Member update from OSC

October 22, 2020 Off By Oban Sailing Club

22nd October 2020

Dear Members

Many thanks for your support of the Club this summer. As we get to the close of the season I think many of us should be grateful that our sport/hobby was one that was less impacted than others. It wasn’t ideal, it was a bit different but I hope many were able to get out and enjoy their sailing at some point. I’ve just got a few updates that I hope you can take note of.

Dinghy Sailing: Given the forecast I think dinghy sailing on Saturday will be cancelled. We will now move to a process of notifying you about when we plan to run a dinghy sailing session as it is so weather dependent. So unless you hear from us, assume there is no sailing on Saturdays now.

Winter Social Activity: It probably goes without saying that our Annual Dinner will be cancelled this year. However, we do want to try and put together a program of activities over the winter. We’ve a few ideas but want to hear from you about the sort of virtual/online engagement we can set up. Please email us with any thoughts.

Winter Club/Shed Improvements: Hopefully many will be aware of the huge efforts that have gone into tidying up the dinghy park. We estimate that about 2 tonnes of refuse, abandoned gear and derelict boats have been removed. Thanks to all those who contributed their time. As we move into the winter there are two areas of improvement we want to make:

Dinghy Shed: We want to really gut the place, sort, repair, upgrade so that it is more functional for more people. We’d really appreciate that if you are storing any personal gear in the shed that you remove it before the end of November. Items in secure lockers can remain. Engines can also remain so long as they are labeled with your name – we’re anticipating some abandoned engines in there. However, please remove anything on the floor, in open lockers or in the rafters. There has been considerable accumulation of ‘stuff’ over the years. If you are living away from Oban and aware you have gear in the shed then please drop us an email and let us know what you have so we can identify it and keep it safe.

Club House: As a result of the COVID restrictions some areas of our Clubhouse have become a little neglected and unloved. We want to spend some time in and around the Clubhouse giving it some TLC. Andrew Campbell has kindly agreed to oversee this.

Both of these winter projects will require help. If you’re able to give some time here and there over the winter we’d like to hear from you. It can also be quite sociable! During the summer we have made effective use of WhatsApp groups to quickly pull together volunteers. We intend to do the same for the winter work. To sign up please click this link and complete the form: https://forms.gle/8uAhhiVbfRB6jQb99

Thanks for any help you can give here.

AGM: November is AGM time and our constitution requires us to hold one each year before December 1st. This year it is scheduled for Monday 9th November and no surprises …. it will be held online using Zoom! I’m actually hoping this will have some advantages, 1) it might be shorter than usual and 2) those from further afield can participate more easily. Information and relevant documents will be sent out to you a week beforehand as required. Please let me know if you have any serious objection to holding the AGM in this manner and we’ll try and find a solution to that.

I think that’s about all.

Best wishes to everyone.

Finlo