Mandy and Jan Faber move into the Chartroom as from today (Tuesday, 19th August), lunchtime.

Mandy sent me a sneak peak of her proposed and draft menu for the time going forward - reproduced below. Please note that, as always, this is not cast in stone and subject to change based on member and patron feedback:

Breakfasts from around the world - Served on Saturday and Sunday from 8:00 a.m. to 11:30am

French breakfast: Croissant served with butter and jam - R18.00
Dutch breakfast: Gouda cheese, boiled egg, butter and bread roll/toast - R24.00
American breakfast: Scrambled eggs, butter, jam, orange juice and bread roll/toast - R25.00
Algoa Bay Yacht Club breakfast: Cheese, ham, boiled egg, butter, jam and bread roll/toast - R30.00
Bavarian breakfast: German white sausage, sweet mustard, leberkaese, fried egg - R39.00
English breakfast: Sausage, egg, bacon, beans, tomato and toast - R39.00

Deck Menu - served all day Tuesday to Sunday and available from 11:30 am onwards

French onion soup with garlic croutons, gratinated - R30.00
German potato soup with leeks - R30.00

Toasted cheese & tomato, with chips - R19.00
Toasted ham &cheese, with chips - R21.00
Toasted ham, cheese & tomato, with chips - R23.00

Beef burger with chips - R34.00
Club sandwich, chicken with bacon, cheese, lettuce & tomato, with chips - R36.00

Spaghetti with sweet basil pesto and feta cheese - R38.00
Spaghetti Alfredo, a cream sauce with ham and mushrooms - R42.00
Spaghetti Bolognaise, mince and tomato sauce with parmesan - R43.00

Traditional Hake, grilled or fried, with chips and vegetables - R40.00
Calamari sticks, grilled or fried, with chips and vegetables - R58.00

Bangers & Mash, 2 sausages with mashed potato and gravy - R35.00
Chicken schnitzel with curry sauce, chips and vegetables - R40.00
Spare ribs, with chips and vegetables - R40.00

Dinner Menu

APPETISERS / SALADS
Beer-battered mushrooms, served with a trio of dip - R30.00
French onion soup with garlic croutons, gratinated - R30.00
German potato soup with leeks - R30.00
Provencal farmer’s salad with feta cheese and olives - R33.00
Salad Caprese, mozzarella with tomatoes and pesto - R36.00
Fried feta cheese wrapped in bacon, pesto croutons and salad - R37.00
Grilled chicken breast with curry, served on salad with fresh fruit and a spicy, fruity dip - R45.00

SEAFOOD

Traditional Hake, grilled or fried, with chips and vegetables - R42.00
Prawns "al ajillo", in garlic-olive oil with Mediterranean veg & herbs - R49.00
Calamari sticks, grilled or fried, with fried potatoes, vegetables & tartar sauce - R58.00
Grilled butterfish with lemon butter, chips & vegetables - R69.00
12 Prawns with herbed butter, chips & vegetables - R94.00

MEAT

Chicken Schnitzel on curry sauce with rice and vegetables - R55.00
"Coq au Vin rouge", chicken in red wine with bacon & veg, & noodles - R58.00
Spare ribs (400g) with chips and vegetables - R66.00
Rump steak (250g) with fried potatoes and vegetables - R69.00
T-bone (400g) with chips and vegetables - R76.00
Fillet steak (250g) with fried potatoes and vegetables - R79.00
Lamb Shank with fried potatoes and seasonal vegetables - R86.00
Pork fillet on mushroom sauce with grilled bread dumplings and vegetables - R86.00
Lamb on thyme sauce with grilled bread dumplings and vegetables - R86.00
Sauces - R11.00
Parisian pepper sauce
Garlic butter
Red wine and onion sauce
Creamy cheese sauce

COMBOS

Surf and Turf, steak and prawns, with fried potatoes and vegetables - R86.00
Steak and calamari, with fried potatoes and vegetables - R87.00

DESSERTS

Dom Pedro, with Amarula, Baileys, Frangelico, Kahlua or whiskey - R19.00
Coupe Denmark, vanilla ice-cream & homemade hot chocolate sauce - R19.00
Trio of Mousse au chocolat - R24.00
Crème brûlée - R25.00
Crêpes Suzette - R35.00

Open to club members and the general public. Phone Mandy at the Chartroom Restaurant on 041 585 2893 for meal and function bookings.

As always a members discount applies to the food and drink.

Not a member of ABYC yet? Shame, get with the program and join the club. ABYC Contact details.

We had another school from Motherwell attend the sailing school with 30 pupils today from 12:00 p.m to 2:30 p.m.

