Kingsbridge Estuary Boat Club
[The Club]
NOTICE OF ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
 
Notice is hereby given that the 15th Annual General Meeting of the Club will take place via the “Zoom” video conferencing platform, at 19.30 on 10th February 2021.
The Agenda will be circulated not later than 2nd February 2021.
 
Any member wishing to nominate an Officer or Committee member for 2021/2022 should do so on the nomination form set out below, and ensure the form reaches the Secretary duly completed and signed by all parties before 27th January 2021.
 
Any Member wishing to move business at the Meeting shall give notice of the proposed business to the Secretary before 27th January 2021.
 
The Secretary’s address for service for these purposes is:
(a)secretary@kebc.co.uk and/or
(b) 41, Kenwith Drive, Kingsbridge, TQ7 1DU.
 
 
Dated 9th January 2021
 
BY ORDER OF THE COMMITTEE
John Elliott
Hon Sec.
 

Your committee met on Wednesday November 11th by Zoom in the shadow of the latest Covid lockdown.  We have much to tell you and I apologise now for being a bit long winded.

In view of the timescale, and the distinct possibility that things won’t change much in December, we unanimously decided to cancel the Club’s Christmas Dinner which had been scheduled for December 9th.  We will look at the possibility of having an event early in 2021. 

We have a volunteer to take over the role of Treasurer on January 1st.  Piers Rogers’ offer to take over the job from Alan Purchase was gratefully accepted by the committee, this will have to be approved at the 2021 AGM, presently scheduled for February 10th.  The committee would like to thank Alan for his reliable and accurate services to date.

This of course left the post of Membership Secretary open and Penny Masters has offered to fill that role.  The committee accepted her offer and she will take over on Jan 1st with approval to be sought at the AGM.

We now have room for a couple of new committee members.  We would like more female influence and contribution from younger club members if possible, call (07831 692652) or email me if you would like to discuss the implications.

Membership has been kept at £10 per family and subs are now due.  Details of how to pay, terms and conditions, etc. are on the website www.kebc.co.uk, hover over the Members heading and click on join.  As most, if not all, of you will be paying electronically it would be helpful if you could notify membership@kebc.co.uk that you have renewed your membership.  We also need to know if any of your details have changed so a short email saying no (or any) changes and date subs were paid would be helpful.  We will try to make this easier in future.  Payment indicates your acceptance of Club policies.

Boatwatch coordinator Richard Benton has a message for all members:-
 
“The seven month Boatwatch season finished at the end of October, and more quietly this year without the gales that gave some boat owners grief over the last couple of years.

I know that both Boat Club members and other Estuary users value what Boatwatchers do, and also that the Harbour Authority find having extra pairs of eyes on watch around the upper Estuary reassuring. My contacts with the local Police team about Covid 19 lockdown arrangements for Boatwatch made me aware that they recognise what we add to the general level of safety and security locally.
 
As always, we must thank our Harbour Office contacts, especially Amanda Sparks and Phil Goodhead. They always respond swiftly to our messages about boats or equipment at risk by contacting the owners, or by arranging for Harbour staff to investigate if it seems urgent.
 
On behalf of the Club Committee and the membership I thank all members who gave time to Boatwatch duties in 2020.  I know that Boatwatch duty added a sense of purpose to lockdown exercise outings for many Boatwatchers when everyone’s activities were particularly restricted.

Looking ahead to 2021, I will be starting the process of recruiting some additional club members to Boatwatch for the new season. As with all voluntary activities there is a core long term group of participants and a selection of others who join in when they can. Both are welcome, but the natural turnover of individuals due to changes in personal circumstances means that we need some new volunteers for 2021.
 
There were a significant number of additional members who indicated when they paid their 2020 subscription that they were willing to do Boatwatch, but whom I did not contact earlier this year because Covid 19 restrictions made planning difficult until well on into the season. I will be emailing these people in the near future to ask if they are interested in joining in for 2021. I will include details of how we organise the duties and how often individuals cover these in that message, but there is a lot of information in the Boatwatch section of the KEBC website.
 
