Members update 15 Jan 2020

Following substantial members and ICC supporters pledge contributions the club finds itself in the happy situation of having enough money to buy Lady Adrienne. A very satisfactory survey was completed on Sat 11 Jan and a short sea trial will take place on Sat 18 Jan. No problems are expected and we hope to complete the purchase by the end of February. What brilliant news for ICC and a cracking start to 2020! More news to follow. Richard


Clubhouse project update 6th January 2020

DEADLINE FRIDAY 10TH JANUARY TO RAISE THE MONEY TO BUY OUR FUTURE CLUBHOUSE

TO DATE (6 JAN)  ICC CURRENT AND PAST MEMBERS HAVE RAISED APPROX £25,000

WE ALL STILL NEED TO RAISE A FURTHER £23,000 TO MAKE A TOTAL OF £48,000 ( WHICH WITH GIFT AID WILL BRING US TO OUR TARGET OF £60,000)

Dear all,

As of today we are holding approx. £25,000 worth of pledges and cheques for the purchase of Lady Adrienne. Whilst very good news and thank you to everyone who has pledged to date, we still have a way to go to meet our deadline of Friday 10 January. This is the date I have agreed with the seller by which we should say whether or not we can go ahead. He has very kindly given ICC first refusal ahead of other buyers.

I have spoken to quite a few members both current and past over the last two weeks and there seems to be a misunderstanding about the scope of the plan for Lady Adrienne.

With this in mind I firstly need to say that this project is primarily and specifically to give ICC a future by securing a clubhouse base with no loans to worry about. The additional money over and above the cost of the boat is to give two years of breathing space for the club to develop enough revenue to cover the operational costs going forward. We are not trying to re-start the big dinghy section/RYA centre operation of the past that clearly wasn’t sustainable. That said, we do want to have a small, affordable staff team running RYA training for members and children. If we decide this is too risky then we can just look after our clubhouse ourselves with no wage costs etc.

Most importantly though we do know that operating from a floating base makes all the difference because it brings with it all the hands-on experience, club camaraderie and benefits of working on the water (and of course we can’t afford a shore base!).

The potential popularity of this boat, along with a small amount of revenue earned from the activities below, should easily be enough to pay for the upkeep of the clubhouse.

  • Clubhouse with bar and food on offer. A place and space for members and friends to be together.
  • Accommodation for members who have come down to help or a self-catering break. (Many old members still ring me asking about an affordable way to stay in Salcombe- surely staying afloat in their own clubhouse must tick all the boxes?!)
  • Members and childrens’ sailing ( either RYA courses or just supervised sailing).
  • Trips out to sea – for example to accompany the keelboat fleet to Hope Cove and or perhaps to Starehole Bay for a BBQ – endless opportunities for typical sailing club activities – but not every club would have what we can have!
  • Club racing and a few open events! Committee boat for race starts out in “The Range”

…. The list goes on and on! What a brilliant opportunity for ICC to buy into and be proud of!

Some members have suggested we don’t need a boat with engines, why not look for a static barge? Actually one of the many important operational benefits will be the freedom to go to Normandy pontoon to take on fresh water and to the fuel barge for fuel. We have done quite a lot of research and honestly this is the lowest cost opportunity to have a clubhouse that we are ever likely to find.

We are also being advised that once we have the boat we can then start a “crowd funding” type project to raise more money for the upgrading and maintenance of the club’s HQ. We have a very strong message for our worthy cause of trying to preserve affordable sailing and boating for everyone to share. We are sure that many people will support ICC once we put the word out. Our difficulty is that we have no time to mount a big fund-raising programme, we really do need to seize this opportunity now.

We are within reach of having a future home for ICC, please help if you can with a final push of donations/pledges to get over the line and reach our goal.

Please share this news with anyone and everyone who might be up for helping get ICC back on track. The form for everyone to send in is at  http://forms.islandcruisingclub.com/pledge-form-2  .

Best regards,

Richard


With the sad reality that Egremont isn’t coming home to Salcombe we need to find another way forward to keep the ICC alive.

There is a boat lying in Salcombe called Lady Adrienne Click on the following link for pictures https://www.islandcruisingclub.com/lady-adrienne which will be ideal as a new clubhouse and base for ICC.

We need to raise £60,000 in a hurry to be able to buy her. The owner has agreed to give ICC a few weeks to get the funding together after which she will be sold to the highest bidder. So far we have approx. £15,000 in pledges.

I and we are appealing to current members, past members and supporters of ICC to donate as much money as they can spare to help the club to buy this boat outright and have enough in hand to pay the boats costs for a couple of years whilst we get organised.

The plan is to make Lady Adrienne into a clubhouse base with bar/ accommodation for two instructors/  a place for members and or their children visiting Salcombe to stay and sail from/ a motor cruiser for members to take a trip around the coast or moor up in a cove for a BBQ/ a base for ICC reunions ….. The club still has a small fleet of boats – Island Spirit/Shamrock/Duncan/ three keelboats/ 6m RIB Gemini moored alongside a pontoon- so we have a fleet to use and sail. We also have a Pico  and could borrow some more dinghies to get started with for 2020

Please share this news with anyone and everyone who might be up for helping get ICC back on track. The form for everyone to send in is at  http://forms.islandcruisingclub.com/pledge-form-2  .

I really hope everyone who wants ICC to grow again can help with a pledge commitment asap. If we can reach the target in the next two weeks then the boat will be secure and ICC will have a real future to play for.

Please spread the word and help if you can. I am sure the club will prosper if we can but find a way to buy this boat and create a new clubhouse and small sailing school. I think we could up our game and bring the best of the ICC past, forwards into the future – let’s have a go – we have a special heritage to preserve!

Thanks, Richard Martin (Commodore)