School teacher, Vusumzi Xayimpi said that he wanted to continue bringing pupis to the ABYC Sailing School as he could see great benefit for his pupils from exposure to sailing, the harbour and the self discipline demanded from sailing as a sport.

ABYC have been invited to do a presentation at Masiphathisane once Kabelo has returned from the Lipton Cup being sailed in Cape Town from the 23rd to the 29th of August.

For a while we had a cyber squatter who had control of the www.abyc.co.za domain name.

I presume that it was an opportunistic purchase after the phenomenal number of visitors that we had to the www.abyc.org.za web site during the Mirror Worlds. Initially when you went to www.abyc.co.za it showed some advertising related to growing an appendage (not barnacles!) with links to bare (not boat) models.

A polite request to the then owner to please rather not re-direct the www.abyc.co.za domain to sites that displayed the female in all her forms of glorious nudity was actually listened to and for a long time the www.abyc.org.za web site appeared within an iFrame on www.abyc.co.za.

To cut a long story short - the previous owner failed to renew the domain name and I bought it on behalf of the club the other day.

Of course the question will be asked why did we not go with the www.abyc.co.za domain in the first place?

ANSWER: The .org.za domain registration fee is FREE in perpetuity for all bona fide non-profit organisations whereas the .co.za registration fee is presently R50.00 per annum - please note that this is just to register the name, hosting and other costs are additional.

I have been looking for a little bit more sponsorship for the Lipton Cup 2008 and used a search facility that I seldom do to check just how many times a particular food retailing group had been mentioned on the MyPE web site.

Then I decided to do a search to see how many times ABYC had been mentioned, the result: ABYC received mentions on 5 470 pages.

Now, if only I had TEN bucks for each mention ............

The Lipton Cup Team leaves for Cape Town on Wednesday Evening from ABYC at around 6:30 p.m.

Diarise Wednesday the 20th August to pop down to the club for a beer and a wave to the team as they set off.

Your best wishes are appreciated and we will be reporting live from Cape Town during the regatta.

Our thanks go to all the Lipton Cup Team sponsors.

The Eastern Cape All Class Provincials incorporating the Mirror Class National Championship 2008 will be sailed at Mossel Bay Boat and Yacht Club from the 26th of September to the 29th of September 2008.

2008 East Cape Provincial Champs Regatta, Mossel Bay

Regatta details visit www.mbybc.co.za
Contact: Rob on 083 320 6362 for more info, or e-mail him at robholden[at]mweb.co.za

Information on accommodation available in Mossel Bay, Hartenbos, Little Brak, and Great Brak for the Eastern Cape Champs.

Camping available at Milkwood Primary School on the Point
Contact Denise at: 044 6911858, milk_dp[at]mweb.co.za

Greendoor B&B:
We have a beautiful 14 bedroom Guest House right in the centre of Mossel Bay, with great sea views overlooking the harbour and a fully licensed restaurant on the premises which serves the most delicious meals. I will most gladly offer a 10 % discount on my current rates to any of the participants. They must please quote the special booking code YCT when booking a room (which includes breakfast):

Double Rooms – Sea Facing (2 Guests sharing) R450 per room
Single Rooms - Sea Facing (1 Guest) R375 per room

Double Rooms – Standard (2 Guests Sharing) R400 per room
Single Rooms – Standard (1 Guest) R325 per room

Double Rooms – Skylight (Double Bed – 2 Guests sharing) R350 per room
Single Rooms – Skylight (Double Bed – 1 Guest) R275 per room

Family Room (1 Double Bed, 2 Single Beds) R450 + charge per child
Kiddies 2 – 12 years sharing R 80.00 per child
Children 12 years and older R100 per child
Children sleep in own room Full room rate

Amanda, 0729259641, email: greendoorbb[at]mweb.co.za

The Santos Express Train Lodge:
The Santos Express Train Lodge is a genuine train situated on the Santos Beach in Mossel Bay with all cabins facing the sea. With the ocean so close, you can’t really beat its unbelievable position and exquisite views.
RACK RATES 2008
Dorm R85.00 p.p.
R150.00 p.p.p.n. sharing
R160.00 p.p.p.n. single
R380.00 Caboose
R75.00 Children under 12

Tania Naudé, Tel. 044 6911995, Fax. 086 515 7779, Cell. 076 874 2234, E-Mail: admin[at]santosexpress.co.za, www.santosexpress.co.za

Blue Whale Lodge:
ROOM RATES:
Double room – R 300.00 (R 150.00 P.P.S) B&B per night
Single person – R 200.00 B&B per nigh

Mariki Zwiegers, Tel: 044 691 3147, Fax: 086 606 6772, Cell: 082 445 1972

b@Home Guest House:
b@Home guest house is centrally located and a five minute walk from the beach! Please feel free to log onto our website www.b-at-home.co.za and go on a virtual tour of b@Home.