If readers of this newsletter who have not participated before would like to volunteer now, feel free to contact me on boatwatch@kebc.co.uk“
 
Richard Benton, Boatwatch Coordinator. 14.11.2020.


The following from Nigel Mortimer:- 

Dear Salcombe-Kingsbridge Estuary Conservation Forum members 
I am forwarding you the email below on behalf of the LIFE ReMEDIES seagrass project targeting the opinions of motorboaters – please do forward this email to anyone else within your group, club, etc. that might also have an interest and be able to help.
 
With best wishes 
 
Nigel Mortimer      
Estuaries Officer – South Devon AONB Unit
Nigel.Mortimer@SouthDevonAONB.org.uk

Hello,
 
My name is Lizzi Gabe-Thomas and I am an environmental psychologist at the Plymouth Marine Laboratory. I am working with Collingwood Environmental Planning and Natural England on the LIFE ReMEDIES project. www.gov.uk/government/publications/life-recreation-remedies-project
 
If you are a leisure motorboater in and around the South Devon area, we’d like your views as we explore the relationship between boating practices and seagrass. Please CLICK HERE and register to join our online conversation, which will take place from 6.30pm to 8.30pm on Monday 23rd November (please register by Friday 20th November).
 
The meeting is being organised as part of LIFE Recreation ReMEDIES, a four-year marine conservation project to improve the condition of sensitive seabed habitats within five Special Areas of Conservation along England’s south coast. The project is led by Natural England in partnership with Ocean Conservation Trust, Marine Conservation Society, Plymouth City Council/Tamar Estuaries Consultative Forum and Royal Yachting Association. [& South Devon AONB Estuaries Partnership]
 
Independent research consultancy Collingwood Environmental Planning (CEP) will run the meeting. If you have any queries, please contact c.twigger-ross@cep.co.uk. All discussions will be anonymised and will follow CEP’s GDPR and ethics protocol. You can also view the LIFE Recreation ReMEDIES privacy notice on the Natural England website.
 
Best wishes,
 
Lizzi
 
Dr Elizabeth Gabe-Thomas
Environmental Psychologist
Sea and Society (SAS)
Plymouth Marine Laboratory

Finally KEBC now has a Zoom Pro account and we hope to be running on line events this winter.  Keep your eyes open for more emails from us.  The for sale section on the web site is going well.  Members might like to offer jumble/single items – one photo image per item and everything at a reasonable cost with the option of donating cash received to the Club’s charity account.

Thanks for your patience (if you got this far).

Tony Watson

Good morning members.  Your committee last met on July 15th. and, with things being as they are, very little of importance was discussed.  Our next meeting will be at the beginning of September.  We have decided to reduce our committee meetings to around 7 per year, including the AGM, calling extra meetings should situations arise that require our collective decision.  Salient points will be reported in these newsletters.

Obviously we are still unable to organise any social events but we are hoping that our evening cruise around the estuary will be able to take place in September.  This will be in the new Kingsbridge/Salcombe ferry that has replaced River Maid, the Lady Mary.  She is smaller with, I believe, a capacity in normal times of 50 passengers.  We may look at cruises on two evenings to satisfy the usual high demand.  Lady Mary has commenced running daily services between Kingsbridge and Salcombe if you fancy a trip.  

The South Hams Estuaries Officer, Nigel Mortimer has again been in touch, his message follows:

“Hi Tony Please may I firstly thank your members for their donation of a couple of windsurf masts following my request for some poles to push the invasive oysters down into the mudflats in the mouth of Collapit Creek. 

