Bank Holiday Monday, May 2013

Was at the lake again to-day to see what was going on there. 

Met Donald and Charlie there and Steve Bradbury was sailing his paddler Jeanie Dean's.

Though not many at the lake or the park for that matter it was a pleasant experience only slightly put off by the dull weather and threat of rain.

I did manage to get this video of Steve's paddler, it wasn't until I got home I realised I've got one alreally on YouTube, still as they say you can't have too much of a good thing!.

So that was the end of the Bank Holiday, I think the car parking would have put off a lot of the members who have had bad experiences in the past, still I enjoyed myself and those who went on holiday I hope did too!.

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Fred got a letter from his wife.

 "I missed you last night, come home and let me have another shot"!.

Life begins at 40 they say, but you could miss a lot if you wait until then.

A senior couple were relaxing on the beach on their holiday when the wife jumped up and yelled "Oh my god I've just remembered I left the oven on at home !"

"Don't worry" replied the husband "The house won't burn down I've just remembered I left the bath running".

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Bank Holiday Sunday 2013

Well in the previous post I did say that Pepe and I would be going to the Dog show but in the end decided that he isn't too happy with a load of other dogs round him!.

So it was off early to the lake to see the Raft Racing and just managed to get a place near the Cafe as everyone else was after a place near the main event on the big lake.

But there was no places up there, as you can see the spaces near the landing stage were all taken over by stalls of every description, the weather was great for a change as you can see in this shot. 

Whilst having the usual bacon buttie and coffee, noticed that some of our guys had got there earlier than me (I) and were already sailing on a beautifully sunlit lake.

One of the models on the day

And a guard dog was required with all the strangers around!.

On to the Raft Race.

Quite a lot of ladies in this event 

Look at the crowds here

"The George" pub has some nice advertising on this one

The BBQ going well in the back ground, if its not the Yacht club is in trouble

Didn't fight my way though these crowds so all my pix's taken with the zoom from our landing stage

Might as well get in on the advertising as well!.

And I always thought the Fire Brigade was into Heath and Safety!, not so for this vehicle parked across the path.

Hope this gives you a flavour of the event on the day, another nice day at the lake for those who braved the crowds, hopefully they had Long arms and Short pockets, for these two great charities,

The Christie Charity and the Fire Fighters Charity.

 The bar and BBQ where certainly doing a roaring trade when I left at 1-00Pm to go for my Sunday dinner to John's.

That's all for to-day folks, perhaps more to-morrow after my trip there again if its a nice day again, you can always do the housework when it's raining can't you!.

Bank Holiday Saturday, 25th May 2013

After a terrible Friday start to the Bank Holiday, the change in the weather to-day was amazing and everyone was out in their summer best.

                       At the landing stage to-day there was Henry Hollis and his friend Andy Wagstaff.

Henry had his Monsoon yacht out and Andy had this nice Tug out that I've posted still pictures of in the past, but it had to be a video to see it at it's best and I had the chance to do that to-day.

Henry's son and daughter-in-law paid Henry a surprise visit to-day and brought his grandson, I think he was more interested in Pepe than the boats though.

Start em young hey!!.

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And I thought the Heron never moved all day, but there he goes not very far but at least he moved!.

Well it's the Raft race run by the yacht club to-morrow, but Pepe and I will be going to the Manchester  Dog's Home Show at Debdale Park before going to Son John's for Sunday Dinner.

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When the guy's wife said she was going to change the baby, he said "Well get a quieter one"!!.

That's all folk's

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The new Titanic

There is a chap in Australia who is having the new Titanic 11 built by a Chinese boat builders!.

these are the pictures and information on the new version.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2287163/Titanic-II-We-knew-rebuilt-amazing-new-designs-really-WILL-1912-again.html

Well I hope it fairs better than the last one did!.

Back on the home front there is another nice model yacht for sale, Eddie Higham the present owner tells me that it's fully operational and just needs a charge in the batteries and its on to the water for a sail.

