Published 00:00 on 20 Mar 2025
Becoming Commodore is an honour and an enormous responsibility. I do not take this responsibility lightly, however I am reassured by the strength of this committee who ultimately will guide the club through our journey to our centenary in 2027.
Reaching the 100-year milestone will be a tremendous achievement as "Life" in general has altered so much since the first quarter of the 20th century.
That this club is still here now, enjoying the Blackwater and all that this beautiful coast has to offer is amazing. Society has changed, but at this club's roots is the same desire to be a group of like-minded people who enjoy company, the open air, the water and our locale.
If this club is to still be here in another 100 years then it will be a tribute to the Club's personality but it cannot be a reality without one thing - we must get our membership numbers up.
We need every single member's effort to increase our membership because without new member- (and continued member-) revenue, the other funding elements of this club the bar, training, bookings have too great a financial target to attain as our running costs increase year on year.
We're going to try something new: we're trialling a joint venture with a local publican to make the galley and the upper-deck earn some money. We'll be serving hot meals and bar snacks on Friday, Saturday & Sunday (on a pre-booking basis). Our new caterer will be providing the food for the fitting-out supper, so we'll be hoping for a large crowd on Saturday 12th April. We also want to make the fitting-out supper have a different feel to the formality of the laying-up supper, so this will be a more casual buffet affair. Numbers on the Upper-Deck (as always) are limited, so please get your booking in within the next week to avoid disappointment.
I'll share more details on our longer-term catering plans in the near future.
To plan for our centenary, we launched Project 100 at the start of this year; the first event was the boat jumble on 9th February, which raised £175. Over the next 2 years, the new committee will be looking to increase this pot significantly, so that we have a good budget to make our Club fit for its next 100 years.
So, as a Club, let's retain lots of the stuff we love and try to add in some new bits that (hopefully) will become family favourites in the future. Please support as many events as you're able, and let's make the coming 12 months a really special time for our Club.
Peter Collings
Commodore
Last updated 16:48 on 4 April 2025