Lost in Translation

Lost in Translation

Lost in Translation

RCYC ACADEMY REPORT – by Lindani Mchunu

Richard Thomson, place of residence Durbanville, Keisha Thompson, Durbanville. Ewonke Nyakanani, Observatory, Sufyaan Solomon, Mitchells’ Plain. Micah Lurie, Melkbosstrand, Matthew Cloete, Melkbosstrand. Taariq Botha Mitchells’ Plain, Ncaweni Coma, Khayelitsha, Ovayo Myiva, Khayelitsha, Natasha Jack, Khayelitsha. Johan Swanepoel Malmesbury, Damita Olsson Milnerton, Athenkosi Vena Phumelela Fishhoek. On any given Sunday this is our make-up, these are but a few of the young aspiring sailors that walk through our doors.

We are different in every way, from our skin colour, social class, background, gender and age. All these differences challenge us on most days, make us break barriers we never knew existed, question prejudices we never knew we had, challenge stereotypes we adopt subconsciously.
Yet somehow on a boat big or small all these differences come together to forge a whole. We went to Milnerton Aquatic Club last week the 17th
of February and as always we were welcomed with open arms and warms hearts, in my hubris I thought it must be me who makes all the people at Mac treat us so well, my charm and debonair manner, dare I say my exceptional looks. Nothing could be further from the truth, the reason we get such a warm welcome everywhere we go is because, people see the diversity we represent, they see all the differences come together and operate as one. My kids we sailing Picos at Mac and diversity in all its forms was represented on the water. I now realise that everyone
looks at our academy and they feel a sense of hope in the future of our country, I realise we all love this country and are heavily invested in making it work, everyone is looking for a way to make all our differences come together and unite us rather than divide us.

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Lost in Translation

Renaissance

Renaissance

RCYC ACADEMY REPORT – by Lindani Mchunu

I would be tone deaf if I did not acknowledge the current affairs that have been taking shape in our country. By now we are all aware Zuma has resigned, change remains constant once more. Morgan Tsvangirai of the MDC party in Zimbabwe has died, change remains consistent. Time and Tide waits for no man that is what they say. Change suffers no fools. That is what I say. Woe unto you, who cannot see it coming before it has arrived, shame on you, who attempts to delay it or hold it back in any form. Napoleons words still ring true today. “The one thing I have learned from history is that we never learn from history”.

How bizarre, that Zuma should suffer the same fate as his predecessor. I am no politician, only an observer of his environment with a vested interest in the future of his country, hence my work with the youth. I believe none of us as ordinary South Africans, know enough to have a meaningful discussion about the politics of our country or the world for that matter. Yet we should be intelligent enough to recognise that life is a mirror on all fronts, nothing that occurs in and around your life, your time, is not directly somehow linked to your existence, your community and sphere of influence. When such occurrences take place we should all look within and ask ourselves are we on the right side of change? Zuma has suffered the fate of smarter men than himself. Power it would seem is a very compelling drug. Life is an intricate labyrinth with constantly shifting paradigms, what worked and mattered not so long ago could completely be irrelevant today. Technology is hot on our heels, constantly shifting the goal posts. No one and no organisation can afford to live in Silos and echo chambers, follow your morals like the Sunflower follows the Sun, keep your principles like the Dessert keeps the sand. The only certainty is change, make sure you hear its call before it sweeps you off your feet, like well seasoned  helms men, anticipate the wave and ride it, using it to your advantage, instead of letting it derail you. Life always comes with its duplicities, I learned that a long time ago growing up in the townships. Due to a lack of land and space, townships are and have always been densely populated urban dwellings. People live on top of one another. Everything is in close proximity, life and death live side by side. On any given Saturday or Sunday in the Township, there is a wedding and a funeral taking place across from each other. This always made an impression on me as a young boy. People celebrating and mourning so close to one another. It was clear to me then as it is today. The show must go on. If there ever was a time, for us as a sailing community to conduct some serious soul searching, it is now, while our nation is in transition once more, the only question we should ask ourselves is “are we moving in unison with the coming change”? Zuma said he could not understand the urgency, why was his organisation in such a hurry to relieve him of his duties, he said why has he not been furnished with reasons for his removal, he said, “something untoward is at play”. He was probably right, yet he forgot some old age wisdom. You live by the sword you die by the sword. You reap what you sow. In a band of thieves morals are cheap. It was rather startling to hear a man who has blurred the lines of moral conduct, request his party to follow protocol and policy. Life is an intricate labyrinth with constantly shifting paradigms. We will never know what the future holds, yet we can be sure it will bring change. That is where our academy is, in a state of flux, I am looking for change I am searching it out before it finds me ill prepared. I can only hope you are doing the same. The show must go on. Arch Angel is out the water and sitting on the hard, the mast is finally out and the work is about to begin. One of our senior academy members is going to do his Senior instructors course in Mossel bay this coming weekend, other members are writing their day skipper theory exams.

