Author: Website Skipper

Club captain Marianne writes: It’s been another busy period for the club and there’s lots of update you on. This is a flavour of things that have been going on.

Regatta roundup

Theme for regattas this year has been….weather. Lots of it. 

North Berwick‘s regatta in August was no exception, with washing machine-like seas meaning an altered, although no less testing, course for much of the day, rather than racing in front of rather than around Craigleith. Skies were always sunny, and sea  conditions calmed to give later crews the traditional lung and leg buster around the infamous rock. Notably, in a four way photo finish, our youth crew of Ondrej, Filip, Kirsty and NB young rower, Struan, racing for the first time, claimed a well-deserved silver medal. Well done! Cox Peter was suitably chuffed and relieved of a few quid by way of the now traditional round of 99s! 

Again under glorious skies, crews took part in two long distance events on the first weekend of the month.  Lesley J, Gareth, Barbara A, Andy, Gabe, Tacy, Anne, Richard, Ewan and Liz took part in the 21km Castle to Crane race, which took place for the first time since 2019. Meanwhile Val and Donna joined Lesley S, Sarah and Peter in a North Queensferry boat to take part in the Nith Raid in Dumfries. It sounds like everyone had a fantastic time! 

Five Miles

The Five Miles from Home Challenge is back. This is a remote racing time trial challenge, in our home waters, between 27 Sept and 01 October. Tides are perhaps not in our favour for evening crews but I hope you’ll get involved.

AMCC

The Alan Meldrum Community Challenge is nearly here, after an absence of a number of years. Preparations from a range of crews from the Police to vets to the tennis club are out training. The event itself takes place on Sunday 24 September, and it would be great to have as many people as possible down to help, support and cheer the crews on! 

Tweed Row

Sadly there’s not been enough sign up for us to send a boat to this event. 

Freshwater Sprints

The SCRA Freshwater Sprints are the traditional end to the regatta season, where we trot up to the glorious waters of Loch Tummel and  are hosted by the sailing club there. We race for the south-east region rather than our club at this event. A sign-up sheet will be up in the shed shortly. The sprints take place on Saturday, 28 October. 

Oars

The team, led as ever by Douglas and Mark, have been getting on with the new ‘Frank’ oars and we all very grateful for the hard work being put in. I think everyone’s getting excited about the prospect of using them. We’re looking at ways of thinning out our surplus sets, but rest assured we’ll be keeping our much loved ‘new’ oars and the red-taped Clenshaws (which are due to receive some TLC shortly).

Our AGM

We’re holding our AGM in person at 19:30 on Wednesday 11 October at the Port Edgar Boat Station, the fantastic national Sea Cadet facility at the top of the slip. In Scottish coastal rowing style, please bring your own cup for refreshments, and any baked goodies you’d like to share with others. Although access is up the stairs to the balcony, there is a lift for anyone with mobility problems. 

We all have a part to play in the effective running of the club, but the Committee have an important leadership role. I’d encourage you, yes you!, to think about standing.

Happy rowing everyone! 

Club secretary Steph writes: I know you’re still enjoying summer warmth but in fact it’s almost time for our AGM and time to get on with the arrangements for it.

Please see the notice reproduced below, calling for our AGM on Wednesday 11th October 2023. This year will see a return to an ‘in-person’ format in the plush surroundings of the Sea-Cadet centre.

During the AGM, the 2023-2024 committee will be elected to steer club operations for the next year.

Sign up sheets have been posted on the club notice-board for nominations for ordinary committee and officer positions.

Committee positions are open to all members of the club new and established who can commit some time to the monthly meetings and assist with the functioning of the club. We would encourage all members to think about making this valuable contribution to our club; gather two proposers and pop your names on the sheets by the 26th September.

Queries should be directed to secretary@queensferryrowing.org.

Queensferry Rowing Club
Annual General Meeting, Wednesday 11th October 2023

Calling Notice
The Annual General Meeting of Queensferry Rowing Club will be held on Wednesday 11th October 2023, 7.30pm in the Sea Cadet Boat Station, Port Edgar.
A draft agenda and minutes of the previous AGM will be sent via email or letter to members at the end of September. They will also be posted on the Club website.
Any additions to the agenda should be made known to Stephanie Durning,
Secretary, via secretary@queensferryrowing.org by 3rd October 2023.
Nominations for any position in the Committee should be notified to the
Secretary by 5pm on Tuesday 26th September 2023 with Proposers and
Seconders (Please remember to propose or second next to the nominations). A Nomination Sheet has been posted in the Shed also, and will be available there until the same time.
In the event that there are more nominations than the required four Office Bearers and not more than seven members, a vote will be held at the AGM Any current Committee member who decides not to stand for re-election should inform the Secretary by the 3rd of October.

