newsletter44

GOLDEN ANNIVERSARY

NEWSLETTER 2020-02 (44)

28th June 2020

Greetings Fellow Penguins,

A unique Anniversary Year!

  Pugwash can only apologise for the paucity of news flowing forth from Penguin Towers. Could be something to do with the global pandemic situation as we have now been “quarantined” for more than three months!

What a waste of good sailing weather - and even now we can only day sail in family bubbles - I suppose we should be grateful for the ability to gain a suntan - in April! in the UK!!

I can only offer some thoughts of those who own yachts and have been unable to get to them whilst even marinas and boatyards have been “locked down” - “at least the to-do job list shouldn’t grow!” “Ah well - might be the cheapest sailing season we’ve ever had” “On a beautiful sunny Saturday we have never seen so many boats, over 50, anchored in a dead calm Priory Bay so boats owners are certainly making the most of what is on offer.”

Even land-based activities have been affected - the Llangorse camp idea for August has been shelved - look what you are missing!

The Committee have appointed the Risk Management Sub-Committee to review and consider the implications of the COVID-19 restrictions on our planned 2020 cruises, which to date have been comprehensively wiped-out.

Commodore Marriott has put together some words (see below) summarising where we are and what we hope will be able to do in the next 12 - 18 months.


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But we haven’t been idle! Many of you Penguins will have experienced the problems we have had in keeping our records up to date, and cruise organisers in particular have first-hand experience of navigating the various application forms and cruise details on our “old” systems.

Fear not! Mike Fergie foolishly did not take a step backward (like the rest of us!) when volunteers were asked to step forward to search out a 21st Century solution to combining as many of our admin. requirements in one supported package. Mike’s splendid work is nearing fruition and he has kindly put some words together - which I have added below (again!)

Commodore Marriott’s review:

Cruise Programme 2020

As expected, the fall-out from the COVID-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc with our cruising programme. The latest details have been given in Update 3, which can be found on the Club’s website.

However, a summary of the latest position for the three planned cruises is:

The Easter Scotland Cruise has been postponed until 20th September, but whether it goes ahead will be very dependent on the government restrictions at the time. There are currently vacancies on the cruise and if you want to get out onto the water after a summer of lockdown, contact the cruise organiser, John Marriott and express your interest. The cost of the cruise is £490 including food, but no money will be asked for until it is confirmed that the cruise will go ahead. We aim to review the position in early August and decide then whether the cruise is viable.

We still hope to be able to go ahead with the Canaries Cruise, 21-28 November, but this will be reviewed in September. There are a few places still available and for those who want some winter sun and sailing should get in touch with Ian Rose to express their interest. Again, we will not ask for any money until the cruise is confirmed.

Finally, the Anniversary Cruise to Scotland scheduled for July has been postponed for a year and will now take place 3-17 July 2021. The majority of members who had booked on the cruise have opted to transfer their booking, but there are a few spare berths to be filled. Official details of the rearranged cruise will be issued in the Autumn, together with the Application Form for anyone who wishes to take part in a memorable cruise, which we hope will include a trip out to St Kilda.

Other Penguin Cruises 2021

Looking forward to the 2021 cruise programme, we have decided not to risk a new foreign cruise next year, because of the likely continuing uncertainty, although it may include a postponed Canaries Cruise if this doesn’t go ahead this year as planned. We are scoping out a cruise to the Scilly Islands from either Falmouth or Plymouth for early September. Other options, such as the Norfolk Broads are also being considered.

So, a big disappointment for our programme this year, but hopefully we will have an interesting and varied programme next year to whet your appetites.

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Mike Fergie’s sterling efforts:

Penguin membership tacks into cyber-space!

Technological changes in recent decades have transformed the way in which clubs and societies manage information and communication with their members. PCC is no exception. Our database, email lists, file storage and website have been serving us well for many years. However, we need to adapt to ever-changing environments and the next step in that evolution is for us to join many other similar clubs in moving the membership database to an on-line hosted club management software solution. The system will facilitate better interaction with members regarding their data and subscriptions, give more control to members over communication preferences and potentially enable members to sign up for Penguin organised events via an on-line portal.

The transition is needed to improve the management of our data and to streamline some of our processes. Our existing database is creaking within an ever-changing legislative environment and our membership application process has become a hybrid of the old paper system meeting the new paperless world in which we now exist. Maintaining this data is quite time-consuming; we struggle to keep up with current membership subscriptions let alone find the time to ensure that the information we hold about our members is current.

To meet this need we have engaged with a third-party provider to supply an on-line hosted service called MyClubhouse. The product is specifically designed to help successfully and efficiently run a volunteer-led club like ours. Members log-in though the member portal to manage their records, and those of their family, and use that information to make on-line applications for our events.

A project is under-way to migrate our data to MyClubhouse over the next few months.

The FIRST STEP is to populate the database with details of members with up-to-date subscriptions. Those members    will be notified of their registration details in due course and asked to log-in to check their records.

STEP TWO will be for us to ask members to sign up for future cruises via MyClubhouse. This will be done as a pilot exercise to start with, using volunteers ‘press ganged’ for this purpose.

STEP THREE will be to migrate our fleet of emails and newsletters so that they are distributed by MyClubhouse. This will involve some parallel running at first, so some duplication should be expected. That phase will serve as notice to those who are not subscribed as members that they will drop off our email list and will need to register again if they want to get back on.

So please check to make sure your subscription is valid for 2020. The majority pay via GoCardless and their subscriptions will be fine. Those still paying via standing order are asked to check that the payment this year was for either £10 for the individual membership or £20 for the family/joint membership. Contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. if you are in any doubt.

Members can, at some point soon, expect to receive an email containing their personal username and password with a link to the MyClubhouse site to enable them to log-in. We will provide an update on cruise applications in due course, but we expect this facility to be fully functioning for cruises being run in 2021.

Any questions about the project please direct them to a Committee member or directly to:

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

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Chief Petty Officer Fanshawe has reminded me -

Souvenir Key Fobs and Mugs

We commemorate 50 years with our special Anniversary luxury Key fobs, also new china mugs, complete with a picture of Loch Scavaig on the back. The keyfobs were freebies to AGM attendees, now in short supply so place your order soon! (see Mail Order form below)).

She also has other “goodies” on offer - neck buffs and organiser bags - all tastefully embossed with the Penguin logo.

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and Finally. . . .

This is what we are missing. . . 

 or is it?

 Mooring.

The act of bringing a yacht to a complete stop in a relatively protected coastal area so that it can be sailed away again without heavy lifting equipment and with no more than £100 in repairs.

Tight Halyards

Pugwash