Secondly, please would your members help with keeping an eye out on the Kingsbridge Creek’s end slipway road drains outfall for a persistent pollution issue – Kingsbridge Town Council have kindly offered to deliver copies of the attached flyer around the local properties within the outfall’s water catchment area. We are asking anyone seeing an incident to ring the Environment Agency 24-7 as a priority, to help them build up a better picture of when and how these incidents are happening – as you may have heard in the local media, this incidents have been going on for some time but they are very short duration and are proving difficult to trace. Your members are welcome to also report these incidents to the Harbour or myself but it is really the EA that should be the absolute priority please. 

With very best wishes 

Nigel

Nigel Mortimer      
Estuaries Officer – South Devon AONB Unit”

Nigel.Mortimer@SouthDevonAONB.org.uk
Follaton House, Plymouth Rd, Totnes, Devon, TQ9 5NE
01803 229335
Please note my new number: 07971 544010 (NB not 24/7 & sorry, no signal in the office!)
www.SouthDevonAONB.org.uk

Our Boatwatch members have been reporting this white discharge from alongside the town slipway for some time.  Its source remains a mystery.  The Environment Agency hotline is 0800 807060 should any of you see another ocurrence.  Sorry, couldn’t attach Nigel’s flyer.

I am pleased to be able to report that membership numbers are still holding up, in fact numbers are slowly increasing, thanks for your loyalty in this strange time.  Our financial situation remains sound.

On our web site members’ advertisements  are working well with articles selling.  It is easy to use for buyer or seller, do keep an eye on it.

Having nothing else to report I will conclude with hopes that we will all be able to get together in the not too distant future.

Tony Watson.

CORONAVIRUS MEANS NO MEETINGS

It is not possible to predict when we will be able to resume normal service.  We will keep you informed.

Unfortunately the above statement still applies to us.  Gatherings of people in the open air are still restricted to 6 or less, so we continue to be unable to organise social events.  We will do so as soon as circumstances permit.

In the meantime Boatwatch activities have resumed in full with strict rules about anti virus measures.  The guidance notes for Boatwatch teams will appear on the relevant website page, probably as soon as you receive this newsletter.  The Police have asked members to be particularly vigilant, adding a new dimenstion to our activities.

Normally at this time of year we entertain the Chernobyl children but this has also become a victim of the virus.  To add to their woes we understand that wild fires in their home area are spreading radio active dust and the virus has just arrived.  Their health systems will struggle.  The Committee decided that the  Club’s usual donation of £250 to their charity will be made this year.

On a brighter note, Kingsbridge in Bloom has won a Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service.  Many of our members are very active gardeners making our town so attractive.  Congratulations to all members of the Kingsbridge in Bloom team.  Go to their web site for more information.

Your committee continues to meet regularly by Zoom, if you have any subjects that you would like us to discuss, please let a committee member know.  

Stay safe,enjoy the sunshine and yesterday’s very welcome rain.

Tony Watson.

As the Coronavirus pandemic continues and grows, the Club’s activities remain on hold.  Boatwatch members are not functioning in their normal manner but, as they take their permitted exercise, they do keep an eye on the water and the craft on it.

As many of you will be aware, Salcombe Harbour Authority has banned all craft from the water except those on Harbour duties, the fishermen and the RNLI.  Additionally local authorities, the police, tourist agencies and the local population are asking people who are not permanently resident in the area to stay away and remain in their own main residencies.  People who ignore this are being fined and turned back by the Constabulary  The biggest problem is that our Health Service can only just cope with the resident population, additional patients will result in all of us receiving sub standard services with unpleasant results.  The SHDC leader’s letter can be viewed here >

Consequently, if you are not a Devon resident restrain the urge to come down for Easter, stay at home and let others in your area know they will not be welcomed in the West Country.

Sorry to be a bit negative, but at least the weather has improved which makes life more bearable.  Never has so much gardening, house painting and decorating been done.  There might be light at the end of the tunnel, let’s hope so and look forward to some late summer’s boating and some KEBC social events.

Above all, stay safe.

Tony Watson.