Joan Abrams

As I look out at the frost on the boat cover it is difficult to believe that by the time you read this Spring Bulletin we will be removing the covers, getting masts stepped and sailing away on sunny waters. Or perhaps not so sunny.

It is pleasing that so many members have shared their experiences with Judith Morris. She has compiled them into articles which may be helpful to others considering adding outboards to their family dinghies (and also to those venturing out of Poole Harbour). As we have at present no technical adviser, it is helpful that people are willing to help in this way, but I hope that one or more of our veterans will be willing to take on the job. Perhaps we might have a list showing varied types of expertise amongst us, and a co-ordinating adviser could call on people as needed?

I do recommend members to borrow copies of the American Magazine Messing About in Boats from the DCA library. Some of us may feel that the kind of sailing we enjoy, perhaps we might call it rambling on the water, is a taste shared by few. It may come as a pleasant surprise to find that so many in the United States delight in just the same sort of boats and experiences on their wonderful and varied waterways. There are dinghy cruisers in Australia, too - see the first of Ross Murray’s articles in this bulletin.