Refit
Only seven and a half weeks to go until the end of the refit!!!!!!!!!!

This is the point where the list of jobs which still need doing appears to be utterly terrifying, so PLEASE try to get down for a day or a weekend if you possibly can. If everyone on this mailing list (apart from the under-16s – sorry!) could give just a day, it would transform the refit. There’s good food, good company, it’s a great way to learn more about the boat, and we really can’t get the work finished unless more people come and give us a hand. Call Wolf on 07771 771864 to arrange when you are coming.

Many thanks to all those who have been down to the boat in the last week: Kathryn, Ceri, Tim Deverson, Mark Boggis, Pete McSherry, Vic Stephens, Joel from Southampton City College and Travis all joined Princess Craig and Wolf to help out. Between them they have done a lot more work on the deck (a very time-consuming job), painted the dorade boxes, sanded more of the hull and started sanding the crew quarters, dismantled and sanded the stern platform, marked the anchor chain, removed the rest of the anodes and removed the starboard Lewmar track to tackle the deck in that area.

Last weekend the refit was enlivened by a visit from Dougie Walker and Helen Acton, both of whom spent a lot of time with us last year as relief skipper / first mate. High point of their visit was probably the enormous meal they cooked for us all on Saturday night. However, on Friday night their arrival so distracted Wolf that he went to the pub with them without taking any of his phones (cue gasps of amazement from all readers who think his phones constitute some sort of life support system without which Wolf could not survive). As last orders approached it finally dawned on Wolf that someone else was due to stay that night as well: the Chairman of OYT South (i.e. Wolf’s boss) – who would have arrived in Hamble, found the house empty, been unable to contact him, and been left wandering alone in the cold and dark….But Mark Boggis knows his refit team well, and by the time we tracked him down he had started a tour of Hamble’s pubs, confident of finding everyone.

Training weekend Feb 19th – 20th
We’ve been very successful in attracting people to do the courses on Saturday, but I still need to hear from most people about whether they will be joining us for any or all of the following:

1) Social event in Gosport on Saturday night (probably involving a meal in a pub)
2) Overnight accommodation in the refit house in Hamble
3) Crew welfare training session on Sunday morning in Gosport
4) OYT South AGM at 2.30pm at TS Hornet Sea Cadets, Gosport

Please email me a.s.a.p!

NB if you want to VOTE at the AGM you will need to have paid your membership fee for this year – please contact the office!

The courses on Saturday will also be at TS Hornet, except for the First Aid course, which I believe will be at KTY Yachts, Universal Marina, Warsash.

We could still do with finding at least one more person who wants to do the RYA Radar course, and one or two more people for First Aid. The VHF / GMDSS course is definitely full (though we will try to arrange an extra date for those who can’t make it this time). The chartwork session looks as though it may be full as well.

Also, don’t forget Tony Salmon’s Powerboat Level 2 training course on 12th-13th March!

Crew bookings – and funding
We do now have a range of funds available for people who would struggle to raise the full voyage fee. Would any of the following be useful to you, or to anyone you know?

1) Wessex voyage: this is the trip taking John Laing from IFOS (the International Festival of the Sea) in Portsmouth, to Waterford in Ireland in time for the start of the first Tall Ships Race. It will run from 2nd- 7th July. There is special bursary funding available for this trip only, open to deserving applicants aged 15-25 from the Wessex area (i.e. Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Dorset, Devon, Somerset, Wiltshire, Berkshire, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and West Sussex.)

2) Tall Ships Races: limited sponsorship has become available for the legs of the Tall Ships Race this summer, for applicants aged 15-25 who would benefit from sailing on board John Laing.

3) Chris Ellis Fund: Chris Ellis was one of the founders of the Ocean Youth Club in 1960, and he left a fund to be used to encourage crew members to produce a piece of work based on any OYT voyage. This can be a logbook, a diary, a picture, a story, computer art – whatever you like. OYT South can award up to £200 (to one entrant, or split between several individuals) in the form of a discount off a future voyage. The key thing is that the fund is designed to reward effort: crew members with a physical or learning difficulty stand just as much chance of winning as anyone else, if you send in something that is all your own work. So if you sailed last year and are wondering how to afford a trip this year, it’s not too late to enter. This is not restricted to any particular voyage.

For more information on any of these funds, contact the office (office@oytsouth.org, tel 0870 241 2252).

There are still plenty of spaces for crew members during the Tall Ships Races (school / university summer holidays, but you must be aged 15+); and lots of spaces for those aged 12-25 in the autumn. But please can everyone make a real effort to help us find crew members for the few early season voyages which are still not full? The first three which need filling urgently are:

• 18-23 April, Southampton, £265
• 2-6 May, Southampton, £260
• 16-22 May, Poole, £385.

Please contact the office on 0870 241 2252 or email office@oytsouth.org for latest availability and bookings.

Sea staff bookings
We need to fill quite a few first and second mate berths in the early months of the season, and there are a few places left for third mates. Email me or call 07986 354697 for latest availability and to book your berth(s).

Wolf will also need to be slotting in relief bosuns and trainee relief bosuns, so please call him on 07771 771864 if you have been recommended and are hoping to sail as bosun this year. NB it is really important that relief bosuns come to the refit if at all possible!

There is one space left for the mates’ training weekend on board John Laing on 6th-8th May – but lots of spaces still for 16th-18th September. (NB these weekends are also open to bosuns and prospective bosuns).

There are also two or three berths left on the adult familiarisation voyage (for prospective sea staff, group leaders, potential donors, parents etc) on 6th-10th April, and plenty of berths on 12th-16th September.

Fundraising & Berth Sales
Chris Hirst is currently conducting a review of the various ways in which we sell berths and fundraise. Chris has asked for any comments, suggestions and shared experiences of ideas and techniques that have worked in OYT South or any other organisation – please email him at chris.hirst@oytsouth.org.