Christmas Day Dippers
Saturday 25 December 2010
Olivia Palmer reports: With the promise of a few SGBA members joining us for a Christmas Day dip at the Stoke Gabriel quay the dreaded lurgy struck down two of our most trusty dipping companions, Steve and Harry. So regardless Stu and I soldiered on and were met by very warm smiles from Peter and Sarah in their Father Christmas Hats uttering phrases like ‘this is past barking’ and ‘are you sure?’ Having made our way past the icy Millpond we decided there was no turning back, we stripped with speed into our swimming costumes and walked (in my case waddled!) to the jetty where we walked through the ice covered waters into the Dart. A few choice words were uttered and our shoulders were under. Mummy and step-Daddy Oliver watched on with a slightly unsettled Freda whilst Peter and Sarah took some pictures as proof that mad people are alive and well in the village of Stokey G! After only a few short seconds on my part and a few short minutes on Stu’s we left the water with relief to quickly redress and try to regain the feeling in our extremeties. It was a lovely way to start our festivities and we were thrilled to have Peter and Sarah there to smile us along. Next year we’re determined to get them in…any other takers next year will be more than welcome, we had to drink quite a lot of hip flask contents ourselves which made an interesting start to the day. Happy New Year everyone and we hope to see you all in the Dart on many an occasion in 2011.
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photo to follow |
Father Christmas visits Stoke Gabriel
Friday 24 December 2010
Despite a very busy schedule on Christmas Eve, Father Christmas made a special detour to meet the children of Stoke Gabriel. His rowing boat, decked out in twinkly lights, appeared out of the dark and from across the river. Having moored at the end of the pontoon, Father Christmas and his Elves made their way to their grotto outside of the River Shack to talk to the children. He had good wishes and chocolates for those who had come down to meet him. Everyone was kept warm and in the Christmas spirit with mulled wine and mince pies from the SGBA. Thanks to Father Christmas and his Elves for making a special trip to Stoke Gabriel on their busiest day of the year, hope to see you again next year! Thanks also to Lucy for organising the refreshments.
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 Father Christmas meets the children of Stoke Gabriel on Christmas Eve |
SGBA 40th Anniversay Dinner
Saturday 20 November 2010
Almost 90 members squeezed into the Village Hall for the social event of the year – the SGBA 40th Anniversary Dinner on Saturday 20 November 2010. Members were treated to a three course meal and nautical cabaret. In a village renowned for its penchant for getting on the stage, the entertainment had been hotly anticipated, and didn’t disappoint. Steve Banks sang his beautiful songs in tribute to our wonderful River Dart before his specially written SGBA 40th Anniversary song had the entire audience doing actions reminiscent of the Birdie Song to the tune of the Beatles! Steve was followed by an eclectic mix of nautical singing and dancing, from Rod Stewart (yes, that song) to Charlie Gillmore and Laura Kies asking us to be Shipshape. A great evening was had by all. Well done and thank you to Lucy Bate, Sheila Adams and Neil Millward for organising the evening, to Jenny Jones for producing the evening’s entertainment and to Castle Barton for cooking great food. Finally, a special thank you to those brave members who got up on stage for our entertainment!
See more photos
PS If you left a corkscrew, pair of mauve-framed glasses or the top part of a catsuit at the Village Hall, please contact Neil to retrieve them!
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The curtain comes down on
great evening of entertainment.
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Stoke Gabriel Tide Timetable launched
Tuesday 19 October
The first ever official tide tables for Stoke Gabriel on the River Dart were published on Tuesday 19 October 2010. The UK Hydrographic Office (UKHO) has adopted Stoke Gabriel (Duncannon) as a new Secondary Port, thanks to the initiative of the SGBA and the generosity of a local company. A booklet, “Stoke Gabriel Tides 2011” will contain the official predictions for October 2010 through to December 2011, together with photographs and tide-related information to help users of Stoke Gabriel Creek and nearby sections of the River Dart. Stoke Gabriel Creek dries at low water on most tides, making it essential for river users to know the timing of the tides. Tidal predictions for Dartmouth and Greenway Quay are available, but there has always been uncertainty about the differences between these ports and Stoke Gabriel. In 2007 the Stoke Gabriel Boating Association installed two tide boards in the creek to help members with boats on tidal moorings to assess when they could use them, but it was realised that a digital tide gauge would be greatly preferable. A local manufacturer of oceanographic measuring instruments, Valeport of Totnes, was successfully approached and tide gauges were installed at Stoke Gabriel (Duncannon) and Totnes, with the readings continually transmitted to the Valeport headquarters. An SGBA member kindly provided the site for the instrumentation at Duncannon. A year’s data, collected at 10-minute intervals, were sent to the Hydrographic Office in Taunton and analysed. The predictions published in today’s booklet are the first fruit of this collaborative effort.