This coming Saturday the 17 we are going to MAC open sailing day. We have ambitions of embarking on a dinghy program, yet we would like to do it on our terms, until such a time that we can have our own boats we will be active bystanders. I look forward to a time when the youth of our academy takes their place in our club and lead us all on a path that will be congruent with the coming change…

 

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Big Bottle of Wine Party Palma 2018

Big Bottle of Wine Party Palma 2018

 Big Bottle of Wine Party – Palma 2018

 

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lawhill-21yr-logo

Are you ready for the Best Charity Marine Party?
Come and help less advantaged youngsters go to sea by raising funds for this inspiring marine programme! All proceeds to charity.

Phil Wade, ex Captain of s.y. Timoneer & co-Founder of the Super Yacht Captains website would like to invite you to Palma’s 4th Big Bottle of Wine Party

Date: Saturday 24th March 2018 at 19:00 hrs
Time: 19:00
Venue: Club de Mar, Palma
Entertainment: Live music by Anthony Just and friends. Auction and raffle plus any other fun things that we can think of!
Price: €40 per person
FOOD AND DRINK INCLUDED: An 18 litre bottle of ‘Can Feliu’ red wine served from a hand-built Gun Carriage. Cash bar for other beverages. Finger food from Restaurant Taronja Negre Mar.

Reservations necessary due to numbers-planning, with payment to our bank account kindly requested. Regret, no tickets at the door this year.

RSVP: Replies & payments ASAP please phil@marineinspirations.org ** Booking Essential **

BANK DETAILS:
BBVA Bank, Son Ferrer Branch in Calvia
Account Name – Anne Wade
IBAN: ES 3901822375740291502367

The Marine Inspirations programme provides young people from around the world – who would otherwise not have the opportunity – with an insight into careers in the super-yachting and maritime industry, developing a range of seamanship skills and industry connections to improve their prospects.

For the past 21 years the Lawhill Maritime Centre www.lawhill.org has helped students from financially disadvantaged backgrounds embark on successful careers in the maritime industry  by providing them with an industry-focused education while still at school. Lawhill receives no state funding and is reliant on industry and individual support to fund its operations and provide student bursaries.

Lost in Translation

Nostalgia

Nostalgia

RCYC ACADEMY REPORT – by Lindani Mchunu

I report to you that Archangel is moored at the RCYC.