The current Committee are:
Marianne Sandison, Captain
Mike Breewood, Vice-Captain
Anne Purcell, Treasurer
Stephanie Durning, Secretary
Members:
John Howell, Beth Christie, Lesley Jones and Louise Innes.

Lesley writes: The club had a thoroughly enjoyable regatta on Portobello beach today. Fantastic to see some members taking part in their first regatta – they will all be back!

Bearing in mind that we were up against two boats from Eastern in most races, North Berwick, RowPorty, Eskmuthe, Newhaven and Ullapool, we won bronze medal places in three races.

The Mens 200+: Gareth, cox Louise, Richard, Paul and Peter

Mixed Novice: Lynne (yes, that is Donna, accepting the medal on her behalf), Mags, David, Richard and cox Peter

Mixed Decades: cox Rory, Donna, Louise, Gareth and Paul

A huge thank you to Adeline from the Youth crew, who joined the 200+ Women race, she did a fantastic job and was buzzing afterwards. The crew gave her some tips and she was very comfortable with the distance, and we wouldn’t hesitate in asking her again.

Congratulations to Archie (Peter Locke’s grandson) who won a gold in the under 17s for Eastern – Grandad was extremely proud, and we were all delighted for him.

Archie (in black) with the Eastern crew

The rain held off and we enjoyed the shrimp buns for lunch along with lots of home baking made by the Portobello club members.

Thank you to Richard for towing and getting the boat there safely and for driving back after a lot of rowing today.

Ferry Lass on Portobello Beach

It was a great start to the Regatta season. We would like to encourage everyone to come along to the regattas – it is a great day out, even if you don’t row there is nothing better than enjoying a day on the beach supporting each other.

If you want to find out more about the regattas, ask members who have been with the club for a few years, there are plenty.

More photos on the club Flickr.

Club captain Marianne writes: We didn’t manage a Committee meeting this month (though still lots of hard work going on behind the scenes as usual). This is a short update on general news, with a focus on health.

Avian Flu

You might have heard in the news that we’re in the grip of a significant outbreak of avian flu, particularly on the east coast of Scotland. While the threat to human health is low, if you find dead birds, please do not handle them. You can report finds to DEFRA 03459 335577. There’s more information on the Scottish Government’s website.

Locally the inner Forth hasn’t seen the same level of bird mortality as the outer Forth because the main species affected aren’t present. However, tides and winds may bring us the evidence of what’s happening further out.

Jellyfish!

It’s jellyfish season again and between now and the end of summer, you’ll see mainly lion’s mane and moon jellyfish around the marina and on the slip. Launching and recovering the boat is where we might come into contact with them. Jellyfish can still sting even when stranded or dead.

But what to do if you are stung? As Alan S and I learned on recent first aid training, it’s NOT what you’re probably thinking!

• Flush the area with SEA WATER – use the boat bailers
• Send someone up the Shed to boil the kettle while you’re doing this
• You can pull out stings with tweezers, NOT your hands
• Put the affected area in as hot water as you can stand – use tea towels if it’s too awkward to bathe the area
• Paracetamol can help with pain

Alan and I are going to look at our current first aid kit in the Shed and in the grab bags to check we have what we need to cover small incidents.

Defibrillator

Please take a moment next time you’re down to make you know where the defibrillator is – on the wall of the red brick laundry building at the top of the slip. If you’re ever sent for it, take your mobile phone as you’ll need to call 999 and get a code in order to open the box it sits in.

Club first aiders are: Alan Sutherland, Alexander Thiboutot, Dónal Ferrie and Marianne Sandison. Staff at the Watersports Centre and the Coastguard Station are also trained, would be happy to help. The Coastguard Station has access to equipment we can’t carry.

And that’s it for June. Enjoy your rowing!

One more wee addition: in case you haven’t seen it, here is the St Ayles 10th anniversary film. Well worth a watch, with some familiar faces.

Club secretary Lorna writes: Click here to view or download the Agenda for the 2021 AGM, to be held via Zoom on the 28th of October.   

Click here to view or download the minutes from the last AGM. 

If anyone has anything further to add to the agenda please let me know by Thursday the 14th.  If in doubt, please email Dónal, who will be sending the Zoom details out nearer the time.

Note: The agenda has been updated. Click on the link above again if you downloaded the earlier version.