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 Stoke Gabriel Creek at low tide |
The Big Swim: Totnes to Stoke Gabriel
Saturday 11 September
Stuart and Olivia Palmer organised the four mile swim from Totnes to Stoke Gabriel on what turned out to be a glorious late summer day. Thirty experienced open water swimmers accompanied by canoeists and rescue boats from the SGBA swam this beautiful stretch of the river, some completing the swim in just over an hour. All were rewarded with brunch at the River Shack. Thanks to Stuart and Olivia for organising the day and all those who accompanied the swimmers. Click here for more photos.
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 The final stretch into Stoke Gabriel |
SGBA Regatta
Sunday 5 September
Commodore Neil Millward reports: After a gloomy morning the weather gods relented for our afternoon regatta. The sun made an occasional appearance and a perfect SE breeze of about 8 – 10 knots blew for the duration of the sailing races, giving clean wind for the windward-leeward courses set for each class. Class A (Gaff and Lug) The winner of the Gaff and Lug Shield was the Drascombe Dabber, Quivitoq, sailed by Robert and Sunil Foster. The Shrimper Trophy was awarded to Anthony Showell in Tosca, and the Small Cruiser Trophy to Terry Ridge in Siccawli. Class B (6 Picos and 3 Toppers) Overall winner in the Picos were Charlie and Freddie Gillmore, while the Topper class trophy deservedly went to Rowan Halkes. Class C (Handicap Dinghies) Megan Barratt, helming an RS Feva for only the second time, narrowly beat Ken Kies on corrected time in the club Wanderer. Rowing Winners: Men, Peter Dingley-Brown; Women, Heather Hooper; Veterans, Sheila Adams; Under 16, Rowan Halkes; Under 12 (Whitehall), Jamie Ridge; Under 12 (Bugs), Freddie Gillmore & Frankie Barrett. Thanks to those present and all who had helped to make it an enjoyable afternoon. More photos. |
Robert & Sunil Foster in Quivitoq
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Middle Back Revival
Friday 13 August
Organiser Charlie Gillmore writes: Warm sunshine and a very low spring tide combined to make the revival of the Middle Back Bash one of the highlights of this year’s SGBA social calendar. Over 70 members took the short crossing from Mill Point to invade the moon like island for an hour or so before it was reclaimed by the strong incoming tide. Once the club flag had been proudly staked in place finely contested games of soccer and boules took place whilst others used this rare opportunity to wander the great expanse of sand, shingle and mud. Finishing off with the River Shack’s BBQ the Middle Back Bash was a high spirited event so thanks to those who joined in and of course a special mention must go to the brave adults who attempted the swim back to Mill Point.....and those who did the rescuing! See more photos.
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Flag is planted and games begin |
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Mill Pool Challenge
Sunday 1 August
Stoke Gabriel Carnival started in grand style with on the water fun and games at the Mill Pool. Children and adults competed in the pallet running, duck racing, dunking stool and rowing races. Martin and Manny won the men's and women's rowing races, and Harry the under 12s pallet run, with Liam and Ethan bringing home the parent and child pallet relay. The undoubted success of the day was the new walking on water balls. Having climbed into the clear plastic balls, air was then pumped in to fill them, before you were launched off into the Mill Pool, few got the hang of walking within them but everyone enjoyed having a go. Thanks to Charlie Gillmore and all the helpers for organising the day, the River Shack for sponsoring the event and to Jimmy & Perry for allowing us to use the Mill Pool. See more photos.
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Frankie getting the fastest time of the day so far - he was later beaten by Harry |
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Swallows & Amazons
Friday 23 - Sunday 25 July
Nineteen children joined the first Swallows and Amazons weekend on 23-25 July 2010. It was a weekend of camping, sailing, rowing, camp fires, fishing and raiding Captain Flint’s ship. The sound of laughter filled the river and shore around Stoke Gabriel all weekend, and it was declared “the best time ever” by many. Thanks to all the Natives for helping to make it such a fantastic weekend. See more photos.
Look out for a full report by some of the pirates in the Autumn SGBA newsletter.
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 The Swallows & Amazons make Captain Flint walk the plank |
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Adult Sailing Training Course
Thur 1, Fri 2, Mon 19 & Tues 20 July
Kirstie Barrett writes: Some of us were just rusty, some had never sailed before but we all came together with the same desire to get out on the river in a boat and of course get back safely in! With winds gusting to force 5 we headed out all reefed up in Wanderers and Picos for our first day’s sailing. The conditions were challenging to say the least and our skills were tested to the full. It would be fair to say that most of us did enough capsizing during our first day that the idea of capsize drills wasn’t brought up again. The winds had died down suffifciently on the second day for us all to relax a bit and run through what we had learnt so far without having to right our boats every 5 mintues. We were all doing so well that Bones organised an afternoons racing. After being drilled on the ruduments of racing and tactics the ‘refresher’ groups got a chance to show what they could do. Read the rest of Kirstie's article in the Autumn 2010 newsletter.