Michelle Pretorius, b@Home guest house, 079 4977 679,

4 Bedroom House sleeps 8
Flats available that sleep 2, 4 or 10 people.

Contact: Gerda Heunis, 044-8791589, 0833039047

Dibiki – Hartenbos:
Martie Pretorius, 044 6950670, email: mpret[at]worldonline.co.za, www.dibiki.co.za

Corrie Vale Self-Catering:
Great Brak
Phone: +27 (0) 44 620-5124, Fax: + 27 (0) 44 620-2203, Cell Ph: + 27 (0) 83 378-1232, corrievale[at]mweb.co.za, www.tiscover.co.za/corrie-vale

Little Brak Beach house:
Philip Neethling, Tel: (044) 6966769, Cel:0721744537, pneethling[at]yahoo.com, www.littlebrakbeachhouse.co.za

Are YOU Going?

Let us know in the feedback section.

Meet the ABYC Lipton Cup Team:

Skipper / Trimmer - Kerry Bonnage, Kerry has been sailing for 24 years up and down the coast from Maputo to Saldanha Bay.

Helmsman - Wayne Watkins, Been sailing for 10 years including Optimist and Mirror World Championships.

Halyards - Theo Osterline, who has completed two trans Atlantic voyages.

Mast - Sithemble (Ocean) Solwandle, ex-coach at ABYC, only South African sailor invited to sail on the tall ship, Gothenborg. This is Ocean's fourth Lipton Cup campaign.

Bowman - Jason Schaefer, Has been sailing for 5 years, delivering yachtsalong the South African Coast and was recently selected to sail in the J22 Youths in Durnban.

Reserve - Kabelo Koyana, who is the present Sailing Coach at ABYC.

Kerry Bonnage	Wayne Watkins	Theo Osterline
Sithemble Solwandle	Jason Schaefer	Kabelo Koyana

Damager - Yours Truly

Well I Hummed and Hawed over whether I should post this feedback received after the AGM or not. So I decided to wait a bit to see if we got dissenting voices wading in as well, after all the old newspaper saying of "If it Bleeds, It Leads" certainly makes for increased sales........

Well it has been seven days now and still no dissenting voices so I present to you feedback received from two members, again I was not sure if they wanted to be named (and certainly not shamed, in my humble opinion) so anonymous will suffice for now. I am sure that they will read their letters and self elect to be named in the comments below if they so desire.

FAIR?

1st comment:

Well done!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!..............................that was the most interesting AGM that I have ever attended...............and not only at ABYC!!. It was well prepared, well thought out, well handled.....a lot of hard work was done before it.............it dealt with the important stuff, and got the "kirk" excited...................................congratulations.

You guys have worked hard under difficult conditions.

I support the "no rent" for the caterers.

Well done on securing new caterers without scary contracts....................let's keep it simple.

Well done on the user friendly Auditor and the easy set of Accounts.

Well done on the proposed format for the Sailing Calendar...................that's the most important thing....the rest will follow.

Well done on the marketing idea.

To earn some income????...............hire out the Board Room and the Chart Room as often as possible. Maybe we can hire a "commission only" rep to do it.

Thank you all for your efforts. I really do appreciate them......................(even tho it may not seem like it!)

2nd comment:

I attended the ABYC AGM last week.

Sad to see the old hierarchy out to bite the bums of the new brigade!

There they sat like buzzards at a carcass, waiting to pick the top table apart.

Financial statements were being ripped apart like drumsticks, with stage-whispering comments flying up and down the row.

They also appear to have a new apprentice buzzard!

Thankfully we got rid of one of the 3 Wally’s, who had a temper tantrum, stamped his one leg and shuffled out.

Usually, huffy people walk out and go home to brood.

Not this flesh-eater, who bunkered up in the pub like a fool, and waited for a report back from fellow vultures.

He certainly did not earn any credibility from the rank and file.

Evidence shows that mismanagement by this crowd has led to us being in a pickle at the moment.

If I was them, I would shut up and help the new bunch find solutions..

There was so much positive spoken about, they should have concentrated on that!

Good luck to the present committee. Everything will come right with time.

The majority of club members are on your side!

We love our club!!

Your feedback and comments are welcomed below.

