Busy weekend just passed, and another to come

Who would have thought that in the closing days of October 2012 the Boat Club would have seen so much activity. Every weekend in October has something going on.

Last weekend we had the MS Fundraiser on Friday night organised, in part, by George Carson. It was so busy the Captain had to get off his 15″ wide behind and bring more chairs up from the sheds.

There was even dancing

There were performances by relatively new members

Young Gavin on the left

Some not so new members

Gordon who?

And some prominent members

Beating his own drum

The evening raise in excess of £ 400 for MS reasearch and gave the bar turnover figures a shot in the arm. Well done to all who helped out and also those that attended and supported this cause.

Saturday dawned with trepidation for some. The Club had been offered access to sliding seat rowing boats and coaching at Castle Semple RC in Lochwinnoch, as part of us developing closer ties with kindred clubs.

Campbell McCall & Yvonne Christie joined CSRC on their normal Saturday morning 10am outing, as they have some sculling experience. They went out in a quad scull round the loch a few times.

Yvonne at 3, Campbell at Stroke

Early in the afternoon more from Royal West arrived and again went out in the quad sculls

George took up rowing 5 weeks ago, Mat 50 years ago

Which one is Catherine Grainger?
Double sculling as well

And there was a rowing orphan too

Content paddling

Many thanks to all at Castle Semple for thier coaching and encouragement.

Sunday was a very big day for the town with the arrival of the great and the good to remember Lt. Henry “Birdie” Bowers. The Club played its small part by hosting a visit by John Ramwell (Birdies nearest living relative) Dr David Wilson (great nephew of Dr Edward Wilson who died along with Birdie & Capt Scott) and Anne Strathie (Birdies most recent biographer). We were also joined by Drew McKenzie of Discover Inverclyde, a good selection of Club mambers and, for a very short period, Sir Ranulph Fiennes.

Sir Ranulph Fiennes during his fleeting visit, on his 2 our training run

Anne & John both took to the water in Birdie Bowers

Anne at 2 before we went round Whiteforeland mark

John at 2 with his pal Duncan Winning at 3

As some of you may know, John Ramwell is actually John J Ramwell FRGS MRIN BCU Level 5 Coach (Sea and Inland). He was very jealous of the large group of kayakers that set off on Sunday morning for a wander. He was also very jealous of the location and facilities of the club.

At the AGM this year the membership elected Lt. Henry “Birdie” Bowers as an Honorary Member (Posthumous) of the Club. A certificate was presented to John Ramwell at the Birdie Bowers Dinner confirming this. The Hon Sec was advised by his wife that this had deeply effected him and that he was left lost for words. He managed to find some words later in the evening and took the opportunity, during his address to the dinner, to thank the Club for this honor. John has also written a very heartfelt article about his day in Greenock. You can open and download it in PDF format.

A Day to Remember – John Ramwell

To all those who played any part in the events on Sunday please be assured that John, David & Anne were all overcome with the friendship and affection from the Club. Anne wrote to the Club with the following message;

“please pass on my thanks again to everyone at the RW, and Drew to everyone at Discover Inverclyde, the marina, theatre and the Tontine as well. I know David Wilson (Edward Wilson’s great-nephew) thought it was all wonderful as well and was so glad that he had come.”

To all who helped out on Sunday (especially Cheryl & George), please accept the thanks and appreciation of the Committee and members.

Friday sees the start of the next weekend of activity and at the Club. See the next article for more details.