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Briefing before the final session |
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Dad and Children Canoe and Camp
Fri 16 -Say 17 July 2010
The canoe and camp was an informal trial for what could become an annual SGBA event, and if the popularity of this year's camp was anything to go by, it will be back next year. Planned as an antidote for the disappointed primary school children who were sad to miss out on the Swallows & Amazons weekend, the dads and their children canoed, rowed or motored up to Asprington Point for an evening of camp fires, football and sausages burning on sticks. Everyone bedded down eventually before the return journey in the morning. Lots of tired but happy children returned to Stoke Gabriel on Saturday morning thrilled with their first canoe and camping expedition. Thanks to the Sharpham Trust for allowing us to camp and to Dan Hallam for coordinating it all.
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Canoes safe and camp fire lit! |
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Up River Picnic
Sunday 20 June 2010
A dozen or so families journeyed up Bow Creek for the Up River Picnic on another glorious June day. They came in all sorts of craft; sailing, rowing, paddling and motoring to the first field beyond Wills Copse. Whilst the children sailed, canoed, caught grasshoppers and swung on the rope swing, the adults relaxed with sumptuous picnics and even the odd glass of wine. Thanks to the Hartnell’s for allowing us to use their land, the cows for kindly moving to the next field (without leaving too many cow pats) and to Alan Wood for organising the afternoon.
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Up River Picnic 2010 |
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Junior Sailing Course
1-5 June 2010
Almost forty children aged 8-11 years took part in this year's Junior Sailing Course held in the school half term holidays. Throughout the five day course the emphasis was on fun and building water confidence, through games, practice on the water and a bit of sailing theory. Split into groups according to age and ability the children followed the RYA learn to dinghy sail syllabus as they worked towards their RYA Level 1 and Level 2 Certificates. Wonderful weather all week, apart from a soggy first morning, meant that spirits were high throughout. Well done to everyone who took part and learnt to sail. A special thank you to Kim for organising this year's course, and another thank you to all the rescue boat crews, instructors and parent helpers, without whom there would be no course. See more photos.
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Shore based tacking practice |
Tuckenhay Canoe Races
23 May 2010
Set on defending their three year unbeaten rein as canoe race champions, the Stoke Up team were determined to put in a good show this year. Unfortunately, despite getting the fastest time of the day, they were pipped at the post in the final race against the Hands On team (even though they’d beaten them twice in earlier heats). There was general agreement that the second prize of a beer and a bar of chocolate for everyone was a better prize than the silver trophy and bottle of champagne, but that doesn’t mean they won’t be back determined to bring the trophy back to Stoke next year. Thanks to all the SGBA members who sailed, row, motored and drove around to support the team. See more photos.
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Stoke Up -
near side boat getting a good start |
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Members Try Out Day
25 April 2010
On Sunday 25 April members gathered at Mill Point for the first Sunday Sailing of the season. For many it was the first time back on the water in 2010, and for some it was their first SGBA event. The rescue boats were kept busy; the blustery wind resulted in several capsizes, even managing to capsize the Wanderer and a couple of Bugs (although no one was quite sure whether that was the blustery wind or rusty sailing skills!). As the tide came in and the afternoon drew to a close, members ferried each other back to the quay, whilst others waded or climbed the chain back to dry land. A great first afternoon of sailing, rowing and canoeing was had by all, it really feels as if summer is coming. Thanks to Jackie for acting as OOD for the event, keeping a cool head as all others capsized! See more photos.
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Sheila trys out the new Wanderer |
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Annual General Meeting 2010
Thurday 25 March 2010
The AGM took place on Thursday 25 March in the Club House and was a social affair with standing room only! The election of committee officers took place, with most of the committee carrying on in their roles into next year – but with the welcome new addition of Lucy Bate as Social Secretary. It was agreed to increase fees for 2011/12. It was explained that the increases were needed now that we have 29 boats to maintain (for which the services of a Bosun have been secured) - possibly the most of any of the sailing clubs on the Dart. It was also agreed to introduce a new category of ‘social member’. This was designed to appeal to those who wish to maintain links with the club but who no longer wish to make use of the sailing facilities. Social members will pay £10 per person p.a. and this will enable them to attend social events, but not apply for dinghy park spaces/locker spaces/courses etc. The AGM was followed by wine and nibbles provided by the Committee.
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