Tower Lifeboat Station has offered to run a lifejacket clinic for the club on Saturady 19^th and Sunday 20 May as part of their activity this year to improve safety on the river. The RNLI’s key messages are:

• Useless unless worn
• Check and get them serviced regularly
• Choose and wear the appropriate Personal Flotation Device (PFD) for the activity
• Adjust and fit your PFD properly

Much of the onus on the above is for you as skippers and crews on our boats. We should inspect our lifejackets at least once a year – more often if used frequently – and have them serviced at the manufacturer’s recommended interval. Do we do that?

As part of the RNLI’s campaign to encourage those who go afloat to wear and properly maintain their lifejacket or buoyancy aid (PFD) some of Tower Community Safety Advisers (CSA) will demonstrate how to inspect PFD. After some basic checks the CSAs will talk owners through their PFD and encourage them to undertake the inspection themselves under supervision and demonstration so that they are familiar with their own PFD. It must be emphasised that this inspection by an RNLI CSA is not the equivalent of a lifejacket service; this should be carried out by an approved service agent.

I would encourage you to turn up to this free event, which is aimed to help you stay safe. There is no limit to the number of PFD you can bring along. There should be 4 from the RNLI. They will operate in pairs on an individual/pair basis with club members, so there may be a little waiting around at peak times. The clinic will start at 1000hrs, and be finished by 1600hrs on each day.

Sign-up sheet in the Club House.

The day skipper class  will start  tueday April 17th, the club is now colaborating with  nomad sailing, They  are a well established company who provide  both theory  and practical training. so we are confident they will  maintain the high standards of teaching we have always enjoyed at the club.Joining this course  is easy, all you do is click on the link above, which will take you to Nomads web site,  look for bookings and  fill in the form . (there  is discount rate for club members.).  

If you want to know more  about any of our classes  speak to me Brian harrisson  or steve wilson., we can be found  around the club or out on the water  or contacted via the  web site

 Sail training

The Club is a Royal Yachting association recognised teaching establishment.using our own qualified  instructors we  will be offering the following courses;

• Dinghy level one and two,
• keel boat level one,
• powerboat level 1 and two,safety boat
• first aid.

for  the details  of these courses please click  calendar and training.

Two GYC members, Nicola and Tim are taking part in the 2017/18 around the world clipper race.
There are 8 legs/races to complete and the boats are now on Leg 5 - the Asia Pacific leg.

Nicola and Tim are on the same boat - Great Britain. On January 10th (the All Australian Leg) Nicola wrote...

"Life lessons from sailing

There's been a reflective mood onboard GREAT Britain and following Krishna making a philosophical announcement this morning, we have had a bit of a discussion about what we've learnt from this sailing experience. Names have been withheld so that you can have a bit of fun and guess which of your loved ones / characters on the crew came up with each statement.

10 TIPS FOR STAYING SAFE ON THE RIVER

1. Wear a lifejacket that will inflate or a buoyancy aid that will take your weight

2. Wear appropriate footwear

3. Take a hand held radio or phone in a waterproof case

4. Tell someone where you are going

5. Ensure your tender is sea worthy

6. Always use your ‘kill cord’

7. Secure any luggage or large items that you may be transporting

8. On arrival, approach into the tide and secure tender with a bowline to your boat. Consider using a stern line as well

9. When secured. Choose your moment to disembark, check for passing clippers or wash to subside

10. Remember, one hand for you and one for the boat