Sailing Clubs

MikeMonty · Post by **MikeMonty** » Fri Sep 26, 2008 10:01 pm

Anyone have any knowledge or experience of the Clyde clubs?

I presently keep my boat at Largs sailing clubs moorings, but it's an hours drive away from home, making inpromptu outings a bit difficult.
Largs SC don't require me to be a member (in fact it's never actually been suggested - think I'll have to change my soap!) and I've never thought it would be an advantage to join as the same "hours drive" problem applies.

However, Helensburgh and the Royal Gourock are closer to home, but I don't know their policies re moorings (their websites aren't particularly clear on the point) Do they allocate moorings for non-members?

We've considered joining a club before but never got through the application forms further than the "proposer and seconder" sections.
(Not having come through the ranks, I have no contacts in any of the clubs. AWwww...)
So how do you approach these guys cold? An interview? And - particularly the Royal Gourock - are they very formal? (Memories of visits to the Royal Northern as a teenager when crewing for a friend who was a "cadet").

Any comments that won't get you blackballed welcome!

aquaplane · Post by **aquaplane** » Fri Sep 26, 2008 11:29 pm

My experience with sailing clubs is that they will take money off anyone, any two members at the bar will propose and second a waif who wanders into the club house and asks about being a member. It leaves me thinking "do I want to be a member of a club who will have me as a member"?

Even the snotty clubs seem to like to take money off new members to subsidise the club house. Obviously there is a cutoff for this attitude.

I've no experience with clubs on the Clyde though. I would think that subsidised moorings for club members are the norm, they are getting dosh through the membership fee to make up.

little boy blue · Post by **little boy blue** » Sat Sep 27, 2008 12:28 am

i was a member at rgyc for a couple of years. no snobbishness, very friendly, lovely clubhouse. remember this is scotland - we are all jock tamson`s bairns

if you want to join phone the commodore and tell him, i`m sure he will do the rest.
we had our own mooring but it is no longer there. you may be able to rent a mooring from a member or possibly the club, have your own mooring laid or even buy one.
the club operate a launch between april and end september which normally operates between 5p and 9.45pm mon - fri and all day sat and sun. you can keep your own tender at the clubhouse and use that if you want instead for more flexibility.
if our circumstances had been different i would never have left - loved the place.
hth.

MikeMonty · Post by **MikeMonty** » Sat Sep 27, 2008 12:45 am

little boy blue wrote:i was a member at rgyc for a couple of years. no snobbishness, very friendly, lovely clubhouse. remember this is scotland - we are all jock tamson`s bairns
hth.

Thanks, I suspect you owned "Danish Blue" ? if so, we were neighbours at Bowling Basin hardstanding when I had (still have, but need to sell!) Minerva, a wee 20 foot fin-keeler, and I remember seeing her at Gourock when we went past. And at Rothsay Dock over the last couple of years with our new boat Stormy Petrel.
Of course - I could be entirely wrong!

(I'm not stalking you ,Honest!)

Cheers

little boy blue · Post by **little boy blue** » Sat Sep 27, 2008 1:46 am

danish blue - yes - well spotted

minerva rings a wee bell now you mention it.
the demise of bowling as a winter venue was one of the factors which led to our departure from rgyc.

Arghiro · Post by **Arghiro** » Sat Sep 27, 2008 7:59 pm

Go & have a drink in the bar of a couple. You will immediately see how welcoming they are (or not as the case may be!) I became a member of a prestigious club after chatting to a couple of neighbours at the moorings. They invited the family over for a BBQ evening & arranged access to showers for the girlie crew members. I have always been made very welcome & feel part of the "family". Something that hasn't always happened at other newer clubs.

You probably need to understand the club's focus - racing; cruising; social and make sure it matches your own requirements.

little boy blue · Post by **little boy blue** » Sun Sep 28, 2008 12:14 pm

on re-reading your post i see you asked if the club would allocate moorings to non members.
so far as rgyc is concerned i know the club owned several moorings but they also owned several small sailing boats. what i don`t know is whether the club owns more moorings than boats

i think most of the moorings you see in front of the clubhouse are privately owned. the problem with being a non member would be that you could not make use of the club facilities i presume.
there is a small public slip just to the north of the clubhouse but you then have the problem of what to do with the tender when you come ashore.

the other place you might want to look at is cardwell bay.

