Model Boat Magazine, forum!.

Noticed the other day that on their forum they were wondering when one of the subscribers reached the 100,000 views what would happen, because the column wasn't wide enough!.

  Sounded a bit like the Millennium when people said all the computers would crash out because the PC'c wouldn't recognize the 00 for 2000 year!. 

But then the forum subscribers realised that our member Bob Abell with his build of the "Vintage Gentleman's cruiser had reached 106,000  Last year!!. so that solved the problem.

So our "Bob the Abell" has put our Club in the record book again, like me he doesn't sail much these days, but a great recorder and advertisement for the club!.

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Message from Al the Comm.

Will have some hulls for sale at next meeting, 3 brand new, one started.

Al the Comm.

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A boy fly sees a cute girl fly land on a pile of crap.

He buzzes over and say's "Excuse me, Miss is this stool taken"!.

What's the last thing to go though an insects brain when it hits your windscreen?.

Its backside!.

A TV can insult your intelligence, 

but nothing rubs it in like a computer!.

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This week at the lake, 16.9 2015.

This week at the lake, 16.9 2015.

Wednesday, saw Bob Abell and myself at the lake with his "Brutus" boat, a refit with two brush-less motors, I sailed it whilst Bob took the nice stills with his camera and then Bob sailed it whilst I took the video. 

Nice mover isn't it!.

Pepe was in Bob's camper with Lady Joyce whilst we were enjoying ourselves, then we all retired to the Andrew Arms round the corner for dinner.

Thursday at the lake saw a full TT team plus a few others ie

A nice little refurbished tug boat that had been bought on EBay!.

Chris's navy model, you can get an idea of the scale by the duck in the background

Trident Question!, the submarine pen at Etherow is alive and well!.

Al the Comm's, Sub's

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Check out the "For Sale" section for some nice boats and equipment!

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Next Events.

1100     20th September      Sunday                      Steering Comp            Landing stage

2000     23rd September    Wednesday                Club night                   Clubhouse

1900     30^th September      Wednesday                Club 500 Racing         Landing Stage

Sunday 4th October at Bugsworth Basin.

Bob Abell, News at Ten, Haydock Model Boat Show

At long last, the great day had arrived!

This show must be the most impressive show on the model boat calendar and is absolutely massive.,.....There must be about twelve Exhibition halls, spread over two floors. As is the norm, security and the strict regimental organisation is very impressive. The main hard working organisers, are Jean and Arthur Barlow and countless dozens of assistants, all in all.....A fantastic achievement! 
Congratulations to Joan and Arthur......I don't know how you do it!

I entered three models in the scratch build section, but the competition was awesome
Some of the models, especially the impressive warships, took ten years to complete!
There were hundreds and hundreds of quality models to be seen..........There were so many, I have to confess that, I got slightly bored at times!
I actually galloped through the upper floor in about ten minutes!
Really impressive stuff and club stands etc, but far too much to take in, on a busy two day show
It's very nice to meet old friends and put faces to names of people we chat with, on the Model Boats website etc
This years main model theme was for models designed by Glynn Guest
Glynn is a prolific designer of easy build models and he could be seen many times, walking about the halls with Paul Freshney, Editor of ModelBoats Magazine

The only thing that let's the show down, is the lack of a real lake

It's not much bigger than Coniston Pool on my drive at home
Had a quick sail with SloMo2, but the pool was too small to demonstrate the Brushless motors
Apologies once again to the lad with the model, I slightly bumped into.........Having lost the reverse signal for some reason
No harm done, but his boat got a bit wet.
The pool was in use all day, with announcements when free sailing was available
The Pegboard was not very well controlled, the frequency being used was written on a chart at the entrance, with no reference to this method at the pond side
The days of the crystal system are numbered.

Mr and Mrs Paul Freshney talking to Paul Thomason, about the size of fish he never caught last week!
Paul organised our stand in aid of the charity for Parkinson's disease and has done a fine job. I think we collected about £150 altogether
Our stand, as you can see, was very convenient for easy access to the car park and next door to the cafeteria too........Very handy for a quick cuppa!

Lady Joyce at the show, with club member Willy Williamson, admiring the novel motor drive system, which impressed most visitors
We were very impressed with battery life, we did nearly 7 hours on one charge, demonstrating the motor drive
Got a nice idea of asking for a 10p donation to the charity for most demos
The visitors were all for it.

Lady Joyce herself came on the Sunday and she enjoyed the event very much
We all enjoyed the show in fact and we never got bored, the whole two days!
There was too much to see and lots of visitors and acquaintances to talk to and have a few laughs with!

Paul talking to our website colleagues, Mr and Mrs M Farrell
We've known Mike for quite a few years now and he has built Paul's tugboat Thor
He's a real glutton for punishment.....They stayed the night and came back for more.

Our old friend..... Dave Wooley........The official reporter for the ModelBoats Magazine
He came to see us quite a few times and is always good company and easy going.
He took our photo with the Lady Joyce model and we hope to see it published shortly in the magazine
Nice meeting you again, Dave!.

General pictures around the stalls
Lady Joyce........Stephenson's Bros 55ft bridge deck motor yacht
also referred to as The Lady Joyce.....Vintage Gentleman's Cruiser
Powered by four MFA 850 motors.........As a crowd puller
Refer to ModelBoats website forum for the full story.

Click here for full story!.

Etherow Model Boat Club stand.....With Colin, Donald and Geoff Garside, the resident Electronic expert
I am a member of this club

The Bring and Buy stall was trading well for the two days

Spotted a nice old Burgess Bandsaw.....Going for a song
Paul sold a few of his old models for the Charity
I also sold the "brass" "Glasgow paddle boat", but forgot to include the plans and instructions......Thinking that it was gone for ever, I threw the file in the waste bin!
Walking round later, I spotted the model on a stand, but the bin had been emptied!

"Can I see it run please?"......Said the visitor........Reaching for the smelling salts
"It'll cost yer 10p, Sir"........Says I, very politely of course
"No problem, Bob, here's a pound"
"That's the way to do it!
Note.....Mike still yapping........All very important and technical of course!

Finally, another picture of the Etherow stand
The Sci Fi model in the foreground is an actual model that appeared on the TV
Can't recall the details at the moment.

Think it was "Stingray". Bob.

Well, that's it folks
End of a fun filled weekend.

Bob the Abell.

Thanks for your very concise report & Pictures, Bob!.

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Next Events.

1000      6^th  September          Sunday                    Fiesta Racing              Landing stage

2000       9^th September         Wednesday             Club night                     Club House

1100      14th September      Sunday       Commodore’s Challenge  
                                                                  See tab at top for details          Landing Stage

1900     16^th September         Wednesday              Club 500 Racing         Landing stage

Bob's boat, 25th April 2015.

Club boat 2.

I've been informed that the No 2 Club Boat has been refurbished by the Vice Commodore, no pictures but I'm sure it will be a nice job done.

I was told it was the usual type Sharp at one end, Blunt at the other!.

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If you want a more interesting read why not go to Bob Abell's Controversial build at the Model Boat Magazine website.
Click here
With 45.000 views and 1550 replies you will see that Bob's boat scratch built from plans by Paul Thomason has a unique motor setup which I was very pleased to help him with his water trials in his garden with his nice new pool.

All set up with desk and watt meter

Trials went well, just as well as I dropped the watt meter into the water unplugging it!.

To see more of the trials Bob and I did you will have to click above and read for yourself.

Alright I will give you a taste with the video we took on the day.

                  

Now you can see what's controversial about it, not the build but the fact its got 4 x 850v motors  in Bob's " Abell configuration". As you can read there was lots of conversation on the forum of Model Boats magazine, and if nothing else it's helped to put our Club on the map, if anyone was in any doubt before.

So this is the second time Bob's put us in the news in a very big way, as you must know by now his Appearance on the "Coast" program on BBC was a great plug for us!.

Well that's all for now.

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Next Events

900     29^th April         Wednesday        Club 500 Racing           Landing Stage     1000     3rd May           Sunday          Fiesta Racing                Landing stage

2000     13th May          Wednesday      Club night                     Clubhouse  

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Ellesmere Show 2015.

Ellesmere Show 2015.

Bob Abell and myself, travelled to the show together and I think we chose the better of the two days as it was the better weather on the Saturday!.

Loading up on the Friday afternoon.

Ellesmere car park, middle couple, friends of Bob's from the Model Boat Magazine.

Our Stand.

Can you see your boat?.

Alan and Gordon on duty,

Didn't spot Bob's boat on our stand!, that's because it was in the water!, via photoshop of course!, that's the Heywood's from our club on the waters edge there, though I hadn't spotted them on the day.

There was some beautiful models in the judging room.

What a whopper,one of the Russians I believe 

It's HMS Pickle......The ship that brought the news of Trafalgar and Nelson etc, Back to London.

Other clubs present.

All excellently turned out 

 This chap is a great woodworker and his demonstration models are brilliant!.
Nice backdrop as well hey!.

Mersey ferries

The Armored Section , Based at Bury Model Boat Club.

Don't know where this one comes in in the Armored Section, more like the Amore! section, both nice models though!

Outside

Mister Plod was prowling round all day, 

Turning help

Some big stuff there.

The real thing!.

All in all a very good day out and the food was very nice though the queue was a bit long at times, still everyone enjoyed the occasion I'm sure, I think its one of the best Do's on the circuit, that's my opinion and I'm sticking to it!.

   

Donations

Donations

Just a word to say thank you to the people who have made donations to the club recently.

Firstly;

 Terry Miles for the paint for the Container and for the future refurbishments on the landing stage, ie the benches and seat's, better weather needed for these items to be done though!.

Secondly; 

A big thank you for the trophy donation from Jacqueline Smith, you will have to wait for the AGM and awards night, to see what the committee will be awarding that for, but Commodore Alan tells me its a "Belter!"

There is going to be a better sign board on the landing stage in the new year, but as said before everything is slowing down for the winter, I was at the lake on Saturday and there was only one lone sailor there, Mr Jones and his Grandson, but they were enough to create interest for the passing public with their comments and camera's, so it  keeps the interest and publicity on the club.

Talking of publicity for the club!, check out Bob Abell's thread on Model Boats magazine

Click here to read all about his latest build and the thousands of views on there.

Not much going on at the lake this weather but you will get a good read here!, and it certainly puts the club on the map, everyone know's the club and its whereabouts these days.

Well that's it for now and once again a big thank you for all donations most gratefully received.

See some of you tomorrow night at the club Christmas dinner!.

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                                                                Next events

Poynton Leisure Centre                                                Sat. 6^th & Sun. 7^th December

Exhibition in conjunction with model railway enthusiasts. This year we also have use of the swimming pool for actual sailing.

2000hrs  10^th December    Wednesday  Club night           Clubhouse  AGM

Saturday,   1100hrs     27th December, Frostbite Day Sail.

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Haydock Show, Bob Abell News at Ten, Part 1

MODEL BOAT CONVENTION at HAYDOCK 2014

I have been closely involved with Paul Thomason on the Model Boats website for quite sometime now , Paul actually has a Doctorate in Structural  Engineering and is also very knowledgeable in the theory of sailing craft

Paul is also very active in raising funds for charity......CHRISTIES etc, by designing model boats on CAD and offering the designs FOC on condition that the recipient makes a donation to one of his selected charities.

This is done by a secure procedure involving...."Just giving"

Look here ....... "model-boat-fundraising.co.uk"....For further information

Paul has designed quite a number of models and together, we have built a large selection of the craft and also posted," blow by blow " builds on the MB website

To obtain greater publicity of his work, Paul had booked a stand at the above show and together we attended with our finished models and publicity leaflets etc for public scrutiny!

The organiser and Lady organiser, Jean and Arthur Barlow, picked out a handy spot near the Pond and car park, due to Paul`s infirmity

The stand and location was very impressive well stocked with models

We had on show...THOR...SEASPRAY...RED LEADER...ELLIE...BRUTUS...SLOMO 2...LADY JANE 5...The ABELL drive unit and two plastic mock ups of LADY JANE 3 and LADY JANE 4, plus PLAN CD`s, brochures and sample print outs

Part 2 to follow shortly.

Bob

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Next Event

2000hrs 27^th  August  Wednesday  Club night               Clubhouse
                                                         Venetian Sail/BBQ     

Visit to Colwyn Bay show

The members who visited the Colwyn Bay show again this year were not disappointed, after setting off from Manchester in pouring rain it got slowly better as we got into Wales and on arrival it was starting to get nice and sunny though there was a stiff breeze over the water which made it a bit choppy.

Talking of Bleeze's our Commodore was taken ill and wasn't able to manage it, so we didn't have a gazebo though as you can see we managed in true Etherow fashion.

 A good cross section of boats on show and on the water.

Higham Brothers

Sorry this is a bit out of focus, must have been a flashback from your dazzling smiles lads!. 

The venue.

Gordon sampling the goodies from the catering tent.

The Colwyn Bay ladies doing a good job as always.

Disabled, no problem in model boating, make em and then sail em!.

 The Hoylake crowd

The "For Sale" stand, Not Donald!, I hasten to add!.

A few of the other clubs in attendance

Small outfit with big dog

That sinking feeling, those that were there the previous year realised it's supposed to do that.

Our friends that we met at our Do at Lyme Park, Garth and Elizabeth Jones with their fabulous Nessie the Loch Ness monster were there from Yorkshire and Nessie was a great hit again.

Garth has just finished this superb boat, the build which has been published in the Model Boat magazine forum over the last three years and completely scratchbuilt and wonderfully weathered, look at that handy carrying handle.

The only sour point for me was the fact the Best scratchbuilt model went to the same guy that won last year, a Colwyn Bay member I beleive, that can't happen at our club as the winner this year is one of the Judges next year, which gives others a chance to win, this is only my opinion, (I try to keep an open mind) and not the opinion of our club, still it might put people off bothering next year don't you think!.

 The winner of the scratch build, I'm into Narra boats myself, but two years on the run!.

Well thats all for now, if you didn't manage to get there it will give you a taste of what you missed, loved it, good weather, good catering and good company, is there anything better.

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