Tag Archives: maintenance

Forfar Skiff Report November 2024

This week marks the second anniversary of the launch of Greg
Lockhurst
I’m delighted to report that both boats are in excellent condition and
being used extensively in the last three months we’ve had more than
60 sorties on the loch. We have attended the Broughty and Perth
Regatta, Monster the Loch on loch Ness the Tummel sprints where
we received a number of medals, we have Held our Skiffy regatta our
skiffs have been rowed all over Scotland including Caterline,
Montrose Broughty Ferry and North Berwick.
We intend to participate in the world championships in 2025 in
Stranraer
We now have more than 60 paid up members and are still getting
new members are still joining us.
The community side of the Skiff is very active including a wild water
swimming group.
We have had a Dementia group, Scouts, Forfar Tangent, Options in
life, and are about to get a Probus group coming to use the skiffs 
Before the next Rotary council meeting, we intend to put a document
in front of Rotary to look at the future ownership and responsibility for
this Skiffs. The original document was not signed.
Scottish environmental Heritage have stopped us with our original
plans for the new boat Storage shed, not allowing us to build on their
site. We have now got agreement with Angus council to extend the
area of our lease to allow us to build the new Skiff store outside the
HES site. It is presently awaiting AC action for a second set of public
consultation which is not expected to cause a problem when this is
complete.
In the meantime, the two skiffs are being kept on good waterproof
covers and being maintained appropriately.

(As you might have seen there are discussions with the council and grants have been put forward to build a new shed. This is still not completed and discussions to make this happen are still ongoing. We will inform all members as soon as we have a final outcome)

Great job by the radio sailors

The radio sailors took advantage of the lack of wind to start some of the maintenance.

We made a good start to replacing the steps down to the jetties, joinery work complete, old steps removed and new timbers in place.

The for tomorrow is to replace the concrete block and stones to the tread then concrete the gap which is left to hopefully reduce the weeds growing up through the steps. (Tich)

They went on to have a good, almost complete days sailing with 10 races completed in light winds from the east. The breeze did swing about from SE to E to NE making for interesting racing.

Great commitment yesterday and today from the radio sailors team as the steps have been replaced by them at the inch. 

Thanks for a splendid job.

(Tony)

Doesn’t it look good, safe steps down to the jetties for everyone!

Boats away

Last Sunday we took ours and members’ boat away into the shed for winter. The day before we did a bit of rescuing as the water level on the Loch had risen by about 6 Feet. Here are some photos from before and on the day

And the next day there was even more…

Maintenance

The weather starts to get milder, dryer and we start to see some lifting of restrictions. Soon we might be able to get back on the water, even if this is in small groups or families. This means that the clubhouse and jetties are needing attention. We have identified some jobs that need doing, some small, others big. Some of these have been already promised to be done by members, others are still vacant. If you feel that you want to get out of the house and do a bit of manual labour in aid of the club, give us the heads up or contact Tony. He will gladly let you know what can or need to be done.

Latest from the Loch

On Sunday 6th September we arrived to find a flat calm loch and no sign of any wind so in lieu of sailing a work party set to rediscovering the university boats amongst the weeds and reeds! Tony W, Bill, Erwin, Mark K and Conor got stuck in with the big mower (our strimmer refused to keep going for more than a few seconds) and a set of shears. Boats were moved, water emptied and lost buoys found. The end result was worth all the effort and hopefully, the university will be able to start sailing again soon. Meanwhile Drew and Lyle Webster were showing us all how to use a SUP and Eoghan took a kayak for a spin around the loch. Thank you to everyone for their efforts getting everything done.

Tuesday evening saw a bit more wind – enough for a few of us to launch and have a spirited pursuit race. The course was a tricky upwind to E then over to D followed by a good downwind to C before heading through the gap and down to K. Helen and Jamie started first in the Feva followed by Becci and Conor in Laser radials then Tony W and Erwin in theri Solo’s. Bill was the last to start in his Streaker. The first leg had some very fickle wind but Jamie and Helen kept their lead flying downwind from D with the spinnaker up. Unfortunately Jamie was enjoying the turn of speed a bit too much and forgot that C was part of the course. His return to that mark allowed the rest of us to catch up with them. Conor did look to be overtaking Jamie but got stuck on the island and they battled it out for the rest of the race. Over the 40 minutes we managed 2 full laps of the course and Becci and Tony were fighting it out for first place on the way back up to E for the third time when the race finished. Tony held the lead and Becci having a last minute capsize ensured his victory. The final results were Tony, Becci, Erwin, Bill, Jamie & Helen then Conor.

This Sunday (13th) couldn’t have been any more different than the previous week with winds of 20+ mph and gusts heading towards 40! A few (well Bill and Becci) decided it was just too much for us but the cadets were keen to try their luck. Drew, Eoghan and Jamie rigged Toppers and, after changing his sail, Lyle headed out in his Oppi. Helen and Erwin decided the kids couldn’t have all the fun so they also rigged Toppers and joined in. We thought about having a race but decided this would be pushing our luck and settled on just enjoying the blast. They all had a brilliant afternoon despite several capsizes and rigging failures. It was lovely to see how confident and capable the cadets all are. Helen and Erwin definitely held their own though! Thank you to Mark W for manning the rescue boat making sailing in these conditions possible. This was Eoghan’s last session at Forfar before heading off to start University in Strathclyde so it was good for him to get such a good sail to remember us by.