STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL
Minutes: 209 – 223
Minutes of the Committee Meeting held on 15 September 2019 at Ventnor Marina
Present:
Ken Barnes (KB)
Michelle Barnes (MB) Treasurer
Robbie Barrett (RB)
Sue Barrett (SB)
Phil Boswell (PB) Chairman
Sue Boswell (SBos)
Alistair Hodgson (AH)
Georgina Hodgson (GH)
209 Quorum
As more than four members of the Committee were personally present, the Chairman declared the meeting quorate.
210 Apologies for Absence
Apologies for absence had been received from Tony Fry. Gillian Chapple was unable to attend due to illness but had sent some notes up; Sue Boswell agreed to take notes for the Minutes
210 Minutes of the Committee Meeting held on 27 April 2019
The Minutes of the meeting, having been circulated, were approved and signed by the Chairman.
211 Review of Blue Lias Walk held on 14 September 2019
14 people participated in the walk, 8 Members and 6 Committee Members. Everyone seemed to enjoy the walk and it was agreed that the break in the middle at the Blue Lias had been welcome as it was quite a warm day.
A learning point for future walks which include a refreshment stop is to ask people who are picnicing to let the walk leaders know so that they don’t have to go searching for people when the walk resumes.
Secretary’s note: Gail Lawes emailed Steve Chapman to say that she thought the walk was ‘brilliant’ and that she hoped we would do more.
212 Review of Moorers Breakfast held on 15 September 2019
35 existing members attended, 7 people joined, 3 Marina staff attended and there were 4 guests – a total of 49 people. Michelle Barnes will prepare a full ‘account’ for the event, which will be tabled at the next Committee meeting. Action: MB
Sue & Robbie Barrett offered to replenish supplies by purchasing a new table cloth, paper towels and black sacks. In addition, 8 more table clips were needed to cope with windy weather. Action: SB/RB
It was agreed that, in future, servers should wear plastic gloves for hygiene reasons and Phil Boswell agreed to source these. Action: PB
213 Arrangements for Soup & Sparklers on 2 November 2019
Gillian Chapple had agreed to make the soups again this year. It was agreed that there should be 2 soups as previously, with the suggestion that this time they should be pea and mint and carrot and coriander. Gillian will also get the mulled wine and bread for the evening plus purchase some more long burn sparklers. Action: GAC
Phil Boswell will source a couple of lighters for the sparklers. Action: PB
With regard to the Photo Competition, Gillian had indicated that she would set up the voting in the same way as last year and suggested that the prize should be a canvas print of the winning entry. Action: GAC
214 Craft Event – 3 November
Georgina Hodgson offered to do a craft session and suggested doing it on the morning of Sunday 3 November so it fitted in with when people may already be at the Marina. It would be simple hand crafts, e.g. making a small Christmas wreath from scrap material or knitting a small Christmas stocking. Georgina will check that the date would work for her and if she can do it, will let Gillian know so that the event can be publicised. Georgina would need people to confirm they were coming so she could sort materials. Action: GH
215 2020 Wine and Cheese Evening
Gillian Chapple had reported that Martin Stubbins off Ruby Louise (formerly off Rhiannon) had agreed to give a demonstration of Roses & Castles painting, with a bit of a chat about his background, a bit about painting, and a demonstration of laying out a pattern, base colours and final detail. Martin says he does more roses and daisies than castles, so we can keep it simple. He thought that giving people the opportunity to ‘have a go’ probably wouldn’t work given the space availabilty.
The Committee were all happy with proposed arrangements and it was suggested that Martin might like to bring some completed items with him to sell.
216 Membership Update
In 2018, there had been 137 Members representing 75 boats. As at 15/05/2019 107 Members representing 59 boats had renewed their Membership. There were 32 new Members representing 19 boats – making the total 139 Members and 78 boats
217 Finance Update
Michelle Barnes reported that there was about £940 in the bank account but expenses for the breakfast needed to be deducted.
218 Association Gazebos/Permanent outdoor structure (Mins 184.2 & 203 refer)
Phil Boswell reported that there had been no major progress regarding a permanent outdoor structure as Steve Chapman has no available funds in 2019 and is not sure what will be available in 2020.
Committee Members indicated that they were were willing to offer labour time and it was agreed that we should revisit the possibility of a financial contribution if any proposal was forthcoming from the Marina.
There was discussion on the two gazebos and whether we should consider replacing them now. It was felt that we should continue to use them until they were no longer viable and we could even make minor repairs to the ones we had. Only one was used at the Breakfast, without the sides, and it was anchored to two tables and had been fine.
219 Additional social events (Mins 184.5 & 204 refer)
Sue & Robbie Barrett had talked to the fender maker who was willing to come and give a demonstration. Chris Mayhew (new member) is a singer and guitarist and had indicated to Michelle that she would be happy to do something.
There was a brief discussion about the format additional social events might take – eg invite people to bring a plate or bring their own food, and it was agreed that this should be discussed further at the November meeting when we would normally set dates for next year. Action: ALL
220 News from the Marina
In a general conversation with Steve Chapman, Gillian Chapple had asked if Ventnor Moorers got free pump outs at other Castle Marinas marinas. The answer was No, but that generally Castle Marinas moorers going into a Castle Marina whilst out cruising should get the same ‘perks’ as the home moorers in that marina, eg if the home moorers get reduced rate fuel, the visiting boat should get the reduced rate, if the home moorers get free pump outs then the visiting boat should get a free pump out. As this is not widely known, and the ‘perks’ of each marina vary, Steve is going to talk to Head Office about getting something included in the 2020 year book. He said he didn’t think it was something he should pull together. The question of how a Castle Marinas moorer could be identified wasn’t raised, but would need to be addressed. Obviously, a VMMA membership card would be of assistance.
Robbie and Sue Barrett shared their positive experience of using Cropredy recently.
221 VMMA Post
Committee Members were reminded to check the post box when they are at the Marina and let the appropriate Committee Member know if there is post (Gillian/Michelle re membership; Michelle re money) The key is held in Marina office. Action: ALL
222 Potential discount for membership
Robbie and Sue Barrett reported that when they were ordering items from AJ Canopies they had mentioned to the company the idea of giving Ventnor Moorers a 5% discount. AJ Canopies were thinking about this and Robbie and Sue would keep us updated . Action: RB/SB
223 Matters for to be discussed with the Marina
Phil Boswell agreed to raise the following matters with Steve Chapman. Action: PB
223.1 Ladies Showers on Sunrise
It was felt that the Ladies shower on Sunrise could do with a spruce up.
223.2 Sunrise wifi
The wifi on Sunrise not working on the Breakfast weekend and this appears to be an ongoing problem
223.3 Moorers not on email
A Member not on email had received a final demand for an electricity bill which they felt was quite brusque and threatening and was upsetting. They have raised the issue of non-email communications with the Marina several times, but still seem to be having problems.
The Committee also felt that generally in the summer other moorers may not pay bills as quickly due to extended cruising and not having such easy access to emails and that the Marina should perhaps be more understanding of this.
There being no further business, the meeting was closed.