Saturday saw the first very successful edition of the Waterfront Stomp with nostalgic music from the 60's and 70's in a great venue on the "Dock of the Bay".

Featuring feature music by The Tomboys, Harry Lloyd (Taxi), Limey (Take Over Boyz), Hazy Shades and a Special Guest Artist the club was packed to the rafters with eager revelers.

The Waterfront Stomp will be held on the 1st Saturday of every month at the Algoa Bay Yacht Club.

The bar was literally 5 deep when I arrived and Blacky and Whitey were taking strain attempting to keep the eager patrons watered. Philip jumped behind the bar followed closely by Wayne and Jason. But, this was still not enough manpower so Glynnis and I also donned our best barkeep smiles and started serving whilst Blacky and Whitey made the tills talk.

Thanks Guys for helping out behind the bar and thanks too to Cliffy for bringing a unique event to ABYC and Port Elizabeth.

The Chartroom, deck and pub were chock-a-block with people enjoying the music and atmosphere.

For more information and to advance book your tickets for September's Waterfront Stomp contact Cliffy on 082 881 1155 or Anton on 082 567 7404.

Click here to see the (sanitised) photographs.

A long long time ago on a planet close to your coldest beer, ABYC had the pleasure of a car guard, Benny. Now Benny would sneak off every now and again on a holiday to 'Head Office' in Johannesburg, eventually he was offered the post of Managing Director of the Johannesburg based Car Guard Collective and flitted off with his Mother to eGoli.

Many members missed Benny's ability to inform them of the latest skinner from the club, the woes and travails of a 'sharp' car guard operative and I, especially (NOT) missed taking Benny home after executive meetings.

Of course Benny lives on in the minds of many of our members - quite scary isn't it?

The latest Benny sighting and update comes to you courtesy of ace Private Dick and sometime Pointy Bit Commander of Struan, Derek Bouwer:

Soon after Benny so sadly left the yacht club I started a new car game called "Where's Benny"?

1. On a Dark evening at the Atrium I heard the eery HAAALLOOOO, spun around and there was Benny, white shirt and khaki trouser and hat. I believed for a moment that Benny has joined the corporate world and there followed a long conversation of Bennies tendonitis and sore ankle. Soon Benny was a familiar sight at Atrium, then Benny was no longer there?.

"Where's Benny"?

2. Not long afterward I stopped at the Newton park P&P and who should wave me into the parking bay but Benny! And, once again the conversation turned to Bennies recurring medical condition!

"Where's Benny?"

3. Would you believe Newton Park Fruit and Veg! Getting into my car, having found the only place that stocks batteries for my Cannon AE programmable!!, someone held my door so it would not close. Fearing a Hijack I spun around to the beaming HAAAALOOO of Benny!! Remarkably lucky for him, as I was about to try out rather my dubious "Karate" on this would be hijacker! Relieved that it was only a smiling Benny the conversation naturally turned medical once more and you will be pleased to know that he now sports a very snazzy air brace on his ankle.

But Benny is branching out not only will he be the guarder of cars but soon the purveyor of fine Chicken Sosatie and/or Boerewors rolls as Benny is starting his own Boerewors & Chicken Sosatie Stand!

"Where's Benny?"

4. Soon in some car park I'll be assailed by a Boerewors toting Benny saying HAAALLOOOOO, the mind boggles?

Stay tuned for images of Benny, Boerewors Stand Managing Director and taste test judge in the nationwide "Boerewors of Course" contest.

What a great fleet of entries to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Lipton Challenge Cup. 31 entries, almost a record. The Cape Town Lipton Cup is going to be the best Lipton ever.

And the good news is that The City of Cape Town will once again be hosting the Lipton Cup Prize-Giving Event at The Civic Centre, so it’s time to dust off those jackets – everyone seemed to have enjoyed 'dressing' for the Event, so we’d like to do the same again for this Centennial Celebration. Smart jackets or blazers and ties will be the order of the day.

Opening Ceremony – Mixing of the Waters and Blessing of the Fleet

The Mixing of the Waters Ceremony, will be held on the Deck at R.C.Y.C. on Saturday 23rd August at 17h00.
All teams will be bringing water (approx 250 -500ml) from the vlei/sea that they sail on, in a small, preferably decorated, container. The Mixing of the Waters Ceremony may be televised. Teams will be wearing their Boat Uniform and carrying the Burgee of the club that they will be representing. All Burgees will displayed in front of the Clubhouse after the Blessing.

The ABYC team will be reporting live from the Regatta, Lipton Challenge 2008

Leave your words of encouragement and sage advice for the Lipton Team in the Comments Section: