us going aground. It was
so embarrassing! Naval launches were
summoned to the rescue. I managed
to get a stern tow line across. Still, we
were still not having much success at
re-floating. I realised the dignitaries
clustered in the cockpit had to be moved
forward but unfortunately, that was not
successful. We then decided to move
the ship backwards and forwards and
side to side to loosen her. In a third
attempt to refloat the ship, I, a lowly
PO, had the pleasure of ordering the
dignitaries to run forward and aft and
side to side. It worked and we were
re-floated with the help of the HLDs
pulling us astern. The point is, this was
the only time I, a lowly PO RNR, was able
to order the First Sea Lord and the high
and mighty to do my bidding. They still
talk about it to this day!
To return to life aboard TS Royalist:
one day, Chris Daniel came aboard as
crew. He was the curator for the sundial
department of the Greenwich Maritime
Museum. It turned out that he had been
contacted by an American Company that
was building the replica of Sir Frances
Drake’s ship, The Golden Hinde. This
resulted in my being asked to rig this ship
and sail with it to San Francisco. And
what an adventure that was! Amongst
other happenings, we were nearly ship-
wrecked on the northern Californian
coast, when encountering a one hundred
and twenty mile an hour hurricane.
The Golden Hinde was rigged
with traditional natural fibre material
which meant we had to employ all the
traditional skills and arts of the Jack Tar
of Tudor period. The ship had no fridges
and navigated by the Cross Staff and
Astrolabe. After becoming becalmed
in the Pacific Ocean and subsequently
encountering a hurricane and eighty
foot waves, we arrived in San Francisco
to a tumultuous reception with three
twenty-one gun salutes. During this
voyage I learnt true seamanship skills,
rope work and sail making with a palm
and needle - the arts of the true wooden
wall sailors, which regretfully are now
disappearing.
I am just proud and very pleased
that I was part of the Royalist story and
assisted many thousands of youngsters
experience square rig life and team
building. One recollection - my real claim
to TS Royalist fame is being the first
person to be seasick aboard her!
Being a member of the SCC and
Square Rigger Club has enabled me
to associate with some great people
such as the Princess Royal and her
brothers, Sir Robin Knox Johnson, Mor-
in and Francis Scott, Colin Mudie, the
TS Royalist designer and many oth-
er wonderful people. I am currently
involved in projects to enable people
to experience deep sea sailing - another
great experience.
I
By Keith Field
Who we areTS ROYALIST, the square-rigged sail training brig of the Sea Cadets, was launched in 1971. Formed to support the ship, The Square Rigger Club provides support in men, materials and money for the Sea Cadet’s square-rigged sail training brig TS Royalist and assists the Sea Cadets with a bursary scheme.
More infoMore details on the Charter Weekends, Sea Cadets and Offshore Yachts can be found at www .squareriggerclub .org .uk
• Sail TS ROYALIST on at least two weekends each year – no previous sailing experience required!
• Plus additional week or weekend charters (dependent on the availability of the ship).
• More experienced? Sail as afterguard crew with the Sea Cadets.
• Charter one of the Sea Cadets offshore yachts.
Membership starts from just £20 per year .
The perfect gift for any would-be sailor!
It’s easy to join. Fill out the Application Form overleaf OR download it from www .squareriggerclub .org .uk (in Acrobat Reader format) and post it to the Membership Secretary: John MacDonald, 146 Manchester Road, Mossley, Lancs OL5 9BG
Join the
Interested?
20 21
Square Rigger Newsletter 2014
o you have an interesting or
amazing photograph of the
TS Royalist? Do you think it
would look great on the front cover of
the next edition of this Newsletter?
We here in the production office are
always looking for images for the next
edition of the Newsletter and would
love to be able to use one of your
photos for the front cover – or anywhere!
All we ask is that your photos are as
high resolution as your camera allows.
Please send any photos you think
would look great on the cover next year,
to [email protected] and
please in the subject line add – Front
Cover images.
D
22 23
The Square Rigger Club Membership Application Form
Membership fees are due on joining the Club and on 31st March each year. In order to keep expenses to a minimum we would ask you to pay by
Bankers Standing Order. Please complete and return to:
John MacDonald, 146 Manchester Road, Mossley, Lancs OL5 9BG
If you are a tax payer please use Gift Aid . Remember it does not cost you a penny!!
Membership Details
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Surname
Forename(s)
Address
Postcode
Telephone number
Occupation
Bank Name and Address
Postcode
Sort Code Bank Account Number
Account Name
Signed
Date
Please pay
Sort Code Bank Account Number
Account Name
Please credit the above Account NOW and on the 31st March of each year until cancelled in writing with the value below .
This cancels any previous Standing Orders made payable to The Square Rigger Club .
Value
Standing Order Mandate
Annual Membership level required
Subscription by Cheque S/Order Member £25 .00 £20 .00
Master’s Mate £35 .00 £30 .00
Rear Commodore £75 .00 £60 .00
Please sign and date the declaration below
Signature Date
Gift Aid Section
Please treat this donation as Gift Aid
Please treat all donations from 06/04/2000 and all donations I make from the date of this declaration until I notify you otherwise as G .A . Donations
Note: You can sign as long as you are at least a basic rate tax payer and the tax you pay is equal or greater than the tax element of your donation . For more info: www .hmrc .gov .uk/charities/gift_aid
Registered Charity No . 280393
Barclays Bank PlcGosport BranchHampshirePO12 1DN
20-30-89
The Square Rigger Club
60156019
Please sign and date the Mandate
Registered Charity No . 280393
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