 I have one of these and it was my first build and introduction into the club with a lot of encouragement and help from the late Charlie Ricardo who I'd met on the landing stage one afternoon and stopped for a chat, I was hooked!!, he was there to help with the terminology and part's I wasn't sure of though I'd done a bit of railway modelling

As I've always said to people thinking of starting out in the model boat hobby , you can't beat joining your local club. This was highlighted a couple of weeks ago when I visited a members house to photograph an item he had for sale and mentioned that he and his friend were having trouble with their build's, I gave him my opinion for what it was worth and said next club meeting bring it in, there will be more experienced builders than me that will sort you out. Last night I went to the club meeting and I'm happy to say that this chap's problems have all been sorted, thank's to the members who helped out and it just goes to show the system works!.

It was mentioned last night that the Marple Lock's Festival is this year on the 30th June 2013. and was we going to have a stand again as this event is very good. 

One of the committee members are going to try and contact someone as the website doesn't mention the organiser

click here to see event venue

More to follow.

Update

Just been informed that we have definitely got a stand at the festival!.

There will be setting up from 08-00am, and the show will open at 10-00am until 5-00m.

The set-up will be the same as the last show as seen below.

There will be more spoken about this at the next club meeting, until then get your thinking caps on to decide which boats you will be taking to this great one day show.

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Pictures of our previous involvement, can you see your boat there, I can see my "Aziz" in the back on the right.

This was just at the setting up stage but a lot of interest when the show opened!.

Well  that's all for now folk's, check out the "For sale" section at the top.

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A Thursday meeting.

I wasn't at the Club 500 meeting on Wednesday Evening, but my roving reporter Bob the Abell was there and sent me these pictures for you.

The pits

They're off!.

As you can see the weather was the usual cold but sunny intervals.

I was there at the lake to-day and video'd this selection of boats.

We also had a visitor from the Buxton Model Boat Club with his boat 

This nice Fairey Huntsman.

He was also the Web-master of his club and had seen our Web blog many times he said.

Nice to meet someone else with the same job.

Click here to see Buxton club Web

As you will see there is a welcome to all visitors!.

Garth was there and asked me to advertise a boat for sale in the "For Sale section" 

Check it out at the top !.

That's all for now folk's

Dam Busters Anniversary

Dambusters: Flypast To Mark Raid Anniversary

Alistair Bunkall, Sky News Correspondent

The famous aircraft will fly over the dam on Derwent Reservoir in Derbyshire at around lunchtime and then over nearby Chatsworth House where the public will be gathered to watch.

Led by Wing Commander Guy Gibson the crews in the 19 aircraft made up of a coalition of the willing from Britain, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and one American, practised dropping the untested bouncing bomb from 60ft over the dam in the Peak District before flying on the actual mission on the evening of May 16, 1943.

Their target was to destroy three dams in the Rhur Valley to deliver a punch against Nazi Germany's industrial war machine.

They succeeded in breaching the Mohne and Eder dams and damaged the Sorpe but lost eight aircraft and 53 men doing so. Three were captured, becoming prisoners of war.

Later this evening, a Sunset Ceremony will be held at RAF Scampton where the Dambusters were based. This will be attended by three surviving veterans and the daughter of Barnes Wallis, the inventor of the Bouncing Bomb.

During the day the RAF will tweet the Morse Code signals as they happened, using their Twitter feed @RoyalAirForceUK. They will also post tweets when significant moments happened during the raid.

Wing Commander David Arthuton who leads the modern day 617 Squadron and will be involved in the commemorations told Sky News: "I took command of 617 Squadron in October 2012 and it is a privilege and an honour to lead one of the best-known Royal Air Force Squadrons in this anniversary year.

"The dams raid epitomised ingenuity, immense bravery, superb flying skills and the will to overcome adversity.

"Wing Commander Guy Gibson VC led his team with great focus and utter determination and the qualities and values they displayed then are those that form the foundation of the RAF today."

The destruction of the three dams was a mighty blow to Nazi Germany. It has been suggested by some that the mission was largely a PR exercise but in truth it took Germany completely by surprised.

The Dambusters demonstrated for the first time that a single bomb could destroy vital infrastructure. It was the first example of precision bombing.

The blanket raids that characterised the blitz were the only tactic. And Germany had to rebuild these edifices at a time when they could ill afford to redeploy resources from elsewhere.

Wing Commander Guy Gibson was awarded the Victoria Cross for his leadership and bravery on the night. Thirty-three others were decorated. Their average age was in the early twenties. Gibson himself was just 24.

• Related Stories
• Dambusters: RAF Tweets Morse Code Signals

Hope you catch this in time to watch out for it!.

