Around 15 people turned up on Saturday for the Closing Cruise. The intention was to get across to Kilcreggan Hotel however due to a strong Easterly wind blowing around a Force 4 and with the weather predicted to deteriorate with the turn of the tide we decided that getting on the water was out. The back-up plan was some on-shore activity in the form of getting the shore based boats into the sheds for winter and a quick tidy up of the hard and the beach.
The dine in company on Saturday night was a great success with a few beers and food ordered in. It was good to hear from the other disciplines how the season had gone and what achievements had been made. The stand out features were the first RWSABC cross Clyde swim, the progress of the kayak juniors under the coaching by Chris and our 19th place with 6 rowers in the World St Ayles Skiff Championships in Ullapool back in July. The final sailing scores and positions had still to be worked out.
Sunday was the beach tidy, 12 hardy souls fooled their hangovers with coffee, Bovril and hot food. They made quite a dent in tidying up the beach and hard around the dinghy park, this area was becoming quite overgrown. There will be another tidy before the start of the season, where the main focus will be to weed and reconsolidate shingle around the dinghy park. We would ask that once this is done the boat owners take responsibility to ensure that space around their boats is kept as weed free as possible.
The middle slip needed urgent attention having had been undermined on the Western side by strong tidal action. The concrete top was at risk of collapse if left unattended. The sets were dug back out of the sand, reinstated within the void then tied back in with gabbion wire. This was then re-enforced by placing large concrete blocks against the slip. 
Hopefully this should last a while.
A very busy and productive weekend. A big thanks to everyone who made time and the effort to come along and help out.
Alex Paterson
Captain of Boats