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Hi All,

Here's a bit of gossip for all Top Hatters. Tawny Port, which I bought last year and sailed happily around Port Phillip Bay over summer, is currently high and dry at Royal Brighton Yacht Club and not able to go back into the water because their slipway is completely kaput! Not only have they failed to keep it properly maintained, the club is now having a massive argument over whether to mend the slipway at all. Tawny Port, along with about five other boats, is stranded.

It all began with the idea of updating her a bit over winter ready for next summer. Without any warning of the impending political dramas over the slipway at RBYC I checked her in at Robstan for the works. Two days later a boat nearly fell off the slip and the club closed it so that they could enjoy a nice fight to the death over what to do next. This even made it onto page 3 the Age newspaper yesterday. If you look online you can see Tawny Port hiding among all the bigger boats to the left hand side of one of the pictures. I can call her a page three girl now!

The tragedy is she is looking great with newly refurbished insides and soon to be repainted topside etc. I am also updating the electronics and navigation gear. It seems quite likely that I will have to have her craned out and trucked around to Sandringham to get her back in the water. I am arguing that RBYC should pay for this but that is just a small skirmish in the otherwise full on warfare seemingly underway at the club. Hopefully I can get that agreed to and runaway fast!

Brandon

Hope you get it sorted before this summar Brandon.Sounds like a bizzare situation.Let us know how it all unfolds.

HI Brandon, that is a seriously awful predicament. If only you could collect some of the hot air being generated by the club bickering you could probably balloon your boat back into the water.

Hope you can get something sorted which doesn't end up costing heaps of money. With all the work you have done on Tawny Port I am sure you will enjoy it once back on the water.

troppo

Hey Brandon.Any update on your predicament?

Hi, The good news is that I have used the time well and Tawny Port is looking pretty good in a new paint job and there is new nav gear installed. (I have tried attaching a photo.) The bad news is that RBYC stills seems to be having a fight BIG TIME over what to do about the slip. The existing committee wants to start the temporary repair to the slip at the end of the month but it seems there is also likely to be a vote by members that could derail that plan. The other worry is that getting insurance cover in case something goes wrong is tricky. Fingers crossed for a fix before the weather gets nice,
Brandon

She is a very fine looking vessel Brandon.She really needs to be back in the water.Looks like you have made good use of your time stranded on the hard standing.

She is looking beautiful.

Hope they are not charging you for the time.

The latest news is that the "save the slipway" crowd lost the vote at RBYC. The result is that the slipway will have a temporary repair made to it to allow the boats in the yard to escape and then the club intends to shut her down for good.

According to the club it will take a couple of weeks, weather permitting, to do the temporary fix and then the boats will be returned, safely hopefully, to the water.

Looks like I will be back at good old Royal Melbourne Yacht Squadron in September sometime if it all goes to plan. Everyone think positive thoughts so that the temporary fix doesn't go wrong and cause any further dramas!

Brandon

Might be good to suggest that they take let smaller/ lighter boats escape first (not that Toppies are light for length) in case the repairs collapse, or book yourself back into the water first! Good luck with getting waterborne again, Rod

How cruel is this. Excitement aplenty today as the barge finally turned up to mend the RBYC slipway. After a few hours of messing about to get in position to drive the piles needed to fix the problem the barge operators then discovered the hydraulics for lowering the legs of the barge to fix it in position had failed. The operators have to fetch a new hydraulic pump from their base in Port Arlington and replace the busted one before work can get going again. RBYC has to be cursed I reckon.