August 2010 Newsletter
The August newsletter reviews the previous months and looks ahead to the coming season.
For the Solent Branch, the year 2009/10 was a record year with eighteen RIN events taking place in the region, including NAV 09 run by the HQ team. Local membership is increasing and all events were well supported, with some booked up months in advance.
It was particularly pleasing to have been able to take part in “Skill Fest”, an exhibition Southampton helping people choose future careers. We have been invited to take part again next November. We certainly value our links with young people at the Warsash Maritime Academy and the RN's University Units. A notable event was the presentation of the John Milner Memorial Award to Cadet Tom Feakins by our President at the Academy's passing out ceremony held at the Southampton Guildhall.
A review of our events to Jan 2010 was covered in the last newsletter. The following months proved to be equally busy. Visits proved as popular as ever, so much so that we had to arrange a second visit to the Air Traffic Control Centre at Swanwick. Equally interesting was a visit to the RNLI at Poole.
February saw us back at Ordnance Survey and in March we met at the Royal Lymington Yacht Club for a most interesting talk about Alcock and Brown's First Atlantic Crossing.
We held our second joint meeting of the season with the Nautical Institute at the Warsash Maritime Academy. This one gave members the chance to test their skis on the latest bridge simulators.
A new event was a “fly/sail” weekend based on Gosport. This splendid occasion gave saw the sailors go flying and the flyers go sailing. “A good time was had by all”. The photo is of racing jetskis approaching St Catherine's Point on the Isle of Wight, taken from Graham Purchase's plane by Tony Fyler.
Looking to the future we have a busy time ahead with a dozen or so activities on the plot. Details are outlined in the newsletter. A particular innovation is the ‘Sharing the Seas Safely’ workshop to be held on 2nd Oct 2010 (for details, see the Events section of the web site).
The RIN will have a stand at the Southampton Boat Show. Do come and say “hello” if you are visiting. If you have friends considering joining the RIN, special terms will be on offer during the period of the Show, details of the popular Associate level are included with this newsletter. This level gives access to the Solent Branch and the Small Craft Special Interest Group.
We now have a Solent section of the website www.rin.org.uk, do please use it and its forums. On it you will find “links” to useful navigational information.
Last but not least, I have been advised that only about one third of Solent Branch Members have completed “gift aid” forms. If you have not done so or are not sure if you have, please complete and return a form to “Membership”. It can be sent “free post”.
Mike Highwood – Solent Branch Sec - solsec@rin.org.uk