News Updates
Shop at Waitrose in September
During September the DSA are one of three charities to be supported by
Waitrose in Plainmoor in Torquay. The way it works is that everyone who
shops at Waitrose during September will be given a token at the checkout
and they put it in the box of the charity of their choice. At the end of
the month, £1000 is split between the three charities in proportion
to the number of tokens they receive. Can we encourage everyone to visit
Waitrose on our behalf.
The Eddystone Charity Pursuit
Freedom duly took part in the race to the Hand Deeps buoy on Saturday 11th July. Photos are in the gallery and there is a short video taken aboard here.
Freedom in Plymouth
In the middle of June the DSA received an invite from WoW (Wheels on Water Plymouth Disability Sailing Group). They asked us whether we would like to take part in the 8th Eddystone Charity Sailing Pursuit on Saturday 11 July 2009. They said they would organise us a berth and would also be trying to get some publicity.
David Musgrove, our Chair, asked me whether I would like to take the matter in my hands. I did, with the huge help of Paul Thompson and Chris Twyman. We took our course to Plymouth on Friday 10 July. During our journey there the table which was just put back, came adrift again while tacking. Still the screws (although thicker than the previous ones) were not able to secure this heavy object. And we had to tack due to the south-westerly wind. We also motored for a while. The swell was not helping us and thanks to that and the following showers we found out that the two side Plexiglas panels were leaking, the port one quite badly. It is a factory fault as the panels have been just glued to the boat by the very same substance that has been sealing them. It does not work after just one year!
The weather on the actual racing day was terrible - the organisers (Royal Western Yachting Club) even thought about setting an alternative course for the event! We had five other people (from WOW) onboard, amongst them Maria, an eight year old girl with mobility problems, and Mark, a young lad with Downs Syndrome. Wind was force five, for some time increasing to six (persistent gusts), the swell sometimes was five metres high, and heavy showers... Maria enjoyed it very much, the bigger the waves the louder exclamations of her enjoyment - I am pretty sure she will remember this trip for long. Mark, on the other hand, was very mobile, spent too much time in the cabin - and as the effect of this - was seasick rather soon. You should have seen how he was retiring afterwards! Lying on the cockpit floor, on his back, but also on his belly! He seemed not to mind it all and he did not want to be removed!
We crossed the starting line at 1025, sailed around Hand Deeps Buoy (position 50˚ 12.5´N 004˚ 21.0´W) at 1450 and crossed the finishing line at 1710. Of course, we all know that Freedom is not a good racing yacht: too much gear, not very good racing sails. We came 49th (sailing position) out of 89 yacht planned participating. Not everyone finished. Some yachts did not start at all and some retired. Our total position is different because in this event you got points for your sailing position plus points for the sponsorship money you have raised. We have not raised any this year — we did not even try. It is worthwhile to collect as much money as possible for two reasons: firstly, of course it gives you a better position, and secondly, all the money come back to the charity you are supporting or representing. Even without sponsorship money DSA will have received £25. All the info about the Pursuit you can find here: www.eddystonepursuit.org
I think we all enjoyed our trip despite the weather. There were moments she reached eight knots of speed! It was a good experience in good company. Shall we go again next year? No doubt.
Tom Glomb
Links: Eddystone Charity Pursuit | WOW
Freedom now equipped with an MMSI
The MMSI number has now been programmed into the VHF on board Freedom as well as the number of Brixham Coastguard. This means you can now call them directly without going through Channel 16 (and also call them if there is an ongoing mayday preventing normal access). If you are not used to the procedure with the Ray54, here is how to call Brixham Coastguard:
- Press the [CALL MENU] button once.
- The next menu indicates INDIVIDUAL. Press the CH knob to select it.
- The phonebook menu appears with an arrow pointing to <MANUAL>. Rotate the CH knob until the arrow points to BRIXHAM CGD. Press the CH knob to select it.
- The arrow will now point to SEND. Press the CH knob to send a request to Brixham Coastguard.
- The radio will show CALLING... and then AWAITING ACK.
- After a moment, the Coastguard should acknowledge the call by automatically changing the channel to whichever they choose and the VHF will start beeping.
- To answer the call, just click the Press-To-Talk button on the microphone and give your message.
You can also use the buttons on the microphone where:
Up-down arrows
= rotating the CH knob
HI/LO button = pressing the CH knob.
The new website
Welcome to the new website. As a graphic/web designer, I have taken over the design and maintenance of the website from Ian who has done an excellent job up to now. The website will continue as before and, if you have any photographs to display, continue to send them to gallery@disabledsailingassociation.org.uk.
Paul Thompson
Official naming and launch by HRH The Princess Royal
HRH The Princess Royal has commissioned our new boat. It was a real honour for us all. The name of the boat is to be:
“Freedom”
Sky dive
Congratulations to Richard Shuker who recently completed a parachute jump to help raise money for us and other charities. WELL DONE RICHARD!
More Pics in Gallery.
Car Boot Sales
We now have a member who is happy to carry out car boot sales for our organisation. He has already attended one and was able to raise £100. For this we are very appreciative. So if you have anything you feel may sell at a car boot sale then please let us know and we can arrange to collect it from you.
Help raise funds for DSA when shopping online.
It costs you nothing.
Visit www.easyfundraising.org.uk
Sign up as a User and insert Disabled Sailing Association as the Charity to benefit. When you want to shop online, log in to easyfundraising and then go to the site you want to shop with. They range from Amazon to holidays, insurance, gifts, food, ebay, mobile phones etc.
There is even a section labelled FREE FUNDS where you can raise money for us just by looking at a website or by completing questionnaires.
Please give it a try
Anyone interested in helping to purchase Fenders for our Boat, please get in contact with us. They are £30.00 each and we need ten. Perhaps your name could be put on the side of them?