Peter.

Shere Khan and U33 at Etherow!.

At the lake yesterday it was nice and sunny, but there was quite a strong breeze and it was knocking down the "J" class yachts, so Trevor got out his superb "A" Class yacht which is my personal favourite in our club yachting scene.

Its called "Shere Khan" after the black panther in the Jungle Book. The hull is Carbon Fibre, it's about 6ft long and it has a keel weigh of about 30 lbs, so it needs someone with arms like Arnold Schwarzenegger to lift it in and out of the water, but when you see it sailing it must be worth every minute to Trevor.

Trevor has another one very similar in Blue, perhaps he should call that "Hernia" I would still be first in the queue if he were to have a mad moment and think of selling it.  

And here it is in motion!. 

I thought I'd put this country music tune to it, from the thousands that YouTube have to offer,

"If it Ain't broke don't mend" which I've always thought was good advice.

 (you can't use any tune, have to be aware of copy write's)

After the video, the wind calmed down a bit and the other sailors were Abell to get their boats on the water 

Your going very technical now Dave!.

Well that's all for to-day, 

you want more?, 

 Here you are then, 

Following on from the previous post with Alan Breese's Submarine U33, I said I might get a video of it at a later date, luckily he was there yesterday and here is the video I took.

We have two of these submarines in the club the other belonging to Chris Platford the Commodore, I'd previously thought it not worth videoing submarines, but Alan putting his through it's paces proved me wrong!.

Hope you enjoy these action scene for a change from static pictures.

That really is all for to-day.

Club night 8th May 2013

Last night's club night saw Dave Lee with his "J" Class yacht, giving a talk on the rigging and adjustments  required to get the best out of your yacht sailing.

And here is Dave's yacht "Blue Jay" and Charlie in the back ground hanging on every word!.

I think Dave deserves a thank you for his very interesting talk, he didn't get one last night as the usual compère was on holiday and it got missed in the general chatter afterwards, so I'm sure everyone who was there will join me in thanking you Dave for a very interesting talk!.

In case you missed some of the technical terms check out this.

And if you are not knowledge-abell with the inner working of R/C yacht controls check out this.

 

I personally found the most important bit was the tensioner to keep the lines round the steering winch taut and use one of those ponytail rings ladies wear in their hair.

There were a couple of newish members there with their builds looking for information and inspiration, it's a daunting task that first build isn't it and some manufacturers don't want to know once they have your money. still that's the beauty of joining a local club isn't it with the wealth of knowledge and experience avail-abell, I know these members went home a lot happier afterwards!.

This week Trevor was out with his brush and paint and gave the rescue boat a coat after it's repairs the previous week

Thanks for that Trevor, looks like new again!

The same day Alan was there again with his Submarine putting it though it's paces

Dry dock.

Going 

Going 

Gone!.

Didn't manage a video, perhaps next time I'm at the lake, though you wouldn't see much of the boat would you.

That's it for now folks

There's another "AZIZ" for sale in the "For sale" section check it out!.

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May Bank Holiday weekend 2013.

The May Bank Holiday weekend got off to a good start with the fiesta racing on the Sunday morning, by Sunday evening I had the results from the Fiesta Sec as follows.

Fiesta Report 5/5/13

Hi to all

Weather much better this month, even had wind.

We had twelve  races in all, weather OK.

Five turned up to race. We had 12 races in all, had a good day's racing.

All we need now is more to come and race.

Trevor Redford came  1st, Terry Miles 2nd, Richard Hemingway 3rd, Bob Dunkey 4th, David Lee 5th.

See you all next month.

David Lee. 

Thanks for that Dave, as you say it's a shame more don't turn up for a try, there again perhaps some were away for the long weekend!.

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Whilst on about Dave, here is a video of his American battleship taken after the Fiesta racing was over.

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Then it was the turn of Terry Burnett's "Black Widow"

The details for this superb build were on an earlier post if you want to see the details of this build
Click here

On the Monday bank Holiday, whilst I was at the lake, had a drink with Colin and his wife at the Cafe then it was on to the landing stage for a chat with Eric and to see Gordon Longworth's latest build, Graupner's paddle tug "Glasgow" 

This is a very nice clean build. 

I've been following Bob Abell's build of this kit at his home and on the Model Boat Magazine Forum.

If you want to see this build from scratch go to

Click here!.

to see Bob Abell's build, there have been 15,000+ hit's on his forum thread, his build and comments whilst building this kit are quite entertaining.

Well that's it for the Bank Holiday weekend, I hope you have found something of interest on this Holiday post!.
Don't forget its the Club meeting this Wednesday, early this month.
8th May 2013.

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A typical Thursday at Etherow

The last post was a typical Tuesday, so I thought you should have a look at a typical Thursday at Etherow.

First here is the "Panart Anteo" Tug built by Andy Wagstaff.

Andy saw someone else's model in the club and decided that was his next build and what a good job he's made of it hey!.

Look at those brass parts shining in the sun, yes it was a lovely sunny day and we had a good crowd at the lake.

The next was another nice model, "Jenny B" a fishing boat by Alan Breese, same guy in the last post with the Minesweeper!. A nice detailed boat and very stable in the water.

The next video was of a Metcalfe Mouldings kit built by Eric Baker, who said it was his first build from this company, he kept saying he thought it needed a bit more ballast in the stern but I don't think so, sit's on the water just on the water line.

Has you can see it sails quite nicely as it is.

He also thought it  was going too fast, I said perhaps you could have used geared motors, there again it was the motors recommended by the company when he bought the kit, when he's got it on a decent tranny there might be a better response, it was on one of those cheap trannies with not much play in it, (full on or nothing!) that he'd used just to try it out on the day, 

My theory is if it's not broke don't mend it!.

Another nice build though!.

Dave Lee and Trevor Redford on the day got stuck in and made some repairs on the rescue boat that had some holes in the front though a bit of previous rough handling, perhaps a bit of ice breaking over the past hard winter??.

On the way Dave had bought the materials and then they both made the repairs before getting their models out, that's good of them and I'm sure you will all join me thanking them for their splendid efforts and skills in doing it.

They are going to paint it next, trouble is its got to be put away in the water when they go home, can you imagine leaving it out at night?.

The goose is still sat on her nest in the garden, nothing seems to faze her, even with Dave and Trevor's endeavour's just a few feet away, but as you can see from this picture some predator has already tried to get in to the nest.

 The two baby Coots a bit further up the lake are doing well 

This is mother showing them how to preen themselves.

Sounds of Punch and Judy.

"That's the way to do it"

 And a closer shot of the two babies, that's mother laying down on the left, it's a never ending job feeding those two babies I guess.

This Sunday it's Fiesta Racing don't forget, better than pounding up the motorway in the traffic!

Well that's all for to-day's post, must get out whilst the weather holds, and Bank Holiday must bring out more sailors this weekend.

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Sir Lancelot At Etherow

A typical Tuesday sailing at Etherow model Boat Club!

You can sail 365 days a year as a member at Etherow, with beautiful surroundings, a nice Cafe, visitors centre and toilets!. The best days if you are visiting are Tuesday's, Thursday's and Sunday's.

This last Tuesday I was there with Pepe the hound and first view was this,

The favourite vessel's at the moment seem to be the "J" class yachts and very nice boats too.

Concentration!!.
Dave,Trevor,Donald,Colin and George.

You can see the facilities block in the background., toilets,Cafe and visitors centre.

That's the club house in the background there, with the yacht club advertising a raft race, but no dates yet!

Also there was one of our naval building enthusiasts Alan with his Mountfleet model,  Sir Lancelot.

A mine sweeper, which at the start of the war were converted fishing trawlers, my dad was on one based at Lowestoft on the East Coast.

Alan

and here is the boat in motion

Since the council have got rid of the wardens and put the job out to tender the new people running the park now ( SK Solutions) seem to be doing alright, (?? New broom and all that??) we will have to see!, but they are in the process of refurbishing the Visitors Centre as shown here

Going to be nice when finished, needed updating for a while now.

Back onto the boats, one of the members Michael Street has started his own cottage industry making connectors (U/J's)  for model boats as seen here.

Various sizes made to order

as shown in a boat.

Michael will make any size to order and I seem to remember he said £6 each!, if you are interested give him a call though the club directory or call me and I will fix you up with his number.

This will item will also go into the "For sale section " at the top of the page for future reference.

Did you also see the scooters in that section for sale,good bargain there!.

Well that's it for now folk's another great day at the lake!.