On the 4th of February 2018, myself and 4 academy students plus their day skipper instructor, Alex Mamacos, sailed the old lady from harbour Island. I had no doubt in my mind she would take us home, from the day we moved her from the marina in a spring tide with no hassle, I knew she wanted to go with me, I knew she had chosen me to embark on a new adventure, I knew she was crying out saying I have  more to give if only someone can give me purpose again. On the water she showed us that this is what she was built for, to be in the open ocean crashing into waves and carving her path. The history of Archangel is a contentious one, many sailors have different accounts of her achievements, yet one thing is for sure, she brings back a bygone era, for many, for the designer, boat builder and the first owner who commissioned her. There is still a lot to do on the boat, in the coming week we will be refitting the rig and probably getting a new diesel engine, seeing as she still has an old petrol engine. Yes the boat definitely needs a lot of work and acquiring a new boat would probably be the best option. Yet for me, it is exactly the kind of project our youngsters need. They will learn that in life, nothing is handed to you on a silver platter; they will learn that opportunity is just the beginning of success, they will learn that to be given something means you have acquired responsibility. In the age of instant gratification, young people more than ever need to learn that success comes at a cost. What you haven’t worked and bled for will never be appreciated, life more often than not brings things into your path that are not ready made, but rather require your effort and dedication to make them work. Right now Archangel sits in a bit of a state, but that is a temporary state, if we want it bad enough, she can be up and running and maybe giving some newer boats a run for their money.

What brings me joy is that my kids will learn what it means to take full ownership of their destiny, to make something work, through challenges and strife. One day when they take podium with this boat, they will look back and say we did it, we worked hard to get her here and she rewarded us. Our first sacrifice will be missing out on the Mykonos regatta, because our old girl is still not ready. She got us here from Gordon’s Bay and
that is good enough for now. Three of our students are writing their day skipper theory exams next week, they passed their practical with flying colours. One of those students will go on to do his senior instructor course in Mossel Bay on the 16. We are preparing for greatness, it takes time if it’s going to last forever. We have an Archangel watching over us now, we cannot fail.

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Lost in Translation

The Commodores Envoys And the Archangel

The Commodores Envoys And the Archangel

RCYC ACADEMY REPORT – by Lindani Mchunu

After the deal was concluded in November 2017, it was a race against the tide to get the boat ready to sail from Gordons Bay to
RCYC. A sleeping giant was being woken up, an old guard was being brought back to life. 1984, that’s the date written on the head sail,
1yr shy of my own age. A boat heaped in sailing history, a boat sailed by the best to ever do it. How on earth do you inherit that?
You acknowledge the past and fully embrace the future. Archangel will be the academy’s new offshore vessel and is about to embark on new adventures. Joe Heywood our academy chairman is a practical man, roll your sleeves up and let’s get our hands dirty kind of fellow. So it came as no surprise when our commodore requested we fetch the boat from Gordons bay to RCYC, he would be leading the charge. The 31
of January 2018, our window opened, we had a spring tide with a super moon. The wind was howling, a good constant 30kts when we arrived in Gordons Bay, the plan was to motor out of the marina and moor the boat in harbour Island. Everyone in the marina was not sure we could get the boat out even with a spring tide the keel was 2.2m and the tide was 1.89. We rigged the boat and prepared to head out. It was myself, Joe and Colin. I was down below monitoring the engine. Hot and loud, that’s the engine room. Full power ahead that was the consensus, the boat just glided out of the entrance and off we were to harbour island. After years of being stationary Archangel was on her way out at sea, where she belongs. She is an old boat, forgotten by time, yet here she was about to become a part of the future, this boat sums up a lot of our objectives, we hope to bring to life that which has been forgotten, we hope to chart a new course with old ideals. Our resolve is resolute, to quote from an instructor who is teaching our up and coming skippers. ‘’These past two weeks I have seen hunger, hunger for learning. I have seen a kind of commitment that means three students getting up at 4.30 in the morning to catch 3 taxis and a train in order to get to class 2 hours early so that they can leave in time to catch two different trains to get to False Bay to sail in Wed evening races before going home to do a whole load of homework.

In the past two weeks, these guys have never rocked up late.’’ Ours is a difficult task we are trying to marry the old with the new. To bridge what has been forgotten, with what is yet to come. I know as members you might not be fully aware of everything we are doing, you might not see us on the water as much as you would like, yet I say to you, we are here in the trenches getting ready for battle. Soon you will see what we have been up to. This coming weekend or the next, we are going to sail Archangel with our newly qualified  skippers and their beloved instructor, other academy kids will be on board, and we will bring her home.

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