MikeMonty · Post by **MikeMonty** » Sun Sep 28, 2008 6:47 pm

little boy blue wrote:the other place you might want to look at is cardwell bay.

Thanks for your help gents.
Part of the reason for considering a club is that we have had a swinging mooring at Largs for six or seven years now and the "inflatable and outboard onto trailer - off trailer - pump up - launch - deflate - onto trailer - off trailer - into garage" thing is wearing a bit thin.

Anyway, We brought the boat up river over yesterday/today to lift out for the winter , so I have a bit of time to consider it!

regards,
Mike

Pete Cooper · Post by **Pete Cooper** » Sun Sep 28, 2008 7:18 pm

I don't know how it works, but the club that has it's roots in Inverkip Bay(Inverkip Cruising Club?????) seem to get discount in Kip Marina - they are moored along the pontoons in front of The Chartroom.

little boy blue · Post by **little boy blue** » Sun Sep 28, 2008 9:31 pm

pete,
i`m not sure if that has anything to do with the " inverkip bay cruising club ". as far as i`m aware it is the kip small boat club. nordic ranger would know more about this as i believe he was the secretary for a number of years. last i heard there was a waiting list.

Clyde_Wanderer · Post by **Clyde_Wanderer** » Sun Sep 28, 2008 10:59 pm

Pete Cooper wrote:I don't know how it works, but the club that has it's roots in Inverkip Bay(Inverkip Cruising Club?????) seem to get discount in Kip Marina - they are moored along the pontoons in front of The Chartroom.

Mike you could do worse than contact Falkirkdan who is a member of this small boat club, he could point you in the right direction.
I think it is boats less than aprox 28 - 30ft.
C_W
PS sorry Lbb never read your last post.

little boy blue · Post by **little boy blue** » Sun Sep 28, 2008 11:33 pm

that`s all right. how`s the back ?

MikeMonty · Post by **MikeMonty** » Mon Sep 29, 2008 12:15 am

[quote="Clyde_Wanderer"]Mike you could do worse than contact Falkirkdan who is a member of this small boat club, he could point you in the right direction.
I think it is boats less than aprox 28 - 30ft.
C_W[quote]

Thanks Eamonn, I googled Kip Cruising Club and the first hit was a notice that active membership was full because they have allocated all their berths in Kip.

Mehitabel · Post by **Mehitabel** » Mon Sep 29, 2008 10:39 am

I have been a member of the Royal Northern & Clyde for the last two seasons and originaly joined because of the need for a Clyde mooring as close as possible to home (still 1 1/4 hrs drive though!) when the boat was transfered from the Forth in 2007. I was lured in by their offer of free membership for the 1st year if I paid for a club mooring, an offer which is still open to new members as far as I am aware. Seemed a reasonable offer and it must have worked since I have stayed on for the 2nd year and have no intention of moving. It seems the club has a reputation for being a bit ... shall we say exclusive, but I have to say that this is largely undeserved, although I do spend very little time there as my focus is getting onto, and spending as much time on, the water when I go there. The moorings are reasonably well sheltered and there is an efficient launch service during daylight hours (or 9pm). Even with the membership this year the total was less than the swinging moorings operated by Rhu Marina.

Olivepage · Post by **Olivepage** » Tue Sep 30, 2008 12:44 pm

I don't have a good record with yacht clubs:

A number of years ago, my daughter was only about 9 or 10 years old, SWMBO and I decided to visit this particular club, and naturally took little girl with us.

The bar was very quiet, so we bought our drinks and sat at a table. The adjacent table had 4 young men sat there and we exchanged pleasantries with them. One of the chaps started talking to daughter - all very friendly. I was sort of half listening to them but not taking any great notice when out of the blue he asked her if she would like to see his snake.

It seemed an odd thing to say in a yacht club and as daughter took a couple of steps toward him I saw him reach down below the table and obviously started to unbutton something.

In the second it took me to stand up and get to him he had got it out.

No not that - it WAS a snake - a real one - black with yellow bands.

I mean, what sort of a loony goes to a respectable yacht club with a bloody snake round his waist.

As I looked at the snake, everyone else was looking at the beer bottle I had in my hand - ready to brain the silly pillock.

We never did go back to that club.

When I first bought the trailer sailer I went to a club fairly local to home. The idea being it was a good place to launch.

They had a Ã¢â‚¬Å“clubhouseÃ¢â‚¬Â

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